Depositional environment of the upper triassic baluti formation in gara anticline, kurdistan region, north iraq : Insight from microfacies and biomarker characteristics

cknowledgements The authors are grateful to Colin Taylor from the University of Aberdeen, Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology for his great assistance during analyzing the samples by GC-MS. The authors are very grateful to the Editor in Chief Prof. Dr. Salih M. Awadh, the Secretary of Journal Mr. Samir R. Hijab and the Technical Editors for their great efforts and valuable comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Evaluation of two mobile health apps in the context of smoking cessation: qualitative study of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) versus non-CBT-based digital solutions.

BACKGROUND: Mobile health (mHealth) apps can offer users numerous benefits, representing a feasible and acceptable means of administering health interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is commonly used in the treatment of mental health conditions, where it has a strong evidence base, suggesting that it represents an effective method to elicit health behavior change. More importantly, CBT has proved to be effective in smoking cessation, in the context of smoking-related costs to the National Health Service (NHS) having been estimated to be as high as £2.6bn in 2015. Although the evidence base for computerized CBT in mental health is strong, there is limited literature on its use in smoking cessation. This, combined with the cost-effectiveness of mHealth interventions, advocates a need for research into the effectiveness of CBT-based smoking cessation apps. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was, first, to explore participants' perceptions of 2 mHealth apps, a CBT-based app, Quit Genius, and a non-CBT-based app, NHS Smokefree, over a variety of themes. Second, the study aimed to investigate the perceptions and health behavior of users of each app with respect to smoking cessation. METHODS: A qualitative short-term longitudinal study was conducted, using a sample of 29 smokers allocated to one of the 2 apps, Quit Genius or Smokefree. Each user underwent 2 one-to-one semistructured interviews, 1 week apart. Thematic analysis was carried out, and important themes were identified. Descriptive statistics regarding participants' perceptions and health behavior in relation to smoking cessation are also provided. RESULTS: The thematic analysis resulted in five higher themes and several subthemes. Participants were generally more positive about Quit Genius's features, as well as about its design and information engagement and quality. Quit Genius users reported increased motivation to quit smoking, as well as greater willingness to continue using their allocated app after 1 week. Moreover, these participants demonstrated preliminary changes in their smoking behavior, although this was in the context of our limited sample, not yet allowing for the finding to be generalizable. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underscore the use of CBT in the context of mHealth apps as a feasible and potentially effective smoking cessation tool. mHealth apps must be well developed, preferably with an underlying behavioral change mechanism, to promote positive health behavior change. Digital CBT has the potential to become a powerful tool in overcoming current health care challenges. The present results should be replicated in a wider sample using the apps for a longer period so as to allow for generalizability. Further research is also needed to focus on the effect of greater personalization on behavioral change and on understanding the psychological barriers to the adoption of new mHealth solutions

Long-term effectiveness of a digital therapeutic intervention for smoking cessation: a randomized controlled trial

Introduction: The present study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of Quit Genius (QG), an extended digital smoking cessation intervention. Methods: Participants were adult smokers (N=556) recruited between January and November of 2019 via social media and referrals from primary care practices who were given nicotine replacement therapy and randomly assigned to Quit Genius (QG) (n=277), a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based digital intervention or Very Brief Advice (VBA) (n=279), a face-to-face control intervention. Primary analyses (N=530), by intention-to-treat, compared QG and VBA on biochemically verified continuous 7-day abstinence at 4, 26, and 52 weeks post-quit date. Secondary outcomes included sustained abstinence, quit attempts, self-efficacy and mental well-being. Results: Seven-day point prevalence abstinence from weeks 4 through 52 ranged from 27% to nearly 45% among those who received QG, and from 13% to 29% for those in VBA. Continuous 7-day abstinence at 26 and 52 weeks occurred in 27.2% and 22.6% of QG participants, respectively, relative to 16.6% and 13.2% of VBA participants; QG participants were more likely to remain abstinent than those in VBA (Relative Risk [RR]= 1.71, 95% CI 1.17-2.50; p=0.005). Conclusions: This study provides evidence for the long-term effectiveness of an extended digital therapeutic intervention. Implications The long-term effectiveness of digital smoking cessation interventions has not been well-studied. This study established the long-term effectiveness of an extended CBT-based intervention; results may inform implementation of scalable, cost-effective approaches to smoking cessation in the health system

Whole genome sequence analysis of the TALLYHO/Jng mouse

Background: The TALLYHO/Jng (TH) mouse is a polygenic model for obesity and type 2 diabetes first described in the literature in 2001. The origin of the TH strain is an outbred colony of the Theiler Original strain and mice derived from this source were selectively bred for male hyperglycemia establishing an inbred strain at The Jackson Laboratory. TH mice manifest many of the disease phenotypes observed in human obesity and type 2 diabetes. Results: We sequenced the whole genome of TH mice maintained at Marshall University to a depth of approximately 64.8X coverage using data from three next generation sequencing runs. Genome-wide, we found approximately 4.31 million homozygous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1.10 million homozygous small insertions and deletions (indels) of which 98,899 SNPs and 163,720 indels were unique to the TH strain compared to 28 previously sequenced inbred mouse strains. In order to identify potentially clinically-relevant genes, we intersected our list of SNP and indel variants with human orthologous genes in which variants were associated in GWAS studies with obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, and with genes previously shown to confer a monogenic obesity phenotype in humans, and found several candidate variants that could be functionally tested using TH mice. Further, we filtered our list of variants to those occurring in an obesity quantitative trait locus, tabw2, identified in TH mice and found a missense polymorphism in the Cidec gene and characterized this variant’s effect on protein function. Conclusions: We generated a complete catalog of variants in TH mice using the data from whole genome sequencing. Our findings will facilitate the identification of causal variants that underlie metabolic diseases in TH mice and will enable identification of candidate susceptibility genes for complex human obesity and type 2 diabetes

Addressing the need and void of leadership and management development among medical students in the UK

Yusuf Sherwani, Aaniya Ahmed, Maroof Ahmed, Muhammed Ashraf, Muhammed Najim, Riham Rabee, Osama Al-JiburyFaculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UKWe took a great interest in letters by Singh et al1 and Ah-kee and Khan,2 with the former advocating a mandatory 1-year intercalated BSc in management for all undergraduate medical students and the latter suggesting it should be incorporated into the existing undergraduate curriculum. As medical students at Imperial College London who have both completed a BSc in management and subsequently founded the Imperial College Medical Leadership Society, which aims at providing leadership training to medical students, we feel we are able to offer a new perspective on this vital discussion.Previous letters have been publishedSingh et alAh-kee and Kha

The trend toward digital in medical education – playing devil's advocate

Osama Al-jibury, Maroof Ahmed, Muhammad Najim, Riham Rabee, Muhammad Ashraf, Yusuf Sherwani, Osama AnjumDepartment of Medicine, Imperial College Medical School, London, UKDigitalization of medical resources has completely revolutionized medical education. Nowadays, medical information is readily accessible online. If a doctor needs to learn about Lesch–Nyhan syndrome, he or she can just search online – thousands of digital resources, explaining everything from simple pathophysiology to the latest genetic research into the condition, can be found; even videos of patients with the condition are available and easily located by using a search engine such as Google. Could there possibly be any downsides to this