Association of health literacy with obesity and overweight among arabic secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Malaysia

Background: Overweight and obesity among adolescents is considered an epidemic in both developed and developing countries. There is still limited study on the health literacy as a determinant of overweight and obesity in adolescents.The aims of this study was to determine the association of health literacy with overweight and obesity. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among Arabic secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Health literacy was measured using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) questionnaire. Limited health literacy was defined as the NVS score of 0 to 3. Body weight and height were measured twice by standard methods and the mean of these two measurements was used in the calculation of body mass index. Overweight and obesity classification were based on the World Health Organization criteria. Chi-square test and multivariate binary logistic regression were performed using IBM-SPSS version 21.0. Results: A total of 202 out of 250 students involved in this study giving the response rate as 81.0%. The percentage of overweight and obesity among the respondents was 21.3% and 6.9% respectively. Respondents with limited health literacy was 51.5%. Those with limited health literacy was almost 2 times higher (AOR = 1.963, 95%CI: 1.010, 3.816) to have overweight and obesity as compared to adequate health literacy. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was high among the study population. Limited health literacy is a predictor of overweight and obesity. Improving health literacy should be considered in obesity and overweight intervention

Effects of mixed cropping with cowpea and nitrogen source on growth and yield of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Field experiments were conducted during winter (2011/12) and summer (2012/13) seasons. The objective of the study was to examine the effects of mixed cropping with cowpea, nitrogen and chicken manure on growth and yield of sunflower. Randomized complete block design with four replicates was used. The experiment comprised 8 treatments; two sunflower cultivars namely, Hysun33 and Damazin-1, and three nitrogen sources viz: mixed cropping with cowpea, urea (43kgN/ha), chicken manure (5t/ha) plus control. Results showed that the two cultivars were significantly different in plant height, days to 50% flowering, 1000-seed weight and empty seed percentage in both seasons. Hysun33 had taller plants, late to flower, heavier seeds and lower empty seeds percentage than Damazin-1. They were also significantly different in LAI, head diameter, number of filled seeds/ head and total yield in the summer season only. Fertilizers significantly influenced plant height and stem diameter in both seasons. In the winter season, however, fertilizers had significantly affected LAI, days to 50% flowering, head diameter, number of filled seeds/head and total yield. Chicken manure resulted in the tallest plants and largest stem diameter in both seasons. Chicken manure expressed the largest LAI, biggest head diameter, highest number of filled seeds/head and highest total yield. The three-way interaction(seasonx fertilizerx cultivar) showed significant effects on percentage of empty seeds and total yield. The highest total yield was obtained by Hysun33 in the summer season when chicken manure was applied. The mean total yield of the summer season was higher than that of the winter season. To obtain high total yield of sunflower, it is recommended that sowing should be commenced during the summer season and chicken manure should be applied at the rate of 5 t/ha for both Hysun33 and Damazin-

Sudanese Medical Students and Scientific Research

Background: Most of developing countries face problems in assessment of their public health practices. Gain of this knowledge is orchestrated by  research. Medical students can play an essential role in improving public database.Objective: to explore knowledge, attitude and skills of medical students in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Omdurman Islamic University (OIU) towards research.Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional, institution-based study. A total of 442 students, equally from each batch participated in the study. Equal numbers of male andfemale were considered to eliminate gender and seniority bias. Structured pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. Data collected were fed to Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) version 15. Means, standard deviation and correlations were done where appropriate. Statistical  significance was taken at P =0.05.Results: The mean knowledge score was 37% and attitude was positive in 77.1% of the students. Only 18.3% had attended research methodology workshop. The rate of internet navigation is directly proportional to the social class. Only 14.7% knew the engines used for finding medical literature.Conclusion: The low knowledge score is due to lack of application of research in the academic curriculum; however, the students have a fairly positive attitude. The knowledge is expected to improve with the intended policy to include practical research in the curriculum.Key Words: Public health, academic curriculum, Suda

A Phase Feedback Based Extended Space-Time Block Code for Enhancement of Diversity

This is a conference paper [© IEEE]. It is also available at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.In this paper we propose a generalization of extended orthogonal space-time block codes (EO-STBCs) for MIMO (multi-input/multi-output) channels using four transmit antennas for quasi-static flat fading channels. Since full rate and complex orthogonal space-time block codes (STBCs) do not exist for more than two transmit antennas, we propose a feedback based STBC scheme. In this scheme, phases of certain symbols are rotated according to the feedback from the receiver which is equivalent to rotating the phases of the corresponding channel coefficients. Simulation results show that this rotation phase feedback method achieves a satisfactory performance and outperforms the previous closed-loop space-time block codes, even when the feedback is quantized

Complaints of the arm, neck and shoulder among computer office workers in Sudan: a prevalence study with validation of an Arabic risk factors questionnaire

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Complaints of the arm, neck and/or shoulders (CANS) in general and computer-related disorders in particular affect millions of computer office workers in Western developed countries. However, with the widespread use of computer systems in developing countries, the associated musculoskeletal complaints are yet to be investigated.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To study the prevalence of work-related CANS, among computer office workers in Sudan, and to test the psychometric properties of a translated Dutch questionnaire in Arabic language.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 2005 282 computer office workers at a mobile telecommunication company and three banks in Khartoum, Sudan, received an Arabic language version of the validated Maastricht upper extremity questionnaire (MUEQ). The questionnaire holds 109 items covering demographic characteristics, in addition to six main domains (i.e. work station, body posture, break time, job control, job demands and social support) assessing potential physical and psychosocial risk factors. Forward/backward translation of the MUQE was done independently by two different translators. Prevalence over the past year were computed for CANS. Further, the psychometric properties of the Arabic questionnaire were investigated (i.e. factor structure and reliability) and cross-validation was carried out.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The response rate of the questionnaire was 88% (n = 250). The one-year prevalence of CANS showed that 53% of the respondents could be classified as mild cases. The highest incidences were found for neck and shoulder symptoms (64% and 41% respectively). The analysis of the psychometric properties of the scale resulted in the identification of 2 factors for each of the 6 domains (i.e. office equipment, computer position, head and body posture, awkward body posture, autonomy, quality of break time, skill discretion, decision authority, time pressure, task complexity, social support, and work flow). The calculation of internal consistency and cross validation provided evidence of reliability and lack of redundancy of items.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of CANS among the targeted population seems to correspond strongly with prevalence of CANS in Western developed countries. The Arabic translation of the MUEQ has satisfactory psychometric properties to be used to assess work-related risk factors for the development of CANS among computer office workers in Sudan.</p

Characterization of the inclusion complex of zerumbone with hydroxypropyl--cyclodextrin

In this paper we investigated the inclusion complexation between zerumbone (ZER) and hydroxylpropyl- -cyclodextrin (HPCD) at four different temperatures: 293–318 ◦K. The thermodynamic parameters (H, S and G) for the formation of the complex were obtained from the van’t Hoff equation. The complex with HPCD was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and molecular modeling using PM6. The solubility of ZER was enhanced >30 fold after complexation. Calculations show that ZER penetrates completely into the cavity of HPCD. The complex retained its cytotoxic activity as shown by in vitro cell survival assay on human cervical cancer (Hela), breast cancer (MCF7 and MDA-MB 231) and human leukemic (CEMss) cell lines. HPCD is, therefore, a suitable encapsular capable of forming thermodynamically stable complex with ZER for save delivery of the compound as an anticancer drug in the future

Liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectroscopic method for the determination Of zerumbone in human plasma and its application to Pharmacokinetics

A rapid, sensitive, specific and selective LC-MS/MS method for the determination of zerumbone (ZER) in human plasma using 2,4-diamino-6-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine (DMTZ) as an internal standard (IS) has been developed and validated. ZER was chromatographed on C8 column using a mobile phase of acetonitrile/water (80:20, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.25 ml min(-1) . Quantitation was achieved using ESI+ interface, employing multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode at m/z 219 > 81 and 218 > 134 for ZER and IS, respectively. The calibration standards were linear over a range of 5-3000 ng ml(-1) (r(2)=0.9994) with an LLOQ of 5 ng ml(-1) (RSD %; 11.4% and bias%; 9.5%). Intra- and inter-day precision of ZER assay ranged from 0.18 to 3.56% with accuracy (bias) that varied between -5.09 and 4.3%, demonstrating good precision and accuracy. Recoveries of ZER and the IS from human plasma were above 85%. The developed method was validated for the determination of ZER in rat plasma. Linearity, stability of ZER and the ME on rat plasma were discussed. The applicability of the developed method was demonstrated by measuring ZER in rat plasma samples following intravenous and intraperitoneal administration of ZER prepared in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), respectively, in 20 mg kg(-1) and this study indicated a clear significant difference (p<0.05) in pharmacokinetic parameters of ZER in ZER/HPβCD complex compared with ZER in CMC preparation

Work related complaints of neck, shoulder and arm among computer office workers: a cross-sectional evaluation of prevalence and risk factors in a developing country

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Complaints of arms, neck and shoulders (CANS) is common among computer office workers. We evaluated an aetiological model with physical/psychosocial risk-factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We invited 2,500 computer office workers for the study. Data on prevalence and risk-factors of CANS were collected by validated Maastricht-Upper-extremity-Questionnaire. Workstations were evaluated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Visual-Display-Terminal workstation-checklist. Participants' knowledge and awareness was evaluated by a set of expert-validated questions. A binary logistic regression analysis investigated relationships/correlations between risk-factors and symptoms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sample size was 2,210. Mean age 30.8 ± 8.1 years, 50.8% were males. The 1-year prevalence of CANS was 56.9%, commonest region of complaint was forearm/hand (42.6%), followed by neck (36.7%) and shoulder/arm (32.0%). In those with CANS, 22.7% had taken treatment from a health care professional, only in 1.1% seeking medical advice an occupation-related injury had been suspected/diagnosed. In addition 9.3% reported CANS-related absenteeism from work, while 15.4% reported CANS causing disruption of normal activities. A majority of evaluated workstations in all participants (88.4%,) and in those with CANS (91.9%) had OSHA non-compliant workstations. In the binary logistic regression analyses female gender, daily computer usage, incorrect body posture, bad work-habits, work overload, poor social support and poor ergonomic knowledge were associated with CANS and its' severity In a multiple logistic regression analysis controlling for age, gender and duration of occupation, incorrect body posture, bad work-habits and daily computer usage were significant independent predictors of CANS</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of work-related CANS among computer office workers in Sri Lanka, a developing, South Asian country is high and comparable to prevalence in developed countries. Work-related physical factors, psychosocial factors and lack of awareness were all important associations of CANS and effective preventive strategies need to address all three areas.</p