Background The most prevalent nutritional disorders worldwide are childhood overweight or obesity. Various factors clearly contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of childhood obesity in children of primary schools, and determine the influence of eating behavior and lifestyle in such a condition. Methods The study based on a cross sectional survey including school children aged 6-11 years. Pupils were from different schools in Sharjah, UAE. Outcome measures used in this study covered health characteristics; child habits and lifestyle; disease status and medication. Results The number of pre-validated surveys distributed was 932 and those returned counted to 678, giving a response rate of 72.8%. More than half (379; 55.9%) of the participants were females and 191 (28.2%) of the children were obese or overweight. Almost one quarter (162; 23.9%) of the children was physically inactive. Additionally, candy and fast food consumption was significantly high (370; 54.6%) and (324; 47.8%) respectively. Participant's food, age and time spent on TV were significantly associated with body mass index (BMI). Conclusion Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Emirate of Sharjah is high in both genders and across all ages of the study population. Contributing factors may include; sedentary lifestyle, consumption of unhealthy food and family history. There is a need for an immediate attention and measures to reduce the prevalence of obesity and associated diseases.

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The number of active cases of COVID-19 and deaths is markedly escalating. The pandemic had affected almost every aspect of our lives including geopolitics, health, economics, education, and sociocultural events. However, besides the negative impacts of the pandemic, there are some positive impacts as well, such as improving our awareness of the daily hygienic practices, emphasizing digital inequality, and increasing global collaboration in combating the crisis by intensifying scientific research to establish a promising vaccine. Other positive impacts are the activation and use of online education, also raising awareness about close family relationships and much more. This review addresses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on various important aspects of life.

Two approaches to tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepin-4-ones of interest as potentially selective, muscarinic (M(3)) receptor antagonists have been developed. Base promoted addition of 2-(tert-butoxycarbonylamino)methyl-1,3-dithiane with 2-(tert-butyldimethylsiloxymethyl)benzyl chloride gave the corresponding 2,2-dialkylated 1,3-dithiane which was taken through to the dithiane derivative of the parent 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepin-4-one by desilylation, oxidation and cyclisation via a reductive amination. After conversion into the N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl, N-toluene p-sulfonyl and N-benzyl derivatives , hydrolysis of the dithiane gave the N-protected tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepin-4-ones . However, preliminary attempts to convert these into 5-cycloalkyl-5-hydroxy derivatives were not successful. In the second approach, ring-closing metathesis was used to prepare 2,3-dihydro-[1H]-2-benzazepines which were hydroxylated and oxidized to give the required 5-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepin-4-ones. Following preliminary studies, ring-closing metathesis of the dienyl N-(2-nitrophenyl)sulfonamide gave the dihydrobenzazepine which was converted into the 2-butyl-5-cyclobutyl-5-hydroxytetrahydrobenzazepin-4-one by hydroxylation and N-deprotection followed by N-alkylation via reductive amination, and oxidation. This chemistry was then used to prepare the 2-[(N-arylmethyl)aminoalkyl analogues , , and . N-Acylation followed by amide reduction using the borane-tetrahydrofuran complex was also used to achieve N-alkylation of dihydrobenzazepines and this approach was used to prepare the 5-cyclopentyl-5-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepin-4-one and the 5-cyclobutyl-8-fluoro-5-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepin-4-one . The structures of 2-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-4,4-propylenedithio-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepine and (4RS,5SR)-2-butyl-5-cyclobutyl-4,5-dihydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepine were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The racemic 5-cycloalkyl-5-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-[1H]-2-benzazepin-4-ones were screened for muscarinic receptor antagonism. For M(3) receptors from guinea pig ileum, these compounds had log(10)K(B) values of up to 7.2 with selectivities over M(2) receptors from guinea pig left atria of approximately 40.

1 Relaxation responses of the rat isolated duodenum to the putative M1 muscarinic receptor agonist, McN-A-343, were examined to determine whether the response was due to the release of known non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic relaxant neurotransmitters and to establish the involvement of M1 muscarinic receptors. 2 The role of ATP was examined with the P2 receptor antagonist, suramin, which at 30 mum antagonized the relaxant responses to alpha,beta-methylene ATP. The same dose, however, failed to inhibit the relaxation by McN-A-343. 3 The role of nitric oxide (NO) was examined with the NO synthase inhibitor, NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 100 microm), which failed to inhibit the responses to McN-A-343. As NO mediates relaxation of the duodenum via cGMP generation through guanylyl cyclase, whether the relaxation by McN-A-343 was also via cGMP was examined with the guanylyl cyclase inhibitor, 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ). The relaxation responses to the NO donor, S-nitroso-N-acetyl penicillamine, were inhibited in the presence of ODQ (3 microm), but not those by McN-A-343. 4 Release of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was examined with the GABAA receptor antagonist, bicuculline (10 microm), which shifted the concentration-response curves for the relaxation of the duodenum by GABA to the right. There was a similar degree of shift in the concentration-response curve for McN-A-343 by bicuculline indicating that release of GABA from enteric neurones of the duodenum could explain the relaxation response to McN-A-343. 5 To test whether the muscarinic receptors mediating the relaxation of the duodenum were of the M1 subtype, the susceptibility to the selective competitive antagonist, pirenzepine and the selective muscarinic toxin from green mamba, MT7, was examined. Pirenzepine (1 microm) shifted the concentration-response for McN-A-343 to the right in a parallel fashion with a dose ratio of 33.3 +/- 20.2. This yielded a pA2 value of 7.5, which concords with those for other responses reputed to be mediated via M1 muscarinic receptors. The toxin MT7 was used as an irreversible antagonist and following incubation with the duodenum was washed from the bath. An incubation time of 30 min with 100 nm of MT7 caused a significant parallel shift in the concentration-response to McN-A-343 confirming the involvement of M1 muscarinic receptors. 6 This study has confirmed that McN-A-343 relaxes the rat duodenum via muscarinic receptors of the M1 subtype and that these receptors are probably located on enteric neurones from which their stimulation releases GABA.