The Relationship Between Digital Gaming and Behaviors, Thoughts, and Feelings among Saudi College Students

This study is investigating the relationships between playing video games and aggressive behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. The participants are Male and female Saudi college students at Taibah University. The study conducted for two main purposes. Examining correlations between the amount of violence in video games played and aggressive behaviors, thoughts, and feelings is the first purpose. While the other purpose is examining the relationship between the amount of time playing video games in childhood and in current time with aggressive behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. The theoretical framework was drawn for this study consists of two theories: social learning theory and catharsis. Social learning theory relies on observation and imitating lead to copy that actions in reality. Regarding video games impact, the players might imitate the violence and copy that behaviors in real life. Catharsis has the opposite viewpoint of observing violence in social learning theory. Catharsis suggests that observing and experiencing violence in video games help in getting out of negative emotions such anger in real life. A self- report questionnaire is used in collecting data. The present study used the same research design for Anderson and Dill Study 1 (2000). Adapted questionnaire in their study and two items from video game index they created are used in this study. SPSS used in all statistical analysis. Correlations and regression are run in order to answer all research questions. The major findings suggested that there are no relationships in general between the amount of violence in video games and the amount of time playing video games and aggressive behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. However, there is a positive moderate correlation between the amount of time playing video games in childhood and verbally aggressive behaviors among only female Saudi college students. The present study suggests to consider culture aspect in measuring video games impact by using GCAM criteria which they are working on to improve and make them more clear. There are other factors might effect the relationship also beside violence level in video games such as competitiveness in games, pace of action, and difficulty

Awareness and Perceptions Towards Menopause Among Saudi Women

Background : Menopause is an important period of women life .it is a normal physiological process, defined as the permanent cessation of menses for 12 months or more. Our study assess the awareness and perception of Saudi women aged from 30 to 65 years towards menopause and to Address the health needs of women to improve the quality of life of menopausal Saudi women. Methods: Cross sectional study by using survey distributed electronically through kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Saudi women between ages of 30-65 years old. Results: The number of participant were total of 738 women, 130 women were menopause already. Most of participant were from southern region (67%). Study shows that 51-55 years old is the average age of menopause. Our participant (41.9%) they choose the answer of “inability of ovary to produce egg “as definition of menopause while (17.6 %) choose “cessation of mensuration for more than 1 year), most of women (31.9 %) they though that psychological symptoms will be more prominent with significant p value (0.003), while among menopause group they choose hot flush as the most prominent symptoms (38.5%). About 70% of our sample they mention that they don’t have enough background about menopause. Conclusion: Heath education with proper medical advices should be a part of primary health clinics projects. Media and menopause groups play important role to help health provider

English proficiency test as a predictor of academic achievement in a health sciences program

The present study aims to investigate possible correlations between academic achievement of freshman students based on English Proficiency Test (EPT) results and pre-admission criteria, i.e., High School Grade point average (GPA), the General Aptitude Test (GAT), and the Scholastic Achievement Admission Test (SAAT) at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) in Saudi Arabia. The study involved 528 first-year students enrolled in a pre-professional program in two campuses of the university. Pre- and post-tests of the EPT were conducted along with a demographic survey to gather details about the participants. Descriptive and inferential statistics analysis were applied to test the correlations between variables. The results showed a significant improvement in all components of the EPT in the two campuses. The differences in the scores among the GAT, SAAT, and EPT were significantly and positively correlated with the higher GPA. The analysis also revealed a strong correlation with higher GAT and SAAT results to scoring better in EPT and gaining a higher GPA. The improvement in the EPT results could indicate that the objectives of the English program were achieved. Finally, our study shows that the pre-admission criteria could predict students’ academic performance in an English program

Retracted: A review of automated decision support system

This article was withdrawn and retracted by the Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences and has been removed from AJOL at the request of the journal Editor in Chief and the organisers of the conference at which the articles were presented (www.iccmit.net). Please address any queries to [email protected]

Identifying knowledge deficiencies in genetics education among medical students and interns in Saudi Arabia- A cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Understanding genetics is crucial for medical students, particularly in Saudi Arabia, where genetic disorders are prevalent owing to high rates of consanguineous marriages. This knowledge is essential for the early detection, prevention, and management of genetic disorders, and for incorporating medical genetics and genomics into patient care. This study aimed to assess the current state of genetics knowledge among medical students and interns across Saudi Arabia and to identify knowledge gaps in genetics. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted between August and September 2023 involving 732 medical students from all regions of Saudi Arabia. The participants completed a validated questionnaire assessing their knowledge of basic genetics, genetic inheritance, genetic testing, and clinical genetics. Result Over 60% of medical students and interns reported that they considered themselves to have only slight knowledge in all areas of genetics. The results revealed a general lack of medical genetic understanding among students and interns, particularly regarding genetic inheritance and testing. For genetic inheritance, slight knowledge was found in 65.2% of pre-clinical, 60.1% of clinical, and 53.2% of interns, with significant differences between groups (p < 0.001). In genetic testing, 75.4% of pre-clinical, 83.9% of clinical, and 90.6% of interns showed slight knowledge, with significant differences across stages (p = 0.021). This study also found that lectures, genetics laboratories, and problem-solving sessions were the preferred resources for learning genetics. Conclusion The current study revealed a notable deficiency in the understanding of medical genetics among medical students and interns in Saudi Arabia, particularly regarding genetic inheritance and testing. This is consistent with previous research highlighting the widespread lack of genetics knowledge among medical students. Integrating more comprehensive genetics education, especially during the clinical years, could improve students’ preparedness and confidence in managing genetic disorders. These findings highlight the critical need for curriculum development to equip future physicians with the essential skills for managing genetic disorders

Structure-Based Virtual Screening and Molecular Dynamics of Phytochemicals Derived from Saudi Medicinal Plants to Identify Potential COVID-19 Therapeutics

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected almost every country in the world by causing a global pandemic with a high mortality rate. Lack of an effective vaccine and/or antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent, has severely hampered the response to this novel coronavirus. Natural products have long been used in traditional medicines to treat various diseases, and purified phytochemicals from medicinal plants provide a valuable scaffold for the discovery of new drug leads. In the present study, we performed a computational screening of an in-house database composed of ~1000 phytochemicals derived from traditional Saudi medicinal plants with recognised antiviral activity. Structure-based virtual screening was carried out against three druggable SARS-CoV-2 targets, viral RNAdependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), 3-chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease (3CLpro) and papain like protease (PLpro) to identify putative inhibitors that could facilitate the development of potential anti-COVID-19 drug candidates. Computational analyses identified three compounds inhibiting each target, with binding affinity scores ranging from-9.9 to -6.5 kcal/mol. Among these, luteolin 7-rutinoside, chrysophanol 8-(6-galloylglucoside) and kaempferol 7-(6’’-galloylglucoside) bound efficiently to RdRp, while chrysophanol 8-(6galloylglucoside), 3,4,5-tri-O-galloylquinic acid and mulberrofuran G interacted strongly with 3CLpro, and withanolide A, isocodonocarpine and calonysterone bound tightly to PLpro. These potential drug candidates will be subjected to further in vitro and in vivo studies and may assist the development of effective anti-COVID-19 drugs

Vesicoureteral Reflux and Renal Scarring in Infants after the First Febrile Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in children. It is caused by bacteria and can lead to complications such as renal scarring in cases of late diagnosis and a lack of early treatment. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) occurs when urine flows from the bladder to the ureter and kidney, and is more common in children with UTI. VUR predisposes patients to pyelonephritis and can cause renal scarring. This retrospective study aimed to determine whether VUR was associated with the evolution to renal scarring in 132 infants aged 9 days to 24 months admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the first episode of febrile UTI (mean age = 4.48 months [standard deviation = 5.48]; 82 [62.1%] males; 50 [37.9%] females). Data from their medical records were investigated[INLINE:1]for VUR and renal scarring. The VUR was related to renal scarring (P = 0.001). C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly higher in patients with VUR (P = 0.027) and renal scars (P = 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between VUR and renal scarring with the first UTI (P = 0.001). In conclusion, our study revealed a significant association of CRP with renal scarring (P = 0.05) and VUR and (P = 0.027)

Evaluating the Total Phenolic, Protein Contents, Antioxidant and Pharmacological Effects of Cynodon dactylon Extracts Against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

The study was aimed to characterize the antioxidant and anti-microbial activities of Cynodon dactylon with special reference on its precise biochemical analysis. Physiological analysis that total carotenoids content (0.3884 ± 0.0172 mg/g), total chlorophyll content (6.1460 ± 0.2915 mg/g), total phenolic contents (13.4703 ± 0.1494 mg/g), chlorophyll a (3.7708 ± 0.1528 mg/g, catalase (CAT) contents (40.2844 ± 0.1515 units/ mg), total anthocyanin contents (5.0166 ± 0.2966 g–1 FW) total soluble proteins (2.9916 ± 0.1734 mg/g) and total flavonoids content (TFC) (4.7863 ± 0.0442 μg/g) was found higher in the leaves of the Cynodon dactylon whereas, chlorophyll b (2.4881 ± 0.1326 mg/g) was found higher in the stem of Cynodon dactylon, while, peroxidase (POD) contents (81.8763 ± 4.6609 units/mg) and superoxidase dismutase (SOD) activity (80.4346 ± 5.9367 units/mg) was investigated higher in roots of Cynodon dactylon. The anti-microbial activity of Cynodon dactylon extracts was performed using a good diffusion technique against two microbial strains. Among all the plant extracts, the methanolic extracts showed a maximum inhibition zone (26.87 mm) against anti-bacterial strain Escherichia coli whereas n-hexane extract showed a maximum inhibition zone (17.88 mm) against anti-fungal strain Candida albicans. This study reported the antimicrobial activity of Cynodon dactylon against some common pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans, which are highly associated with nosocomial infection. From the given results it is concluded that Cynodon dactylon could be exploited in pharmacology due to its antioxidant and anti-microbial properties

Design, biological evaluation, and molecular modelling insights of cupressic acid derivatives as promising anti-inflammatory agents

AbstractThe major labdanes in the oleogum resin of Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco, 13-epi-cupressic acid (1) and acetyl-13-epi-cupressic acid (2) were used to prepare seven new (3–9), along with one known (10) derivatives. RAW264.7 cells were used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of the derivatives (1–10) via measuring the level of COX-2 expression and IL-6. Pre-treated RAW264.7 cells with 1–10 (except for derivative 7) at 25 µM for 24h exhibited downregulation of COX-2 expression in response to LPS stimulation. Moreover, pre-treatment with compounds 1, 2, or 3 significantly attenuated the LPS-stimulated IL-6 level in RAW264.7 cells (p < 0.05). A docking study was conducted against phospholipase A2 (PLA2), a crucial enzyme in initiating the inflammatory cascade. The significant structural features of compounds (1–10) as PLA2 inhibitors included the carbonyl group at C-4 (free or substituted) and the hydrophobic diterpenoid skeleton. This study suggested 13-epi-cupressic acid as a scaffold for new anti-inflammatory agents

Oral Health Profiles and Related Quality of Life in Thalassemia Children in Relation to Iron Overload: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim was to assess the oral health of children with &beta;-thalassemia major (BTM) and their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in relation to the serum ferritin level (SFL). Thirty-nine children with BTM underwent an interview, salivary sampling and an oral clinical examination. The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) was used to assess their OHRQoL. The mean age of the participants was 9 &plusmn; 3 years, with 62% females. The body mass index and salivary secretion rate were within normal ranges. The mean plaque index, gingival bleeding index and number of decayed, missing and filled tooth surfaces were 70 &plusmn; 29, 38 &plusmn; 25 and 3.2 &plusmn; 4, respectively, with no significant differences between individuals with SFL below or above 2000 ng/mL (p &gt; 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in any of the ECOHIS questions (p &gt; 0.05). The mean ECOHIS score was 4.2 &plusmn; 4. Individuals with SFL &ge;2000 ng/mL had a significantly higher mean score in the family domain &ldquo;Parent Distress&rdquo; than those with lower SFL (p &le; 0.05). Within the study limits, children with &beta;-thalassemia major generally had high dental caries experience and gingival inflammation, yet an acceptable OHRQoL. Those with high SFL had less favorable scores in the domain &ldquo;Parent Distress&rdquo;