Dietary Patterns and its Associations with Body Mass Index among Saudi University Students. A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Obesity is a complex multifactorial disease characterized by the accumulation of excess body fat, leading to adverse health outcomes. Over the past four decades, Saudi Arabia has experienced significant economic growth, leading to shifts in lifestyle and dietary habits, especially among young adults.Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the dietary patterns and their relationship with body mass index among university students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among university students using a pretested self-designed questionnaire encompassing 103 common Saudi food items. Ethical approval was obtained from the standing committee for scientific research of Jazan University. Data were coded, validated, and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27.0. Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed, and scree plot was used to delineate the predominant dietary patterns. The association between identified dietary patterns and BMI was assessed using regression analysis and generalized additive models. A two-tailed P-value of < 0.05 was set as the threshold for statistical significance.Results: Four distinct dietary patterns emerged among university students: 1) a Western diet, accounting for 20.114% of the variance, characterized by high factor loadings of fast foods, fried items, snacks, soda drinks, and sweets; 2) a traditional diet, representing 18.058% of the variance, predominantly consisting of milk and milk products, breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, potatoes, and traditional Saudi dishes; 3) a prudent diet, comprising 12.186% of the variance, marked by significant consumption of fruits, legumes, vegetables, and nuts; and 4) a high-protein/high-fat diet, accounting for 9.061% of the variance, associated with the intake of meat, chicken, fish and seafood, eggs, and processed meats. The western diet showed a significant association with an increased risk of obesity, whereas prudent diet was linked to a reduced risk. Conclusions: The findings emphasize the potential benefits of restriction western pattern and promoting prudent dietary pattern to help curtail the obesity epidemic in the studied population

Nicotine metal complexes: synthesis, characterization and bioactivities of some main group and some transition metals

A number of some main group and transition metal nicotine complexes were synthesized and fully characterized using detailed structural and spectroscopic analysis techniques such as elemental analysis, molar conductivities, magnetic susceptibilities, IR, Raman and NMR techniques. Moreover, scanning electron micrographs and thermogravimetric analyses were also done. Cytotoxic activities of the binary nicotine metal complexes were tested and evaluated against HepG2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma), HPC3 (human prostate cancer), and HCT116 (human colorectal carcinoma) tumor cell lines. The antioxidant activities were examined by free radical scavenging assay. The antimicrobial activities of the synthesized complexes were evaluated against Escherichia coli (gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive) microbes. The relationship between the chemical structure of the synthesized complexes and their biological influence as antimicrobial drugs was studied and evaluated.                     KEY WORDS: Nicotine metal complexes, Cytotoxicity, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2020, 34(3), 501-521. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v34i3.

Social media utilization and its impact on male medical students’ learning during Covid-19 pandemic

To assess the patterns of social media uses and their impact on the learning of male medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from March to May 2020 at the College of Medicine, University of Bisha (UBCOM) in Saudi Arabia. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from the students at first year, pre-clerkship and clerkship levels about the types, patterns and benefits of social media usage in their learning. A five-Likert scale was used to measure the students’ responses. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA tests were used for data analysis. Of the 203 students enrolled, 89.2% (n=181) were responded. Most students commonly used Twitter (75.1%), followed by YouTube (52.5%) and Facebook (24.3%). The highest usage of Twitter was found among clerkship students (85.1%) compared to first-year (76.2%) and pre-clerkship students (69.6%), with no significant differences (p = 0.133). About 38.7% of students spent over 10 hours per week on social media and pre-clerkship students being the highest group (43.5%). Most students (67.9%) showed that social media enhance learning activities, 65.2% are interested in using social media in their learning and 64.1% suggested that their inappropriate use consumes time. We concluded social media become interactive tools of learning in medical schools during the urgent situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Such findings highlighted the benefits of considering social media inclusion when designing medical curricula

Radical scavenging activity of some natural tropolones by density functional theory

The ground state neutral geometries of some natural tropolones, i.e. stipitatonic acid (AF1), stipitalide (AF2), stipitaldehydic acid (AF3) and methyl stipitate (AF4) have been optimized by using Density Functional Theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-31G*, B3LYP/6-31G**, B3LYP/6-31+G* and B3LYP/6-31+G** levels of theory. The excited state geometries of AF1-AF4 were optimized by adopting the Time Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) at the same levels of theory. The frequencies and cation species of AF1-AF4 were also computed at all the above mentioned levels of theory. We shed light on the electro-optical and molecular properties, e.g. energy gaps, highest occupied molecular orbitals, lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals, absorption wavelengths, electronegativity (χ), hardness (η), electrophilicity (ω), softness (S), electrophilicity index (ωi) and the radical scavenging activity (RSA). Hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and one-electron transfer mechanisms have been discussed to shed light on the RSA. The smallest ionization potential and bond dissociation energy of AF4 are revealing that this compound would have more RSA than those of other counterparts

Diagnostic Imaging and Radiation Therapy in the Arab World: A New Model of Advanced Practice

This study aimed at suggesting a new model for advanced practice in the diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy in the Arab World by presenting a comparative study between the different medical imaging techniques, the concepts, benefits, risks and medical applications of these techniques has been presented with details. Attempting For building a new model of advanced practice for the diagnostic role of  imaging and radiation therapy in the Arab World; by analyzing the current status of the imaging and radiation therapy in the Arab World, and then surveying the different medical imaging techniques. Then  to suggest a model of best practices upon the outcomes of the study

Preparation and characterization of quinoxaline-pyrene-based conjugated copolymers for organic photovoltaic devices

In this study, two novel conjugated polymers, poly(4,5,9,10-tetrakis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy]pyrene-alt-2,3-bis(3-(octyloxy)phenyl)-5,8-di(2-thienyl)-6,7-difluoroquinoxaline) (PPyQxff) and poly(4,5,9,10-tetrakis((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)pyren-alt-2,3-bis(3-(octyloxy)phenyl)-5,8-di(2-thienyl)quinoxaline) (PPyQx), consisting of quinoxaline units with and without fluorine substituents, as electron-accepting moieties and pyrene flanked with dithienyl units as electron-donating moieties were prepared via Stille polymerization reactions for use as electron donor materials in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. PPyQxff and PPyQx were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), cyclic voltammetry (CV), UV−VIS absorption, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. PPyQxff and PPyQx revealed excellent solution processability in common organic solvents. PPyQxff and PPyQx presented decomposition temperatures above 300 °C. The inclusion of F atoms to the quinoxaline moiety made a slight reduction in the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level, relative to the unfluorinated polymer, but had no impact on the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level. PPyQxff and PPyQx exhibited similar physical properties with strong and broad absorbance from 400 to 700 nm and an optical band-gap energy of 1.77 eV. The X-ray powder diffraction study indicated that PPyQxff possessed a reduced π–π stacking distance relative to PPyQx

The Association of Smoking and Coffee Consumption With Occurrence of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Patients With Active Helicobacter pylori Infection in Jazan City: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a severe infection responsible for upper gastrointestinal symptoms (UGISs). Several causes of H. pylori infection include food ingestion and person-to-person transmission. Many lifestyle variables can affect the occurrence of UGISs such as coffee consumption and smoking. Objective: To assess the association between smoking and coffee consumption and the occurrence of UGISs in patients with active H. pylori infection in Jazan city in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used to conduct the study between July 2022 and August 2022 in Jazan, southern Saudi Arabia. Male and female Saudis or non-Saudis ≥ 18 years of age with an active H. pylori infection were included. Participants under 18 years or without active H. pylori infection were excluded. Data were collected from participants using the convenience sampling technique and a structured questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire evaluated social and demographic factors such as age, sex, place of residence, nationality, and educational level; the second part evaluated smoking and coffee-drinking habits. Furthermore, frequencies and percentages represented categorical variables. A continuous variable was converted to a categorical variable. The relationship between different variables is tested using the Chi-square test. Result: The total number of respondents who completed the questionnaire was 1225, with only 422 having H. pylori entries in this study. There were 290 (68.7%) men and only 132 (31.3%) women among them; the majority were young adults (18-20 years old). More than half of the participants (53%) never smoked, 23% were active smokers, and 23% were former smokers. Around 27.1% smoke five cigarettes a day and 12.6% smoke five to 15 cigarettes a day. Three-hundred (71.1%) of the participants drank coffee. 23.9% indicated that they did not drink coffee. Of those who take coffee, more than half (51.7%) take fewer than three cups daily and 25.6% take approximately three to five cups of coffee per day. Our findings indicate a link between coffee consumption and UGISs (p = 0.00), while smoking did not have a significant relationship with UGISs (p = 0.06). Conclusion: Our research showed that drinking coffee was related to UGISs, but smoking was not found in people with active H. pylori infection. In smokers, UGISs increased substantially, but not significantly. We need real-world research to identify the association between coffee consumption and UGISs. In addition, we need to educate people at risk for UGISs to reduce coffee, smoking, and other risk factors

Bioactivities of holmium(III) and gadolinium(III) complexes of thymoquinone

Chemotherapeutic agents which are the main stay in cancer treatment are toxic with numerous contrary side effects. A number of chemical, physical, and computational techniques were applied to synthesize and elucidate the structural and functional characterization of the new designed bioligands and their metal complexes. Besides, several biological techniques for developing therapeutics and diagnostics agents of these new designed materials were used. The trivalent holmium(III) and gadolinium(III) metal complexes of thymoquinone (TQ) were synthesized. Toxicities and other bioactivites were undertaken with existing drug combinations and more effective tumor models will be established. The molecular structures of TQ-metal complexes were elucidated based on particular spectral approaches. The NF-kB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain enhancer of activated B Cells) luciferase, elastase release, superoxide anion (O2•−) generation, and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) free-radical scavenging activities of TQ and its synthesized complexes were elucidated and discussed. The core research is to use coordination and organometallic chemistry to design new bioligands and binary, ternary, mixed ligand, multi metal multi ligand complexes pursing a bio target continuously with structure-activity relationships (SARS).                     KEY WORDS: Thymoquinone, Holmium, Gadolinium, Bioactivities   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2021, 35(1), 87-96. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v35i1.

The prevalence and associated factors for primary headache disorders in adolescents in eastern Sudan: a community-based cross-sectional study

BackgroundHeadache disorder is the second-highest cause of disability worldwide; however, data are scarce on headache among adolescents, especially in Africa. There has yet to be published data on headache among adolescents in Sudan, the third-largest country in Africa. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of primary headache disorders and associated factors among adolescents (10–19 years) in eastern Sudan.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Gadarif in eastern Sudan. Questionnaires were used to gather the adolescents’ sociodemographic characteristics. Headache diagnostic questions were based on the beta version of the International Classification of Headache Disorders-III (ICHD-3). Multivariate analysis was conducted to assess the associated factors for primary headache disorders, and the results were expressed as risk ratios (RRs) and 95.0% confidence interval (CI).ResultsOf the 401 enrolled adolescents, 186 (46.4%) and 215 (53.6%) were male and female, respectively. The median (IQR) age was 14.0 (12.1–16.2) years. Eighty-one (20.2%) of the 401 adolescents reported experiencing primary headache disorders, including migraine with aura in 16 (4.0%), migraine without aura in 33 (8.2%), tension-type in 14 (3.5%), and undifferentiated headache in 18 (4.5%) adolescents. The prevalence of primary headache disorders was significantly higher in females than in males [55/215 (67.9%) vs. 26/186 (32.1%), p = 0.004]. In the multivariate analysis, increased age (RR = 1.09, 95.0 CI = 1.02–1.16) and being female (RR = 1.75, 95.0 CI = 1.14–2.67) were associated with increased RR of primary headache disorders. Parents’ education level and occupation, smoking/snuff use, and body mass index were not associated with primary headache disorders.ConclusionOne-fifth of the adolescents in eastern Sudan reported experiencing primary headache disorders, which was more common in females and with increased age