Background: Depression rates in the multiple sclerosis (MS) population in the Arab world have rarely been reported despite people with MS generally having higher rates of depression. We examined depression rates in 416 people with MS versus the general population of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and their treatment. Methods: A retrospective medical record review of 416 people with MS (age range, 16–80 years) followed up at four large government hospitals in Abu Dhabi was conducted to determine the percentage of people with MS diagnosed as having depression or anxiety. Results: The depression rate in people with MS (10.8%) was close to that in the general population of Abu Dhabi. The adjusted odds ratios of depression by selected variables showed that there was a significant difference (P = .003) between females and males in reporting depression, with more females reporting depression than males. Greater MS duration was also associated with a higher likelihood of being depressed (P = .025). The anxiety rate in the cohort (4.8%) was lower than that in the general Abu Dhabi population (18.7%). Conclusions: The depression rate in people with MS in Abu Dhabi was close to that of the general Abu Dhabi population, but the anxiety rate in people with MS was lower. Explanations for these low rates include possible underreporting by patients and physician factors such as time limitations in busy clinics. Cultural aspects such as strong family support systems and religious factors in this predominantly Muslim population are also possible factors that warrant further investigation.

Introduction Common bean is one of the widely consumed food security crop in Africa, Asia, and South America. Understanding genetic diversity and population structure is crucial for designing breeding strategies. Materials Two hundred and eighty-nine germplasm were recently collected from different regions of Ethiopia and introduced from CIAT to estimate genetic diversity and population structure using 11,480 DArTSeq SNP markers. Results The overall mean genetic diversity and polymorphic information content (PIC) were 0.38 and 0.30, respectively, suggested the presence of adequate genetic diversity among the genotypes. Among the geographical regions, landraces collected from Oromia showed the highest diversity (0.39) and PIC (0.30). The highest genetic distance was observed between genotypes collected from SNNPR and CIAT (0.49). In addition, genotypes from CIAT were genetically more related to improved varieties than the landraces which could be due to sharing of parents in the improvement process. The analysis of molecular variance revealed that the largest proportion of variation was due to within the population both in geographical region (63.67%) and breeding status (61.3%) based classification. Model-based structure analysis delineated the 289 common bean genotypes into six hypothetical ancestoral populations. Conclusions The genotypes were not clustered based on geographical regions and they were not the main drivers for the differentiation. This indicated that selection of the parental lines should be based on systematic assessment of the diversity rather than geographical distance. This article provides new insights into the genetic diversity and population structure of common bean for association studies, designing effective collection and conservation for efficient utilization for the improvement of the crop.

Anxiety, depression, perceived functional disability, impairment in quality of life, and disturbance of self-image were found to be common among participants in the study pursuing bariatric surgery for obesity. Recognition, assessment, and treatment of these symptoms are expected to be conducive to positive outcomes of bariatric surgery.

IntroductionThere is a significant prevalence of morbid obesity among the population in the United Arab Emirates (BMI>40kg/m2). This has been accompanied by a growth in bariatric surgery.ObjectivesTo study psychiatric co-morbidity in obese patients seeking Bariatric Surgery.AimsTo identify baseline psychological characteristics such as symptoms of anxiety and depression that may potentially interfere or complicate the surgical procedure.MethodsEighty eight consecutive obese patients (F=69, M=19) seeking bariatric surgery were recruited at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain. Behavioral/psychosocial evaluations were conducted to screen for symptoms of anxiety and depression using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). The impact on the degree of perceived disability was assessed on the four functional dimensions of the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS). Statistical methods used Pearson Correlation to study correlation between scales and quantitative variables, while frequencies were determined for categorical variables.ResultsThe reported frequency of significant symptoms on the HAD were 26.7% for anxiety and 14.7% for depression. The average mean disability scores on the SDS were 21.3%. The relative frequency of disabilities on each of the 4 dimensions of functioning were 28.7%, 35.0%, 36.3%, 36.3% consecutively. Higher Depression scores were associated with marked disability on the dimensions of Social life, Family/home responsibilities and Religious duties (0.61, 0.38, 0.29 consecutively). Meantime, anxiety scores were associated with higher disability on social life, family/home responsibilities (0.39 and 0.3) but not on work/school or religious duties.ConclusionAnxiety and depressive symptoms are common among bariatric patients with morbid obesity in the UAE.