3,5-Disubstituted Thiadiazine-2-thiones: New Cell-Cycle Inhibitors

Awwad A. Radwan,Tarek Aboul-Fadl,Abdullah Al-Dhfyan,Mohammed K. Abdel-Hamid,Abdullah A. Al-Badr 대한약학회 2012 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.35 No.1

Two series, a and b, of 3-cyclopentyl or (3-cyclohexyl)-5-substituted-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2H-1,3,5-thiadiazine-2-thiones (THTT) 2a-9a and 3b, 4b, 6b-9b, were synthesized to develop new cell cycle inhibitors. Variable and promising in vitro antiproliferative activities were shown with the synthesized THTT derivatives. Compound 5a with a 5-cyclopentyl group on position-3 and a glutamine residue on position-5 of the THTT moiety showed maximum activity (IC50 = 8.98 μM). Compound 5a possessed notable cell cycle disrupting and apoptotic activities with enhanced selectivity against cancer cells, suggesting the potential for the development of new selective cell cycle inhibitors. There is no evident relationship between the cytotoxic activity of the tested compounds and their lipophilicity. In addition, a pharmacophore based study was performed to explain the biological activity on structural bases. A successful model was generated with a good correlation with the observed activity.

Relationship between Genetic Polymorphisms in MTHFR (C677T, A1298C and their Haplotypes) and the Incidence Of Breast Cancer among Jordanian Females - Case-Control Study

Awwad, Nemah,Yousef, Al-Motassem,Abuhaliema, Ali,Abdalla, Ihab,Yousef, Muhammad Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.12

Background: Breast cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Jordan and worldwide. Abnormality of DNA methylation is a possible mechanism for the development of cancer. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is involved in DNA methylation. Our aim was to study the association between genetic polymorphisms of MTHFR at two sites (C677T and A1298C) and their haplotypes and the risk of breast cancer among Jordanian females. Materials and Methods: A case-control study involving 150 breast cancer cases and 150 controls was conducted. Controls were age-matched to cases. Polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique and sequencing were conducted to determine the genotypes. Results: There was a significant difference in genotype frequency of C677T in the 41-60 year age category [cases: CC (37.4%), CT (49.5%) and TT (13.2%); controls: CC (56.3%), CT (35.6%) and TT (8%), p= 0.04; $OR_{TT\;vs.\;CC}$: 2.5, 95% CI: (0.9-6.9); $OR_{at\;least\;on\;T$: 2.1, 95%CI: (1.2-3.9)]. There was no significant difference in genotype frequency of A1298C between cases and controls [cases: AA (46.6%), AC (41.8%) and CC (11.6%); controls: AA (43%), AC (47.4%) and CC (9.6%); p= 0.6]. There was a significant difference of MTHFR genetic polymorphism haplotypes among breast cancer cases and controls [cases/control: CA: 38.3/45.4%; CC: 28.9/25.2%; TA: 29.2/21; TC: 3.6/8.3; p value= 0.01; $OR_{TA\;vs.\;CA}=1.6$; 95% CI (1.1-2.5); p= 0.02]. Conclusions: Genetic polymorphism of MTHFR C677T may modulate the risk of breast cancer especially in the 41-60 year age group. Additionally, TA haplotype amends the risk of breast cancer. Future studies with a larger sample size are needed to validate the role of MTHFR genetic polymorphisms in breast cancer.

Synthesis and in-silico studies of some diaryltriazole derivatives as potential cyclooxygenase inhibitors

Awwad A. Radwan,Kamal E. H. elTahir 대한약학회 2013 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.36 No.5

The synthesis of several 4-phenyl-5-pyridin-4-yl-2,3-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiones possessing N-2Mannich bases or S-alkyl substituents, is reported. Severalof them exhibited a low nanomolar COX enzyme inhibitionactivity. Most of the compounds showed inhibition ofedema was similar to that evoked by celocoxib in animalmodel. Molecular docking studies of the compounds intothe binding sites of COX-1 and COX-2 allowed us to shedlight on the binding mode of these novel COX inhibitors.

L2 Learners’ and Professionals’ Perceptions of Cognitive Task Complexity: Towards Developing an Index of Task Difficulty

Anas Awwad 아시아테플 2019 The Journal of Asia TEFL Vol.16 No.2

This paper attempts to broaden our understanding on how cognitive task complexity (TC) contributes to L2 learners’ and language professionals’ perceptions of task difficulty (TD). This study was conducted to allow a deeper investigation of the extent to which manipulating TC can influence perceptions of TD, what TC-factors contribute to perceptions of TD, and whether there is a perceptual match between L2 learners and language professionals. The study employed a mixed-method design in which 68 students and 26 language professionals evaluated the TD of two video-based narrative tasks. The students, who were L2 learners of English at a Jordanian secondary school, performed two tasks with increased TC manipulated by intentional reasoning (IR) demands. Data on learners’ perceptions of TD were collected qualitatively and quantitatively using a retrospective questionnaire. The language professionals, who were researchers with a TESOL background, read the tasks instructions and watched the two clips before deciding which task would be considered more difficult and why. Results showed a match between learners and language professionals on their perceptions of TD. Both groups rated the more complex task (+IR) as more difficult. Two categories of higher cognitive demands imposed by IR requirement, i.e. task-induced and task-inherent, were found to be the major contributors to the perceptions of TD. The findings have significant implications for the development of an index of TD, which is considered a priority for language teaching, testing and syllabus design.

Achievement of geothermal energy using ground heat exchanger in Ma’en

Mohammed Awwad Ali Al-Dabbas 대한기계학회 2011 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.25 No.8

Geothermal energy in Jordan is a low-emission and renewable source that could provide households and commercial buildings with heating and cooling. Access to this 'free' energy may be available just a few feet underground. Thus, the objectives of this research are designing a ground heat exchanger that utilizes geothermal energy in heating to exchange the primary geothermal fluid with a secondary clean fluid, determining the feasibility of designing a ground heat exchanger system to pump geothermal energy under the weather conditions of the Ma`en area in Jordan and calculating the amount of energy saved. The design procedure involves applying energy and momentum equations around the geothermal fluid circuit. The FLUENT software program is used to calculate the ground heat exchanger parameters and the amount of energy saved. Finally, the feasibility study shows that the Geoexchange systems represent a savings to homeowners of around 70% in the heating mode, and up to 50% in the cooling mode compared to conventional fossil fuel systems.

Dietary and Lifestyle Factors Associated with Gastric and Pancreatic Cancers: A Case-Control Study

Narmeen Al-Awwad,Sabika Allehdan,Tareq Al-Jaberi,Ahmad Hushki,Yazan Albtoush,Kamal Bani-Hani,Reema Fayez Tayyem 한국식품영양과학회 2021 Preventive Nutrition and Food Science Vol.26 No.1

Gastric cancer (GC) and pancreatic cancer (PC) are the third and seventh most likely cancers to cause death worldwide. We aimed to determine the dietary and lifestyle factors of patients with GC or PC and their associated risk among Jordanians. This case-control study enrolled 587 adults (patients with PC, 101; patients with GC, 172; healthy controls, 314) between March 2015 and August 2018, who were assessed using interview-based personal and physical activity questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression models were taken as measures for predictors of GC and PC risk. We showed that GC and PC patients had higher pre-diagnosis body-mass indexes, a greater proportion smoked and had a family history of cancer than controls. Furthermore, consumption of two snacks [odds ratios (OR)=0.44, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.23∼0.85], three snacks (OR=0.04, 95% CI: 0.01∼0.23) and no meals eaten outside (OR=0.31, 95% CI: 0.09∼0.99) showed a protective effect against GC, and consumption of three snacks (OR=0.08, 95% CI: 0.02∼0.40) reduced significantly the risk of PC. These results suggest that bodyweight, physical activity, smoking, and family history of cancer are among factors that affect GC and PC risk among Jordanians.

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Certain New 1,2,4-Triazolo[1,5-a]Pyrimidine Derivatives

Yaser A.H. Mostafa,Mostafa A. Hussein,Awwad A. Radwan,Abd El-Hamid N. Kfafy 대한약학회 2008 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.31 No.3

Certain new derivatives of 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines were synthesized through the reaction of 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-7-ol with ethyl bromoacetate to afford the ethyl acetate ester, which upon hydrazinolysis gives the corresponding hydrazide. The hydrazide is the key intermediate which was used for the synthesis of the target compounds. The structures of the new compounds were assigned by spectral and elemental methods of analyses. The synthesized compounds were tested for their in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities. Most of the tested compounds showed comparable results with those of ampicillin and fluconazole reference drugs.

Smart Self-Checkout Carts Based on Deep Learning for Shopping Activity Recognition

Hong-Chuan Chi,Muhammad Atif Sarwar,Yousef-Awwad Daraghmi,Kuan-Wen Liu,Tsi-Ui ?k,Yih-Lang Li 한국통신학회 2020 한국통신학회 APNOMS Vol.2020 No.09

Fast and reliable communication plays a major role in the success of smart shopping applications. In a ”Just Walk Out” shopping scenario, a video camera is installed on the cart to monitor shopping activities and transmit images to the cloud for processing so that items in the cart can be tracked and checked out. This paper proposes a prototype of a smart shopping cart based on image-based action recognition. Firstly, deep learning networks such as Faster R-CNN, YOLOv2, and YOLOv2-Tiny are utilized to analyze the content of each video frame. Frames are classified into three classes: No Hand, Empty Hand, and Holding Items. The classification accuracy based on Faster RCNN, YOLOv2, or YOLOv2-Tiny is between 93.0% and 90.3%, and the processing speed of the three networks can be up to 5 fps, 39 fps, and 50 fps, respectively. Secondly, based on the sequence of frame classes, the timeline is divided into No Hand intervals, Empty Hand intervals, and Holding Items intervals. The accuracy of action recognition is 96%, and the time error is 0.119s on average. Finally, we categorize the events into four cases: No Change, placing, Removing, and Swapping. Even including the correctness of the item recognition, the accuracy of shopping event detection is 97.9%, which is higher than the minimal requirement to deploy such a system in a smart shopping environment. A demo of the system and a link to download the data set used in the paper are in Smart Shopping Cart Prototype or found at this URL: https://hackmd.io/abEiC83rQoqxz7zpL4Kh2w.

Maternal vaccine hesitancy towards COVID-19 immunisation of children in Qatar: a population-based cross-sectional study

Reagu Shuja,Weill Cornell Medicine,Awwad Johnny,Alabdulla Majid 한국역학회 2022 Epidemiology and Health Vol.44 No.-

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted in Qatar to explore beliefs and attitudes among mothers towards coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination for their children and to understand major factors influencing vaccine hesitancy among these mothers. METHODS: A population-based, online cross-sectional survey was conducted between 15 October and 15 November 2020. A composite questionnaire incorporating a validated vaccine hesitancy tool was developed and administered in both English and Arabic. Approval was obtained from the local ethics committee. Participation was voluntary and offered to all adult residents of Qatar through an online link available on social media platforms and local news portals. Only adult respondents who self-identified as mothers were included in the present study. No personal identifying data were collected. RESULTS: Of the mothers surveyed, 29.4% exhibited COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy regarding their children. This exceeded these mothers’ rate of personal vaccine hesitancy (27.5%). Hesitancy rates varied significantly with ethnicity, with the highest among Qatari mothers (51.3%). Intention to vaccinate children did not differ significantly between mothers who accepted the vaccine for themselves and those who did not. Overall, the main reported concerns related to long-term vaccine safety. To a significant extent, mothers relied most on self-directed research on vaccine safety for decision-making. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of maternal COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy exceeded both those mothers’ rate of personal vaccine hesitancy and the hesitancy rate in the general population. The intention to vaccinate children was independent of maternal vaccination history. Factors influencing maternal vaccine hesitancy differ from those influencing personal hesitancy and require an informed public health response.

Synthesis, antimicrobial evaluation and molecular modelling of novel sulfonamides carrying a biologically active quinazoline nucleus

Mostafa M. Ghorab,Zienab H. Ismail,Mohamad Abdalla,Awwad A. Radwan 대한약학회 2013 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.36 No.6

A novel series of quinazolines 5–10, triazoloquinazolines11–17 and triazinoquinazoline 19 bearing abiologically active sulfonamide moiety were synthesized,utilizing methyl 2-isothiocyanato benzoate 2. Some of thenewly synthesized compounds revealed promising bacterialgrowth inhibition, compared with the ampicillin, as thereference drug. A LigandScout approach-generated pharmacophoremodel for the Staph aureus bacteria growthinhibition was done. The degree of fitting of the test setcompounds (3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 17) to the generated hypotheticalmodel revealed a qualitative measure of the more orless microbial inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus. Compounds(7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17 and 22), which revealed significantactivity, are able to effectively satisfy the proposedpharmacophore geometry, using the energy accessibleconformers (Econf\20 kcal/mol).