Interplay between personality traits and learning strategies:the missing link

Students with varying personality traits are likely to employ diverse learning and study strategies. However, this relationship has never been explored in the medical education context. This study’s aim was to explore the relationship between learning strategies and personality traits among medical students. This study was a cross-sectional study, and a quantitative approach was employed using two self-administered questionnaires: one to assess the personality traits from the Five-Factor Model (Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, and Agreeableness), and the other to assess 10 learning strategies (Anxiety, Attitude, Concentration, Information Processing, Motivation, Selecting Main Ideas, Self-Testing, Test Strategies, Time Management, and Using Academic Resources). A stratified random sampling technique was used to recruit medical students at Alfaisal University in the preclinical and clinical years (N = 309). Pearson correlation coefficient was used to measure the relationship between variables, and linear regression was used to evaluate how personality traits predicted learning strategy selection. Personality traits predicted the selection of learning strategies, especially Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Conscientiousness showed a positive correlation with seven learning strategies and was the most important predictor of learning strategies students employ. Neuroticism correlations and predictions were negative. The other three traits showed weaker correlations. These correlations were between Extraversion and Using Academic Resources (r = 0.27), Information Processing (r = 0.23), and Attitude (r = 0.19); Openness and Information Processing (r = 0.29); and Agreeableness and Attitude (r = 0.29). All personality domains influence at least one learning strategy, especially Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. This study helps build a foundation for individualized coaching and mentorship in medical education. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study aspires to build a foundation for individualized coaching and mentorship in medical education through utilizing personality traits to empower academic success. We demonstrate that all personality domains influence students’ selection of at least one learning strategy, especially Conscientiousness and Neuroticism

Hollow ternary PtPdCu nanoparticles: a superior and durable cathodic electrocatalyst

Hollow alloyed nanoparticles (NPs) represent one kind of promising fuel cell electrocatalyst. However, the formation of single-cavity hollow structures by a dealloying process is quite challenging owing to the random leaching/dissolution of transition metals, surface passivation and the limited diffusion distance of the noble metals. Here we present a facile method to prepare hollow PtPdCu NPs derived from monodisperse alloy NPs by an acetic acid-assisted dealloying process. Here, acetic acid not only acts as a chemical etching agent but also plays an important role in the removal of the residual surfactants for colloidal NPs. Our findings rectify the current knowledge that hollow alloyed NPs cannot be prepared by a dealloying strategy and provide further understanding of the dealloying process in a ternary system. Such unique hollow ternary PtPdCu NPs exhibit outstanding durability and improved catalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction

Ethical dilemmas in the era of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed an extraordinary demand on health systems and healthcare providers all over the world. The pandemic presented a number of unprecedented challenging ethical issues. Across the globe, hospitals are being challenged by a large number of patients presenting to the emergency room for treatment, creating scarcities of critical care resources, and uncovering the need for formal crisis standards of care. Difficult life and death decisions, which may create severe moral distress to the physicians, have to be made in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Other ethical issues, such as that related to conducting clinical trials during the pandemic, and the increase in domestic violence during the quarantine period, will be also discussed

Modern Friedel-Crafts Chemistry. Part 30­¹Facile synthesis of isomeric tri- and tetramethyltetrahydrophenanthrenes <i>via</i> rearranged cycloalkylation of suitably methylated 1-(1- and 2-naphthyl)-3-pentanols

203-208Facile methods for the synthesis of isomeric tri- and tetramethyl-tetrahydrophenanthrenes (11, 18, 21, and 27) have been accomplished through rearranged Friedel-Crafts cycloalkylation of naphthylpentanols 1-4, respectively. Thus, treatments with the mild 85% H2SO4, H3PO4 and AlCl3/CH3NO2 catalysts produced 1,1,2-trimethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropenanthrene 11 from 2,2-dimethyl-5-(1-naphthyl)-3-pentanol 1, 3,4,4-trimethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene 18 from 2,2-dimethyl-5-(2-naphthyl)-3-pentanol 2, 1,1,2,2-tetramethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene 21 from 2,2,3-trimethyl-5-(1-naphthyl)-3-pentanl 3 and 3,3,4,4-tetramethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropenanthrene 27 from 2,2,3-trimethyl-5-(2-naphthyl)-3-pentanol 4. Treatment with the strong AlCl3 catalyst resulted in varying amounts of side products. The starting and final products were characterized by elemental analysis and IR, 1H NMR and MS data

C-(alpha-D-Glucopyranosyl)-phenyldiazomethanes - Irreversible Inhibitors of alpha-Glucosidase

Several C-(alpha-D-glucopyranosyl)-phenyldiazomethanes, with different substituent groups at the paraposition of the phenyl ring, were prepared. The stabilities of these diazo compounds were investigated through NMR and UV monitoring. The para-cyano substituted diazo compound was found to be stable in neutral media (pH 7.0 buffer) and could be isolated. Inhibitory activity investigations indicated that this compound is an irreversible inhibitor against a-glucosidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Room temperature stable ClPrNTf2 ionic liquid utilizing for chemical sensor development

A stable ionic liquid was prepared at room-temperature using the metathesis reaction, which was consummated by the reaction of l-Phenylalanine ethyl ester hydrochloride (chlorpromazine hydrochloride) with lithium-bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonamide in water (shortly, ClPrNTf2). The prepared ClPrNTf2 was characterized in details with various conventional methods. Here, a thin-layer of ClPrNTf2 onto glassy carbon electrode (GCE; Surface area: 0.0316 cm2) is deposited with conducting coating agents (5% nafion) to fabricate a selective and selective 3-methoxy phenol sensor in short response time in phosphate buffer solution. The fabricated phenolic chemical sensor is also exhibited higher sensitivity, large-dynamic concentration ranges, long-term stability, and improved electrochemical performances towards 3-methoxy phenol. The calibration plot is linear (r2 = 0.9836) over the large 3-methoxy phenol concentration ranges (0.09 nM to 0.9 mM). The sensitivity and detection limit is ∼2.3244 μAcm−2μM−1 and ∼0.022 ± 0.002 nM (signal-to-noise ratio, at a SNR of 3) respectively. This novel effort is initiated a well-organize way of efficient sensor improvement with ClPrNTf2 ionic liquid for toxic pollutants in environmental and health-care fields in large scales.This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Abdulaziz University, under grant No HiCi/2-130-36. The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks DSR for technical and financial support

Knowledge and Role of Paediatricians/Paediatric Residents in Infant Oral Healthcare and Dental Home across Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

The prevention of oral diseases in children is highly achievable through providing early exposure to oral healthcare habits, which would make children more receptive towards dental services. A cross-sectional study used a structured, self-explanatory questionnaire to evaluate the knowledge and role of 190 paediatricians and paediatric residents towards infant oral healthcare and the dental home across Saudi Arabia. The authors sent a link to the questionnaire, comprising 36 questions, by email, as a Google e-form. The response rate obtained was 87.36%. A major proportion (95.8%) of the respondents considered that paediatricians play an important role in promoting oral health. Around 45.8% of the practitioners recommended tooth brushing after the eruption of the first tooth. About 38% of the practitioners were unaware of the children’s first dental visit. The majority (95.2%) agreed that there should be an increased awareness regarding home dental habits. Most of them (78.3%) examined the oral cavity for dental problems as a part of routine childcare, and the majority (75.3%) admitted that they did not evaluate fluoride needs. A statistically significant higher mean knowledge score was observed for practitioners with more than 30 years of experience (9.35 ± 2.29), and there was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.486) between the knowledge score and mean score for the role of paediatric practitioners. Overall, the study concluded that the knowledge of paediatricians and paediatric residents in SA towards infant oral healthcare and the dental home was inadequate, and their role in maintaining oral health was found to be moderately satisfactory

Hydrazine sensors development based on a glassy carbon electrode modified with a nanostructured TiO2 films by electrochemical approach

The authors describe a selective hydrazine sensor that is based on the use of a film of TiO2 nanoparticles faceted predominantly at the 101 and 001 sides. The hydrazine (Hyd) sensor was fabricated by depositing the nanoparticles in 5% concentration in a nafion matrix on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The sensor exhibits a fast response, excellent sensitivity and good selectivity over 1.0 nM to 10.0 mM. The sensor responds linearly to the logarithm of the concentration of dissolved hydrazine in the range from 1.0 nM to 10.0 mM, with a sensitivity of 35.04 μA.mM−1 .cm−2 . The detection limit is 28.8 ± 0.2 pM (at an S/N ratio of 3) is extremely low. In our perception, this approach emerges as an effective technique for developing efficient chemical sensors for environmental pollutants