A lightweight and secure protocol for teleworking environment.

The Internet has advanced so quickly that we can now access any service at any time, from any location. As a result of this capability, People around the world can benefit from the popularity and convenience of teleworking systems. Teleworking systems, however, are vulnerable to a range of attacks; as an unauthorized user enters the open communication line and compromises the whole system, that, in turn, creates a big hurdle for the teleworkers. Professional groups have presented numerous mechanisms for the security of teleworking systems to stop any harm, but there are still a lot of security issues like insider, stolen verifier, masquerade, replay, traceability and impersonation threats. In this paper, we propose that one of the security issues with teleworking systems is the lack of a secure authentication mechanism. In order to provide a secure teleworking environment, we have proposed a lightweight and secure protocol to authenticate all the participants and make the requisite services available in an efficient manner. The security analysis of the presented protocol has been investigated formally using the random oracle model (ROM) and ProVerif simulation and informally through illustration/attack discussions. Meanwhile, the performance metrics have been measured by considering computation and communication overheads. Upon comparing the proposed protocol with prior works, it has been demonstrated that our protocol is superior to its competitors. It is suitable for implementation because it achieved a 73% improvement in computation and 34% in communication costs.

A lightweight and robust authentication scheme for the healthcare system using public cloud server.

Cloud computing is vital in various applications, such as healthcare, transportation, governance, and mobile computing. When using a public cloud server, it is mandatory to be secured from all known threats because a minor attacker's disturbance severely threatens the whole system. A public cloud server is posed with numerous threats; an adversary can easily enter the server to access sensitive information, especially for the healthcare industry, which offers services to patients, researchers, labs, and hospitals in a flexible way with minimal operational costs. It is challenging to make it a reliable system and ensure the privacy and security of a cloud-enabled healthcare system. In this regard, numerous security mechanisms have been proposed in past decades. These protocols either suffer from replay attacks, are completed in three to four round trips or have maximum computation, which means the security doesn't balance with performance. Thus, this work uses a fuzzy extractor method to propose a robust security method for a cloud-enabled healthcare system based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). The proposed scheme's security analysis has been examined formally with BAN logic, ROM and ProVerif and informally using pragmatic illustration and different attacks' discussions. The proposed security mechanism is analyzed in terms of communication and computation costs. Upon comparing the proposed protocol with prior work, it has been demonstrated that our scheme is 33.91% better in communication costs and 35.39% superior to its competitors in computation costs.

Physical activity levels among undergraduate students at the College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh: A prevalence study.

Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior pose significant health concerns, particularly among young adults like college students. However, little research exists on the attitudes towards physical activity among Saudi Arabian healthcare students. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of physical activity and determine the reason for being physically inactive among students and interns across all programs in the College of Applied Medical Sciences (CAMS) at King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between March and May 2023. CAMS students aged 18 and above, fluent in Arabic or English, and willing to participate were included. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was used to measure physical activity. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Out of 433 respondents, 377 met the inclusion criteria (response rate: 89.3%). Physical activity prevalence was 54.60%, with walking being the most common activity (42.70%). Lack of time was the primary reason for inactivity (51.40%). On average, students engaged in 1.5 hours/day of vigorous-intensity activities and 1.3 hours/day of vigorous-intensity sports and fitness activities at work. Sedentary behavior, characterized by continuous sitting, averaged 5.37 hours per day. Approximately half of CAMS students are physically active, while 20% rely solely on short walks due to time constraints, limited activity hours, or sedentary habits. A lack of time was cited as the primary reason for inactivity by most students. Future research should focus on strategies to enhance physical activity among healthcare students. In addition, academicians and policymakers should propose time-efficient initiatives that accommodate the demanding and busy schedules of healthcare students.

The Severity of Pain and Comorbidities Significantly Impact the Dependency on Activities of Daily Living among Musculoskeletal Patients in Jizan, Saudi Arabia.

Limited research has been carried out on the effects of pain, comorbidity, and impaired function in musculoskeletal patients in Jizan, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 115 patients (aged ≥ 55 years) with physician-diagnosed musculoskeletal conditions in Jizan to investigate the association between pain severity, comorbidities, and dependence on activities of daily living (ADLs). Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect data on pain, comorbidities, and physical function measured by ADLs. In ADLs, participants were categorized as dependent (n = 36) or independent (n = 79). Logistic regression analysis was employed to determine the predictors of dependence. The results showed that higher pain severity (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-2.38, p = 0.002) and a greater number of comorbidities (adjusted OR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.06-2.17, p = 0.021) were independently associated with dependence in ADLs. These associations remained significant even after controlling for covariates. This study concluded that patients with musculoskeletal conditions in Jizan who experience high levels of pain and comorbidities are at risk of dependence on basic daily activities. Therefore, addressing pain and comorbidities is crucial for maintaining independence and improving quality of life. Personalized rehabilitation programs are needed to manage these conditions in this region.

A Conditional Privacy Preserving Generalized Ring Signcryption Scheme for Micro Aerial Vehicles.

Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) are a type of UAV that are both small and fully autonomous, making them ideal for both civilian and military applications. Modern MAVs can hover and navigate while carrying several sensors, operate over long distances, and send data to a portable base station. Despite their many benefits, MAVs often encounter obstacles due to limitations in the embedded system (such as memory, processing power, energy, etc.). Due to these obstacles and the use of open wireless communication channels, MAVs are vulnerable to a variety of cyber-physical attacks. Consequently, MAVs cannot execute complex cryptographic algorithms due to their limited computing power. In light of these considerations, this article proposes a conditional privacy-preserving generalized ring signcryption scheme for MAVs using an identity-based cryptosystem. Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), with a key size of 160 bits, is used in the proposed scheme. The proposed scheme's security robustness has been analyzed using the Random Oracle Model (ROM), a formal security evaluation method. The proposed scheme is also compared in terms of computation cost, communication cost and memory overhead against relevant existing schemes. The total computation cost of the proposed scheme is 7.76 ms, which is 8.14%, 5.20%, and 11.40% schemes. The results show that the proposed scheme is both efficient and secure, proving its viability.

Tele-Rehabilitation Service from the Patient's Perspective: A Cross-Sectional Study.

This study aimed to describe patients' perceptions of tele-rehabilitation (TR) and investigate the association between TR-related factors and both the patients' age and type of rehabilitation services. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to obtain data about patients' demographic and medical information, technological familiarity as well as patients' experience and opinions about TR. The 227 patients completing the survey reported a mean ± SD age of 40.7 ± 13.9 years and musculoskeletal disorders as the most common condition treated by TR. The majority of patients expressed satisfaction and confidence with their therapists' ability to assess and treat their problems using TR. Approximately 75.3% of participants stated that therapists demonstrated a strong understanding of their health conditions, while 82% reported that TR entailed a convenient service during COVID-19. The study found associations between age and patient's ability and confidence to use technology as well as a relationship between the type of treatment received and participants' overall opinions. Patients demonstrated acceptance, confidence, and satisfaction with TR during COVID-19. Patient age and treatment type fulfill a major role in patients' perceptions of TR.

Quality of life in working populations with and without musculoskeletal pain in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain can negatively affect work life and quality of life (QoL). OBJECTIVE: This study characterizes the QoL of workers in Saudi Arabia and compares it between adults of working age with and without MSK pain. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The Short Form-36 (SF-36) instrument was used to measure eight domains that describe QoL among workers with and without MSK pain. Descriptive statistics and parametric tests enabled comparisons between the two sets of workers. RESULTS: A total of 2042 workers participated in the study. The majority of them had experienced MSK pain during the last 12 months. In addition, the results for most SF-36 domains varied significantly across age and gender groups. Workers who lacked MSK pain over the last 12 months reported higher means for all SF-36 domains, with the exception of the physical function domains. CONCLUSION: This study found that the majority of workers experience MSK pain. In all bodily regions, neck and back pain are the most frequently reported areas of discomfort for these employees. Workers without MSK pain experience better QoL. This observation suggests the need for managers to pay closer attention to workers with MSK pain, as these employees experience significantly lower QoL. To prevent or reduce MSK pain, workers should undergo routine medical examination and early intervention for MSK pain. These preventative measures can help to increase workers' QoL.

Foot Function Index for Arabic-speaking patients (FFI-Ar): translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation study.

BACKGROUND: Foot Function Index (FFI) is a valid and reliable outcome measure, which is widely used to measure the foot and ankle functional level and disorders. Until now, no validated Arabic version of the FFI is available. This study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this project was to translate and adapt the FFI into Arabic and to evaluate its psychometric properties of validity and reliability. METHODS: The study consisted of two phases. The first phase was the translation and cultural adaptation of the FFI to Arabic. The next phase involved, testing the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the FFI on a sample of 50 consecutive participants which included internal consistency, test-retest reliability, floor and ceiling effects and construct validity. RESULTS: The mean age of the study participants was 38 ± 12.94 years. Both the genders were evenly enrolled with 50% of the participants as male and 50% as female. Majority of them complained of plantar fasciopathy (32%) followed by pes planus (22%) and ankle sprain (18%). The scores of FFI-Ar were normally distributed, confirmed by a significant Shapiro-Wilk test. The mean value of FFI-Ar total score was 47.73 ± 19.85. There were no floor or ceiling effects seen in any of the subscales and total score. The internal consistency was good with the Cronbach's alpha value of 0.882, 0.936 and 0.850 for the pain, disability and activity limitation subscales, respectively. The reproducibility of the FFI-Ar was analysed by intra-class correlation coefficient which revealed good to excellent test-retest reliability. A significant correlation was found between FFI-Ar and SF-36 and numeric rating scale (NRS) confirming its construct validity. CONCLUSION: The FFI-Arabic version showed good validity and reliability in patients with foot and ankle problems. This tool can be used in usual practice and research for analysing foot and ankle disorders in Arabic-speaking people.

Level of disability and associated factors with musculoskeletal disorders among supermarket cashiers.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the severity of symptoms and the level of disability or difficulty associated with MSDs in the neck, shoulders, upper limbs, lower back, and lower limbs as well as the factors associated with MSDs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This investigation collected demographic, health (36-Item Short Form Survey [SF-36]), and occupational related-factors for supermarket cashiers through the administration of several questionnaires, including the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS), and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for pain. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-three supermarket cashiers participated in this study. The mean scores for disability levels included NDI (M±SD 18.62±14.57), ODI (M±SD 20.74±13.89), DASH (M±SD 15.08±13.90), and LEFS (M±SD 63.06±14.24). Regression analyses demonstrated the existence of significant relationships between the experience of MSDs and several other factors, including the number of working days per week, the preferred working position, marital status and the need for awkward positions. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate MSDs that signified a mild disability level among young participants. The number of working days per week, the preferred working position, the need to assume awkward positions, and marital status were significantly associated with MSDs. The findings indicated the need for preventive to avoid or minimize the prevalence of MSDs among supermarket cashiers. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2022;35(4):407-23.

Isokinetic trunk muscle performance in adolescents with different body mass indices.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the isokinetic performance for the peak torque and average power of the spinal flexor and extensor muscles in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. The study also analyses the differences between the trunk muscle peak torque and average power with body mass index (BMI). METHOD: The peak torque and average power of the trunk flexor and extensor muscles were measured in 180 adolescents (aged 12-18 years). The participants were classified into four groups according to BMI. The Biodex isokinetic dynamometer in concentric mode at speeds of 60° and 120°/sec was used for assessment. RESULTS: One-way multivariate analysis of variance MANOVA results demonstrated a significant difference in trunk muscle peak torque and average power with different BMI (F = 14.692, p = 0.0005). A Pearson's correlation analysis demonstrated a significantly negative correlation between weight and peak torque of trunk flexors and extensors (r = - 0.43, p = 0.0001; r = -0.31, p = 0.007, respectively). Finally, the results showed a negative correlation between weight and average power of trunk flexors and extensors (r = -0.54, p = 0.0001; r = -0.31, p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: In this study, overweight and obese adolescents are found to be correlated with decreased trunk muscle torque and power. Thus, therapeutic interventions for overweight and obese adolescents, along with exercise training programmes, may help improve muscle performance including peak torque and power. Finally, these measures may enhance the quality of life of such adolescents.

Self-Reported Musculoskeletal Disorders and Quality of Life in Supermarket Cashiers.

Supermarket cashiers face a significant amount of stress, including time constraints, mental pressure, and physical demands that require repetitive movements. The job description of a supermarket cashier involves work-related risk factors that may lead to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) symptoms. This study aimed to investigate supermarket cashiers to determine the prevalence of MSD symptoms and their quality of life. Data were collected from a convenience sample of supermarket cashiers working in Saudi Arabia. Information included direct questions on pain in the previous 12 months, demographic data, and health- or occupation-related factors. Moreover, data was collected based on the 36-item short form survey (SF-36), and descriptive statistics were computed. A total of 193 supermarket cashiers participated in this study. The sample included 140 men (72.5%) and 53 women (27.5%), with a mean age of 27.2 ± 6.4 years. The majority of the participants (90%) had MSD symptoms in at least one body region, with the neck (66.84%) and lower back (65.80%) constituting the most prominent regions. The mean SF-36 scores were higher in participants without pain compared to participants with pain in all domains, except for the physical functioning domain. The high prevalence of MSD symptoms among young cashiers suggest the need for additional investigations to determine the risk factors of these disorders. Additionally, this study recommends preventive procedures to reduce the prevalence of MSD symptoms among cashiers.

A Hybrid Semantic Knowledge Integration and Sharing Approach for Distributed Smart Environments.

Distributed systems provide smart functionality to everyday objects with the help of wireless sensors using the internet. Since the last decade, the industry is struggling to develop efficient and intelligent protocols to integrate a huge number of smart objects in distributed computing environments. However, the main challenge for smart and distributed system designers lies in the integration of a large number of heterogeneous components for faster, cheaper, and more efficient functionalities. To deal with this issue, practitioners are using edge computing along with server and desktop technology for the development of smart applications by using Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) where every smart object offers its functionality as a service, enabling other objects to interact with them dynamically. In order to make such a system, researchers have considered context-awareness and Quality of Service (QoS) attributes of device services. However, context modeling is a complicated task since it could include everything around the applications. Moreover, it is also important to consider non-functional interactions that may have an impact on the behavior of the complete system. In this regard, various research dimensions are explored. However, rich context-aware modeling, QoS, user priorities, grouping, and value type direction along with uncertainty are not considered properly while modeling of incomplete or partial domain knowledge during ontology engineering, resulting in low accuracy of results. In this paper, we present a semantic and logic-based formal framework (hybrid) to find the best service among many candidate services by considering the limitations of existing frameworks. Experimental results of the proposed framework show the improvement of the discovered results.

A Cross-Sectional Study on the Association of Patterns and Physical Risk Factors with Musculoskeletal Disorders among Academicians in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are considered one of the most common health issues in working population and have a high social and economic impact. This study is aimed at determining the MSD patterns and associated risk factors among higher education academicians in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among higher education academicians, randomly selected from different universities within Saudi Arabia. A sample of 207 academicians participated in the present study from different faculties such as nursing, applied medical sciences, pharmacy, dentistry, computer science, science, and engineering for a period of 1 year. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ-E) was used to assess the MSD patterns and prevalence for the different parts of the body regions, and the Dutch Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (DMQ) was used to determine the physical risk factors associated with the working conditions in the higher academic occupations. Descriptive statistics and the Pearson chi-squared test were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The overall prevalence rate was 42.5%, and the pattern of body parts involved was almost similar on both study variables, i.e., descending from the lower back (31.9%), followed by the neck (26.1%), knees (21.3%), shoulder (16.9%), upper back (13%), ankle and foot (10.1%), wrist and hand (7.2%), and elbow (6.3%), and the least common observed region was the hip and thigh (2.4%). The physical risk factors and its association with the body regions based on DMQ related to workload, period of use, and repetitive movements were observed in the wrist and hand (43%), followed by the neck (42%) and trunk (21%). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that the MSDs are lower among the higher academic occupations. However, the most common MSDs observed in this group of subjects are the back, neck, and knee pain, and it is found that some of the lifetime physical activities also have a significant association with these involved body regions.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Arabic Version of Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ-Ar).

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) affect millions of people worldwide. Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ) is a valid and reliable tool to assess the health of patients with MSD. However, this scale is not available in the Arabic language. The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ) into Arabic (MSK-HQ-Ar) and evaluate its validity and reliability among participants with MSD. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used guidelines from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) to translate as well as validate the psychometric properties of MSK-HQ-Ar. Patients with MSD (n = 149) living in Taif participated in the study. Cronbach's alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to assess internal consistency and test-retest reliability of MSK-HQ-Ar respectively. Spearman's correlation was used to assess the correlation between MSK-HQ-Ar and the European quality of life five-dimension, five-level scale (EQ-5D-5L). RESULTS: Out of 149 participants, 119 completed the MSK-HQ-Ar twice. The scale showed good internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha (0.88), and reliability (ICC 0.92-0.95). A strong association was found with the EQ-5D-5L scores. CONCLUSION: The adapted MSK-HQ-Arabic version revealed acceptable psychometric properties and is a valid and reliable outcome measure to assess MSK health among Arabic speaking patients with MSD.

Functional outcomes of kinesio taping versus standard orthotics in the management of shin splint.

BACKGROUND: Exercise-related or lower-limb overuse injury characterized by pain located between the knee and the ankle that occurs during activity is commonly referred to as shin splint. Hyperpronation is considered the ultimate culprit in the development of overuse injuries such as shin splint. This study endeavors to compare the functional outcomes of the most commonly used anti-pronation techniques, kinesio taping and standard orthotics. METHODS: A total of 40 subjects (mean age, 24.16±2.6 years) with symptoms of shin splint participated in the current study. These subjects were randomly allocated to two groups (N.=20) and underwent anti-pronation kinesio taping and standard orthotics, respectively. The functional outcomes were assessed using the navicular drop test, visual analog scale, and hop distance. RESULTS: The kinesio taping intervention group showed significant improvements in pain and hop distance compared to the standard orthotics intervention group, whereas an insignificant intergroup difference was observed for the navicular drop test. Patients in both groups benefited, but the response to kinesio taping was better than that to orthotics. CONCLUSIONS: Kinesio taping played a vital role in improving functional outcomes compared to orthotics by reducing pain and improving functional activity in patients with shin splint; however, navicular drop correction did not occur using either intervention.

Reference values for the SF-36 in Canadian injured workers undergoing rehabilitation.

PURPOSE: The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) is a widely used measure of health-related quality of life and normative reference values have been published for the general population of several countries. Since injured workers often experience pain, disability and other health challenges, we evaluated SF-36 reference values for Canadian workers' compensation claimants undergoing rehabilitation. METHODS: Descriptive cross-sectional design. Data were gathered as part of a study aimed at developing a tool for selecting rehabilitation programs. Data were available on a wide variety of measures, including the SF-36. We calculated age- and sex-adjusted reference values, and stratified analyses based on type of rehabilitation, employment status and diagnostic group. RESULTS: Data were available on 5,622 claimants undergoing rehabilitation. Claimants reported significant limitations on all SF-36 scales, but were especially limited on the Role Emotional and Bodily Pain scales (~3 standard deviations below typical Canadian norms). Unemployed, middle-aged claimants undergoing chronic pain programs reported the lowest health status, but SF-36 scores varied minimally across diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Claimant scores on the SF-36 were below population norms across all health scales and differed depending on age, employment status and type of rehabilitation. These data will be useful for assessing the health status of injured workers and evaluating the effect of rehabilitation interventions.