Weight Reduction Perception and Practice among Female Students in Al-Azhar University-Gaza, Palestine

Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the frequency of weight reduction perception. Methods: A sample of 467 female students from Al-Azhar University in the Gaza Strip was selected on a convenience basis. Information obtained from the participants included: age, marital status, place of residence, employment status, health status, methods of weight reduction, sources of information about weight control, and current physical activities. Results: The present study found that 38.8% of female students had practiced weight reduction. The most prevailing attitudes for reducing weight described by the students was sports with 83.3%, followed by exclusion of some principal meals or principal nutrients (57.8%). It was found that 38.5% of the students did not practice any physical exercise. An inverse association was also present between the satisfaction about body weight and the practice of weight reduction

Preceding rule induction with instance reduction methods

A new prepruning technique for rule induction is presented which applies instance reduction before rule induction. An empirical evaluation records the predictive accuracy and size of rule-sets generated from 24 datasets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository. Three instance reduction algorithms (Edited Nearest Neighbour, AllKnn and DROP5) are compared. Each one is used to reduce the size of the training set, prior to inducing a set of rules using Clark and Boswell's modification of CN2. A hybrid instance reduction algorithm (comprised of AllKnn and DROP5) is also tested. For most of the datasets, pruning the training set using ENN, AllKnn or the hybrid significantly reduces the number of rules generated by CN2, without adversely affecting the predictive performance. The hybrid achieves the highest average predictive accuracy

Weight Reduction Perception and Practice among Female Students in Al-Azhar University-Gaza, Palestine

Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the frequency of weight reduction perception. Methods: A sample of 467 female students from Al-Azhar University in the Gaza Strip was selected on a convenience basis. Information obtained from the participants included: age, marital status, place of residence, employment status, health status, methods of weight reduction, sources of information about weight control, and current physical activities. Results: The present study found that 38.8% of female students had practiced weight reduction. The most prevailing attitudes for reducing weight described by the students was sports with 83.3%, followed by exclusion of some principal meals or principal nutrients ( 57.8% . It was found that 38.5% of the students did not practice any physical exercise. An inverse association was also present between the satisfaction about body weight and the practice of weight reduction. Conclusion and recommendation: It is concluded that the female students followed unhealthy methods of weight reduction. It is recommended that great efforts be made to spread the awareness of healthy methods of weight reduction among females

A review of the national and international agro-food policies and institutions in the Mediterranean Region [Synthesis]

This synthesised report aims at providing a comparative view of agricultural sectors and policies in the MPC, based on the individual country reports and expanding the gathered information. It offers an overall depiction of the whole MPC region under investigation and a comparative perspective, along with a summary of the key country characteristics. More in-depth, country-specific information should be sought within the country reports. In this sense, this report should be examined together with the individual country reports from which, country-related information have been extracted. References to the country reports are omitted for simplicity reasons, as it is defined that they constitute the basis of this report. In addition, and for the same reason, all references made within the country reports have been also omitted. Detailed reference sources can be found within the country reports. Any reference to additional sources, not referred to in the country reports, is explicitly mentioned. In Annex II, following the Mediterranean Partner Countries’ reports, a report entitled “Euro-Mediterranean policy and other ongoing processes and their main impact on Mediterranean Partner Countries” is given, in which the relations between the EU and the MPC under the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (i.e. Barcelona process) are analysed

Female genital mutilation in the UK- where are we, where do we go next? Involving communities in setting the research agenda

Background: female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is all practices involving cutting, alteration or injury to the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is a form of violence against women and children, with no benefits and many harms. In 2014, the UK Government committed to working to eliminate FGM. Steps taken towards this aim included creation of educational and safeguarding resources for professionals, and legislative changes including a mandatory reporting duty for professionals in England and Wales (where if a girl under 18 discloses or is found on examination to have FGM then the professional is mandated to report this to the police), and an FGM Enhanced Dataset applicable to NHS organisations in England requiring the submission of personal data about women and girls who have had FGM to NHS Digital. To date, compliance with dataset returns from primary care services have been low. This report describes using patient and public involvement (PPI) to identify research and service priorities to support communities affected by FGM.Methods: we held a series of PPI events (4 focus groups, and a multi-agency seminar) in 2015-2016, following the introduction of these legislative changes, speaking to community members, and professionals involved in their care. We asked participants to consider what they identified as research, knowledge and service priorities to support communities affected by FGM.Results: the impact of these legislative and reporting requirements on the trust needed for community members to seek to consult health services was identified as important for further research. Priorities for service development were holistic services, that met a woman's needs throughout her lifecourse. Participants emphasised the importance of understanding how to listen, involve and utilise community voices in developing education for professionals, designing services, and developing policy.Conclusions: there was a desire for change to develop from within affected communities; any learning and resources need to be co-created and constructed in such a way that they can be effectively shared between women, communities, and professionals. Questions remain about how to define community consultation, how to recognise when it was adequate, and how to hear beyond community activists to hear a wider range of voices.</p

Manuka Honey Exerts Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities That Promote Healing of Acetic Acid-Induced Gastric Ulcer in Rats

Gastric ulcers are a major problem worldwide with no effective treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of manuka honey in the treatment of acetic acid-induced chronic gastric ulcers in rats. Different groups of rats were treated with three different concentrations of honey. Stomachs were checked macroscopically for ulcerative lesions in the glandular mucosa and microscopically for histopathological alterations. Treatment with manuka honey significantly reduced the ulcer index and maintained the glycoprotein content. It also reduced the mucosal myeloperoxidase activity, lipid peroxidation (MDA), and the inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) as compared to untreated control group. In addition, honey-treated groups showed significant increase in enzymatic (GPx and SOD) and nonenzymatic (GSH) antioxidants besides levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Flow cytometry studies showed that treatment of animals with manuka honey has normalized cell cycle distribution and significantly lowered apoptosis in gastric mucosa. In conclusion, the results indicated that manuka honey is effective in the treatment of chronic ulcer and preservation of mucosal glycoproteins. Its effects are due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that resulted in a significant reduction of the gastric mucosal MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 and caused an elevation in IL-10 levels