Project Tag: Nature Middle East

Nature Middle East is a comprehensive website for information on scientific and medical research in the Middle East. It is a unique online platform for the scientific and medical research community to connect, network and exchange information or ideas, to promote good science and stimulate research and debate.

Risks of bariatric surgery lessened by new guidelines

Originally published 16 March 2015 on Nature Middle East.

Saudi research highlights safer option for weight reduction procedures among children.

A defined clinical pathway that leads to fewer complications and does not result in stunted growth for children who need bariatric surgery, has been developed by Saudi researchers.A 2013 survey showed 23% of Saudi school children are overweight with 9% classified as obese. Among pre-school children, about 15% are overweight and 6% obese. The Saudi Journal of Obesity reported that local studies show a rising trend of obesity.Bariatric surgery is usually considered when a child is not responding to alternative weight management programs.Now researchers from King Saud University (KSU) in Saudi Arabia are proposing a standardised weight management (WM) protocol that includes bariatric surgery within a clinical pathway for optimum results.

“We have strict criteria to offer bariatric surgery to children and adolescents regardless of their age, which include Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 with obesity related co-morbidities, or BMI of 40,” researcher Aayed Alqahtani from KSU, tells Nature Middle East. “For younger children BMI is not very accurate and we substitute it with what is called BMI percentile in which we require the patient to be more than 99th – or super obese – to be eligible for surgery even if their absolute BMI is less than 35,” he adds.

Shining a burst of light on melanin interactions

Originally published 16 March 2015 on Nature Middle East.

Researchers at King Saud University in Riyadh will use attosecond laser technology to take a closer look at melanin and how it works.

The first experiment at a brand new laboratory aims to reveal the microscopic mechanisms that allow melanin to protect skin against hazardous UV radiation.

Attosecond Science Laboratory (ASL) at the King Saud University (KSU) will be the first in the Arab world to use cutting-edge attosecond laser technology able to generate ultrashort pulses of light, lasting just a few billionths of a billionth of a second, that can capture images of otherwise invisible electrons within atoms.

The researchers will first fire a femtosecond laser pulse that simulates sunshine, followed by another probe attosecond pulse to track the effect of the first burst of light on the system. A spectroscopic system will then capture the interaction of light with matter and analyse it.

The lead researcher, Adil Haseeb, wants to better understand the conductivity and photoconductivity responses of melanin in different physical states: solid, paste, and liquid.

“More specifically, how does this molecule prevent UV photons from breaking bonds and changing molecular structure and hence function?” says co-researcher Ferenc Krausz. “Electrons in the melanin molecule have to play a fundamental role in these mechanisms.

Read more at
Nature Middle East, March 2015.

Whale sharks found at Red Sea gathering spot

Originally published 26 August 2014 on Nature Middle East.

Juvenile whale sharks gravitate towards the central coast of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea near Al-Lith to a gathering point. Scientists hope this will help improve conservation efforts of the vulnerable fish.

The preferred site for juvenile whale sharks off the central coast of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea has been identified near the city of Al-Lith.

The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is the largest fish in the world, growing up to 15 meters long. Scientists hope the discovery of this site will improve conservation efforts in the region after the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified whale sharks as “vulnerable” in 2000.

“In any conservation effort, it is important to protect juveniles long enough to ensure that they can reach a reproductive age or size,” says researcher Michael Berumen from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). “Whale sharks are inherently difficult to study because of their potential long-range movements, unknown breeding patterns, and the amount of time that they spend below the surface. Protecting mating grounds would be a critical step in improving conservation for the species.”

Air pollution fears at holy sites

Originally published 21 July 2014 on Nature Middle East.

Air quality in holy sites of Saudi Arabia sharply deteriorates during the pilgrimage seasons, exposing pilgrims to dangerous gases.

Pilgrims visiting the holy sites of Saudi Arabia, including Mecca, are being exposed to significant air pollution, with high levels of combustion tracer carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detected in samples, a new study shows.

Several one-minute air samples were taken from Mecca and the central pilgrimage route, which extends to Mina, Arafat, and Muzdalifah, during the main Hajj season – the largest annual Muslim gathering in the world. Those samples revealed elevated CO levels of 57 parts per million by volume (ppmv) – exceeding the maximum average concentration deemed acceptable by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).

The study, a collaboration by a team from University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine) and King Abdulaziz University, started during the pilgrimage season in 2012 with a survey focusing on measuring carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), CO, and 96 speciated C1-C10 VOCs. It revealed that the major VOC sources came from vehicular exhaust and petrol evaporation.

Read more at
Nature Middle East, July 2014.