Total energy expenditure in obese Kuwaiti primary school children assessed by the doubly-labelled water technique

The aim of this pilot study was to assess body composition and total energy expenditure (TEE) in 35 obese 7–9 years old Kuwaiti children (18 girls and 17 boys). Total body water (TBW) and TEE were assessed by doubly-labeled water technique. TBW was derived from the intercept of the elimination rate of deuterium and TEE from the difference in elimination rates of 18O and deuterium. TBW was used to estimate fat-free mass (FFM), using hydration factors for different ages and gender. Fat mass (FM) was calculated as the difference between body weight and FFM. Body weight was not statistically different but TBW was significantly higher (p = 0.018) in boys (44.9% ± 3.3%) than girls (42.4% ± 3.0%), while girls had significantly higher estimated FM (45.2 ± 3.9 weight % versus 41.6% ± 4.3%; p = 0.014). TEE was significantly higher in boys (2395 ± 349 kcal/day) compared with girls (1978 ± 169 kcal/day); p = 0.001. Estimated physical activity level (PAL) was significantly higher in boys; 1.61 ± 0.167 versus 1.51 ± 0.870; p = 0.034. Our results provide the first dataset of TEE in 7–9 years old obese Kuwaiti children and highlight important gender differences to be considered during the development of school based interventions targeted to combat childhood obesity

Oxygen permeation of virgin HDPE films versus recycled HDPE films

In an attempt to confront consequences of the growing municipal solid waste stream, recycling has become one of the logical, successful, and practical solutions. With the expanding food and plastics industries, the proposition of using post-consumer materials in food-contact applications may be justifiable. However, for the recycling cause to succeed, its technologies and products have to fulfill the standards and requirements set forth by the parties involved: food and plastics industries, recyclers, FDA, to name few. In this study, 100% post-consumer HDPE films are found to have the same oxygen permeability as virgin HDPE films. Gas chromatography has been used in monitoring the permeability of oxygen of both materials. The finding of equal oxygen permeation rates for both recycled and virgin HDPE films may indicate that the recycling process in itself does not effect the oxygen permeation of the HDPE resins. The recommendation of this project is that recycled polymers should undergo further analysis to examine their safety before they are proposed for food-contact applications

Diary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in the Egyptian Government Press: يوميات ثورة المجر 1956 في الصحافة الحكومية المصرية

During the summer and fall of 1956, the attention of the Egyptian and international public opinion and the political leadership was dominated by several exciting internal and external events: crises of financing the construction of the High Dam in Aswan, the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, and the tripartite aggression against Egypt. However, these important events did not distract attention from the Egyptian press coverage of news and commentary related to the simultaneous Hungarian revolution. All contemporary Egyptian newspapers wrote about the situation in Hungary and followed the incoming news constantly, and even often published several news daily in this regard, which represented interest in the Hungarian issue. Recently, many studies on the echoes of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 were released. In this article, I will focus primarily on how the Egyptian governmental newspapers dealt with the 1956 revolution. Among the Egyptian newspapers, I searched Al- Gomhoria, Al-Ahram, Akhbar Al-Youm. I chose these newspapers because they are the largest and most well-known daily newspapers in Egypt and the Arab world. All are daily newspapers with a great history and international reputation, and they deal with international news, especially political issues. These three newspapers are among the best Arab sources for true investigative journalism and objective political analysis. These newspapers address a large target audience, and their content is varied. These newspapers have published materials that are worthy of analysis on the Hungarian revolution by adopting three different methods of approaching

The Consequences of the Six Day War for the Jewish Communities of Arab countries from Hungarian Perspective

Jews living in Arab countries faced discrimination even before 1967, namely after the establishment of a territorial Jewish State in 1948. However, the Six-Day War brought them further suffering, which often had a serious impact on the existence of Israelite communities dating back to ancient times. The significant reduction in the size of some Jewish communities in the Arab world depended largely on the policies of their ‘mother state’. Thus, Jewish emigration was less decisive in Maghreb countries, where governments sought to protect their Jewish citizens from atrocities fuelled by anti-Jewish and anti- Semitic sentiments.1 The situation was quite different in the Middle Eastern states, where governments themselves were often responsible for some incidents against Jews. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry also tried to follow all these events, but due to the political and interstate relations of the time, it did not always manage to form a realistic image of them

Magyar kapcsolatok az Öböl menti országokkal : 1970-1980-as évek

Since the second half of the 1970s, the main task of the Hungarian diplomacy has no longer primarily been building and deepening political relations, but rather establishing and pushing the economic and trade relations regardless of political orientation of the countries. In this context, the Hungarian government has given an important role to the Gulf countries. Distinguished relations were established with Kuwait: in 1981 the ruler of Kuwait visited Budapest, and in 1982 the Hungarian head of state visited Kuwait. Hungary developed fruitful trade relations with the United Arab Emirates in the 1980s. The study contains Hungarian and Arabic archival documents

Mutation of BRAF V600E in Iraqi Female Patients Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

هدفت هذه الدراسة الى التحري عن وجود طفرة BRAF V600E من عدمها في الاناث التي تم تشخيصهن بالاصابة بسرطان الثدي وفي اعمار مختلفة، حيث تم جمع عينات الدم والانسجة من 46 مريضة وباعمار(46± 3.54)، حيث تم تقسيمها اللى مجموعتين، المجموعة التي  تحت العلاج الكيمياوي وعددها 31 مصابة والمجموعة الاخرى بدون علاج كيمياوي وعددها 15 مصابة كما تم مقارنة النتائج مع مجموعة الاصحاء كمجموعة سيطرة وعددهم 23 شخصا وباعمار(47.93±3.05) سنة.تم اجراء  تفاعل البلمرة المتسلسل ( (PCR وباستخدام بوادئ تم تصميمها ضمن الدراسة الحالية على جميع العينات. اظهرت النتائج عدم وجود علاقة مابين الاصابة بسرطان الثدي وطفرة BRAF V600E في المرضى العراقين المشمولين بالدراسة الحالية.This study aimed to investigate the possible presence of BRAF V600E mutation in the Iraqi female patients who diagnosed with breast cancer in different ages, in which Blood and tissue samples were collected from 46 female patients with  age (46.73±3.54);Those were divided into two groups; who took chemotherapy (31 persons) as treated group and without chemotherapy as an untreated group (15 persons) and from (23) healthy person with age(47.93±3.05).  Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were done with newly designed primers. The results revealed no correlation between breast cancer occurrence and BRAF V600E mutation in the Iraqi patients enrolled  in the current study. &nbsp

INTERLEUKIN-18 GENE POLYMORPHISM AND SOME RISK FACTORS IN IRAQI PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER

Objective: Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in women, which leads to death in a lot of women with breast cancer. The major risk factors associated with breast cancer risk related to family history, age, clinical history, lifestyle factors, long-period hormonal exposure, and single nucleotide polymorphisms in many genes showed possible links with breast cancer incidence risk in different people populations. Our study aimed to figure out the correlation between smoking, lodging and family history, and other factors with the risk of breast cancer.Methods: Blood sample from female patients with breast cancer and healthy individuals were collected and subjected to tetra-amplification refractory mutation system–polymerase chain reaction (T-ARMS-PCR) technique for −607 C/A mutation of an interleukin (IL-18) gene and SPSS 18 software analyzed the results statically.Results: Results showed no association between lodging and smoking with risk of breast cancer, (p>0.05), while the association between the risk and family history were obvious (p<0.05).Conclusion: The results obtained by T-ARMS-PCR technique did not show the association between −607 C/An alternation of IL-18 gene and breast cancer (p>0.05) in the individuals examined in our study.Keywords: Interleukin-18, Gene, Polymorphism, Tetra-amplification refractory mutation system–polymerase chain reaction, Mutations

The Role of Subsurface Water Retention Technology (SWRT) for Growing Chili Pepper in Iraqi Sandy Soils

  A study was carried out to assess the impact of using SWRT on irrigation water use efficiency IWUE and yields of chili pepper crop. Experiments were performed by planting chili pepper in greenhouses during the spring season of 2015 at two locations in Iraq. One location was at north of Baghdad (latitude 33 north and longitude 44 east) at Jadedat Al-Shat, Diyala Province. The other location was at Najaf Province (latitude 32 north and longitude 44 east). Soils of these both locations are classified as sandy loam in texture. Four treatments (SWRT, organic matter, tillage and no – tillage farming) were used to represent different tillage practices in the Iraq. The experimental design was randomized complete blocked design RCBD with four replications. Irrigation scheduling was performed according to soil moisture content as 50-55% of available water was depleted then irrigation water was added from subsurface drip system to bring soil moisture content back to field capacity. Soil sensors GS3 from the Decagon Devices, USA were used to measure volumetric water content hourly. Water balance equation was used to determine the actual water consumption during each stage of plant growth for the whole season. The result showed that the amount of irrigation water and plant yield varied with treatment. Average chili pepper yield per plant were was 0.61, 0.51, 0.47 and 0.53 kg for Diyala location and 0.2, 0.18, 0.17 and 0.16 kg for Najaf location for treatments SWRT, organic matter, tillage and no–tillage treatments, respectively. Depths of irrigation water for season were 338, 582, 693 and 693 mm for Diyala location and 346, 446, 544 and 544 mm for Najaf location for treatments SWRT, organic matter, tillage and no–tillage treatments, respectively. Values of IWUE for chili pepper at Diyala location were 16.652, 8.087, 6.236 and 7.076 kg m-3 for SWRT, organic matter, tillage and no – tillage treatments, respectively. This shows that SWRT is higher in IWUE by 106, 167 and 135% than organic matter, tillage and no – tillage treatments, respectively. Similar trend of IWUE values for chili pepper in Najaf was obtained which were 3.724, 2.692, 2.094 and 1.972 kg m-3 for SWRT, organic matter, tillage and no – tillage treatments, respectively, as an increase of SWRT by 38, 79 and 89% over organic matter, tillage and no – tillage treatments, respectively. Keyword: Subsurface Water Retention Technology, Chili Pepper, Iraqi Sandy Soil

ENHANCING STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH NASA SCIENCE AS INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA IN LEARNING SOLAR SYSTEM

Science and technology advancement in the 21st Century requires several life skills that everyone must learn, one of which is Critical Thinking. Critical thinking skill is often defined as a process of metacognitive which consists of several sub-skills (e.g., analysis, inference, and evaluation) that increase the chances of solving a problem or producing a logical conclusion to an argument. This research attempted to implement NASA Science as Interactive Multimedia to enhance students' critical thinking in learning Solar System. Interactive Multimedia is student-centered, allowing students to play an active role in deciding how to learn to promote the critical thinking skills of students. This study used a pre-experimental method with one group pretest-posttest design. The sampling used was convenience sampling, which participated in 42 7th grade students of a private school in Bandung. The Objective Test was used as a research instrument for both pretest and posttest. These test items were designed according to Facione's indicators of Critical Thinking Skills. Based on the analysis result, the value of n-gain is 0.48. According to the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, the hypothesis in this research was accepted. The value of Asymp. sig. (2-tailed) is 0.00, with a sig. α = 0.05. Thus, the result of this research shows that: There is an enhancement of students' critical thinking after using NASA Science in learning Solar System