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BackgroundThe prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, and the Middle East is not an exception to this increasing trend. Obesity increases the risk of multiple metabolic complications, such as diabetes mellitus. Measurement of obesity has primarily relied on the BMI to identify risk; however, both bedside and office-based anthropometric measures of obesity can provide more detailed information on risk. ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the prevalence of obesity-related diseases in a multidisciplinary weight management population and to determine its relationship with obesity anthropometric indices. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital (Dubai, the United Arab Emirates). In total, 308 patients have been evaluated from January to September 2019 as part of a multidisciplinary weight management program. Key demographics, anthropometrics, and clinical data were analyzed using SPSS (version 25, SPSS Inc). ResultsOur cohort of 308 patients included 103 (33%) males and 205 (67%) females of 38 nationalities. The mean age of the cohort was 41 (SD 9.6) years, with a median BMI of 34.5 (IQR 6.7) and 33.7 (IQR 7.8) for males and females, respectively. The mean waist circumference (WC) was 113.4 (SD 23.3) cm and 103.5 (SD 16.2) cm, fat percentage was 33.7% (SD 11.6%) and 45% (SD 6.8%), fat mass was 41 (SD 15.2) kg and 41.1 (SD 14.1) kg, and visceral fat mass was 6.5 (SD 3.2) kg and 3.1 (SD 1.8) kg for males and females, respectively. There was a strong correlation between BMI and WC (r=0.65 and r=0.69 in males and females, respectively; P=.01) and visceral fat (r=0.78 and r=0.90 in males and females, respectively). Furthermore, visceral fat was significantly associated with WC in both sexes (r=0.73 and r=0.68 in females and males respectively; P=.01). Furthermore, WC was significantly associated with a risk of diabetes, hypertension, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. ConclusionsBMI and WC are the most representative measures of obesity in our population and correlate with abdominal adiposity– and obesity-related diseases. Further studies are required to assess the benefits of these measures during weight reduction interventions.

BackgroundOn January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee declared the rapid, worldwide spread of COVID-19 a global health emergency. Since then, tireless efforts have been made to mitigate the spread of the disease and its impact, and these efforts have mostly relied on nonpharmaceutical interventions. By December 2020, the safety and efficacy of the first COVID-19 vaccines were demonstrated. The large social media platform Twitter has been used by medical researchers for the analysis of important public health topics, such as the public’s perception on antibiotic use and misuse and human papillomavirus vaccination. The analysis of Twitter-generated data can be further facilitated by using Twitter’s built-in, anonymous polling tool to gain insight into public health issues and obtain rapid feedback on an international scale. During the fast-paced course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Twitter polling system has provided a viable method for gaining rapid, large-scale, international public health insights on highly relevant and timely SARS-CoV-2–related topics. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to understand the public’s perception on the safety and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in real time by using Twitter polls. MethodsWe developed 2 Twitter polls to explore the public’s views on available COVID-19 vaccines. The surveys were pinned to the Digital Health and Patient Safety Platform Twitter timeline for 1 week in mid-February 2021, and Twitter users and influencers were asked to participate in and retweet the polls to reach the largest possible audience. ResultsThe adequacy of COVID-19 vaccine safety (ie, the safety of currently available vaccines; poll 1) was agreed upon by 1579 out of 3439 (45.9%) Twitter users. In contrast, almost as many Twitter users (1434/3439, 41.7%) were unsure about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Only 5.2% (179/3439) of Twitter users rated the available COVID-19 vaccines as generally unsafe. Poll 2, which addressed the question of whether users would undergo vaccination, was answered affirmatively by 82.8% (2862/3457) of Twitter users, and only 8% (277/3457) categorically rejected vaccination at the time of polling. ConclusionsIn contrast to the perceived high level of uncertainty about the safety of the available COVID-19 vaccines, we observed an elevated willingness to undergo vaccination among our study sample. Since people's perceptions and views are strongly influenced by social media, the snapshots provided by these media platforms represent a static image of a moving target. Thus, the results of this study need to be followed up by long-term surveys to maintain their validity. This is especially relevant due to the circumstances of the fast-paced pandemic and the need to not miss sudden rises in the incidence of vaccine hesitancy, which may have detrimental effects on the pandemic’s course.

Knowledge management has been a proven tool to foster organizational performance, innovations, and individual knowledge workers' productivity. A stream of empirical studies has demonstrated with contradictory results that each single organizational knowledge management process -- knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and utilization -- can enhance the knowledge workers' productivity in isolation. In contrast, our study argues with the support of Nonaka's theory and alignment theory that knowledge utilization is the only frontline and primary knowledge management process which can enhance knowledge workers' productivity while other knowledge management processes (knowledge creation and knowledge sharing) support and supplement each other as well as improve knowledge utilization. This means that shared and created knowledge will not enhance the productivity of knowledge workers until organizations strive for knowledge utilization. This study used data collected from 336 knowledge workers in the Telecom industry of Pakistan and examined it using partial least squares modelling. The findings indicated that knowledge utilization is the sole frontline and primary knowledge management to enhance the productivity of knowledge workers. Hence, knowledge utilization can only influence productivity indirectly by increasing the utilization of knowledge created and/or shared.

Antibiotics are resistant compounds that become emerging contaminants that cause hazards to human health and the ecological environment due to their wide production and consumption. The present research reveals the remediation of amoxicillin (AMX) antibiotic by catalytic degradation using fabricated zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc oxide-reduced graphene oxide (ZnO-rGO) catalysts. The characterization of the catalyst was carried out via UV–Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy to evaluate the morphology and composition of synthesised catalyst. The catalytic ability of ZnO-rGO and ZnO was investigated by analysing the degradation of AMX. The ZnO-rGO nanocomposites (NCs) showed improved catalytic performance towards AMX degradation (96%) than pure ZnO nanoparticles (85%), which may be attributed to the incorporation of rGO, which enhanced the adsorption rate and changed the electron–hole recombination rate. The antioxidant potential of synthesised nanomaterials was also analysed by three different methods. The adsorption behaviour was explained through the Langmuir and Freundlich models, and the results revealed that AMX adsorption followed the Freundlich model more closely for both catalysts. The adsorption of AMX was also studied thermodynamically at different temperatures. The negative Gibbs energy change, positive enthalpy change, and entropy change showed the reaction’s spontaneity and endothermic nature. Finally, it can be assumed that the ZnO-rGO NCs could be an effective semiconductor for the degradation of AMX from wastewater.

The theory of trying postulates that in the less technologically advanced developing countries, online banking adoption behavior is a function of three attitudes rather a single attitude. These three attitudes are attitudes towards successes, failure, and learning that are expected to determine online banking adoption. These three attitudes, in turn, are dependent upon two crucial individual traits, overall self-confidence, and cynicism. However, the previous literature has not provided conclusive empirical evidence about this issue particularly in the less technologically advanced context of South Asia. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to test the role of these three attitudes and two traits as the determinants of the online banking adoption behavior. The data was collected from 215 customers who were already using the online banking in the District Attock, Pakistan. Structural equation modeling with partial least squares was applied for hypotheses testing. The results point that in the developing context of Pakistan, all the factors - attitudes and traits - are significant predictors of online banking adoption behavior.

Bacterial bloodstream infections (BSI) are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. This systematic review aimed to pool global data from leading transplant institutions and identify the overall incidence, risk factors, and causative organisms of BSI in pediatric liver transplant recipients. A systematic review of the PubMed and OVID databases was conducted from 2000 to 2022. The initial search yielded 252 unique articles, which were independently reviewed by 2 authors. Articles that reported pediatric-specific data on BSI in isolated liver transplant patients were included, including the incidence of BSI, isolated organisms, and involved risk factors involved. This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42023403206). Fourteen articles from the United States, France, Iran, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey were included. A total of 4,812 liver transplants were included in the final analysis. The mean patient age was 25 months (age range, 0–18 years), and 50.9% were male. The overall incidence of BSI was 23.5% (range, 14.7%–55%). The most commonly reported organisms were Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus, Klebsiella spp., and Escherichia coli. Among the risk factors studied, postoperative biliary complications, a medical history of biliary atresia, and younger age were the risk factors most commonly associated with BSI. Bacterial BSI after pediatric liver transplantation occur at a high incidence, with a unique organism profile notable for a higher percentage of gram-negative organisms. Further studies are required to determine the most appropriate prophylactic and empirical antibiotic management strategies for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, significant progress is made in the development of solar‐blind deep‐ultraviolet (DUV) photodetectors (200–280 nm) due to their potential applications for military and civil purposes. In this study, the development of a novel solar‐blind DUV photodetector based on tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) nanoparticles (NPs) utilizing Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) sensor integrated with Interface electronics is reported for the first time. The 3‐D Ta2O5 NPs surface morphology, crystallinity, and defect state level is discussed using various analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscope (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and spectrophotometer. The developed 3‐D Ta2O5 NPs based photodetector exhibits high sensitivity to 254 nm DUV irradiation (5 µW cm−2), demonstrating excellent photoresponse characteristics. The performance parameters including highest sensitivity, fast response/recovery time are measured as 1621.1 ppm (mW cm−2)−1, 3.7s/19.8s, respectively. Subsequent analysis demonstrates the stability and repeatability of the photodetector, enabling its potential to real time corona discharge detection. With its inherent advantages, the current DUV photodetector utilizing Ta2O5 NPs exhibits great potential for future applications in DUV optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]