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Classroom indoor air quality (IAQ) can contribute to students’ wellbeing, academic performance, and quality of life. While classroom IAQ field assessments are regularly conducted globally, they are limited in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Initiatives driven by Saudi Vision 2030 point toward improving IAQ conditions in classrooms and lead to the development of enhanced pilot school models. This study assesses classroom IAQ in conventional and pilot secondary public schools in Jeddah using CO2 concentration levels as a commonly used indicator for comparing IAQ and ventilation performance. CO2 levels were measured in 12 classrooms (N = 12) that used different mechanical conditioning systems in three schools. The results revealed that all the examined classrooms reported high levels of CO2 concentrations in excess of the recommended 1,000 ppm by ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1, which was mainly due to classrooms being overcrowded, the type of mechanical conditioning system, and students’ behavioral patterns and operational schedules. More practical guidance on the provision of fresh air and the efficiency of mechanical ventilation systems is required to ensure adequate ventilation and pollutant dilution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objectives: To evaluate the Ministry of Health (MoH) hospitals preparedness for potential disasters and crisis events using the World Health Organization (WHO) hospital emergency response checklist. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at MoH hospitals in Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia using the WHO hospital emergency response checklist. The overall level of hospital preparedness was categorized as unacceptable if the rating is between 0-64, insufficient if it is between 65-129 and effective preparedness if the score is between 130-184. The study conducted in 3 phases. First phase, the preintervention assessment was conducted from August 23 to 27, 2017. Second phase, intervention strategies were implemented between 2018 and 2019 to enhance the hospitals preparedness for any potential disaster situation. Third phase, the postintervention assessment was conducted from September 5 to 7, 2019, using with the same checklist. Results: The preparedness score of key components at the participating hospitals showed an "insufficient" level of preparedness. The mean preparedness score of the participating hospitals was 81.5±11.39 (range: 65-91), which is lower than the recommended WHO cut-off level of effective preparedness. The preparedness score of the post-recovery component was very low 01±1.15 compared to the WHO range (0-18). Conclusion: A total of 4 hospitals participated in the study. The participated hospitals showed insufficient levels of preparedness for potential disasters and crisis events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are considered an overwhelming health burden in Saudi Arabia, greatly aggravated with the increasing rates of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and obesity. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is one of the tumor necrosis factor receptors, commonly associated with coronary heart diseases. This study examines the possible correlation among OPG with both DM and CVD. Methods: The study was conducted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and included 201 subjects. They were divided into four matched groups: group 1 were patients with CVD only; group 2 were patients with DM type 2; group 3 were patients suffering from DM and CVD, and group 4 was normal control. All groups were divided into male and female subgroups. The following parameters were measured; complete blood picture, lipid profile, insulin, fasting glucose and kidney function and also then relationship to OPG levels. Results: OPG was significantly elevated in males with CVD alone (8.31 ± 4.01 ng/ml), or in association with DM (6.54 ± 3.55 ng/ml). An increase was noted in female patients, but only in the DM and CVD groups (6.75 ± 3.3 ng/ml). A weak positive correlation was detected between OPG concentrations with both fibrinogen and glucose levels in females, while in males OPG levels were positively correlated with waist to hip ratios. Conclusion: OPG could be a valuable biomarker for early CVD appearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neopterin has been considered as an important marker of cellular inflammation. The primary objective of the current study was to determine the role of neopterin in cardiovascular disease and its association with other well known cardiac markers. The study was composed of total 200 subjects (100 confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, 50 recently diagnosed, and 50 managed CAD patients) both men and women and 100 healthy control individuals of matching age and weight. Serum neopterin analysis was done using commercial available ELISA kits. Other cardiac markers viz. troponin, creatine kinase (CK), CK MB isoenzyme (CKMB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation was done by standard routine biochemical methods. Neopterin level was found to be remarkably enhanced by 150% and 513% in the recently diagnosed and managed CAD patients, respectively. CK level also showed a significant rise by 62% in the managed patients. However, recently diagnosed patients did not show any significant change. Moreover, cross correlation study showed statistically significant ( P < 0.01) change in neopterin and CK levels between recently and managed patients. In the other studied CAD markers such as CKMB, fibrinogen and LDH also showed a significant increase in both categories of patients. CRP level was also found to be significantly enhanced by 357% ( P < 0.01) and 341% ( P < 0.05) in recently diagnosed and managed patients respectively. Because of cost effectiveness, easy and quick analysis of neopterin in the serum sample, we propose neopterin as the prognostic as well as diagnostic biomarker of CAD before other markers could be tested especially in Saudi population. © 2015 IUBMB Life, 67(6):453-459, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]