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Hire Dr. Ahmad A.

United Kingdom

USD 120 /hr

Statistician & Data Analyst | Expert in SPSS, R, Python

Profile Summary

I can perform many statistical analysis using many software like R SPSS. I can generate results using APA format using words or MAC pages. I have more than 15 years dealing with statistical analysis. I have several publications in many study fields such as environment, medical, management, ..., etc.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Regression Analysis
• ★ Trend Analysis
• ★ SPSS
• ☆ Data Analysis
• ☆ Data Processing
• ☆ Data Visualization
• ☆ Data Manipulation
• ☆ Statistics
• ☆ Stochastic Processes
• ☆ Research
• ☆ Survey Design & Methodology

Services

• Data & AI

Data & AI Statistical Analysis, Data Visualization

Work Experience

Statistical Consultant

Advancement Consulting for Statistical Studies - Kuwait

January 2010 - Present

Education

University of Strathclyde

- Present

PhD in Statistics

University of Strathclyde

June 2018 - Present

Master in Statistics

Kuwait University

June 2004 - June 2007

Bachelor in Mathhematics

Kuwait University

June 1997 - June 2002

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

In-hospital mortality in SARS-CoV-2 stratified by serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels @article{5e21547531864d438578d37adabae4ac, title = "In-hospital mortality in SARS-CoV-2 stratified by serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels: a retrospective study", abstract = "This study is done to estimаte in-hоsрitаl mоrtаlity in раtients with severe асute resрirаtоry syndrоme соrоnаvirus 2 (SАRS-СоV-2) strаtified by Vitamin-D (Vit-D) levels. Раtients were strаtified ассоrding tо by serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)Vit-D) levels intо twо grоuрs, that is, 25(OH)Vit-D less thаn 40 nmol/L аnd 25(OH)Vit-D greаter thаn 40 nmol/L. А tоtаl оf 231 раtients were inсluded. Оf these, 120 (50.2%) оf the раtients hаd 25(OH)Vit-D levels greаter thаn 40 nmol/L. The meаn аge wаs 49 ± 17 yeаrs, аnd 67% оf the раtients were mаles. The mediаn length оf оverаll hоsрitаl stаy wаs 18 [6; 53] dаys. The remаining 119 (49.8%) раtients hаd а 25(OH)Vit-D less thаn 40 nmol/L. Vitamin D levels were seen as deficient in 63% of patients, insufficient in 25% and normal in 12%. Оverаll mоrtаlity wаs 17 раtients (7.1%) but statistically not signifiсаnt among the grоuрs (p = 0.986). The Kарlаn–Meier survivаl аnаlysis shоwed no significance based on an alpha of 0.05, LL = 0.36, df = 1, p = 0.548, indicating Vitamin_D_Levels was not able to adequately predict the hazard of Mortality. In this study, serum 25(OH)Vit-D levels were found have no significance in terms of predicting the in-hоsрitаl mortality in раtients with SАRS-СоV-2.", keywords = "COVID-19, in-hospital mortality, SARS-COV-2, vitamin D", author = "Mohammed Al-Jarallah and Rajesh Rajan and Raja Dashti and {Al Saber}, Ahmad and Jiazhu Pan and Zhanna, {Kobalava D.} and Hassan Abdelnaby and Wael Aboelhassan and Farah Almutairi and Mohammed Abdullah and Naser Alotaibi and {Al Saleh}, Mohammad and {Al Nasrallah}, Noor and Bader Al-Bader and Haya Malhas and Maryam Ramadhan and Mahdy Hamza and {A. Brady}, Peter and Ibrahim Al-Zakwani and Moudhi Alroomi", year = "2021", month = jun, day = "7", doi = "10.1002/jmv.27133", language = "English", volume = "93", pages = "5880–5885", journal = "Journal of Medical Virology", issn = "0146-6615", publisher = "Wiley", number = "10", } . Journal of Medical Virology.

Mohammed Al‐Jarallah, Rajesh Rajan, Raja Dashti, Ahmad Al Saber, Jiazhu Pan, Kobalava D. Zhanna, Hassan Abdelnaby, Wael Aboelhassan, Farah Almutairi, Mohammed Abdullah, et al.(2021). In‐hospital mortality in SARS‐CoV‐2 stratified by serum 25‐hydroxy‐vitamin D levels: A retrospective study . Journal of Medical Virology. Wiley

Ahmad Alsaber, Adeeba Al‐Herz, Jiazhu Pan, Ahmad T. AL‐Sultan, Divya Mishra(2021). Handling missing data in a rheumatoid arthritis registry using random forest approach . International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases. Wiley

Outcomes of Tocilizumab Therapy in Severe or Critical COVID‐19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort, Single‐Center Study @article{2021, doi = {10.1111/tmi.13685}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1111%2Ftmi.13685}, year = 2021, month = {oct}, publisher = {Wiley}, author = {Hassan Abdelnaby and Wael Aboelhassan and Mohammed Al-Jarallah and Rajesh Rajan and Raja Dashti and Ahmad R. Al Saber and Ahmed Abd el-Saleem and Islam Ashri and Mohammed Abdullah and Ahmed Mahmud Fouad}, title = {Outcomes of Tocilizumab Therapy in Severe or Critical {COVID}-19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort, Single-Center Study}} . Tropical Medicine & International Health.

Outcomes of Tocilizumab Therapy in Severe or Critical COVID‐19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort, Single‐Center Study @article{2021, doi = {10.1111/tmi.13685}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1111%2Ftmi.13685}, year = 2021, month = {oct}, publisher = {Wiley}, author = {Hassan Abdelnaby and Wael Aboelhassan and Mohammed Al-Jarallah and Rajesh Rajan and Raja Dashti and Ahmad R. Al Saber and Ahmed Abd el-Saleem and Islam Ashri and Mohammed Abdullah and Ahmed Mahmud Fouad}, title = {Outcomes of Tocilizumab Therapy in Severe or Critical {COVID}-19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort, Single-Center Study}} . Tropical Medicine & International Health.

Outcomes of tocilizumab therapy in severe or critical COVID-19 patients @article{15810eaa35e64a098d892260c8a37d73, title = "Outcomes of tocilizumab therapy in severe or critical COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort, single-center study", abstract = "Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab, a humanised anti- interleukin-6 receptor antibody, in the treatment of critical or severe coronavirus dis- ease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of severe or critical COVID-19 patients (≥18 years) admitted to one hospital in Kuwait. Fifty-one patients received intravenous tocilizumab, while 78 patients received the standard of care at the same hospital. Both groups were compared for clinical improvement and in-hospital mortality.Results: The tocilizumab (TCZ) group had a significantly lower 28-day in-hospital mortality rate than the standard-of care-group (21.6% vs. 42.3% respectively; p = 0.015). Fifty-five per cent of patients in the TCZ group clinically improved vs. 11.5% in the standard-of-care group (p < 0.001). Using Cox-proportional regression analysis, TCZ treatment was associated with a reduced risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 0.25; 95% CI: 0.11–0.61) and increased likelihood of clinical improvement (adjusted hazard ratio 4.94; 95% CI: 2.03–12.0), compared to the standard of care. The median C-reactive protein, D-dimer, procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase and ferritin levels in the tocili- zumab group decreased significantly over the 14 days of follow-up. Secondary infections occurred in 19.6% of the TCZ group, and in 20.5% of the standard-of-care group, with no statistical significance (p = 0.900).Conclusion: Tocilizumab was significantly associated with better survival and greater clinical improvement in severe or critical COVID-19 patients.", keywords = "Covid-19, tocilizumab, mortality, survival, Kuwait", author = "Hassan Abdelnaby and Wael Aboelhassan and Mohammed Al-Jarallah and Rajesh Rajan and Raja Dashti and {Al Saber}, {Ahmad R.} and {Abd el-Saleem}, Ahmed and Islam Ashri and Mohammed Abdullah and {Mahmud Fouad}, Ahmed", year = "2021", month = oct, day = "3", doi = "10.1111/tmi.13685", language = "English", journal = "Tropical Medicine and International Health", issn = "1360-2276", publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd", } . Tropical Medicine and International Health.

Handling missing data in a rheumatoid arthritis registry using random forest approach @article{e835ea5aad574401af2138c765aa9c19, title = "Handling missing data in a rheumatoid arthritis registry using random forest approach", abstract = "Missing data in clinical epidemiological research violate the intention-to-treat principle, reduce the power of statistical analysis, and can introduce bias if the cause of missing data is related to a patient's response to treatment. Multiple imputation provides a solution to predict the values of missing data. The main objective of this study is to estimate and impute missing values in patient records. The data from the Kuwait Registry for Rheumatic Diseases was used to deal with missing values among patient records. A number of methods were implemented to deal with missing data; however, choosing the best imputation method was judged by the lowest root mean square error (RMSE). Among 1735 rheumatoid arthritis patients, we found missing values vary from 5% to 65.5% of the total observations. The results show that sequential random forest method can estimate these missing values with a high level of accuracy. The RMSE varied between 2.5 and 5.0. missForest had the lowest imputation error for both continuous and categorical variables under each missing data rate (10%, 20%, and 30%) and had the smallest prediction error difference when the models used the imputed laboratory values.", keywords = "rheumatoid, missing values, imputation techniques, random forest, kNN, KRRD", author = "Ahmad Alsaber and Adeeba Al-Herz and Jiazhu Pan and Al-Sultan, {Ahmad T.} and Divya Mishra and {KRRD Group}", year = "2021", month = oct, day = "1", doi = "10.1111/1756-185X.14203", language = "English", volume = " 24", pages = " 1282–1293", journal = "International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases", issn = "1756-185X", publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd", number = "10", } . International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.

In-hospital mortality in SARS-CoV-2 stratified by hemoglobin levels @article{469cfc82734a43e8a3d873ecd0ecee91, title = "In-hospital mortality in SARS-CoV-2 stratified by hemoglobin levels: a retrospective study", abstract = "This study is to estimate in-hospital mortality in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) patients stratified by hemoglobin (Hb) level. Patients were stratified according to hemoglobin level into two groups, that is, Hb <100 g/L and Hb >100 g/L. A total of 6931 patients were included. Of these, 6377 (92%) patients had hemoglobin levels >100 g/L. The mean age was 44 ± 17 years, and 66% of the patients were males. The median length of overall hospital stay was 13 days [2; 31]. The remaining 554 (8%) patients had a hemoglobin level <100 g/L. Overall mortality was 176 patients (2.54%) but was significantly higher in the group with hemoglobin levels <100 g/L (124, 22.4%) than in the group with hemoglobin levels >100 g/L (52, 0.82%). Risk factors associated with increased mortality were determined by multi- variate analysis. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed hemoglobin as a predictor of mortality. Cox proportional hazards regression coefficients for hemoglobin for the HB ≤ 100 category of hemoglobin were significant, B = 2.79, SE = 0.17, and HR = 16.34, p < 0.001. Multivariate logistic regression showed Hb < 100 g/L had a higher cumu- lative all-cause in-hospital mortality (22.4% vs. 0.8%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.33; 95% [CI]: [0.20–0.55]; p < 0.001). In this study, hemoglobin levels <100 g/L were found to be an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality.", keywords = "anemia, COVID-19, hemoglobin, in-hospital mortality, SARS-CoV-2", author = "Mohammed Al-Jarallah and Rajesh Rajan and {Al Saber}, Ahmad and Jiazhu Pan and Ahmad T.Al-Sultan and Hassan Abdelnaby and Moudhi Alroomi and Raja Dashti and Wael Aboelhassan and Farah Almutairi and Mohammed Abdullah and Naser Alotaibi and {Al Saleh}, Mohammad and Noor AlNasrallah and Bader Al-Bader and Haya Malhas and Maryam Ramadhan and Mahdy Hamza and Zhanna, {Kobalava D.}", year = "2021", month = sep, day = "24", doi = "10.1002/jha2.195", language = "English", volume = "2", pages = "335–339", journal = "eJHaem", issn = "2688-6146", publisher = "Wiley", number = "3", } . eJHaem.

Forecasting air passenger traffic volume @article{ddc7c7583ef64df28f0bfcbb5a8b3892, title = "Forecasting air passenger traffic volume: evaluating time series models in long-term forecasting of Kuwait air passenger data", abstract = "Accurate estimation of air transport demand is vital for airlines, related aviation companies, and government agencies. For example, both short-term and long-term business plans of airlines require accurate forecasting of future air traffic flows. This study aims to forecast the volume of air passengers in Kuwait International Airport (KIA), which is in the state of Kuwait. Using monthly air traffic volume data between January 2012 and December 2018, this study focuses on the modelling and forecasting the number of air passengers in KIA. A wide range of time series forecasting models are considered in this research, including autoregressive-integrated-moving average model (ARIMA), exponential smoothing with errors term (ETS), Holt-Winters exponential smoothing, neural network autoregression (NNAR), hybrid and Bayesian structural time series (BSTS), and a hybrid model. The forecasting performance of these models are compared using multiple train-test splits where the models are fitted on the training sets and evaluated on the test sets. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is used to compare the performance of various models. Empirical analysis suggests that the BSTS model compares favorably against the other time series models in its ability to forecast complex time series. The BSTS model may be applied to study other complex time series forecasting problems with irregularity.", keywords = "air traffic volume forecast, seasonal ARIMA, seasonal exponential smoothing, neural networks, hybrid method, Kuwait International Airport", author = "Ahmad Al-Sultan and Amani Al-Rubkhi and Ahmad Alsaber and Jiazhu Pan", year = "2021", month = sep, day = "1", doi = "10.17654/AS070010069", language = "English", volume = "70", pages = "69--89", journal = "Advances and Applications in Statistics", issn = "0972-3617", publisher = "Pushpa Publishing House", number = "1", } . Advances and Applications in Statistics.

Ahmad Alsaber, Moudhi Alroomi, Rajesh Rajan, Abdulaziz A. Omar, Jiazhu Pan, Mina Fatemi, Kobalava D. Zhanna, Wael Aboelhassan, Farah Almutairi, Naser Alotaibi, et al.(2021). Ferritin level: A predictor of severity and mortality in hospitalized COVID‐19 patients . Immunity, Inflammation and Disease. Wiley

Ferritin level @article{4e5ef950a2814c19af595a46ad237e73, title = "Ferritin level: a predictor of severity and mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients", abstract = "This study aims to investigate in-hоsрitаl mоrtаlity in severe асute resрirаtоry syndrоme соrоnаvirus 2 (SАRS-СоV-2) раtients strаtified by serum ferritin levels. Patients were stratified based on ferritin level (ferritin levels ≤ 1000 or ferritin levels > 1000). Approximately 89% (118) of the patients with ferritin levels > 1000 had pneumonia, and 51% (67) had hypertension. Fever (97, 73.5%) and SOB (80, 61%) were two major symptoms among the patients in this group. Logistic regression analysis indicated that ferritin level (OR=0.36, 95% C.I. [0.21-0.62], p<0.001), male sex (OR=2.63, 95% C.I. [1.43-5.06], p=0.003), hypertension (OR=4.16, 95% C.I. [2.42-7.36], p<0.001) and pneumonia (OR=8.48, 95% C.I. [3.02-35.45], p<0.001) had significance in predicting in-hospital mortality. Additionally, the Cox proportional hazards analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival probability plot showed a higher mortality rate among patients with ferritin levels > 1000. In this study, higher levels of serum ferritin were found to be an independent predictor of in-hоsрitаl mоrtаlity.", keywords = "ferritin, COVID-19, in-hospital mortality, male sex, SARS-CoV-2, hypertension, pneumonia", author = "Moudhi Alroomi and Rajesh Rajan and Omar, {Abdulaziz A.} and Ahmad Alsaber and Jiazhu Pan and Mina Fatemi and Zhanna, {Kobalava D.} and Wael Aboelhassan and Farah Almutairi and Naser Alotaibi and Saleh, {Mohammad A.} and Noor AlNasrallah and Bader Al-Bader and Haya Malhas and Maryam Ramadhan and Mohammed Abdullah and Hassan Abdelnaby", year = "2021", month = aug, day = "26", doi = "10.1002/iid3.517", language = "English", journal = "Immunity, Inflammation and Disease", issn = "2050-4527", publisher = "John Wiley and Sons Ltd", } . Immunity, Inflammation and Disease.

Don't close the book on tocilizumab for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia - the jury is still out. The Kuwait experience @article{1cbb2ed47da54cd39beb6e48de0f40d9, title = "Don't close the book on tocilizumab for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia - the jury is still out. The Kuwait experience", abstract = "This cross-sectional observational study aims to report preliminary data from the first experience with tocilizumab administered to patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in three of the largest public hospitals in Kuwait City.Patients and MethodsWe conducted a chart review of 127 patients classified as having severe COVID-19 pneumonia with associated features of cytokine release storm treated with tocilizumab.Results90 of 127 patients (71%) survived. Mortality was highest in the elderly with multiple medical conditions.ConclusionDespite the small sample size and retrospective nature of the work, our findings suggest tocilizumab administration in patients presenting with severe COVID pneumonia with associated cytokine release storm conferred mortality benefit.", keywords = "tocilizumab, severe COVID-19 pneumonia, cytokine Release Storm, hyperinflammatory state", author = "Yousef Al-Shamali and Ali, {Yaser M.} and Al-Shamali, {Rawan A.} and Maryam Al-Melahi and Al-Shammari, {Farah R.} and Ahmad Alsaber and Wasl Al-Adsani", year = "2021", month = aug, day = "24", doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0254379", language = "English", volume = "16", journal = "PLOS One", issn = "1932-6203", publisher = "Public Library of Science", number = "8", } . PLOS One.

Mohammed Al‐Jarallah, Rajesh Rajan, Ahmad Al Saber, Jiazhu Pan, Ahmad T. Al‐Sultan, Hassan Abdelnaby, Moudhi Alroomi, Raja Dashti, Wael Aboelhassan, Farah Almutairi, et al.(2021). In‐hospital mortality in SARS‐CoV‐2 stratified by hemoglobin levels: A retrospective study . eJHaem. Wiley

Measuring instructor's readiness on accepting the use of e-learning system during Covid-19 pandemic in higher education of Kuwait @article{3d91e19dafbb423cb021ba710f870274, title = "Measuring instructor's readiness on accepting the use of e-learning system during Covid-19 pandemic in higher education of Kuwait", abstract = "E-learning has arisen as a need to face the obstacles raised by Covid-19's current circumstance and IT growth and the capacity for greater access to information. The decision to close all educational institutions, including public and private universities, is among the difficulties faced by the State of Kuwait during the Corona pandemic. There were appeals and claims to carry out the e-learning process separately. However, several obstacles affect the implementation of e-learning in higher education. Whether various stakeholders in higher education institutions prefer to accept or oppose e-learning for their work needs to be understood. This study explores the readiness of instructors in Kuwait's higher education institutions to carry out the process of e-learning. The key purpose of this report is to evaluate Kuwait's universities instructors' readiness. To realize this research target, the e-learning literature was studied, and an exploratory analysis was performed in Kuwait. Then a conceptual model was proposed based on TAM's technological preparation model and amended with the findings of e-learning literature analysis to measure the e-learning acceptance. The initial conceptual model was developed to research e-learning readiness in Kuwait. Quantitative analysis approach was used to analyze and test the conceptual construct. Conducted a questionnaire web-based. This report ends by highlighting research's key results.", keywords = "E-learning, readiness, technology readiness, technology acceptance model (TAM)", author = "Anwaar Alkandari and Aisha Alseddiqi and {Ahmad R A A Alsaber}, A", year = "2021", month = jun, day = "20", doi = "10.18374/JABE-21-2.3", language = "English", volume = "21", pages = "29--40", journal = "Journal of Academy of Business and Economics", issn = "1542-8710", number = "2", } . Journal of Academy of Business and Economics.

Air quality assessment in the State of Kuwait during 2012 to 2017 @article{60706d94277c43a09b58a6d326f5ac92, title = "Air quality assessment in the State of Kuwait during 2012 to 2017", abstract = "This study aimed to examine the trend of ambient air pollution (i.e., ozone (O3), nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), benzene (C6H6) and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 microns (PM10), and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) at 10 monitoring stations located in the main residential and industrial areas in the State of Kuwait over 6 years (2012–2017). We found that the SO2 level in industrial areas (0.065 ppm) exceeded the allowable range of SO2 in residential areas (0.030 ppm). Air pollution variables were defined by the Environmental Public Authority of Kuwait (K-EPA). In this study, integrated statistical analysis was performed to compare an established air pollution database to Kuwait Ambient Air Quality Guidelines and to determine the association between pollutants and meteorological factors. All pollutants were positively correlated, with the exception of most pollutants and PM10 and O3. Meteorological factors, i.e., the ambient temperature, wind speed and humidity, were also significantly associated with the above pollutants. Spatial distribution mapping indicated that the PM10 level remained high during the southwest monsoon (the hot and dry season), while the CO level was high during the northeast monsoon (the wet season). The NO2 and O3 levels were high during the first intermonsoon season. ", keywords = "air pollution, industrial area, ambient air pollution, EPA, Kuwait", author = "Adeeba Al-Hurban and Sawsan Khader and Ahmad Alsaber and Jiazhu Pan", year = "2021", month = may, day = "26", doi = "10.3390/atmos12060678", language = "English", volume = "12", journal = "Atmosphere", issn = "2073-4433", publisher = "MDPI AG", number = "6", } . Atmosphere.

Ahmad Alsaber, Adeeba Al-Hurban, Sawsan Khader, Jiazhu Pan(2021). Air Quality Assessment in the State of Kuwait during 2012 to 2017 . Atmosphere. 12. (6). p. 678. {MDPI} {AG}

Ahmad Alsaber, Adeeba Al-Hurban, Sawsan Khader, Jiazhu Pan (2021). Air Quality Assessment in the State of Kuwait during 2012 to 2017 . Atmosphere.

Ahmad R. Alsaber, Jiazhu Pan, Adeeba Al-Hurban&#160;(2021). Handling Complex Missing Data Using Random Forest Approach for an Air Quality Monitoring Dataset: A Case Study of Kuwait Environmental Data (2012 to 2018) . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18. (3). p. 1333. {MDPI} {AG}

Handling complex missing data using random forest approach for an air quality monitoring dataset @article{78bcccb920e541a9afb26e640924cd7d, title = "Handling complex missing data using random forest approach for an air quality monitoring dataset: a case study of Kuwait environmental data (2012 to 2018)", abstract = "In environmental research, missing data are often a challenge for statistical modeling. This paper addressed some advanced techniques to deal with missing values in a data set measuring air quality using a multiple imputation (MI) approach. MCAR, MAR, and NMAR missing data techniques are applied to the data set. Five missing data levels are considered: 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%. The imputation method used in this paper is an iterative imputation method, missForest, which is related to the random forest approach. Air quality data sets were gathered from five monitoring stations in Kuwait, aggregated to a daily basis. Logarithm transformation was carried out for all pollutant data, in order to normalize their distributions and to minimize skewness. We found high levels of missing values for NO2 (18.4%), CO (18.5%), PM10 (57.4%), SO2 (19.0%), and O3 (18.2%) data. Climatological data (i.e., air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, and wind speed) were used as control variables for better estimation. The results show that the MAR technique had the lowest RMSE and MAE. We conclude that MI using the missForest approach has a high level of accuracy in estimating missing values. MissForest had the lowest imputation error (RMSE and MAE) among the other imputation methods and, thus, can be considered to be appropriate for analyzing air quality data.", keywords = "missing imputation, random forest, high dimensional data, missing data mechanism, air quality", author = "Alsaber, {Ahmad R.} and Jiazhu Pan and Adeeba Al-Hurban", year = "2021", month = feb, day = "2", doi = "10.3390/ijerph18031333", language = "English", volume = "18", journal = "International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health", issn = "1660-4601", publisher = "MDPI AG", number = "3", } . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Ahmad Alsaber, Jiazhu Pan, Adeeba Al-Hurban&#160; (2021). Handling Complex Missing Data Using Random Forest Approach for an Air Quality Monitoring Dataset: A Case Study of Kuwait Environmental Data (2012 to 2018) . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Accessibility to biologics and its impact on disease activity and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Kuwait @article{83a6836629be491bb6c22a0d35f8dfaf, title = "Accessibility to biologics and its impact on disease activity and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Kuwait", abstract = "Objective: Biologics are indicated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in case of persistent high disease activity despite conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (cDMARDs) or patients with contraindications to cDMARDs or poor prognostic factors. The purpose of this study was to compare the prescription rates of biologics in Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti patients and to assess whether this had an impact on disease activity and quality of life in RA patients. Methods: Data were extracted from the Kuwait Registry for Rheumatic Diseases. Adult patients who satisfied the ACR classification criteria for RA from four major hospitals in Kuwait were evaluated from February 2013 through May 2018. The treatment agents, disease activity, and quality of life of Kuwaiti patients were compared with non-Kuwaiti patients. Results: A total of 1651 RA patients were included; 806 (48.8%) were Kuwaiti patients. Among Kuwaiti patients, 62.5% were on biologic drugs in comparison with 14% of non-Kuwaiti patients. In comparison with non-Kuwaiti patients, Kuwaiti patients had significantly lower numbers of swollen joints (p < 0.001) and disease activity score-28 scores (p = 0.02) and less steroid use (p < 0.001) yet a significantly higher health assessment questionnaire-disability index (p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that DAS-28 scores were significantly associated with the treatment type (p < 0.001) and that nationality was significantly predictive of the treatment type (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In the setting of easy accessibility to treatment for Kuwaiti patients, biologics were prescribed by rheumatologists at a higher rate than for non-Kuwaitis. This may explain the lower disease activity and the lower rate of steroid use in Kuwaiti patients than non-Kuwaitis. Key points: • Significant discrepancies in the rates of prescribing biologic therapies between KP and NKP in Kuwait were observed. • Several treatment outcomes were significantly better in the KP group than in the NKP group even after adjustment of confounding factors. • The poor access to biologic therapies was suggested to limit the effectiveness of RA treatments in the NKP group.", keywords = "biologics, DAS-28, Kuwait, rheumatoid arthritis", author = "Adeeba Al-Herz and Khuloud Saleh and Adel Al-Awadhi and Waleed Al-Kandari and Eman Hasan and Aqeel Ghanem and Mohammed Hussain and Yaser Ali and Ebrahim Nahar and Ahmad Alenizi and Sawsan Hayat and Fatemah Abutiban and Ali Aldei and Hebah Alhajeri and Naser Alhadhood and Husain Bahbahani and Hoda Tarakmeh and Khaled Mokaddem and Ahmad Khadrawy and Ammad Fazal and Agaz Zaman and Ghada Mazloum and Youssef Bartella and Sally Hamed and Ramia Alsouk and Ahmed Al-Saber", year = "2020", month = oct, day = "12", doi = "10.1007/s10067-020-05444-2", language = "English", journal = "Clinical Rheumatology", issn = "1434-9949", publisher = "Springer London", } . Clinical Rheumatology.

Influence of ambient air pollution on rheumatoid arthritis disease activity score Index @article{13ce66e90206418ebbd356f2b4bb7cc4, title = "Influence of ambient air pollution on rheumatoid arthritis disease activity score Index", abstract = "Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune of an unknown etiology. Air pollution has been proposed as one of the possible risk factors associated with disease activity, although has not been extensively studied. In this study, we measured the relationship between exposure to air pollutants and RA activity. Data on RA patients were extracted from the Kuwait Registry for Rheumatic Diseases (KRRD). Disease activity was measured using disease activity score with 28 examined joints (DAS-28) and the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) during their hospital visits from 2013 to 2017. Air pollution was assessed using air pollution components (PM 10, NO 2, SO 2, O 3, and CO). Air pollution data were obtained from Kuwait Environmental Public Authority (K-EPA) from six different air quality-monitoring stations during the same period. Multiple imputations by the chained equations (MICE) algorithm were applied to estimate missing air pollution data. Patients data were linked with air pollution data according to date and patient governorate address. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and linear regression techniques were employed using STATA software. In total, 1651 RA patients with 9875 follow-up visits were studied. We detected an increased risk of RA using DAS-28 in participants exposed to SO 2 and NO 2 with β = 0.003 (95% CI: 0.0004–0.005, p < 0.01) and β = 0.003 (95% CI: 0.002–0.005, p < 0.01), respectively, but not to PM 10, O 3, and CO concentrations. Conclusively, we observed a strong association between air pollution with RA disease activity. This study suggests air pollution as a risk factor for RA and recommends further measures to be taken by the authorities to control this health problem. ", keywords = "air pollution, rheumatoid arthritis, DAS-28, CDAI, RA registry, KRRD, Kuwait, Middle East, AQI", author = "Ahmad Alsaber and Jiazhu Pan and Adeeba Al-Herz and Alkandary, {Dhary S.} and Adeeba Al-Hurban and Parul Setiya and KRRD Group", year = "2020", month = jan, day = "8", doi = "10.3390/ijerph17020416", language = "English", volume = "17", journal = "International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health", issn = "1660-4601", publisher = "MDPI AG", number = "2", } . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Ahmad Alsaber, Jiazhu Pan, Adeeba Al-Herz, Dhary Alkandary, Adeeba Al-Hurban, Parul Setiya, on behalf of the KRRD Group(2020). Influence of Ambient Air Pollution on Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Score Index . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17. (2). p. 416. {MDPI} {AG}

An Arab perspective on social media @article{8b9797ece8e04c9fb7bdd7170be224bb, title = "An Arab perspective on social media: how banks in Kuwait use instagram for public relations", abstract = "This study examines the public relations functions of eight Kuwaiti banks listed in the Kuwait Stock Exchange Market (KSEM) that post on their Instagram accounts. It also uses market-size, organization, and individual level predictors to model Instagram postings. A content analysis of 1502 posts revealed the banks use Instagram for promotion, information dissemination, community building, and interactive engagement, in that order of prominence. The findings suggest banks operate at the confluence of visual communication through Instagram and integration of religious sym- bolism to serve a public relations function predicated on image and influence. In doing so, the banks tap into the wellspring of social media use by target publics by navigating a balance between obedience to Allah and meeting bank business objectives. The resulting tension between sacred and secular highlights Arab cultural values and suggests Instagram fosters individualism, which challenges Arab emphasis on collectivism and fractures the notion online platforms can effectively build meaningful relationships that characterize Arab culture. The study posits Instagram is more effective in an Arab context at image building than relationship building, threading the importance of visual communication through social media across Arab culture and global public relations practices.", keywords = "social media, Kuwait, banking, public relations", author = "Al-Kandari, {Ali A.} and Gaither, {T. Kenn} and Alfahad, {Mohamed Mubarak} and Dashti, {Ali A.} and Alsaber, {Ahmad R.}", year = "2019", month = sep, day = "30", doi = "10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.04.007", language = "English", volume = "45", journal = "Public Relations Review", issn = "0363-8111", publisher = "Elsevier BV", number = "3", } . Public Relations Review.

(2019). An Arab perspective on social media: How banks in Kuwait use instagram for public relations . Public Relations Review.

(2018). 247 Higher uric acid is associated with a lower disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis patients: results from the Kuwait RA registry . Rheumatology.

(2018). High thermal tolerance displayed by the ladybeetle Harmonia axyridis in Kuwait . Journal of Entomological Research.

(2017). Low Prevalence of Nodules in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients<b> </b>in Kuwait: A Description and a Comparison of Patients from the Kuwait Registry for Rheumatic Diseases . Medical Principles and Practice.

(2016). A Comparison of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients in Kuwait with Other Populations: Results from the KRRD Registry . British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research.