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K Beltaief1,2, W Bouida1,2, I Trabelsi1,2, H Baccouche1,2, M Sassi,3 Z Dridi,4 T Chakroun,5 I Hellara,6 R Boukef,7 M Hassine,6 F Addad,8 R Razgallah,9 I Khochtali,10 S Nouira1,2 On behalf of the Ramadan Research Group1Emergency Department, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monastir, Tunisia; 2Research Laboratory (LR12SP18), University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia; 3Biological Laboratory, Maternity and Neonatal Medicine Center, Monastir, Tunisia; 4Cardiology Department, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monastir, Tunisia; 5Regional Blood Transfusion Center, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia; 6Hematology Department, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monasitr, Tunisia; 7Emergency Department, Sahloul University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia; 8Cardiology Department, Abderrahman Mami University Hospital, Ariana 1080, Tunisia; 9DACIMA, Tunis, Tunisia; 10Endocrinology and Internal Medicine Department, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monastir, TunisiaBackground and aim: The effects of Ramadan fasting on health are a little controversial. The present study is aimed at evaluating the metabolic effects on a group of 517 patients with ≥2 cardiovascular risk factors over a period running from 2012 to 2014.Methods: Each patient was assessed at three visits: before, during, and after Ramadan. Demographical, clinical and biological tests were performed at each visit.Results: Metabolically, we noted a significant and discrete rise in blood glucose level (+1.2 mmol/L), triglycerides (+0.3 mmol/L), cholesterol (+0.12 mmol/L) and creatinine (+3 μmol/L) during Ramadan. These disturbances decreased significantly after Ramadan. The same variations were observed among diabetics (n=323). However, there was a significant decrease in HbA1c after Ramadan (9.0% vs 7.6%, p

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is influenced by nutritional factors: a healthy diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods may help reduce inflammation and improve disease outcomes. Objectives: To compare the anthropometric, nutritional, and psychological profiles of two groups: patients with mildly active RA and patients with highly active RA. Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study involving 52 patients: 35 patients with mildly active RA and 17 patients with highly active RA, all consulting the Rheumatology Department of La Rabta Hospital. Results: the main factors associated with the highly active RA group were significantly higher CRP levels (p=0.004), number of painful joints (p=0.0001), number of swollen joints ( p=0.0001), number of night-time awakenings ( p=0.009), duration of morning stiffness ( p=0.003), visual analog scale for pain (EVA, p=0.004), higher global assessment of disease activity (EGP, p=0.0001), and increased functional disability (p=0.001). We also found that the diet of our population, particularly in the highly active RA group, was imbalanced, hypercaloric, rich in lipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and sodium, and low in fiber. Additionally, it was deficient in calcium, magnesium, iron, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was also low in this group. The main factor associated with the mildly active RA group was excessive sodium intake (p=0.01). Conclusion: Our study revealed imbalanced diets in both the highly active and mildly active RA groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sn3Sb2S6 thin films were deposited by single source vacuum thermal evaporation using glancing angle deposition technique. The incident angle α between the particle flux and the normal to the substrate was varied from 0° to 85°. The structural, morphological and electrical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and impedance spectroscopy, respectively. The effect of these properties as a function of the incident angle has been studied. The AC conductivity exhibited a Jonscher’s universal power law. It is observed that exponent s decreases with increasing measurement temperature. Further analysis revealed that, samples AC conductivity follows the correlated barrier hopping model. The Cole–Cole plot showed a single semicircle, indicating an equivalent circuit with a single parallel resistor R and capacitance C network. The activation energy obtained from both angular relaxation frequency and DC conductivity suggests that the carrier transport mechanism is a hopping mechanism thermally activated in the band gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to calculate the Schottky barrier parameters and to explain the resulting effects, the conduction mechanisms in a Schottky barrier should be known. In the present study, we investigated the structural and electrical properties of Al/p-CuZnSnS (CZTS)/Mo thin film Schottky junction. Structural characterization was carried out using X-Ray diffraction and Raman Scattering whereas electrical characterization was performed by using the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and by recording the AC impedance spectroscopy over a wide range of temperature up to 558 K in the frequency range 5 Hz-13 MHz. The complex impedance plots display one semicircle with equivalent circuit functions as typical parallel RC connected to a serial resistance. The characteristic parameters such as barrier height, ideality factor and series resistance have been calculated from the I-V measurements. At room temperature, this heterostructure has shown non-ideal Schottky behavior with an ideality factor of 1.56 and 0.829 µA as a saturation current. By the impedance spectroscopy technique, we have found that all of the serial resistance R and the parallel resistance Rp decrease by increasing temperature whereas the capacitance C increased from 0.76 to 1.07 µF. From the Arrhenius diagram, we estimated activation energy at 0.289 eV which represents the energy difference between the trap level and the valence band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]