The prevalence of smartphone addiction among university students has raised concerns about its potential implications on their mental health, academic performance, and interpersonal relationships. This review aims to address the existing gap in the literature and shed light on the psychosocial impact of smartphone addiction in this crucial phase of young adults’ lives. A systematic approach was employed to identify and analyse relevant studies from reputable databases. The selection criteria encompassed studies published between January 2009 and December 2022, in university students. The review synthesises findings from 32 selected studies to present a comprehensive analysis of the psychosocial impacts of smartphone addiction. The results indicated significant associations between excessive smartphone use and adverse mental health outcomes, including increased levels of anxiety, depression, and stress among university students. Furthermore, smartphone addiction negatively influences academic performance, decreasing face-to-face communication and social isolation.

Severe hyponatraemia is defined as a sodium level of less than 120 mEq/L, and it is frequently accompanied by neurological symptoms like coma, convulsions, respiratory arrest, and death. Clinical cardiac toxicity from hyponatremia, such as bradyarrhythmia, is extremely rare. In this article, we present a case of acute severe hyponatraemia that induced unstable bradyarrhythmia and led to refractory bradycardia, which did not improve despite receiving treatment in accordance with the standard Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support protocol. The patient’s bradyarrhythmia has completely resolved with the administration of 3% hypertonic saline, which restored her sodium levels. Due to the possibility that severe hyponatremia may contribute to the aetiology of cardiac malfunction, this case raises awareness about the significance of closely monitoring electrocardiograms and telemetry in patients with severe hyponatremia.

Introduction: We clarified the extent to which white rice (WR)-based carbohydrate diets affect body weight and metabolic parameters in rats. Methods: In this experimental study, a male Sprague Dawley (n=32) rats fed with WRbased CHO diet in two different proportions of total energy intake (TEI 55% moderate-CHO (MCHO, n=8) and 65% High-CHO (HCHO, n=8)) or high-fat diet (HFD, n=8) were compared with rats maintained on standard pellet diet (SD, n=8) for eight weeks period. Carbohydrate sources in the HFD and SD were mainly based on cornstarch (25% of amylose). Outcomes measures include body weight and metabolic parameters. Results: At baseline, body weight and metabolic parameters (fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and triglyceride levels) were comparable in all rats. Despite higher daily caloric intake in rats fed with HFD (103.9±3.0) than the other diets, no significant differences in body weight between groups after 8 weeks of study. However, rats’ feds with WR-based CHO diets (both moderate and high carbohydrates) had higher fasting blood glucose (MCHO=12.8±1.6, HCHO=16.9±2.4) and triglycerides level (MCHO=1.2±0.0, HCHO=1.3±0.0) than rats in cornstarch-based HFD and SD (p<0.05). Both HFD and HCHO had higher fasting insulin than MCHO and SD (p<0.05), but the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was significantly higher in WR-based CHO diets (both moderate and high carbohydrates) than the rats in cornstarch-based HFD and SD (p<0.05). Conclusion: A WR-based CHO diet exhibits higher fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, and insulin resistance state than a high-fat diet without a significant impact on body weight. These findings may explain the growing incidence of diabetes in Asia and worth studying further.

A ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a catastrophic cardiovascular emergency which carries high risk of morbidity and mortality. Clinical manifestation includes severe abdominal pain, back or flank pain, syncope, hypotension, gastrointestinal bleeding and cardiovascular collapse. Misdiagnosis is often due to atypical presentation and results in fatal consequences. Rapid diagnosis of ruptured AAA is essential because it influences the patient’s prognosis. Timely and accurate diagnosis can be made in the Emergency Department using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) which has high sensitivity and specificity. We report a case of an elderly male who came with non-specific abdominal pain to the Emergency Department. Timely diagnosis of ruptured AAA was made with POCUS. The diagnosis was made by a non-radiologist using POCUS, however, the decision for ruptured AAA repair was only made by surgical team following computed tomography scan of the abdomen.
Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal

Capsaicin (N-vanillyl-8-methyl-6-(E)-none amide) is a unique and significant compound from group component of capsaicinoids. This component can only be found in the plants from the Capsicum genus. It is the primary source of pungency or spiciness of chilli pepper. Traditionally, capsaicin has been used to alleviate pain. Recently, some studies showed significant therapeutic effects of capsaicin in many diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and obesity. Determination of the most effective dosage used and underlying working mechanism of capsaicin are still in progress. Currently, capsaicin research, especially in drug interaction and encapsulation technologies, has not been reviewed. We aim to report current experimental evidence of capsaicin research focusing on its pharmacological properties, interaction with drugs and ways to improve the bioavailability of capsaicin. It is essential to provide a general orientation for further investigation that can discover more potency of capsaicin usage as a medicinal supplement to treat various diseases.

This study aimed to investigate whether mass drug administration (MDA) intervention has an equivalent effect on reducing the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma haematobium infection regardless of the baseline values. A repeated cross-sectional survey was performed targeting students of 12 primary schools in Al Jabalain and El Salam districts of White Nile State, Sudan, at both 1 week before and 8 months after the MDA. Prior to the baseline survey, school-aged children in Al Jabalain had received MDA interventions twice in 4 years, while those in El Salam had not. The baseline prevalence was 9.1% in Al Jabalain and 35.2% in El Salam, which were reduced to 1.8% and 5.5% at 8 months after the MDA, respectively. The corresponding reduction rates were 80.3% and 84.4%, not significant difference between both districts. However, changes in the geometric mean intensity (GMI) of egg counts were significantly different between both districts. The baseline GMIs were 14.5 eggs per 10 ml of urine (EP10) in Al Jabalain and 18.5 EP10 in El Salam, which were reduced to 7.1 and 11.2 EP10 after treatment, respectively. The corresponding reduction rates were 51.0% and 39.5%. In conclusion, MDA interventions were found to bring about similar relative reduction in prevalence regardless of the baseline value; however, the relative reduction in infection intensity was more salient in the district with a low baseline value for both prevalence and intensity. This clearly points to the importance of repeated MDA interventions in endemic areas, which will eventually contribute to schistosomiasis elimination.

Objective: To identify and determine the composition of antioxidant compounds, and to evaluate the antioxidant abilities of Gac fruit parts (peel, pulp, seed and aril) grown in Malaysia. Methods: LC-MS/MS was used for identification of antioxidant compounds and UV-Vis for estimation of the contents of phenolics, flavonoids, and carotenoids. Lycopene and β-carotene were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography. DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ferric reducing antioxidant power assays were employed to evaluate antioxidant capacities. Results: Phytochemicals were found amongst all the fruit parts. Notably, significant amounts of carotenoids [(107.4 ± 4.5), (85.7 ± 4.4), (110.6 ± 2.1) mg/100 g dry weight (DW)], and relatively high levels of both phenolics [(27.3 ± 1.7), (28.9 ± 2.4), (30.8 ± 2.7) mg/100 g DW] and flavonoids [(38.1 ± 2.2), (8.8 ± 1.3), (24.5 ± 3.3) mg/100 g DW] were found in the fruit's peel, pulp and aril, respectively. Seed part also showed a relatively high level of flavonoids [(18.1 ± 2.3) mg/100 g DW]. Lycopene and β-carotene were found to be significantly high (P < 0.05) in aril [(579.3 ± 22.7) and (621.0 ± 35.0) μg/g DW], followed by peel [(51.0 ± 7.5) and (210.0 ± 12.5) μg/g DW] and pulp [(37.6 ± 10.9) and (205.6 ± 22.1) μg/g DW)]. Antioxidant assays revealed that aril possessed the highest scavenging activity (IC

OBJECTIVES: This study compared the retention of BioAggregate (BA; Innovative BioCeramix) and mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA; Angelus) as coronal plugs after applying different intracanal medications (ICMs) used in regenerative endodontics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One-hundred human maxillary central incisors were used. The canals were enlarged to a diameter of 1.7 mm. Specimens were divided into 5 groups (n = 20) according to the ICM used: calcium hydroxide (CH), 2% chlorhexidine (CHX), triple-antibiotic paste (TAP), double-antibiotic paste (DAP), and no ICM (control; CON). After 3 weeks of application, ICMs were removed and BA or MTA were placed as the plug material (n = 10). The push-out bond strength and the mode of failure were assessed. The data were analyzed using 2-way analysis of variance, the Tukey's test, and the χ2 test; p values < 0.05 indicated statistical significance. RESULTS: The type of ICM and the type of plug material significantly affected bond strength (p < 0.01). Regardless of the type of ICM, BA showed a lower bond strength than MTA (p < 0.05). For MTA, CH showed a higher bond strength than CON, TAP and DAP; CHX showed a higher bond strength than DAP (p < 0.01). For BA, CH showed a higher bond strength than DAP (p < 0.05). The mode of failure was predominantly cohesive for BA (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: MTA may show better retention than BA. The mode of bond failure with BA can be predominantly cohesive. BA retention may be less affected by ICM type than MTA retention.
Calcium Hydroxide ; Chlorhexidine ; Ciprofloxacin ; Endodontics ; Humans ; Incisor ; Metronidazole ; Miners ; Pemetrexed*

Aims: This study was aimed to characterize a dehalogenase derived from Bacillus cereus SN1 isolated from cow dung. Methodology and results: Cell-free extract of Bacillus cereus SN1 was purified using ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. Fraction B2 of gel filtration gave the highest enzyme specific activity (0.155 μmol CI¯/min/mg). The results of SDS-PAGE showed the enzyme was 25 kDa in size. The enzyme reached its optimum activity at 30 °C at pH 6, and was inhibited by Mercury(II) sulfate (HgSO4). The Km and kcat values were 0.2 mM and 1.22/sec, respectively. The partial dehalogenase gene sequence was amplified using Group I dehalogenase primers. The amplified gene sequence was designated as DehSN1. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Dehalogenase from Bacillus cereus strain SN1 revealed new characteristics of dehalogenase protein. The findings indicated that the DehSN1 dehalogenase is a promising candidate for further studies as a bioremediation agent for agricultural applications.

Objective: To investigate the impact of the extracts of Gac fruit parts (peel, pulp, seed, and aril) on the cell viability and angiogenesis markers of human retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE-19) cells under high glucose conditions. Methods: The effect of the extracts of Gac fruit peel, pulp, seed and aril on the ARPE-19 cells was determined using MTT viability assay, Trypan blue dye and morphological changes were observed using light microscopy. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent-based assay was performed to evaluate the effect of Gac fruit parts on the reactive oxygen species (ROS), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pigmented epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) secretions. Results: High glucose (HG) at 30 mmol/L increased ARPE-19 cell viability and ROS and VEGF secretions. While, the exposure of ARPE-19 cells in high glucose condition to Gac fruit extracts led to inhibition of cell viability, induced morphological changes, decreased ROS and VEGF secretions, and increased PEDF level. Gac pulp, seed, and aril at 1 000 μg/mL showed significant inhibition activities [(7.5 ± 5.1)%, (2.7 ± 0.5)%, (3.2 ± 1.1)%, respectively] against HG-induced ARPE-19 cell viability. The findings also demonstrated that Gac aril at 250 μg/mL significantly decreased ROS and VEGF levels [(40.6 ± 3.3) pg/mL, (107.4 ± 48.3) pg/mL, respectively] compared to ROS [(71.7 ± 2.9) pg/mL] and VEGF [(606.9 ± 81.1) pg/mL] in HG untreated cells. Moreover, 250 μg/mL of Gac peel dramatically increased PEDF level [(18.2 ± 0.3) ng/mL] compared to that in HG untreated cells [(0.48 ± 0.39) ng/mL]. Conclusions: This study indicates that the extracts of Gac peel, pulp, seed and aril reduced cell viability, minimized ROS generations and showed angiogenic activities. Therefore, our findings open new insights into the potentiality of Gac fruit against HG-related diabetic retinopathy disease.