Synthesis and [2+2]-photodimerisation of monothiomaleimide functionalised linear and brush-like polymers

[2+2]-Photodimerisation of monothiomaleimides has been demonstrated on functionalised linear and brush-like polymers. In water/acetonitrile (95 : 5) mixtures the rate of reaction is accelerated significantly by irradiation of the thiomaleimide end group (λmax = 350 nm) with UV light, reaching full conversion within 10 minutes

The Prevalence of Obesity among School Students and its Relation to Dietary and Physical Habits

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that unhealthy food practices and lack of exercise are the main cause of the progressive increase in the obesity prevalence. AIM: We aim to assess the prevalence of obesity among school students and its relationship to dietary and physical habits. METHODS: A cross-sectional study from 18 intermediate and high schools located in Taif, Saudi Arabia, between April 2014 and June 2015. We excluded any student with a psychological disease or chronic diseases. We calculated the body mass index (BMI) of students by measuring their height and weight. Dietary, physical, sleep habits, and socioeconomic status were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 2943 students participated with a mean age of 15.4 ± 1.7 years. The majority of these were boys and attending government schools with a mean BMI 22.7 ± 8.6 kg/m2. Overall, 13.6% were overweight and 12.8% were obese. One-third of students report a sedentary lifestyle. Compared to girls, boys were more likely to have lower BMI (p < 0.001), be overweight (p < 0.001), exercise for >300 min/week (p < 0.001), own electronic devices other than smartphone (p < 0.001), use the electronic devices <3 h/day (p = 0.007), eat their meals with their family (p < 0.001), eat fruits and vegetables daily (p < 0.05), exercise for >300 min/week (p < 0.001), and walk to and from school at least once weekly (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A quarter of the students were either overweight or obese. Girls were more likely to be obese with less favorable socioeconomic, media consumption, dietary, and physical profiles

Photocrosslinking of polyacrylamides using [2+2] photodimerisation of monothiomaleimides

The [2+2] photocycloaddition of monothiomaleimides (MTM) has been exploited for the photocrosslinking of polyacrylamides. Polymer scaffolds composed of dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and varying amounts of D,L-homocysteine thiolactone acrylamide(5, 10, and 20 mol%) were synthesised via free radical polymerisation (FRP), whereby the latent thiol-functionality was exploited to incorporate MTM motifs. Subsequent exposure to UV light (λ= 365 nm, 15 mWcm-2) triggered intermolecular crosslinking via the photodimerisation of MTM side chains, thus resulting in the formation of polyacrylamide gels. The polymer scaffolds were characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Visible spectroscopy(UV-Vis), 1H NMR, and size exclusion chromatography(SEC), confirming the occurrence of the [2+2] photocycloaddition between the MTM moieties. The mechanical and physical properties of the resulting gels containing various MTM mol% were evaluated by rheology, compression testing, and swelling experiments. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterise the xerogel morphology of5 and 10 mol% MTM hydro-and organo-gels. The macro-porous morphology obtained for the hydrogels was attributed to phase separation due to the difference insolubility of the PDMA modified with thiolactone side chains, provided that a more homogeneous morphology was obtained when the photo-gels were prepared in DMF as the solvent

Synthesis and [2+2]-photodimerisation of monothiomaleimide functionalised linear and brush-like polymers

[2+2]-Photodimerisation of monothiomaleimides has been demonstrated on functionalised linear and brush-like polymers. In water/acetonitrile (95 : 5) mixtures the rate of reaction is accelerated significantly by irradiation of the thiomaleimide end group (λmax = 350 nm) with UV light, reaching full conversion within 10 minutes

Influence of workplace incivility on the quality of nursing care

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jocn.15051Aims and objectives To examine the influence of workplace incivility on the quality of nursing care. Background Recent evidence describes workplace incivility as a serious concern in the healthcare setting worldwide. Exposure to workplace incivility can alter a nurse's behaviour, thought process and perspective towards the nursing profession. However, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether workplace incivility might be associated with the quality of nursing care in Saudi Arabia. Design A quantitative and cross‐sectional study. Method A survey was carried out amongst 378 nurses in two government hospitals in Saudi Arabia from February 2018–May 2018 using the Nurse Incivility and quality of nursing care scales. Multivariate multiple regression was performed to investigate the influence of the uncivil experiences of nurses from different sources on the different aspects of quality of nursing care. The study adhered to STROBE guideline (see Appendix S1). Results The overall mean of the quality of nursing care scale was 3.14 (SD = 0.66) from a scale of 1–5, with patient satisfaction receiving the highest mean dimension (mean = 3.27, SD = 0.72) and health promotion the lowest mean dimension (mean = 3.08, SD = 0.74). Experience in the present hospital and the hospital were associated with the overall quality of nursing care. General and nurse incivility exerted a multivariate effect on overall quality of nursing care and its different dimensions. Conclusion General incivility and nurse incivility were found to negatively impact quality of nursing care and its different dimensions. Relevance to clinical practice Stronger policies geared towards eliminating workplace incivility should be implemented as uncivil acts can lead to poor quality of nursing care. Nurse administrators and nurses should be pro‐active in recognising, preventing, approaching, reporting and intervening with uncivil acts in the hospital to protect these workers from these types of behaviours and avoid their negative impacts on patient care

Highlights on the development, related patents, and prospects of Lenacapavir : the first-in-class HIV-1 capsid inhibitor for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant HIV-1 infection

The multidrug-resistant (MDR) human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infection is an unmet medical need. HIV-1 capsid plays an important role at different stages of the HIV-1 replication cycle and is an attractive drug target for developing therapies against MDR HIV-1 infection. Lenacapavir (LEN) is the first-in-class HIV-1 capsid inhibitor approved by the USFDA, EMA, and Health Canada for treating MDR HIV-1 infection. This article highlights the development, pharmaceutical aspects, clinical studies, patent literature, and future directions on LEN-based therapies. The literature for this review was collected from PubMed, authentic websites (USFDA, EMA, Health Canada, Gilead, and NIH), and the free patent database (Espacenet, USPTO, and Patent scope). LEN has been developed by Gilead and is marketed as Sunlenca (tablet and subcutaneous injection). The long-acting and patient-compliant LEN demonstrated a low level of drug-related mutations, is active against MDR HIV-1 infection, and does not reveal cross-resistance to other anti-HIV drugs. LEN is also an excellent drug for patients having difficult or limited access to healthcare facilities. The literature has established additive/synergistic effects of combining LEN with rilpivirine, cabotegravir, islatravir, bictegravir, and tenofovir. HIV-1 infection may be accompanied by opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis (TB). The associated diseases make HIV treatment complex and warrant drug interaction studies (drug–drug, drug–food, and drug–disease interaction). Many inventions on different aspects of LEN have been claimed in patent literature. However, there is a great scope for developing more inventions related to the drug combination of LEN with anti-HIV/anti-TB drugs in a single dosage form, new formulations, and methods of treating HIV and TB co-infection. Additional research may provide more LEN-based treatments with favorable pharmacokinetic parameters for MDR HIV-1 infections and associated opportunistic infections such as TB.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/medicinaam2024School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH)SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

UV irradiation of Cu-based complexes with aliphatic amine ligands as used in living radical polymerization

The effect UV irradiation on Cu(II)-based complexes with aliphatic amine ligands is investigated. Four aliphatic amines are used as ligands and Cu(II)Br2 as the metal source for the formation of catalyst complexes that can be used for the photoinduced Cu-RDRP of methyl acrylate. Different characterization techniques such as transient electronic absorption spectroscopy (TEAS), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, electrospray ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (ESI-ToF-MS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) are applied in order to provide insights into the catalyst behaviour upon photo-irradiation. The excited-state dynamics, the electrochemical behaviour of the Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox couples and the detection of different species upon complexation of the ligand to the metal center (before and after UV irradiation) are further depicted in the quality of the obtained polymers

Sustainable phosphorous management in two different soil series of Pakistan by evaluating dynamics of phosphatic fertilizer source

Phosphorous (P) plays the prominent role to promote the plants storage functions and structural roles, as it is recognized as a vital component of ADP, ATP, Cell wall as well as a part of DNA. Soils acts as the sink to supply P to plants because soil pH and its physical condition are the main factor which regulate the solubility and availability P element. Phosphorus is not deficient in Pakistani soils but its availability to plants is the serious matter of concern. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate P dynamics in two different soil series of Pakistan (Bahawalpur and Lyallpur) using Maize as test crop. The treatments applied were T0: Control (without any fertilizer), T1: Recommended DAP @648 mg pot−1, T2: Half dose DAP @324 mg pot−1, T3: Recommended rate of TSP @900 mg pot−1, T4: Half dose TSP @450 mg pot−1. Soil analysis showed that Bahawalpur soil has sandy clay loam texture with 33% clay and Lyallpur series has sandy loam texture with 15.5% clay; furthermore, these soils contain 4.6 and 2.12% CaCO3, respectively. Results showed an increase in P concentration in roots (23 mg kg−1) with the application of half dose of TSP in Lyallpur series and lowest in Bahawalpur series (14.6 mg kg−1) at recommended dose of DAP. Concentration of P in shoots responded the same; increase at half dose of TSP (16.7 mg kg−1) and lowest at full dose of DAP in Bahawalpur series as (15.58 mg kg−1). Adsorbed P (17 mg kg−1) was recorded highest in Bahawalpur soil with more clay amount in pot with DAP application but lower in Lyallpur soil series (14 mg kg−1) with the application of applied TSP. The PUE was recorded highest in Lyallpur series with the application of half dose of TSP and it was 61% more than control and was Highest in Bahawalpur series was with the application of recommended dose of DAP is 72% more than control treatment. On estimation, results showed that applied sources made an increase in P availability than control, but TSP gave better P uptake than DAP unless of rates applied. Soil of Lyallpur series showed better uptake of P and response to applied fertilizers than Bahawalpur series which showed more adsorption of P by high clay and CaCO3 amount. Conclusively, the study suggested that soil series play a crucial role in choosing fertilizer source for field application