MBRU Knowledge Repository
Knowledge Repository at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Welcome to digital archive and research repository of Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU). MBRU Knowledge Repository is a digital service that collects, preserves, and distributes digital material. MBRU's scholarly communications including theses, faculty publications, student projects, and departmental records and publications are the key digital records available in this repository. Repositories are important tools for preserving an organization's legacy; they facilitate digital preservation and scholarly communication.
University users are requested to log-in to view the full-text.
Communities in DSpace
Select a community to browse its collections.
- Library Digital Archives
- Research and Scholarly work of College of Medicine
- Research and Scholarly work of College of Nursing and Midwifery
- Dubai Health Researchers Profiles
- Research and Scholarly work of Graduate Medical Education
- Research and Scholarly work of Hamdan Bin Mohammed College of Dental Medicine
- Research and Scholarly work of IoL
- Research publications of other departments
- Theses and dissertations submitted by MBRU graduate and post-graduate students.
Recent Submissions
Effects of building resilience skills among undergraduate medical students in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic setting in the United Arab Emirates: A convergent mixed methods study
(Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2025-02-27) Farah Otaki; Samuel B. Ho; Bhavana Nair; Reem AlGurg; Adrian Stanley; Amar Hassan Khamis; Laila Alsuwaidi; Ashraf Atta Mohamed Safein Salem
Introduction
Although curricula teaching skills related to resilience are widely adopted, little is known about needs and attitudes regarding resilience training of undergraduate-medical-trainees in Middle-East-and-North-Africa-region. The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of an innovative curriculum developed through design-based-research to build resilience-skills among undergraduate-medical-trainees in the United-Arab-Emirates.
Methods
Convergent-mixed-methods-study-design was utilized. Quantitative data collection was through controlled random group allocation conducted in one cohort of undergraduate medical students(n = 47). Students were randomly allocated into the respective resilience-skills-building-course(study-group) versus an unrelated curriculum(control-group). All students were tested at baseline(test-1), at end of 8-week course(test-2), and again 8 weeks after end of course(test-3). Then students crossed over to the opposite course and again tested at end of 8 weeks(test-4). Testing at four timepoints consisted of questionnaires related to burnout-Maslach-Burnout-Inventory; anxiety-General-Anxiety-Disorder-7; and resilience- Connor-Davidson-Resilience-Scale. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively and inferentially. Qualitative data, constituting of students’ perception of their experience with the course, was captured using virtual-focus-group-sessions. Qualitative analysis was inductive. Generated primary inferences were merged using joint-display-analysis.
Results
Significant proportion of the students, at baseline, seemed to be at risk for burnout and anxiety, and would benefit from developing their resilience. There appeared to be no statistical differences in measures of burnout, anxiety, and resilience related to course delivery. Overall risk for anxiety among students increased following the COVID-19 lockdown. Qualitative analysis generated the ‘Resilience-Skills’-Building-around-Undergraduate-Medical-Education-Transitions’ conceptual model of five themes: Transitions, Adaptation, Added Value of course, Sustainability of effects of course, and Opportunities for improving course. Merging of findings led to a thorough understanding of how the resilience-skills’-building-course affected students’ adaptability.
Conclusion
This study indicates that a resilience-skills’-building-course may not instantly affect medical trainees’ ratings of burnout, anxiety, and resilience. However, students likely engage with such an innovative course and its content to acquire and deploy skills to adapt to changes.
Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation of Bone Profile Around Dental Implants Placed in the Esthetic Zone.
(2025) Allam, Eman
To evaluate the bone profile around dental implants placed in the esthetic zone through periodontal assessment and radiographic analysis using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).
Does fasting increase rates of trauma in Ramadan? A systematic review
(2024-09-15) Kellett, Catherine
Background:
As part of their religious obligation, Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn until dusk for a 30-day period during Ramadan. Fasting may affect daily functioning, such as increased risk of collision for drivers. A study of the impact of fasting during Ramadan on trauma incidence may allow for the creation of public health campaigns targeting this potential phenomenon. We aimed to determine whether trauma incidence increases during Ramadan, and to characterise the trauma occurring during Ramadan.
Methods:
Both published and unpublished literature, along with conference proceedings and reference lists from the selected studies, were searched up until the 1st of July 2023. A narrative synthesis was conducted, and the included studies were evaluated using appropriate tools based on their study design.
Results: Seventeen studies (964,631 subjects) were included. There were methodological concerns pertaining to their low level of evidence and risk of bias. Of nine studies reporting on road traffic accidents (RTAs), six found a higher incidence during Ramadan. Road traffic accidents and occupational injuries (OIs) were more likely to occur near or at sunset (marking the end of the fast). Two studies presented conflicting evidence regarding the effect of fasting in Ramadan on sports-associated injuries. Current evidence suggests that falls and violence-related trauma do not occur more frequently during Ramadan, with insufficient evidence to determine the occurrence of other injury mechanisms.
Conclusion:
Individuals who fast may be at a higher risk of RTAs and OIs during Ramadan than outside this month. Due to the lack of studies performed in the Americas and Europe, it is unclear whether the findings are applicable to these regions. Current evidence is limited by lack of stratification according to time of trauma occurrence, and high risk of bias.
SpacerPlacer: ancestral reconstruction of CRISPR arrays reveals the evolutionary dynamics of spacer deletions
(2024-10-14) Alkhnbashi, Omer S
Bacteria employ CRISPR-Cas systems for defense by integrating invader-derived sequences, termed spacers, into the CRISPR array, which constitutes an immunity memory. While spacer deletions occur randomly across the array, newly acquired spacers are predominantly integrated at the leader end. Consequently, spacer arrays can be used to derive the chronology of spacer insertions. Reconstruction of ancestral spacer acquisitions and deletions could help unravel the coevolution of phages and bacteria, the evolutionary dynamics in microbiomes, or track pathogens. However, standard reconstruction methods produce misleading results by overlooking insertion order and joint deletions of spacers. Here, we present SpacerPlacer, a maximum likelihood-based ancestral reconstruction approach for CRISPR array evolution. We used SpacerPlacer to reconstruct and investigate ancestral deletion events of 4565 CRISPR arrays, revealing that spacer deletions occur 374 times more frequently than mutations and are regularly deleted jointly, with an average of 2.7 spacers. Surprisingly, we observed a decrease in the spacer deletion frequency towards both ends of the reconstructed arrays. While the resulting trailer-end conservation is commonly observed, a reduced deletion frequency is now also detectable towards the variable leader end. Finally, our results point to the hypothesis that frequent loss of recently acquired spacers may provide a selective advantage.
Drugs in focus: Botulinum toxin in the therapy of gastrointestinal disorders in children
(2024-12) Tzivinikos, Christos
What is Known:
Botulinum toxin (BoNT) causes muscle relaxation by inhibiting acetylcholine release from presynaptic motor neurons at the neuromuscular junction.
What is New:
In children with achalasia, BoNT can be considered only in patients in whom rapid weight gain is important to improve surgical outcomes.
BoNT has been suggested for treating cricopharyngeal achalasia and delayed gastric emptying.
Anal achalasia and constipation after Hirschsprung disease corrective surgery are very promising indications for BoNT use.
In selected children with resistant type of functional constipation and chronic anal fissure, BoNT is a viable option for treating.