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In This Issuereview Articleoriginal Articlescase Report

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of The Genotoxicity Of Propofol And Desflurane Using The Comet Assay In The Lymphocytes Of Patients Who Underwent Lumbar Discectomy: A Randomized Trial, Melike Korkmaz Toker, Basak Altiparmak, Guven Gursoy, Ali Ihsan Uysal, Gulseda Dede, Gulsah Gundogdu, Yavuz Dodurga, Bakiye Ugur

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To compare the genotoxic effects of desflurane and propofol using comet assay in patients undergoing elective discectomy surgery. Methods: This was a randomized controlled study. Patients who underwent elective lumbar discectomy under general anesthesia with propofol or desflurane were included in the study. Venous blood samples were obtained at 4 different time points: 5 minutes before anesthesia induction (T1), 2 hours after the start of anesthesia (T2), the first day after surgery (T3), and the fifth day following surgery (T4). Deoxyribonucleic acid damage in lymphocytes was assessed via the comet assay. Results: A total of 30 patients, 15 in …

Impact Of Change In The Naples Prognostic Score After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy On Survival In Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients, Haowen Zhang, Xin Xiao, Siyuan Luan, Xiaokun Li, Shangwei Sun, Yong Yuan

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To assess the clinical relevance and prognostic value of changes in the Naples prognostic score (NPS) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACR) among esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Methods: We studied 232 locally advanced ESCC patients who received NACR before undergoing esophagectomy retrospectively. Categorizing individuals into the elevated NPS group and the non-elevated NPS group based on the change in NPS after NACR (ΔNPS > 0 or ∆NPS ≤ 0), we examined and compared the clinicopathological characteristics, survival rates, and postoperative complications between these 2 groups (∆NPS = post-NACR NPS - pre-NACR NPS). Results: Results: Out of the 232 patients enrolled, …

Investigation Of Hematologic Findings Related To Brucellosis In Anatolian Region, Mehmet Çelik, Yusuf Arslan, Ertuğrul Topcu, Mustafa Serhat Şahinoğlu, Deniz Altındağ, Esra Gürbüz, Ebru Atalay, Sümeyye Kışlak Demircan, Salih Emre, Yasemin Kırık, Pınar Yürük Atasoy, Deniz Özer, Davut İpek, Ebru Doğan, Seval Bilgiç Atlı, Evrim Gülderen Kuşçu, Sevil Alkan, Yeliz Çiçek, Esra Yüksekkaya, Özlem Aldemir, Ahmet Şahin, Fatma Yekta Ürkmez, Sevda Özdemir Al, Riyad Boran, Serpil Oğuz Mızrakçı, Mehmet Reşat Ceylan, Hamza Erdoğdu, Süda Tekin

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of hematologic findings and the relationship between hemogram parameters and brucellosis stages in patients. Methods: This multi-center study included patients older than 16 years of age who were followed up with a diagnosis of brucellosis. Patients’ results, including white blood cell, hemoglobin, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, mean platelet volume, platelet and eosinophil counts were analyzed at the initial diagnosis. Results: In this study 51.3% of the patients diagnosed with brucellosis were male. The age median was 45 years for female and 41 years for male. A total of 55.1% of the patients had acute brucellosis, 28.2% …

Musculoskeletal Disorders Of The Upper And Lower Limb: Prevalence Among Patients In Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Ali M. Alshami

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of upper and lower limb musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders among adult patients referred to physical therapy. Methods: Data were retrospectively analyzed from electronic health records of patients referred to physical therapy between April 2021 and April 2023. MSK disorders were categorized based on the affected body region (upper or lower limb). Results: A total of 11,243 patients were referred to physical therapy, of whom 4,156 (37%) had MSK disorders. The 4 most commonly affected regions were the knee (27.7%), followed by the shoulder (26.9%), the ankle/foot (14.9%), and the wrist/hand (11.8%). Within each region, the most …

Impact Of Breathing Control Training Program On Sonographic Quantification Of Abdominal Vasculature, Mahasin G. Hassan, Afnan M. Alotaibi, Raghad H. Altuwaym, Reem H. Alnuwaysir, Renad B. Alharbi, Lama M. Alnajashi, Mayer K. Alsaber, Hetaf F. Aldakan, Halima M. Hawesa, Zohida A. Abdelgabar, Asma S. Aldahes, Mohammed G. Yaqob

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To compare vascular scanning parameters (vessel diameter, peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, and resistive index) and scanning time before and after breathing control training program for selected abdominal vessels. Methods: This study was pre and post quasi-experimental. The researchers designed a breathing training program that gives participants instructions through a video describing breathing maneuvers. Data were collected at the ultrasound laboratory/College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in Princess Nourah bint Abdul Rahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 2023 to November 2023. About 49 volunteers at the university participated in the study. Scanning was performed two times for the …

Clinical Variables Influencing The Severity Of Diabetes Ketoacidosis, Yara F. Alhamdani, Lojain O. Almadfaa, Abdulmoein E. Alagha

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To evaluate clinical indicators in order to examine the intensity of diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) episodes in children and adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Methods: Data from 156 T1DM patients aged 6 months to 14 years, who presented with DKA to the emergency room, were retrospectively reviewed from 2018 to 2022. Data on demographic characteristics, economic status, initial clinical presentation, glycemic control, DKA severity, and laboratory evaluations were also collected. Results: Diabetes ketoacidosis episodes were more prevalent among male patients during the middle childhood age group. Notably, these episodes displayed seasonal patterns. The severity was found to …

Bilateral Renal Lymphangiectasia: Literature Review Of A Rare Entity, Abdullah Ayed, Shahzada Khalid Sohail, Syeda Fatima Rizvi, Raed I. Alwadai

Saudi Medical Journal

Renal lymphangiectasia (RL) is a rare condition in which lymphatic vessels are dilated giving rise to cyst formation in peripelvic, perirenal and intrarenal locations. Knowledge about RL is limited and based upon individual case reports. This can be genetic or acquired. There is no significant association with any gender or age. It can be manifested as focal or diffuse forms and can be unilateral or bilateral. Most of the cases present with abdominal or flank pain. The diagnosis is based on radiological imaging. Due to rarity of diseases, it has potential to be misdiagnosed as other cystic disease of kidneys. …

Insights And Considerations On Cftr Variant Reporting In A Study Of Cystic Fibrosis Patients In Saudi Arabia Cftr 1548del G And 1549del G: Navigating The Discovery Of Novel Mutations

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Can Artificial Intelligence Techniques Help Clinicians Assess And Treat Patients With Bone Fractures?

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Who Reports Widespread Overuse Of Antibiotics In Patients Hospitalized With Covid-19

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Molecular Epidemiology And Molecular Typing Methods Of Acinetobacter Baumannii: An Updated Review, Razique Anwer

Saudi Medical Journal

The aim of this study was to go through the molecular methods used for typing of carbapenem-resistant Acientobacter baumannii (CRAB) isolates for investigating the molecular epidemiology all over the world. Multiple typing techniques are required to understand the source and nature of outbreaks caused by Acientobacter baumannii ( A. baumannii ) and acquired resistance to antimicrobials. Nowadays, there is gradual shift from traditional typing methods to modern molecular methods to study molecular epidemiology and infection control. Molecular typing of A. baumannii strains has been revolutionized significantly in the last 2 decades. A few sequencing-based techniques have been proven as a …

Clinical Presentation And Outcomes Of Patients With Rhabdomyolysis: A Tertiary Care Center Experience, Mohammed Tawhari, Abdulaziz Aldalaan, Rahaf Alanazi, Sarah Aldharman, Turki Alnafisah, Nawaf Alawad, Abdullah M. Alhejji, Abdulrahman Yousef Alhabeeb, Moustafa S. Alhamadh

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical and laboratory features, complications, and outcomes of patients with rhabdomyolysis in the Saudi population. Methods: Retrospectives descriptive study of adult patients who presented to King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) withrhabdomyolysis between January 2016 and December 2022. Results: Most of the participants (84.5%) were male, with a median age of 41 years and a body mass index of 26.5 kg/m 2 . Medications, mainly statins (22.4%) and illicit drugs (15.5%), constituted the root causes of rhabdomyolysis in the cohort (44.8%). The most common presenting complaints were myalgia (63.8%) and fatigue (37.9%). More than one-third of the …

Strengthened Global Capacities On Climate Change And Health: Who Training In Madrid

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Deterministic Global 3d Fractal Cloud Model For Synthetic Scene Generation, Aaron M. Schinder, Shannon R. Young, Bryan J. Steward, Michael L. Dexter, Andrew Kondrath, Stephen Hinton, Ricardo Davila

Faculty Publications

This paper describes the creation of a fast, deterministic, 3D fractal cloud renderer for the AFIT Sensor and Scene Emulation Tool (ASSET). The renderer generates 3D clouds by ray marching through a volume and sampling the level-set of a fractal function. The fractal function is distorted by a displacement map, which is generated using horizontal wind data from a Global Forecast System (GFS) weather file. The vertical windspeed and relative humidity are used to mask the creation of clouds to match realistic large-scale weather patterns over the Earth. Small-scale detail is provided by the fractal functions which are tuned to …

Examining The Relationship Between Politics And The Economy, Evan Pals

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this project is to quantify the relationship between the US political environment and the American economy. First, impacts of U.S. presidential elections on the American economy are analyzed. The project will analyze the time effects of elections on multiple economic indicators. Average returns on the following investments will be observed: Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, gold, and silver. Additionally, the price of crude oil and the consumer price index will be studied. Time dummy variables will then be incorporated to show whether an election took place within the given time period, splitting the data into two …

Soil Reclamation Strategies In Construction Disturbed Soil, Alexis Koelling

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The rapid urbanization occurring in arid environments like the Intermountain West region of the U.S. significantly alters soil conditions. Construction of roads, buildings, and other infrastructure leads to the disturbance of soil structure, nutrient depletion, and reduced fertility. This research addresses the need for sustainable soil management practices that may restore soil health post-construction. In this study, the effectiveness of various soil amendments and application methods on specific soil parameters and turfgrass establishment in construction-disturbed soils was evaluated. The study highlights the critical role of soil amendments, particularly municipal solid waste (MSW) compost, in improving soil quality and plant growth. …

The Constitution As Symbol Or Operating Manual: A Rejoinder On Constitutional Literacy, Brian Christopher Jones, De Maartje Visser

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Assessing constitutional functionality often brings forward questions that go to the heart of the constitutional project, and this is certainly the case with constitutional literacy. After all, constitutions serve as national symbols and in a related vein, some have even likened them to a country’s autobiography. As Mounk points out, constitutional values and civic cultures have at times defined democracies, and many states have used their founding documents as key symbols to produce a shared identity or civic patriotism. At the same time, constitutions will also set out the legal and political structures of, and constraints on, institutions, and as …

The Implementation Of The Model Law On Cross-Border Insolvency: International Divergences And Challenges Ahead, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (‘MLCBI’) was enacted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (‘UNCITRAL’) in 1997. Since then, it has been adopted by 62 jurisdictions and has led to many debates and interpretations about its potential, scope and limits. This article provides a general overview of some of the international divergences existing in the implementation of the MLCBI across jurisdictions. It also discusses some of the challenges that need to be overcome to make the MLCBI a more effective tool to deal with cross-border insolvency.

Heat And Observed Economic Activity In The Rich Urban Tropics, Eric Fesselmeyer, Haoming. Liu, Alberto. Salvo, Rhita P B. Simorangkir

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We use space-and-time resolved mobility data to assess how heat impacts Singapore, a rich city-state and arguably a harbinger of what is to come in the urbanizing tropics. Singapore’s offices, factories, malls, buses, and trains are widely air conditioned, its public schools less so. We document increased attendance and commuting to workplaces, malls, and the more air-conditioned schools on hotter relative to cooler days, particularly by low-income residents with limited use of adaptive technologies at home. Investment by rich cities may attenuate heat’s pervasive negative consequences on productive outcomes, yet this may worsen the climate emergency in the long run.

Big Infrastructure And/As Flexibility: The Sites Reservoir Story, Sarah Priscilla Randle, David Linville

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

If constructed as planned, the Sites Reservoir Project will add roughly 1.85 billion m3 (1.5 million acre-feet) of storage capacity to California's water system. Per project proponents, however, the reservoir complex should be understood as infrastructure that would not only increase available water supply but also provide the state's water network with an infusion of a vital systemic quality: flexibility. This article considers such discourses of flexibility through a case study of the Sites project, grounded in analysis of planning documents, government, think tank, and NGO reports, and media coverage from outlets across California. The resulting account shows how the …

Opening The Black Box: Towards Inherently Interpretable Energy Data Imputation Models Using Building Physics Insight, Antonio Liguori, Matias Quintana, Chun Fu, Clayton Miller, Jérôme Frisch, Christoph Van Treeck

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Missing data are frequently observed by practitioners and researchers in the building energy modeling community. In this regard, advanced data-driven solutions, such as Deep Learning methods, are typically required to reflect the non-linear behavior of these anomalies. As an ongoing research question related to Deep Learning, a model's applicability to limited data settings can be explored by introducing prior knowledge in the network. This same strategy can also lead to more interpretable predictions, hence facilitating the field application of the approach. For that purpose, the aim of this paper is to propose the use of Physics-informed Denoising Autoencoders (PI-DAE) for …

Impact Of Sustained Calorie Restriction And Weight Cycling On Body Composition In High-Fat Diet-Fed Male And Female C57bl/6j Mice, Daniel L Smith, Yongbin Yang, Luis M Mestre, Beate Henschel, Erik Parker, Stephanie Dickinson, Amit Patki, David B Allison, Tim R Nagy

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate body composition changes with weight cycling (WC) among adult C57BL/6J mice with diet-induced obesity.

Methods: A total of 555 single-housed mice were fed a high-fat diet ad libitum (AL) from 8 to 43 weeks of age. The 200 heaviest mice of each sex were randomized to the following four groups: ever obese (EO, continued AL feeding); obese weight loser (OWL, calorie-restricted); obese weight loser moderate (OWLM, body weight halfway between EO and OWL); and WC (diet restricted to OWL followed by AL refeeding cycles). Body weight and composition data were collected. …

Prevalence Of Distal Symmetrical Polyneuropathy By Diabetes Prevention Program Treatment Group, Diabetes Status, Duration Of Diabetes, And Cumulative Glycemic Exposure, Christine G Lee, Adam Ciarleglio, Sharon L Edelstein, Jill P Crandall, Dana Dabelea, Ronald B Goldberg, Steven E Kahn, William C Knowler, Maxwell T Ma, Neil H White, William H Herman, Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Objective: To assess associations between distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSPN) and Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) treatment groups, diabetes status or duration, and cumulative glycemic exposure approximately 21 years after DPP randomization.

Research design and methods: In the DPP, 3,234 adults ≥25 years old at high risk for diabetes were randomized to an intensive lifestyle (ILS), metformin, or placebo intervention to prevent diabetes. After the DPP ended, 2,779 joined the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS). Open-label metformin was continued, placebo was discontinued, ILS was provided in the form of semiannual group-based classes, and all participants were offered quarterly lifestyle classes. Symptoms …

Student-Centered Task Box Instruction, Mikayla Meece

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Engagement is vital to all learning situations and has, according to Parsons et al. (2018) been associated with an increase in student achievement. Morgan (2013) highlighted that students comprehend little and lose focus of classroom instruction when teachers fail to use differentiated instruction. Therefore, the researcher in this project utilized task box instruction to increase student engagement and on-task behavior in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) classrooms. Task-box instruction can accommodate for different ability levels and interests, while also modeling initial learning and providing practice with developmentally appropriate skills and strategies (Morgan, 2013). Specifically, task boxes involve providing students with …

Mentor Training Curriculum For Mentor Programs Within K-12 Public School Systems, Haley Ulland

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

To address the issue of school failure, many communities have implemented mentor programs to encourage youth academics and social growth. However, excellent mentor candidates are often hard to find and schedule. Implementing near peer mentor programs within K-12 public school systems could give the same benefits as adult mentor programs with more accessibility and mutual benefits to each party including boosted attendance, academic success, college and career readiness skills, improved social skills, and enhanced emotional well-being. Along with mutual benefits there are also qualities which make some mentors and mentor programs more successful than others including proper training and goal …

Designing And Developing A Medical-Legal Partnership To Address Cancer Patients' Health-Harming Legal Needs, Allison B. Dowling, Vicki W. Girard, Megan E. Gordon, Abigail Sweeney, Christopher M. Gallagher, Amy D. Ly, Lisa Kessler, Deborah F. Perry

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Georgetown University's Cancer Legal Assistance and Well-being Project launched in 2020 as a medical-legal partnership that works with health care providers at a Washington, D.C. safety-net hospital to treat the health-harming legal needs of historically and intentionally marginalized patients with cancer.

Delta Like 4 Regulates Cerebrovascular Development And Endothelial Integrity Via Dll4-Notch-Cldn5 Pathway And Is Vulnerable To Neonatal Hyperoxia., Xingrao Ke, Sheng Xia, Wei Yu, Sherry M. Mabry, Qi Fu, Heather Menden, Venkatesh Sampath, Robert H. Lane

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The mechanisms governing brain vascularization during development remain poorly understood. A key regulator of developmental vascularization is delta like 4 (DLL4), a Notch ligand prominently expressed in endothelial cells (EC). Exposure to hyperoxia in premature infants can disrupt the development and functions of cerebral blood vessels and lead to long-term cognitive impairment. However, its role in cerebral vascular development and the impact of postnatal hyperoxia on DLL4 expression in mouse brain EC have not been explored. We determined the DLL4 expression pattern and its downstream signalling gene expression in brain EC using Dll4^+/+ and Dll4^+/LacZ mice. We also …

Trbc1 In Flow Cytometry: Assay Development, Validation, And Reporting Considerations., Katherine A. Devitt, Wolfgang Kern, Weijie Li, Xuehai Wang, Allyson J. Wong, Felipe M. Furtado, Jean S. Oak, Andrea Illingworth

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The assessment of T-cell clonality by flow cytometry has long been suboptimal, relying on aberrant marker expression and/or intensity. The introduction of TRBC1 shows much promise for improving the diagnosis of T-cell neoplasms in the clinical flow laboratory. Most laboratories considering this marker already have existing panels designed for T-cell workups and will be determining how best to incorporate TRBC1. We present this comprehensive summary of TRBC1 and supplemental case examples to familiarize the flow cytometry community with its potential for routine application, provide examples of how to incorporate it into T-cell panels, and signal caution in interpreting the results …

Safety And Efficacy Of Ivacaftor In Infants Aged 1 To Less Than 4 Months With Cystic Fibrosis., Paul Mcnally, Alvin Singh, Susanna A. Mccolley, Jane C. Davies, Mark Higgins, Meng Liu, Jennifer Lu, Violeta Rodriguez-Romero, Judy L. Shih, Margaret Rosenfeld, Vx15-770-124 Study Group

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Ivacaftor (IVA) has been shown to be safe and efficacious in children aged ≥4 months with cystic fibrosis (CF) and CFTR gating variants. We evaluated safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and efficacy of IVA in a small cohort of infants aged 1 toCF.

METHODS: In this phase 3, open-label study, infants 1 toinfants, doses were adjusted at day 15 to better match median adult exposures based on individual PK measurements taken on day 4. Primary endpoints were safety and PK measurements.

RESULTS: Seven infants (residual function CFTR variants [n=5]; minimal function CFTR variants [n=2]) received ≥1 dose of IVA. Six infants …