Paediatric cutaneous larva migrans: A case report from an uncommon region

Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) is a skin infection caused by the of hook-worm larvae, most commonly Ancylostoma braziliense or Ancylostoma caninum, within the outer layer of the skin. While CLM is primarily found in tropical and subtropical areas, occasional cases have been documented in other regions globally. This case report describes an 8-year-old boy from Saudi Arabia who presented with an unusual case of CLM which is not usually seen in our region of the world, characterised by a serpiginous, erythematous lesion on the medial aspect of his left little finger. The patient had no recent travel history, which made this case particularly noteworthy given the rarity of CLM in this region. The diagnosis was supported by clinical examination and imaging studies, which revealed inflammatory changes consistent with CLM. This case underscores the importance of recognising CLM, even in non-endemic regions and highlights the need for awareness among clinicians regarding the presentation and management of this parasitic infection

10 years of experience in adopting, implementing and evaluating progress testing for Saudi medical students

Objectives: The progress test (PT) is a comprehensive examination that is designed to match the knowledge acquisition necessary at graduation and monitors progress during the entire period of an undergraduate program. Qassim College of Medicine (QCM) began using the multi-institutional PT in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This study aimed to determine if the PT can be utilized to assess the progress of medical students at different Saudi medical colleges with different educational approaches, as well as whether this testing modality could be accepted by other colleges. Methods: Beside the establishment of a PT committee, comprehensive blueprinting was crafted to sample 200 A-type multiple choice questions (MCQs) from different disciplines. The PT is a paper-and-pencil model and is answered in a 4-h period. All PT items followed a uniform design. Results: In total, 13 rounds of the progress test have been conducted. The number of participating colleges increased from three (with 285 students) in the first test (May 2012) to more than 20 (with &gt;6000 students) in the ninth round (February 2017). The average % scores for first-year students ranged from 3.0% to 7.9% while the average scores for fifth-year students ranged from 34.0% to 43.0%. Conclusion: The conduction of this meticulously crafted test to evaluate knowledge achievement at medical graduation is a fruitful tool and helps to provide constructive feedback for test-takers and other stakeholders relating to their relative positions among other fellows at the national level.</p

Platelet count and platelet indices in women with preeclampsia

BACKGROUND: Although the exact pathophysiology of preeclampsia is not completely understood, the utility of different platelets indices can be utilized to predict preeclampsia. OBJECTIVE: To compare platelet indices, namely platelet count (PC), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), and PC to MPV ratio in women with preeclampsia compared with healthy controls. SETTING: Qassim Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. DESIGN: A case–control study. Sixty preeclamptic women were the cases and an equal number of healthy pregnant women were the controls. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in age, parity, and body mass index between the study groups. Sixteen and 44 of the cases were severe and mild preeclampsia, respectively. There was no significant difference in PDW and MPV between the preeclamptic and control women. Both PC and PC to MPV ratios were significantly lower in the women with preeclampsia compared with the controls. There was no significant difference in the PC, PDW, MPV, and PC to MPV ratio when women with mild and severe preeclampsia were compared. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the PC cutoff was 248.0×10(3)/µL for diagnosis of pre-eclampsia (P=0.019; the area under the ROC curve was 62.4%). Binary regression suggests that women with PC <248.010×10(3)/µL were at higher risk of preeclampsia (odds ratio =2.2, 95% confidence interval =1.08–4.6, P=0.03). The PC/MPV cutoff was 31.2 for diagnosis of preeclampsia (P=0.035, the area under the ROC curve was 62.2%). CONCLUSION: PC <248.010×10(3)/µL and PC to MPV ratio 31.2 are valid predictors of preeclampsia

The impact of using different keyboards on free-text keystroke dynamics authentication for Arabic language

Purpose Nowadays, there is a high demand for online services and applications. However, there is a challenge to keep these applications secured by applying different methods rather than using the traditional approaches such as passwords and usernames. Keystroke dynamics is one of the alternative authentication methods that provide high level of security in which the used keyboard plays an important role in the recognition accuracy. To guarantee the robustness of a system in different practical situations, there is a need to examine how much the performance of the system is affected by changing the keyboard layout. This paper aims to investigate the impact of using different keyboards on the recognition accuracy for Arabic free-text typing. Design/methodology/approach To evaluate how much the performance of the system is affected by changing the keyboard layout, an experimental study is conducted by using two different keyboards which are a Mac’s keyboard and an HP’s keyboard. Findings By using the Mac’s keyboard, the results showed that the false rejection rate (FRR) was 0.20, whilst the false acceptance rate (FAR) was 0.44. However, these values have changed when using the HP’s keyboard where the FRR was equal to 0.08 and the FAR was equal to 0.60. Research limitations/implications The number of participants in the experiment, as the authors were targeting much more participants. Originality/value These results showed for the first time the impact of the keyboards on the system’s performance regarding the recognition accuracy when using Arabic free-text. </jats:sec