Publications by authors named "Leila Ismail"

Objective: To examine the relationship between etiologically-based preterm birth sub-groups and early postnatal growth according to gestational age at birth.

Methods: Prospective, multinational, cohort study involving 15 hospitals that monitored preterm newborns to hospital discharge. Measures/exposures: maternal demographics; etiologically-based preterm birth sub-groups; very, moderate and late preterm categories, and feeding.

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Background: Health care insurance fraud is on the rise in many ways, such as falsifying information and hiding third-party liability. This can result in significant losses for the medical health insurance industry. Consequently, fraud detection is crucial.

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Introduction: This cross-sectional study investigated the associations between lifestyle, eating habits, food preferences, consumption patterns, and obesity among female university students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Methods: Approximately 4,728 participants, including both Emirati and Non-Emirati students (International Students). Data collection involved face-to-face interviews and anthropometric measurements, showing an interrelated relationship between food preferences and obesity among female university students.

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Ensuring the microbiological safety of food products is majorly important to regulatory agencies, producers, and consumers. This study aimed to examine the effects of three different antimicrobial agents, including chitosan (CH), mastic oil (M), and citric acid (CA), individually or as a combination, against spp., O157:H7, and (artificially inoculated) in Guacamole, a ready-to-eat (RTE) avocado-based salad.

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Background: Substantial evidence embraced the nutrition competence of the Mediterranean diet (MD) as a healthy model for decreasing the risk of chronic diseases and increasing longevity, with the bonus of ensuring environmental sustainability. Measuring adherence to this diet is marginally investigated in the Arabian Gulf region, an area away from the Mediterranean region. The current study aimed to assess the MD adherence among adults in Sharjah/the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and to identify the most influential predictors for MD adherence among the study participants.

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Background And Aims: There is a need to consolidate reporting guidance for nutrition randomised controlled trial (RCT) protocols. The reporting completeness in nutrition RCT protocols and study characteristics associated with adherence to SPIRIT and TIDieR reporting guidelines are unknown. We, therefore, assessed reporting completeness and its potential predictors in a random sample of published nutrition and diet-related RCT protocols.

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Article Synopsis
  • Community pharmacists in the UAE have a significant opportunity to promote the safe use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), but their current role is underutilized.
  • A national survey assessed knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding CAM among 373 pharmacists, revealing that while over 50% understood CAM functions, knowledge of side effects and drug interactions was weaker.
  • Although many pharmacists had positive attitudes towards CAM, 40% viewed it as effective only for minor issues, and only 47% discussed toxic effects, especially those with less experience working in independent pharmacies.
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A growing body of evidence suggests that cancer remains a significant global health challenge, necessitating the development of novel therapeutic approaches. In recent years, the molecular crosstalk between polyphenols and gut microbiota has emerged as a promising pathway for cancer prevention. Polyphenols, abundant in many plant-based foods, possess diverse bioactive properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities.

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Background: Given the importance of infancy for establishing growth trajectories, with later-life health consequences, we investigated longitudinal body composition among infants from six economically and ethnically diverse countries.

Methods: We recruited mother-infant dyads using the WHO Multicenter Growth Reference Study criteria. We measured fat-free mass (FFM) in 1393 (49% female) infants from birth to 6 months of age (Australia, India, and South Africa; n = 468), 3-24 months of age (Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka; n = 925), and derived fat mass (FM), fat mass index (FMI), and fat-free mass index (FFMI).

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Diabetes Mellitus, one of the leading causes of death worldwide, has no cure to date and can lead to severe health complications, such as retinopathy, limb amputation, cardiovascular diseases, and neuronal disease, if left untreated. Consequently, it becomes crucial to be able to monitor and predict the incidence of diabetes. Machine learning approaches have been proposed and evaluated in the literature for diabetes prediction.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated increased workload, stress, and burnout on healthcare providers on the frontlines of the pandemic, dieticians were no exception. Such unprecedented occupational risks and stressors contributed to a higher intention to quit, potentially leading to workforce shortages, and hindering the delivery of quality care, especially for patients with chronic conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence factors associated with the intention to quit among dieticians in the United Arab Emirates during a public health emergency.

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Purpose: Recent surveys indicate a significant increase in total caffeine intake among schoolchildren. Limited research has been published concerning the total intake of caffeine among schoolchildren in the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including the UAE.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey estimated the total caffeine intake from foods and beverages among 10,275 schoolchildren in the UAE.

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Maturation of the human fetal brain should follow precisely scheduled structural growth and folding of the cerebral cortex for optimal postnatal function. We present a normative digital atlas of fetal brain maturation based on a prospective international cohort of healthy pregnant women, selected using World Health Organization recommendations for growth standards. Their fetuses were accurately dated in the first trimester, with satisfactory growth and neurodevelopment from early pregnancy to 2 years of age.

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The relationship between obesity and satiation is complex and bidirectional. Understanding differences in reasons for meal termination may enhance our understanding of overeating risks and susceptibility to overconsumption. This study aimed to investigate the reasons why individuals in the UAE stop eating.

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Metabolic endotoxemia (ME) is the main cause of sub-clinical chronic inflammation, which subsequently triggers the onset of several chronic diseases. However, recent reports have indicated that dietary fiber (DF) contributes significantly to ameliorating ME and inflammation. This protocol aims to provide an outline of all procedures in synthesizing the available data on the effect of DF against ME.

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Providing all infants with the best start to life is a universal but challenging goal for the global community. Historically, the size and shape of infants, quantified by anthropometry and commencing with birthweight, has been the common yardstick for physical growth and development. Anthropometry has long been considered a proxy for nutritional status during infancy when, under ideal circumstances, changes in size and shape are most rapid.

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Lifestyle factors such as dietary habits, perceived weight, sleep, and physical activity worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this study, we aimed to understand the impact of COVID-19 on these lifestyle factors in Bahrain. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1005 adult Bahrainis.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on understanding young adults' perspectives on healthy and sustainable diets in the UAE, recognizing their critical role in adopting these dietary choices.
  • - Researchers analyzed a questionnaire completed by 436 University of Sharjah students, assessing their knowledge, attitudes, practices, and willingness to change regarding sustainable diets.
  • - The findings indicate that the questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for identifying gaps and opportunities to promote sustainable diets among young adults, with promising statistical results supporting its use in future interventions.
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The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the criticality of timely intervention in a situation exacerbated by a shortage in medical staff and equipment. Pain-level screening is the initial step toward identifying the severity of patient conditions. Automatic recognition of state and feelings help in identifying patient symptoms to take immediate adequate action and providing a patient-centric medical plan tailored to a patient's state.

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Hybrid learning enables educators to incorporate elements of conventional face-to-face learning methods with structured online schemes. This study aimed to assess university students' perceptions of online and hybrid learning during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates (n = 2056).

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Background: Journal articles describing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews with meta-analysis of RCTs are not optimally reported and often miss crucial details. This poor reporting makes assessing these studies' risk of bias or reproducing their results difficult. However, the reporting quality of diet- and nutrition-related RCTs and meta-analyses has not been explored.

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Accurate estimation of gestational age is an essential component of good obstetric care and informs clinical decision-making throughout pregnancy. As the date of the last menstrual period is often unknown or uncertain, ultrasound measurement of fetal size is currently the best method for estimating gestational age. The calculation assumes an average fetal size at each gestational age.

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Article Synopsis
  • - COVID-19 has significantly impacted global industries, particularly healthcare, and has severely affected cancer patients who are already at high risk due to their immunocompromised status.
  • - The pandemic has led to increased infections, shortages of medical resources, and higher mortality rates among cancer patients, further complicating their treatment and care delivery.
  • - Changes in healthcare priorities during COVID-19 have resulted in delays in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and surgeries, creating additional challenges for patients with severe symptoms who need regular therapies.
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There is a large proliferation of complex data-driven artificial intelligence (AI) applications in many aspects of our daily lives, but their implementation in healthcare is still limited. This scoping review takes a theoretical approach to examine the barriers and facilitators based on empirical data from existing implementations. We searched the major databases of relevant scientific publications for articles related to AI in clinical settings, published between 2015 and 2021.

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