The Relationship between Vitamin D Levels and Blood Glucose and Cholesterol Levels.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency has reached epidemic proportions globally. Observational data link low vitamin D status to diabetes, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, but interventional trials on the effects of supplementation are limited. OBJECTIVE: We investigated associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and metabolic markers in Saudi adults. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed the clinical records of 476 patients from Saudi Arabia, aged 15-78 years. According to 25(OH)D levels, participants were stratified as vitamin D-sufficient (≥30 ng/mL), -insufficient (21-29 ng/mL), or -deficient (≤20 ng/mL). The outcomes were diabetic status (fasting glucose, HbA1c) and lipid panel results. RESULTS: Higher diabetes prevalence was significantly associated with lower 25(OH)D levels (10.1% in the sufficient group, 11.6% in the insufficient group, and 18.3% in the deficient group). Similarly, worse lipid profiles were associated with more severe hypovitaminosis D, including a total cholesterol level of ≥240 mg/dL (5.3% in participants with normal vitamin D levels vs. 18.9% in those with deficient levels) and LDL ≥ 160 mg/dL (6.9% in participants with normal vitamin D levels vs. 13.2% in those with deficient levels). Vitamin D deficiency disproportionately affected women and adults > 45 years old. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency is endemic in Saudi Arabia and strongly linked to worsened metabolic markers. Optimizing vitamin D status through screening and correcting the deficiency may provide a cost-effective approach to confronting the regional diabetes epidemic and reducing cardiovascular disease risk.

Pattern of Antibiotic Use Among Children With Acute Respiratory Infections in Saudi Arabia: Clinical Assessment.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the common clinical diagnoses and treatment management of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in children and determine when antibiotics are recommended and prescribed. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical charts was carried out at King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Medical City (KSAMC) Hospital to assess pediatric patients diagnosed with ARIs aged 0-14 years, excluding those requiring antibiotics for conditions other than ARIs. Data, including demographic diagnoses and treatment management, were extracted using consecutive sampling, and statistical analyses were conducted using Jamovi software. RESULTS: A total of 285 pediatric patients were included, with a median age of 3 (IQR = 1-6) years and a male predominance of 59.2%. Bronchopneumonia was the most common respiratory disease, diagnosed in 39.1% of participants. The median durations for illness and hospital admission were four and three days, respectively. Clinical evaluations showed an average respiratory rate of 28±10.5 breaths per minute and a mean oxygen saturation of 96.4±3.46% through pulse oximetry. The use of antibiotics was commonly prescribed in ARI patients only when accompanied by certain bacterial infections (46.32%). CONCLUSIONS: ARIs are a common viral health issue among children, emphasizing that not all ARIs in children are caused by bacteria and that antibiotics should only be used when there is a bacterial infection present. Enhanced diagnostic precision, patient awareness, and provider education are the global community's recommendations to prevent the presence of antibiotic resistance and the irrational use of antibiotics.

Collision excitation of c-C3H-(X1A1) by He.

Accurate modeling of anionic abundances in the interstellar and circumstellar media requires calculations of collisional data with the most abundant species that are usually He atoms and H2 molecules. In this paper, we focus on smaller cyclic molecular anion, c-C3H-, an astrophysical candidate, following the detection of larger CnH- carbon chains. From a new three-dimensional potential energy surface, the rotational (de-)excitation of the c-C3H-(X1A1) anion by collision with He is investigated. The surface is obtained in the supermolecular approach at the CCSD(T)-F12/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. Fully quantum close-coupling calculations of inelastic integral cross sections are performed on a grid of collisional energies large enough to ensure the convergence of the state-to-state rate coefficients for the 34 first rotational levels up to jKa,Kc = 77,0 of c-C3H- and temperatures ranging from 5 to 100 K. For this collisional system, rate coefficients exhibit a strong dominance in favor of 21,2 → l1,1 downward transition. This transition was previously used for the detection of the cyclic parent c-C3H. The c-C3H--He rate coefficients (∼10-11 cm3 s-1) are of the same order of magnitude as those of the detected anions CnH- (as C2H-, C4H-, and C6H-) in collision with He and one order of magnitude smaller than those with H2. The critical densities of H2 were also estimated, and a discussion on the validity of the local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions is carried out. This work represents the contribution to understanding and modeling abundances and chemistry of hydrocarbon radicals, CnH, in astrophysical media.

A novel nanocomposite with superior electrocatalytic activity: A magnetic property based ZnFe2O4 nanocubes embellished with reduced graphene oxide by facile ultrasonic approach.

Herein, a novel Zinc Ferrite nanocubes (ZnFe2O4 NCs) decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite have been designed through a sonochemical method. After then, as-synthesized ZnFe2O4 NCs/rGO was characterized by XPS, XRD, HRTEM and EIS. Furthermore, the ZnFe2O4 NCs/rGO nanocomposite modified GCE (glassy carbon electrode) shows excellent electrochemical sensing performance towards biomarker of 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide (4-NQ) with fast detection. 4-NQ is one of the important cancer biomarker. Moreover, the fabricated sensor showed a wide linear window for 4-NQ between 0.025 and 534.12 µM and nanomolar detection limit (8.27 nM). Further, the as-prepared ZnFe2O4 NCs/rGO/GCE has been applied to the determination of 4-NQ in human blood and urine samples with excellent recovery results.