STUDENTS’ LINGUISTIC SKILLS AND PROBLEMS IN LEARNING MEDICAL VOCABULARY AT A HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY IN THE UAE

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses help the students to be more effective and confident in their profession. The main aim of this research was to explore the difficulties faced by students of a Medical and Health Sciences University in learning medical vocabulary which is a vital part of teaching English for Medical Purposes (EMP). It was hypothesized that students coming from non-English medium backgrounds find it difficult to understand and learn medical vocabulary due to weak linguistic skills. A questionnaire was sent to the undergraduate and post-graduate students of Medical, Dental, Pharmacy and Nursing Colleges and it was observed that the majority of students agreed that knowing medical vocabulary in English is important for their profession and students coming from Arabic medium schools find it difficult to understand and learn medical vocabulary and more than 50% use an English-Arabic dictionary. Interestingly, listening emerged as the weakest skill but 97% of participants feel that practice in hospitals can make learning the medical terms easy. Based on these findings, the authors have suggested some interactive activities that can be used in the class for better retention and made some recommendations.  Article visualizations

Collaborative Filtering Based Recommendation System: A survey

Abstract—the most common technique used for recommendations is collaborative filtering. Recommender systems based on collaborative filtering predict user preferences for products or services by learning past user-item relationships from a group of user who share the same preferences and taste. In this paper we have explored various aspects of collaborative filtering recommendation system. We have categorized collaborative filtering recommendation system and shown how the similarity is computed. The desired criteria for selection of data set are also listed. The measures used for evaluating the performance of collaborative filtering recommendation system are discussed along with the challenges faced by the recommendation system. Types of rating that can be collected from the user to rate items are also discussed along with the uses of collaborative filtering recommendation system

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-related cold thigh abscess as an unusual cause of thigh swelling in infants following BCG vaccine administration: a case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Thigh swelling in an infant can be a symptom of a simple benign condition or a life-threatening condition. We observed a cluster of thigh swelling episodes in infants in which the cause was Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-related cold thigh abscess. We report this unusual case series to raise awareness about this diagnosis.</p> <p>Case presentations</p> <p>We performed a retrospective review of five infants (four boys and one girl) who presented with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-related left thigh abscess. The swelling was noticed by the parents at a mean period of three months prior to presentation. The ages at presentation were five, five, eight and nine months for the boys, and six months for the girl. All of the patients were healthy Saudi infants, and received the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine at birth. Clinically, all of the patients were well and did not demonstrate signs of systemic infection. All patients underwent needle aspiration, with subsequent incision and drainage in four of the five cases. The cultures obtained from the abscess fluids were the key to establishing the diagnosis. Only three patients (60%) received antituberculosis drugs. Wound healing lasted for a mean period of approximately seven months. Two-year follow-up was unremarkable for all of our patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Technical errors continue to be significant in the development of vaccine-related complications. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-related cold thigh abscess is an extremely rare entity.</p

Knowledge of the University students toward premarital screening program: A cross-sectional study

Premarital screening program is a method that can accurately identify asymptomatic carriers of hemoglobinopathies and provide genetic counselling to couples for a healthy reproductive life. To assess the university students’ knowledge of the premarital screening program. Method: a cross-sectional design using systematic random sample technique for selecting 265 students from the four constituent colleges of the university. Self-administered questionnaire consisted of 3 parts to collect data: students’ demographic data, students’ knowledge about hereditary diseases, and premarital screening program. The study findings revealed that more than half of the students had a positive family history of hereditary diseases. Most of them were aware that premarital screening program reduces the genetic and sexually-transmitted diseases. Around half of them had an average knowledge level about hereditary diseases and premarital screening program. The majority of the participants have an average knowledge level about the premarital screening program. Awareness and educational programs can be organized for university students and the community

LOW-LEVEL LASER PERIODONTAL THERAPY IN DIABETIC PATIENTS A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL - PILOT STUDY

Objectives We aimed to evaluate the effects of low-level laser therapy as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy in patients with periodontitis and compare the effect on periodontal healing in diabetes mellitus and non-diabetes mellitus patients. Methodology Ten patients with periodontitis stage II grade B were divided into two groups; Group 1 included 5 non-diabetes mellitus patients with periodontitis, and Group 2 included 5 type-2 diabetes mellitus patients with periodontitis. A 13 mW low-level laser was used in a continuous wave and non-contact mode as an adjunct to scaling and root planning (SRP) in a split-mouth study design “OPTODAN” (Scientific Development and Production Center, Saratov, Russia). The clinical parameters; plaque and gingival index, probing depth, and relative clinical attachment level of the test and control sides of both groups were analyzed at baseline and 1-month post-therapy. Visual analogue scale was used to determine patient discomfort intraoperatively and after 1 week. Results Statistically, significant improvement was evident in the gingival index, probing depth, and relative clinical attachment level when comparing test and control sides in all patients 1-month post-therapy. There was improvement in gingival index amongst type-2 diabetes mellitus patients in the test group. However, non-diabetes mellitus patients demonstrated superior results especially in probing depth and relative clinical attachment level. Conclusion The use of low-level laser therapy as an adjunct in periodontal therapy showed overall improvement in gingival inflammation, probing depth, and clinical attachment level. In comparison to non-diabetes mellitus patients, type-2 diabetes mellitus patients demonstrated significant improvement in gingival inflammation with low-level laser therapy