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Ahmad S Alharthi,1 Mohammed A Alsofyani,2 Wedd K Alharthi,3 Shaimaa A Alsalmi,3 Atheer S Altalhi,3 Khaled A Alswat4 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Family Medicine, Ministry of Health, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 3School of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Ahmad S AlharthiDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi ArabiaTel +966 595677880Email a7mad.al0rabi@gmail.comBackground and Objectives: Scabies is a common contagious parasitic dermatological illness. In 2017, WHO recognized scabies as a neglected tropical disease. The aim of the present research was to assess the level of knowledge and fear of scabies among the Saudi population.Methods: This is a cross-sectional online study conducted in the western region of Saudi Arabia from January to September 2019. We used a validated, 12-questions questionnaire to assess the scabies knowledge and the Fear of Scabies Scale-10 (FSS-10) to determine the level of fear toward scabies.Results: A total of 3778 respondents were included with majorities of them being female and between the age of 15– 30 years. About 93.3% of the respondents were considered to have good level of knowledge towards scabies and those were more likely to be females, live in an urban area, have heard about scabies in the past, younger in age, achieved higher educational level, and work for the medical and general education sector (all P < 0.001). The total possible scores ranging from 10 (less fear) to 40 (greater fear). The mean total FSS-10 score was 33 ± 4.46 with 58.3% of them were considered to have greater fear and those were more likely to be female, younger in age, educated with higher educational degree, work for the general education sector and medical and, but less likely to be unemployed (all P < 0.001). Partial correlation adjusting for potential confounders showed significant positive correlation between FSS-10 score and the scabies knowledge score (r = 0.152, P < 0.001).Conclusion: Despite the good level of scabies knowledge, the level of fear towards scabies is high. Further educational programs recommended decreasing the negative effect of scabies on the community and the individuals’ quality of life.Keywords: scabies, knowledge, fear, skin, infection, Saudi

Antihypertensive medications must be taken as prescribed since noncompliance can result in the lack of hypertension (HTN) control. The aim of this study was to determine the factors that influence adherence to treatment by HTN patients in Taif city.A cross-sectional study was undertaken in basic healthcare centers in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. A simple random sampling method was used to select participants from primary healthcare centers. Data was obtained on patients' demographic characteristics, smoking habits, anti-HTN drugs and treatment characteristics, barriers to medication compliance, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), anthropometric measurements, and family history of HTN and diabetes mellitus (DM). We used the 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-4™) as a valid questionnaire to assess medication adherence. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Qualitative data was presented as numbers and percentages, and Chi-squared test was applied to test the relationship between qualitative variables. For quantitative data, mean and standard deviation was calculated. Multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to determine correlates of treatment adherence, and results were presented as Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for OR.Of the 549 patients included, 36.8% did not have a regular check of their BP at home and the majority had a family history of HTN and diabetes. About 86% patients showed a high level of adherence. Income ≥5000 SAR, age ≥60 years, female gender, who were being married, having ≤10 family members, being unemployed, and never having smoked were associated with high adherence level. The most important factor that affected MMAS scores was the regular BP checks at home.When patients attend routine follow-up clinics, it is critical to strengthen reminder mechanisms and provide regular counseling.

The study aimed at designing a proposed model for developing English writing skills using web 2.0 tools and exploring its acceptance level from students' and instructors' perspectives. The study adopted the descriptive methodology. Eight female instructors responded to the instructors' questionnaire. Also, twenty female students responded to the students' questionnaire. To analyse the quantitative data, the means of participants' respondents were calculated. The most important results were both students and instructors who participated in the current study accepted the proposed model. Based on the results of the study, the most important recommendations were: using technology, especially the proposed model in teaching at ELC.

The need for a quality planning of online learning is crucial. When planning for face to face environment and online environment, it is required to clarify when learning will take place online and which pedagogy and technology will be used. Thus, in this paper, we introduce TPACK lesson plan template. This template is designed to facilitate and accelerate the process of planning blended online courses in social science's field. It includes a list of learning activities, types of activities and mode of activities. Choosing the most suitable activity is left up to the instructors' point of view after examining the nature of behavioral objectives and the learning context. Using such a template may contribute to understanding the relation between pedagogy, technology and content as well as reducing the planning time to teach online.

E-Learning systems in Arab countries necessitate technology for the purpose of detecting plagiarism in Arabic. Although search engines such as Google can be utilized, there would be tedious efforts to copy some sentences and paste them into the search engine to find similar resources. For that reason, developing Arabic plagiarism detection tool for e-learning systems facilitate and accelerate the process since plagiarism can be detected and highlighted automatically and one only needs to submit the document to the system. Therefore, this paper presents, possibly for the first time, an effective web-enabled tool for Arabic plagiarism detection that can be integrated with e-learning systems to judge students' assignments, papers and dissertations.