From knowledge production to knowledge translation: Waterpipe tobacco control research in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) rates in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) are the highest worldwide, particularly among young people. Although fiscal policies to curb tobacco use have been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), implementation has been suboptimal. The Eastern Mediterranean Consortium on the Economics of Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking (ECON-WTS) was formed in response to this need to produce knowledge on the economics of WTS in the EMR and apply a comprehensive Knowledge translation (KT) framework.

Factors associated with intentions to quit tobacco use in Lebanon: A cross-sectional survey.

Introduction: The prevalence of tobacco smoking in Lebanon is among the highest globally. This study aims to determine past attempts to quit smoking among adults and identify factors associated with intentions to quit.

Methods: A nationally representative telephone survey was conducted between June and August 2022.

Factors Associated With Oral Anticoagulant Use in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Mental Disorders.

This study aims to identify how mental illness severity interacts with oral anticoagulant (OAC) patterns among people with atrial fibrillation (AF). AF patients with comorbid mental illness (classified using ) were identified from the South London and Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre Case Register. CHADS-VASc and ORBIT scales were used to calculate stroke and bleeding risks, respectively, whereas Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) assessment was used for functional impairment.

Anticoagulation therapy and outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation and serious mental illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: A systematic review was conducted to investigate prevalence, management and outcomes of atrial fibrillation (AF) in people with Serious Mental Illnesses (SMI) versus the general population.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO were searched for primary research written in English and published between 2004 and 2022.

Study Selection: A total of 1459 studies were identified in the initial search of which 16 met the inclusion criteria.

Anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation in people with serious mental illness in the general hospital setting.

Objective: People with serious mental illnesses (SMI) have an increased risk of stroke compared to the general population. This study aims to evaluate oral anticoagulation prescription trends in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with and without a comorbid SMI.

Methods: An open-source retrieval system for clinical data (CogStack) was used to identify a cohort of AF patients with SMI who ever had an inpatient admission to King's College Hospital from 2011 to 2020.

Effect of a Home-Based, Walking Exercise Behavior Change Intervention vs Usual Care on Walking in Adults With Peripheral Artery Disease: The MOSAIC Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Home-based walking exercise interventions are recommended for people with peripheral artery disease (PAD), but evidence of their efficacy has been mixed.

Objective: To investigate the effect of a home-based, walking exercise behavior change intervention delivered by physical therapists in adults with PAD and intermittent claudication compared with usual care.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Multicenter randomized clinical trial including 190 adults with PAD and intermittent claudication in 6 hospitals in the United Kingdom between January 2018 and March 2020; final follow-up was September 8, 2020.

Influence of a University Tobacco-Free Policy on the Attitudes, Perceptions of Compliance, and Policy Benefit Among the University Students: A Pre-Post Investigation.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a university tobacco-free policy by examining differences in students' attitudes, perceptions of compliance and policy benefits, after one year of the policy's implementation. Cross-sectional studies were undertaken to collect data pre- and 1 year post-policy implementation. The two samples were selected using stratified random sampling.

Association of health warning labels and motivation to quit waterpipe tobacco smoking among university students in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine associations between health warning label content and motivation to quit waterpipe smoking by gender and smoking location.

Methods: Convenience samples of university students in three Eastern Mediterranean countries - Egypt (n=442), Jordan (n=535) and Palestine (n=487) - completed an online survey assessing health warning labels. Multinomial logit regression models were conducted to determine the association between different variables, particularly gender and smoking location, with motivation to quit.

Evaluating a tobacco-free university policy: A repeated cross-sectional survey of faculty and staff in Lebanon.

Introduction: A growing body of research has evaluated the effect of university tobacco-free policies on faculty and staff, however, none of these studies has been carried out in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. This study evaluates changes in faculty and staff attitudes, perceptions and smoking behavior, at 1 year post adoption of a tobacco-free policy in a medium-sized university in Lebanon and the region.

Methods: Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2017 and 2018: baseline and at 1 year post policy implementation.

Microbial transformation of oxandrolone with Macrophomina phaseolina and Cunninghamella blakesleeana.

Microbial transformation of oxandrolone (1) was carried out by using Cunninghamella blakesleeana and Macrophomina phaseolina. Biotransformation of 1 with M. phaseolina yielded four new metabolites, 11β,17β-dihydroxy-17α-(hydroxymethyl)-2-oxa-5α-androstan-3-one (2), 5α,11β,17β-trihydroxy-17α-methyl-2-oxa-androstan-3-one (3), 17β-hydroxy-17α-methyl-2-oxa-5α-androstan-3,11-dione (4), and 11β,17β-dihydroxy-17α-methyl-2-oxa-5α-androstan-3-one (5).

Microbial transformation of anti-cancer steroid exemestane and cytotoxicity of its metabolites against cancer cell lines.

Background: Microbial transformation of steroids has been extensively used for the synthesis of steroidal drugs, that often yield novel analogues, not easy to obtain by chemical synthesis. We report here fungal transformation of a synthetic steroidal drug, exemestane, used for the treatment of breast cancer and function through inhibition of aromatase enzyme.

Results: Microbial transformation of anti-cancer steroid, exemestane (1), was investigated by using two filamentous fungi.