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Previous studies have found significant differences between the classroom behaviour of boys and girls. Most are within a single broad cultural context and little work has been done within an Arabic/Kuwaiti one. The main aim was to investigate the differences in behaviour between boys and girls in Kuwait primary schools. Data were collected that provided comparisons across questionnaires between parent and teacher returns for over 430 students. Separate teacher observations of students (n = 671) and classroom researcher observations were also obtained. Significant differences were found across the scales, indicating higher levels of externalising misbehaviour among boys than girls. A comparison with three studies conducted in other cultural contexts using the same strengths and difficulties instrument as used in this study found similarities and differences in results between the behaviour of boys and girls.

This study provides the first extensive examination of quadriliteral verbs in Kuwaiti Arabic dialects. To date, there has been little discussion about their morphological construction, classification, and semantic features; no comprehensive presentation has yet been published of these features despite their frequent occurrence in the dialect. The purpose of this study is to, first, highlight the flexibility of the verb root system in the dialect and, second, to explore the colorful senses that the verbs under investigation carry. The data were mostly gathered in Kuwait between 2012 and 2020, and from local published material on the dialects of Kuwait. One interesting finding is that the dialect has a reservoir of more than 250 quadriliterals based on various templates, with Old Arabic, as well as Persian, Turkish, French, and English origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a high contagious and deadly virus, with an endless capacity to surprise clinicians with new presentations and complications. Although COVID-19 typically presents as respiratory infection but it can present with thromboembolic event. Our hospital, one of the main tertiary care hospitals in Kuwait, experiencing sudden surge of stroke cases in last few weeks of COVID-19 pandemic. Stroke is a medical emergency which needs early recognition and management for better neurological outcome. In the COVID-19 pandemic, when seeing patients with neurological manifestations, clinicians should consider COVID-19 as a differential diagnosis and should take full protective measures until proven to be negative. Based on our experience, we want to highlight that COVID-19 patients can present with extrapulmonary manifestation like stroke. Emergency physicians, stroke team and intensivist should be wary of this fact. Triaging and COVID-19 screening is the key to minimize the virus spread and to ensure staff and other patients safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes at Dasman Diabetes Institute (DDI, Kuwait), a specialist diabetes clinic and research center, and to investigate its association with patient demographics and clinical characteristics. Methods: Data from 963 patients with type 2 diabetes were retrospectively collected from the Knowledge Based Health Records maintained at DDI for patients who attended DDI during 2011–2014. The collected data included patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and anti-diabetic medications. Student's t -test was used to evaluate the differences in mean values between poor and good glycemic control groups. Categorical variables were assessed using chi-square analysis with Fisher's exact test for small data sets. Results: The patients' mean age was 53.0 ± 9.5 years with equal number of males and females. Females (34.4 ± 7.2 kg/m2) had a higher mean body mass index than males (32.1 ± 6.4 kg/m2). The mean fasting blood glucose and HbA1c levels were 9.6 ± 3.8 mmol/L and 8.5 ± 1.8%, respectively. Dyslipidemia (46%) and hypertension (40%) were the most common comorbidities, whereas nephropathy (36%) and neuropathy (35%) were the most common diabetic complications. The most commonly used anti-diabetic medication was metformin (55%). Factors significantly associated with poor glycemic control (HbA1c level ≥ 7%) included insulin use; neuropathy or foot ulcers as diabetic complications; and elevated systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting blood glucose levels. Factors significantly associated with good glycemic control included metformin use and elevated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. The proportion of patients with good glycemic control (HbA1c level < 7%) was 29.5%. A large proportion of the patients with poor glycemic control were only administered monotherapy drugs, and two-thirds of the patients were obese. Further, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommendations for blood pressure and LDL cholesterol level were met (62 and 63%, respectively) by follow-up year 4. Conclusion: The therapeutic management of type 2 diabetes in Kuwait is suboptimal. Therapeutic strategies should ensure better adherence to ADA guidelines, evaluate the high obesity rates, and adherence to lifestyle recommendations by patients, and continually promote diabetes education and self-empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to explore users' intention to adopt mobile commerce (m-commerce) and to identify users' perceived benefits and perceived barriers that promote or inhibit m-commerce adoption in Kuwait. The study employs a quantitative approach that is based on a sample of 1000 students. Results indicate that user adoption decisions of m-commerce are positively influenced by key benefits more than the key barriers. Key benefits of m-commerce reveal that it is faster, it saves time and it is convenient, useful and handy in all locations. While key barriers of m-commerce range within poor network coverage, slow connection and data transfer, in addition to security risks and privacy of invasion. Theoretical implications show that the technology acceptance model can be applied successfully to examine m-commerce in the context of Kuwait. Practical implications show the benefits and barriers that promote and inhibit m-commerce that, if taken into consideration, can add a competitive advantage to online sellers and small to medium-sized enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the effects of age and presence or absence of renal impairment at the time of 'J' stent insertion on the subsequent fate of prolonged forgotten stents. Patients and methods: A patient was described as having a prolonged forgotten 'J' stent, if the patient's 'J' stent was removed more than 12 months after it had been inserted. We compared the effect of age at insertion and presence or absence of renal impairment on the complications encountered in such patients. We describe briefly the management of the complications. We defined a patient as having moderate renal impairment if the patient has serum creatinine >200 < 500 µmol/l and is not on dialysis. Results: We treated 17 patients with forgotten 'J' stents between 1994 and 2000. Fifteen were adults, mean age 25 (range 18- 72) years, and 2 were children 9 and 10 years respectively at the time the stents were inserted. The mean duration of stent retention was 24.30 (range 12-60) months. In 12 patients the stents were forgotten for between 12 and 18 months. In these, the stents had varying degrees of calcification but were easily removed intact endoscopically in 11 out of 12 cases. One 10-yearold boy in this group required open surgical removal of the stent. In one 35-year-old patient, the stent was forgotten for 36 months. It had fractured spontaneously in 7 places and required endoscopic and open removal of stent fragments. In 2 cases, a growing 9-year-old boy, and a 30-year-old man the stents were forgotten for 46 and 48 months respectively. After 46 months of retaining the stent, the stent spontaneously fractured in 11 places in the growing child, while in the adult it became heavily calcified and fractured during attempts to remove it endoscopically. Two adult patients with moderate renal failure at the time of stent insertion retained the stents for 40 and 60 months respectively. One of these 2 stents had a minor calcification at the tip of the stent in the renal pelvis. Both stents were removed intact endoscopically and showed no sign of fracture or calcification. Conclusion: In a growing child a prolonged forgotten 'J' stent is very likely to undergo spontaneous fracture due to the stress exerted on it as a result of cranio-caudal growth of the child. In adults, prolonged forgotten stents become calcified, brittle and lose tensile strength after more than one year of placement and may fracture either spontaneously or during attempts to remove them endoscopically. In patients producing hypotonic urine such as patients with moderate renal failure, a prolonged forgotten stent may remain little affected by the passage of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an outline of the requirements needed for a concept of a science park in developing countries such as Kuwait, in the areas of environment, oil and petrochemicals. Variation of the socio-political and economic structures of developing countries; What the points outlined in the Cabral-Dahab Science Park Management Paradigm allow.

Purpose: Prostate cancer care in the Middle East is highly variable and access to specialist multidisciplinary management is limited. Academic tertiary referral centers offer cutting-edge diagnosis and treatment; however, in many parts of the region, patients are managed by non-specialists with limited resources. Due to many factors including lack of awareness and lack of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, a high percentage of men present with locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer at diagnosis. The aim of these recommendations is to assist clinicians in managing patients with different levels of access to diagnostic and treatment modalities., Methods: The first Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) satellite meeting for the Middle East was held in Beirut, Lebanon, November 2017. During this meeting a consortium of urologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologist and imaging specialists practicing in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia voted on a selection of consensus questions. An additional workshop to formulate resource-stratified consensus recommendations was held in March 2019., Results: Variations in practice based on available resources have been proposed to form resource-stratified recommendations for imaging at diagnosis, initial management of localized prostate cancer requiring therapy, treatment of castration-sensitive/naïve advanced prostate cancer and treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer., Conclusion: This is the first regional consensus on prostate cancer management from the Middle East. The following recommendations will be useful to urologists and oncologists practicing in all areas with limited access to specialist multi-disciplinary teams, diagnostic modalities and treatment resources.

There is a sharp rise in the use of social networking sites (SNSs) by university students for various purposes. However, little is known about the use of SNSs for educational purposes. This study aims to determine educational use of SNSs by the medical students of two Saudi and a Kuwaiti medical school. A cross-sectional study was conducted by administering a 20-statement questionnaire to the undergraduate medical and allied health sciences students of two Saudi universities: Taibah University (TU) and Imam Abdulrahman AlFaisal University (IAFU), and one Kuwaiti university, Kuwait University (KU). The data were collected and analyzed by SPSS 20. Of a total of 1312 respondents, 1181 (90%) students used SNSs and 131 (10%) did not use SNSs for any reason. Further, only 442/1181 (37%, p < 0.00) students used SNSs for education and found these sites to be useful. As many as 357 (27%) students used SNSs for sharing education-related information once a day, 306 (23%) 3-5 times a day, and 331 (25%) once a week. A maximum of 678 (52%) used Facebook for educational purpose and most of the students, 469 (38%), used SNSs for sharing lectures. There were significant variations in responses among genders and year of schooling. The use of online social media in medical education is a rapidly evolving arena of scholarship. Low use of SNSs for sharing information and significant variations in perceptions of medical students about social media should draw attention of policy-makers for promoting awareness and educational reforms.