This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity, assess its trends, and determine its associated factors and associated comorbidities. A multipurpose national household survey was conducted among Jordanian adults over a period of four months in the year 2017. Data were collected using a structured validated questionnaire. Different anthropometric measures including waist circumference (WC) measured at the midway between iliac crest and lower rib margin, body mass index (BMI), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were measured to define overweight and obesity. This study included 4056 persons (1193 men and 2863 women) aged 18 to 90 year with a mean (SD) of 43.8 (14.2) year. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria, the age-standardized prevalence of obesity was 60.4% among men and 75.6% among women. About three quarters of men and women had overweight/obesity as defined by BMI. After adjusting for age, the odds of obesity in 2017 was twice that odds in 2009 in men (OR = 1.98) and women (OR = 1.96). In the multivariate analysis, age, place of living, and marital status were significantly associated with obesity among men and women. Obesity was significantly associated with increased odds of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, elevated triglyceride levels, and low HDL after adjusting for age. The rate of obesity in Jordan is high and increasing and associated with other metabolic abnormalities. Well-defined programs to control and prevent obesity and intersectoral action are urgently required to reverse current trends in Jordan.

Hollow nanostructures have been developed rapidly and have shown great promise in various areas. We provide a review of the synthetic approaches to hollow nanostructures.

The synthetic models of the active site of an [FeFe]-hydrogenase containing a Sn atom in the bridgehead of the diselenato ligand, namely [Fe ₂ (CO) ₆ {μ-(SeCH ₂ Se)SnMe ₂ }], 3 and [Fe ₂ (CO) ₆ {μ-(SeCH ₂ ) ₂ SnMe ₂ }], 4 have been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods.

All patients presenting with hereditary hemolytic anemia, (n = 143) over a period of 18 months were enrolled in a study to evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV in multi-transfused patients in Jordan, and to identify possible related risk factors. All patients were treated in the Thalassemia Unit at Princess Rahma Teaching Hospital. Relevant clinical data were collected. Blood specimens were taken from these patients and tested for HbsAg, HbsAb, hepatitis core IgMAb, hepatitis core IgGAb, HCVAb, and ELISA for HIV. Fifty-eight (40.5 per cent) of the specimens were HCVAb positive, while only five (3.5 per cent) of them were positive for HBsAg. None of the specimens were positive for HIV. The frequency of blood transfusion and the time of diagnosis before or after 1995, were investigated as possible risk factors for viral seropositivity. Only the time of diagnosis was a statistically significant risk factor for HCVAb positivity (OR = 4.49; p = 0.005). In conclusion, hepatitis C acquisition is a serious risk for multi-transfused patients in Jordan. Hepatitis B is relatively less common. Blood screening initiated after 1995 in Jordan has significantly reduced the risk of hepatitis C associated with blood transfusion.

Four new symmetrical Schiff bases derived from 2,2′-diamino-6,6′-dibromo-4,4′-dimethyl-1,1′-biphenyl or 2,2′-diamino-4,4′-dimethyl-1,1′-biphenyl, and 3,5-dichloro- or 5-nitro-salicylaldehyde, were synthesized and reacted with copper-, iron- and zinc-acetate, producing the corresponding complexes. The Schiff bases and their metal complexes were characterized by ¹H-, ¹³C-NMR, IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The structures of one Schiff base and the two zinc complexes were resolved by X-ray structure determination. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of the latter compounds were carried out to optimize and examine their molecular geometries. The biomedical applications of the Schiff bases and their complexes were investigated as anticancer or antimicrobial agents.