Interannual rainfall variability and ECMWF‐Sys4‐based predictability over the Arabian Peninsula winter monsoon region

Abid, Muhammad Adnan,Kucharski, Fred,Almazroui, Mansour,Kang, In‐,Sik John WileySons, Ltd 2016 Quarterly journal of the Royal Meteorological Soci Vol.142 No.694

<P>Interannual winter rainfall variability and its predictability are analysed over the Arabian Peninsula region by using observed and hindcast datasets from the state-of-the-art European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) seasonal prediction System 4 for the period 1981-2010. An Arabian winter monsoon index (AWMI) is defined to highlight the Arabian Peninsula as the most representative region for the Northern Hemispheric winter dominating the summer rainfall. The observations show that the rainfall variability is relatively large over the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula. The correlation coefficient between the Nino3.4 index and rainfall in this region is 0.33, statistically significant at the 90% level, suggesting potentially some modest predictability, and indicating that El Nino increases and La Nina decreases the rainfall. Regression analysis shows that upper-level cyclonic circulation anomalies that are forced by El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are responsible for the winter rainfall anomalies over the Arabian region. The stronger (weaker) mean transient-eddy activity related to the upper-level trough induced by the warm (cold) sea-surface temperatures during El Nino (La Nina) tends to increase (decrease) the rainfall in the region. The model hindcast dataset reproduces the ENSO-rainfall connection. The seasonal mean predictability of the northeast Arabian rainfall index is 0.35, statistically significant at the 95% level. It is shown that the noise variance is larger than the signal over the Arabian Peninsula region, which tends to limit the prediction skill. The potential predictability is generally increased in ENSO years and is, in particular, larger during La Nina compared to El Nino years in the region. Furthermore, central Pacific ENSO events and ENSO events with weak signals in the Indian Ocean tend to increase predictability over the Arabian region.</P>

Contribution of Synoptic Transients to the Potential Predictability of PNA Circulation Anomalies: El Niño versus La Niña

Abid, Muhammad Adnan,Kang, In-Sik,Almazroui, Mansour,Kucharski, Fred American Meteorological Society 2015 Journal of climate Vol.28 No.21

Administrative codes may have limited utility in diagnosing biliary colic in emergency department visits: A validation study

Jordan Nantais,Muhammad Mansour,Charles de Mestral,Shiva Jayaraman,David Gomez Korean Association of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Su 2022 Annals of hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery Vol.26 No.3

Backgrounds/Aims: Biliary colic is a common cause of emergency department (ED) visits; however, the natural history of the disease and thus the indications for urgent or scheduled surgery remain unclear. Limitations of previous attempts to elucidate this natural history at a population level are based on the reliance on the identification of biliary colic via administrative codes in isolation. The purpose of our study was to validate the use of International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems codes, 10th Revision, Canadian modification (ICD-10-CA) from ED visits in adequately differentiating patients with biliary colic from those with other biliary diagnoses such as cholecystitis or common bile duct stones. Methods: We performed a retrospective validation study using administrative data from two large academic hospitals in Toronto. We assessed all the patients presenting to the ED between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2018, assigned ICD-10-CA codes in keeping with uncomplicated biliary colic. The codes were compared to the individually abstracted charts to assess diagnostic agreement. Results: Among the 991 patient charts abstracted, 26.5% were misclassified, corresponding to a positive predictive value of 73% (95% confidence interval 73%–74%). The most frequent reasons for inaccurate diagnoses were a lack of gallstones (49.8%) and acute cholecystitis (27.8%). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the use of ICD-10 codes as the sole means of identifying biliary colic to the exclusion of other biliary pathologies is prone to moderate inaccuracy. Previous investigations of biliary colic utilizing administrative codes for diagnosis may therefore be prone to unforeseen bias.

Aquablation for benign prostatic obstruction: Single center technique evolution and experience

Muhieddine Labban,Mazen Mansour,Nicolas Abdallah,Rola Jaafar,Wassim Wazzan,Muhammad Bulbul,Albert El-Hajj 대한비뇨의학회 2021 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.62 No.2

Purpose: Aquablation is a new technology that relies on real-time ultrasound guidance to ablate prostatic tissues using high velocity pressurized water. We hereby present our data and experience in this technique by exploring the perioperative surgical and functional outcomes. Materials and Methods: This is a prospectively filled study including consecutive patients who underwent aquablation at our Middle Eastern tertiary care center. Patient demographics, voiding parameters, and prostate disease specific variables were collected. We reported on the surgical and functional outcomes as well as the 3-month adverse events. We also explored the trend in hemoglobin drop and hemostasis method by dividing the consecutive cases into four temporal periods. Results: Fifty-nine patients underwent aquablation between March 2018 and March 2020. Mean time from transrectal ultrasound to Foley insertion was 48.5±2.5 minutes. Cautery was performed in 35 patients (59.3%) and a catheter-tensioning device was mounted in 50 patients (84.7%). On average, the hemoglobin dropped by −1.7±0.2 ng/dL (p<0.0001). The average length of catheterization and hospital stay were 2.1±0.3 days and 2.2±0.1 days, respectively. Only three patients (5.1%) were re-hospitalized. At three months, the average drop in serum prostate-specific antigen was −36.6±6.0% (p<0.0001) and functional outcomes considerably improved. We also recorded 14 adverse events in 13 patients (overall rate of 22.0%), with grade 1 and grade 2 complications comprising 71.4% of all adverse events. Conclusions: Our study results confirm the safety and efficacy of the aquablation procedure in the adoption phase.

Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cerebral Venous Thrombosis and Mortality

Thanh N. Nguyen,Muhammad M. Qureshi,Piers Klein,Hiroshi Yamagami,Mohamad Abdalkader,Robert Mikulik,Anvitha Sathya,Ossama Yassin Mansour,Anna Czlonkowska,Hannah Lo,Thalia S. Field,Andreas Charidimou,So 대한뇌졸중학회 2022 Journal of stroke Vol.24 No.2

Background and Purpose Recent studies suggested an increased incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluated the volume of CVT hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the preceding year. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 171 stroke centers from 49 countries. We recorded COVID-19 admission volumes, CVT hospitalization, and CVT in-hospital mortality from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2021. CVT diagnoses were identified by International Classification of Disease-10 (ICD-10) codes or stroke databases. We additionally sought to compare the same metrics in the first 5 months of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04934020). Results There were 2,313 CVT admissions across the 1-year pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic year (2020); no differences in CVT volume or CVT mortality were observed. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT volumes compared to 2019 (27.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.2 to 32.0; P<0.0001) and 2020 (41.4%; 95% CI, 37.0 to 46.0; P<0.0001). A COVID-19 diagnosis was present in 7.6% (132/1,738) of CVT hospitalizations. CVT was present in 0.04% (103/292,080) of COVID-19 hospitalizations. During the first pandemic year, CVT mortality was higher in patients who were COVID positive compared to COVID negative patients (8/53 [15.0%] vs. 41/910 [4.5%], P=0.004). There was an increase in CVT mortality during the first 5 months of pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to the first 5 months of the pre-pandemic year 2019 (2019 vs. 2020: 2.26% vs. 4.74%, P=0.05; 2019 vs. 2021: 2.26% vs. 4.99%, P=0.03). In the first 5 months of 2021, there were 26 cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), resulting in six deaths. Conclusions During the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CVT hospitalization volume and CVT in-hospital mortality did not change compared to the prior year. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with higher CVT in-hospital mortality. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT hospitalization volume and increase in CVT-related mortality, partially attributable to VITT.

Perceived attitudes and barriers towards medical research: a survey of Jordanian interns, residents, and other postgraduates

AlMohtasib Jamil,Al-Huneidy Leen,Taha Hana,Rayyan Rama,Mansour Shahd,Samhouri Jehad,Hammouri Muhammad,Al-Somadi Hussam,Bedros Adees Wirtan,Al-Omair Jaafar,Abbas Rand,Abu-usba Mustafa Ibrahim,Al-Ani Ab 한국의학교육학회 2023 Korean journal of medical education Vol.35 No.3

Purpose: We investigated research barriers among Jordanian medical postgraduates to understand the current context of the local health research landscape and improve scholarly output.Methods: Using a validated questionnaire, Jordanian interns, residents, specialists, and consultants were examined for their perceived attitudes and barriers towards research. Participants were conveniently sampled from public, university, military, and private institutions. Differences in responses were examined using the Student t-test and analysis of variance. Binary logistic regression was utilized to examine predictors of being able to publish.Results: A total of 1,141 Jordanian medical postgraduates were recruited, of which 61.3% were junior postgraduates (i.e., interns and residents in their first 2 years of residency) while 38.7% were senior postgraduates (i.e., senior residents, specialists, and consultants). Around 76.0% of participants had no peer-reviewed publications. Of those with least one publication (n=273), only 31.1% had first authorships. Participants portrayed dominantly positive attitudes towards the importance of research. There were no significant differences between junior and senior postgraduates for overall attitudes (p=0.486) and knowledge barriers scores (p=0.0261). Conversely, senior postgraduates demonstrated higher mean organizational barriers (p<0.001). Seniority (odds ratio [OR], 5.268; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.341–8.307), age (OR, 1.087; 95% CI, 1.019–1.159), academic standing (OR, 1.730; 95% CI, 1.103–2.715), and confidence (OR, 1.086; 95% CI, 1.009–1.169) were positive predictors of publication in peer reviewed journals.Conclusion: The Jordanian medical research landscape is riddled with all forms of different barriers. The reworking of current and integration of new research training programs are of utmost importance.

Colorectal Cancer Patient Characteristics, Treatment and Survival in Oman - a Single Center Study

Kumar, Shiyam,Burney, Ikram A,Zahid, Khawaja Farhan,Souza, Philomena Charlotte D,Belushi, Muna AL,Mufti, Taha Dawood,Meki, Waeil AL,Furrukh, Muhammad,Moundhri, Mansour S AL Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.12

Background: Colorectal cancer is the most common gastrointestinal cancer in Oman with an increasing incidence. We here report the presenting features, treatment outcomes and survival in a University hospital in Oman and compare our data with regional and international studies. Materials and Methods: Medical records of patients with colorectal cancer were reviewed retrospectively between June 2000 and December 2013 and were followed until June 2014. Results: A total of 162 patients were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The majority were males (58.6%), with a median age of 56 years. Rectum was involved in 29.6% of patients, followed by ascending and sigmoid colon. The majority of patients had stage III (42.6%) and stage IV (32.7%) disease at presentation. K-Ras status was checked for 79 patients, and 41 (51.9%) featured the wild type. Median relapse free survival was 22 months. Median overall survival for all patients was 43 months. Observed 5 year overall survival (OS) for stages I, II and III was 100%, 60% and 60% respectively. On Log rank univariate analysis, age, BMI, diabetes, hypertension, metformin use, stage, clinical nodal status for rectal cancer, pathological T and nodal status, site of metastasis, surgical intervention, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy regimen, no of cycles of chemotherapy, response, RFS, site of recurrence and administration of $2^{nd}$ line chemotherapy were significant factors affecting OS. On Cox regression multivariate analysis none of the factors independently affected the OS. Conclusions: The majority of patients present with advanced disease and at young age. The survival rates are comparable to the published regional and international literature.