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Badria Said, Maryam O Gharawi, Fatimah H Dallak, Afnan Q Maashi, Eman Hurissi, Sarah O Gharawi, Melia M Tarshi, Alanoud I Hayyan, Suzan A Faqihi, Hafiz I AlMusawa, Ghadah M Hakami, Abdulaziz H Alhazmi Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Abdulaziz H Alhazmi, Jazan University, Tel +966-7329-5000, Email abalhazmi@jazanu.edu.saObjective: Patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension (HTN) are considered a vulnerable group, and they are prone to anxiety and other psychological conditions during pandemics. Very few reports discussed factors related to anxiety and how it is associated with HTN during COVID-19 pandemic. In this project, we aimed to identify the prevalence of anxiety among hypertensive patients in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, and data were collected using an electronic self-administered pretested questionnaire distributed via trained data collectors. Data were analyzed using t-test and chi-test.Results: A total of 2135 participants were enrolled in this study. Anxiety was reported in 5% of all participants and 8% of the hypertensive participants. Older age, marital status, higher body mass index (BMI), smoking, and Khat chewing were strongly associated with anxiety among the general population. In addition, less adherence to medication made participants with HTN significantly more anxious.Conclusion: The prevalence of anxiety among hypertensive individuals is higher compared to the general population. Moreover, anxiety is significantly associated with some sociodemographic in the general population, and with less adherence to medications in hypertensive patients. Further studies with data from medical record including more variables are needed to highlight this association.Keywords: hypertension, anxiety, COVID-19, pandemic, Saudi Arabia

Introduction Thyroid nodules are very common. However, the majority of thyroid nodules are benign. Ultrasound is the first-line imaging investigation of choice for thyroid nodules. Certain sonographic features are associated with an increased risk of malignancy. Recent studies suggested that the location of the nodule may be associated with the malignancy risk. Hence, this study aims to investigate this association. Methods After obtaining approval from the ethics committee, we conducted a retrospective study that involved all patients who attended our hospital, and who underwent fine-needle aspiration cytology for the evaluation of suspicious thyroid nodules (TR3-5). Electronic medical records were used to obtain data about the ultrasound and cytology reports. A multivariable binary logistic regression analysis model was conducted to identify the independent factors significantly associated with malignant thyroid nodules. Results The study included 366 patients who underwent fine-needle aspiration cytology for suspicious nodules on thyroid ultrasound. In total, 52 (14.2%) nodules were found to be malignant on cytology. By far, the most common thyroid malignancy was papillary carcinoma. The multivariable analysis model revealed that women were 24% less likely to have malignant thyroid nodules compared with men. After adjusting for the age, gender, and Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) group, the nodules located within the isthmus were four times more likely to be malignant compared to those located in the right or left lobes. Conclusions The study demonstrates that the isthmus location of thyroid nodules is associated with a higher risk of malignancy. Physicians should have a lower threshold to biopsy such nodules. Further studies are needed to confirm this interesting finding.

This is the story of how four people invented a whole new world and way of life—and how they attempted to establish it across the globe. Copass, a Parisian startup consisting of four cofounders, aimed to connect hundreds of the world’s shared workspaces under their new global federation. But the main objective of this startup, in contrast to most, was not to build capital. It was to build a universe: a future where white-collar workers would be liberated from the shackles of office life to work anywhere in the world, to meet exciting people and to have amazing experiences. Here, workdays were permanently mixed with holidays. Work was fun, workplaces were play-places and workers were adventurers. The ambition of these four cofounders was to turn the way they wanted things to be for them into the way things ought to be for everyone else. To turn their desired lifestyle into a global social movement that enrolled, as they saw it, hundreds of cities and thousands, tens of thousands, even millions of people. In short, they created a company to fulfil a dream. This is an ethnography of that one startup’s dream, analysed at length to demonstrate innovative ways of worldmaking employed by an ambitious tech company seeking success. A company dissatisfied with the world that, instead of changing it, decided to create a new one.

The AT & T Bell Laboratories Library Network is striving to fulfill its vision of providing all AT & T professional employees with an «electronic window» to meet their information needs. People must be able to access information quickly and easily without the fear of information overload. Taking these needs and requirements into account, the Library and computer researchers combined their interests and areas of expertise to create The RightPages TM Service. This service brings the library to users' desktop work-stations by incorporating ASCII text, bitmap images, and an alerting service, in a system that is comfortable and efficient to use

Authoring of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia is a complex activity requiring the combination of a range of design and validation techniques. We demonstrate how Adaptive Educational Hypermedia can be transformed into CAVIAr courseware validation models allowing for its validation. The model-based representation and analysis of different concerns and model-based mappings and transformations are key contributors to this integrated solution. We illustrate the benefits of Model Driven Engineering methodologies that allow for interoperability between CAVIAr and a well known Adaptive Educational Hypermedia framework. By allowing for the validation of Adaptive Educational Hypermedia, the course creator limits the risk of pedagogical problems in migrating to Adaptive Educational Hypermedia from static courseware.

A progressive frequency of resistance to fluoroquinolones is observed among Gram-negative bacilli.To investigate the mechanism of resistance to fluoroquinolones mediated by mutations affecting gyrA and gyrB genes in strains of Gram negative bacüli isolated from CMean hospitals.Minimal inhibitory concentration of fluoroquinolones was determined in 91 randomly selected nalidixic acid-resistant strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, isolated from hospitals of 12 Chilean cities. Quinolone resistance determining region (QRDR) was amplified by PCR and mutations were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and DNA sequencing.Strains with mutation in codon 83 of gyrA showed decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin with MICs ranging from 0.25 to 1024 fig/ml. The sequencing of PCR products for gyrA indicated amino acid changes in the QRDR region. One strain ofE. coli presented a double mutation, in codon 83 Ser to Leu as well as in codon 87 Asp to Asn. In strains ofK. pneumoniae, however, the change of codon 83 was Ser to Tyr, in A. baumannii was Ser to Leu and in P. aeruginosa was Thr to He. No strains with mutations affecting gyrB were found.Mutations in codon 83 of gyrA is a frequent genetic event involved in the mechanism leading to decreased susceptibility to fluoroquinolone in strains of Gram-negative bacilli.