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Abstract Background The Arab Teens Lifestyle (ATLS) questionnaire was an initiative to assess the lifestyle habits influencing obesity rates in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including physical activity (PA) patterns, sedentary and eating behaviours. Since its implementation, the ATLS questionnaire has been used in several studies among different age groups and populations. This instrument has not previously been administered among the university students of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where the obesity rates are the highest in the country. This research was the first that aimed to identify lifestyle habits influencing the rates of obesity among 18-25-year-old university students in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) using the ATLS questionnaire. Methods Quantitative cross-sectional research among n = 426 students of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia using the ATLS questionnaire. Results Out of n = 426 participants, n = 200 (47%) were categorised (using body mass index) as normal weight; n = 113 (26.5%) were overweight, and n = 73 (17.1%) were obese. The findings showed that most of the nutritional, PA, and sedentary behavioural factors (e.g., screen time) in the questionnaire were not associated with obesity status amongst the participants. In the obese group, more of the males that consumed fruits, French fries, cakes, sweets and doughnuts more than three times per week were likely to be obese, which was not the case for females. Conclusion The reported lifestyles of the students could potentially lead to long-term negative health effects, which is of concern given the rising rates of overweight, obesity, and obesity-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among the Kingdom’s adult and ageing population. Further studies are recommended to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of Saudi students in the Eastern Province in relation to PA, sedentary behaviours, and dietary habits, along with their views on how these can be improved.

INTRODUCTION: Les objectifs de notre étude ont été d'estimer la prévalence des troubles des conduites alimentaires (TCA) chez les jeunes tunisiens et étudier la relation entre le tempérament cyclothymique et les TCA. METHODES: Nous avons ainsi mené une étude transversale descriptive et analytique. Elle a concerné 107 étudiants de l'Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l'Information de la Manouba, Tunisie. Pour l'évaluation des TCA, nous avons procédé par la passation de l'auto questionnaire EAT 40, dans sa version validée en Tunisie. C'est l'outil le plus utilisé pour le dépistage des TCA dans le monde. Pour l'évaluation du tempérament cyclothymique, nous avons utilisé le TEMPS A dans sa version arabe validée. Une fiche épidémiologique associée a permis de recueillir quelques facteurs sociodémographiques et hygiéno-diététiques. RESULTATS: La prévalence des troubles de conduites alimentaires a été de 24,3%. Le pourcentage des étudiants ayant un score de tempérament cyclothymique ?14 a été de 37,4%. Une association a été trouvée entre les troubles de conduites alimentaires et le tempérament affectif cyclothymique que ce soit selon l'approche dimensionnelle (p=0,005) ou selon celle catégorielle (p=0,046). Le tempérament cyclothymique multiplie par deux le risque de développer un TCA chez les étudiants de sexe féminin (p=0,04). CONCLUSION: es TCA sont fréquents chez nos étudiants particulièrement de sexe féminin. De plus, la présence d'un tempérament cyclothymique associé permettrait de suspecter doublement une appartenance au spectre bipolaire et devrait conduire à une attention particulière de la part du clinicien pour définir au mieux les stratégies thérapeutiques.

Le délire dermatozoïque est un délire particulier survenant chez les personnes âgées et caractérisé par la présence d'un délire hallucinatoire essentiellement cénesthésique, avec la conviction d'être infesté par des petites bêtes. Ce délire aboutit à des lésions de grattage pouvant être graves, mais sans aucune étiologie organique, et leurrant souvent le dermatologue. Notre observation est originale, par le fait que le patient a été adressé par un ophtalmologue, et faisant étendre le champ du diagnostic à plusieurs spécialités, s'occupant des patients âgés. il s'agit d'un patient âgé de 67 ans, ayant présenté da façon concomitante à une intervention chirurgicale et au mariage de son dernier fils, un délire hallucinatoire avec une conviction d'être attaqué par des moustiques lui suçant le sang. Des lésions d'excoriation cutanée ont été secondaires à ce délire, et ont été à l'origine d'une consultation psychiatrique. L'évolution après six mois de traitement a été marquée par l'enkystement du délire et l'amélioration des lésions cutanées. Réputé rare, le délire dermatozoïque pourrait être déroutant si on ne fait pas le diagnostic positif. Tout clinicien peut être confronté dans sa pratique à ce type de syndrome. Sa compréhension facilite une prise en charge adéquate, basée essentiellement sur un soutien psychologique et un traitement neuroleptique.

Le mariage est un �vénement trés investi dans notre culture arabo-musulmane. Il présente une situation � grande charge émotionnelle et ayant un vécu stressant. C'est ainsi quéil peut étre a l'origine de la d'compensation de certains troubles psychiatriques. Ce moment particulier de d'clenchement de la pathologie peut altérer significativement l'daptation familiale et sociale du patient en question, le rendant dépendant en partie ou en totalité a une institution. Dans ce travail, nous proposons d'étudier certains facteurs psychiques, sociaux et culturels pouvant aboutir la précipitation des manifestations psychotiques par le mariage. Il s'agit de l'étude de trois observations cliniques, deux hommes et une femme, hospitalisés dans le service de psychiatrie a , du CHU Hédi Chaker de Sfax et qui ont développés des manifestations psychotiques de fa'on concomitante a leur mariage. La durée moyenne du suivi a t de vingt ans, le diagnostic retenu a t celui de trouble bipolaire dans deux cas et d'une schizophrénie indifférenciée chez le troisiéme patient. L'évolution s'est faite vers une chronicisation de deux malades et une dépendance institutionnelle dans le troisiéme cas. La précipitation des troubles psychotiques par le mariage, reste un phénoméne en relation intime avec les composantes culturelles, elles-mémes sont d'terminantes dans la prise en charge ultérieure de ces patients.

Living in diverse environmentally harsh conditions, the plant exhibits a unique survival mechanism. As a result, the endophytes residing within the plant produce specific compounds that promote the plant’s growth and defend it against pathogens. Plants and algae symbiotically harbor endophytes, i.e., microbes and microorganisms living within them. The objective of this study is to isolate endophytic fungi, specifically strains of Aspergillus terreus, from the leaves of the salt-tolerant plant Tetraena qatarensis and to explore the salt tolerance, antagonistic activity, and growth promotion properties. Strain C A. terreus (ON117337.1) was screened for salt tolerance and antagonistic effects. Regarding salt tolerance, the isolate demonstrated the ability to thrive in a concentration of up to 10% NaCl. A. terreus showed inhibitory activity against four fungal phytopathogens, namely Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and Botrytis cinerea. The GC-MS investigation of the fungal (strain C Aspergillus terreus) extract showed the presence of about 66 compounds (secondary metabolites). Secondary metabolites (SMs) are produced, like Hexadecanoic acid, which aids in controlling phytopathogens. Also produced is lovastatin, which is used to treat hypercholesterolemia. Strain C, which showed salinity tolerance and the highest inhibitory activity, was further analyzed for its effect on tomato seed germination under pathogen stress from Fusarium oxysporum. The greenhouse experiment indicated that the fungi increased the length of tomato seedlings and the plant biomass. Therefore, the selected endophytes derived from Tetraena qatarensis were scrutinized for their potential as biocontrol agents, aiming to thwart fungal pathogens and stimulate plant growth. The in vitro and in vivo assessments of strain C (Aspergillus terreus) against Fusarium oxysporum in this investigation indicate the promising role of endophytes as effective biological control agents. Investigating novel bio-products offers a sustainable approach to agriculture, gradually reducing dependence on chemical fungicides.

Introduction The stigma of mental illness is a complex socialphenomenon that is widespread throughout the world, even amonghealth care professionals. Objectives Assessing attitudes towards mental illness among familymedicine residents in Tunisia Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study among of familymedicine residents enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine in Monastir(Tunisia), conducted over a period of 3 months (July 2022 to October2022). The CAMI (Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill)scale was used to assess the attitude towards mental illness. Sociodemographic data were collected through a pre-established questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS software 26 thversion. Results Our population was made up of 95 family medicineresidents, divided into 28 males and 67 females. Sex ratio was 2.39. The average of age was 28 years with extremes 25 and 35 years.46.3% (n=44) of the residents were enrolled in the first year, 22.1%(n=21) enrolled in the second year and 31.6% (n=30) enrolled in thethird year. 88.4% (n=84) of the residents did a psychiatric rotationduring their training.We found that 47.4% of residents (n=45) had a positive attitudetowards mental illness. Conclusions Improving the attitudes of primary care physicianstowards people with mental illness is necessary to provide goodquality care to these patients Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Introduction Causal attributions of mental illness and help-seeking recommendations have multiple attitudinal and behavioral consequences; however, these factors have been subject of limited research in our Arab Muslim context. Objectives This study examined causal attributions and help-seeking recommendations for mental illnesses among a large sample of the general population in Arab countries. Methods We carried out a multinational cross-sectional study using online self-administered surveys in the Arabic language from June to November 2021 across 16 Arab countries.The Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill scale,the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule scale and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form were administered to participants from the general public. Results The study sample was predominantly female (77%), married (41%), educated (89% with tertiary education), living in urban areas (85%), with a mean age of 29.6 ± 10.8 years. Psychosocial causes including lack of parental affection (88.0%) and childhood sexual abuse (85.5%) were the most common causal attributions of mental illnesses endorsed by our participants, with 95.7% of them agreeing with at least any one of the psychosocial causes. Palestinians were the most inclined to believe that mental illness is caused by Jinn possession and Magic/witchcraft (65.9% and 68.1%, respectively), followed by Algerians (56.2% and 68.6%, respectively), Kuwaitis (52.3%, and 62.7%, respectively), Yemenis (50.2%, and 61.4%, respectively) and Saudi participants (49.7%, and 61.2% respectively); whereas Tunisians were the least inclined to believe in these causes (18.6%, and 21.6%, respectively) (Table S3, supplemental material). Even though most of the study subjects tended to have a higher preference to seek help from formal sources than informal sources, they showed a high propensity to some informal sources such as family members (80.4%) and confidants (68.6%). Besides, Algerians were the most likely to ask help from a cleric or traditional healers (68.6% and 69.9%), followed by Palestinians (61.8% and 65.3%, respectively), Egyptians (58.4% and 48.8%), Jordanians (57.7% and 64.2%) and Kuwaitis (57.0% and 61.9%). Conclusions Interventions aiming at improving help-seeking attitudes and behaviors and promoting early access to care are required to be culturally tailored, and congruent with public beliefs about mental illnesses and their causations. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Introduction Attitudes toward people with mental disorders in Arab countries have undergone huge transformations throughout history. Stigmatization of the mentally ill has been a long tradition in our communities. The public’s views have evolved since then, however, little is known about the current situation regarding mental illness stigma in our context. Objectives Explore attitudes towards mental illness and mental health knowledge in Arab countries. Methods We carried out a multinational cross-sectional study using online self-administered surveys in the Arabic language from June to November 2021 across 16 Arab countries.The Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill scale,the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule scale and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form were administered to participants from the general public. Results The study sample was predominantly female (77%), married (41%), educated (89% with tertiary education), living in urban areas (85%), with a mean age of 29.6 ± 10.8 years. Based on the CAMI, MAKS, and ATSPPH-SF total scores, 75th, 50th, and 25th percentile were considered as cut-off points for the high, medium, and low scores. We found that 26.5% exhibited stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illnesses, 31.7% had poor knowledge, and 28.0% hold negative attitudes toward help-seeking. Regarding attitudes toward mental illness, the highest mean score was on the social restrictiveness subscale (35.1 ± 5.6), reflecting the lowest amounts of stigma in this dimension; while the lowest mean score was on the Authoritarianism subscale (32.0 ± 4.6). We found a significant difference between countries regarding attitudes (F=194.8, p

Introduction There has been an increasing interest in people’s attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Although recent research has shown a rise in the number of people seeking help from psychological services, there is still a significant number who choose not to see a mental health specialist. Objectives The aim of the current study was to examine the attitudes toward help-seeking psychological help among Arab population and to investigate factors related to these attitudes in the whole sample. Methods We carried out a multinational cross-sectional study using online self-administered surveys in the Arabic language from June to November 2021 across 16 Arab countries.The Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill scale,the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule scale and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form were administered to participants from the general public. Results The study sample was predominantly female (77%), married (41%), educated (89% with tertiary education), living in urban areas (85%), with a mean age of 29.6 ± 10.8 years. Participants tended to have a higher preference to seek help from a psychologist or a psychiatrist (85.7%) and primary care physicians (80.7%).We also found that family members represented a preferred source of help in 80.4% of the cases. In bivariate analyses, help-seeking attitudes positively correlated with attitudes (r=.265) and knowledge (r=.121). Besides, multivariate regression analyses revealed that being female, older, having higher knowledge and more positive attitudes toward mental illness, and endorsing biomedical and psychosocial causations were associated with more favorable help-seeking attitudes; whereas having a family psychiatric history and endorsing religious/supernatural causations were associated with more negative help-seeking attitudes. Conclusions Attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help are intricate. Determining factors associated with help-seeking attitudes may guide interventions in order to avoid delays in help-seeking. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Introduction Stigmatization of mental illness by health care professionals is notuncommon, and it represents a source of suffering for patients inaddition to the primary illness. Objectives To research factors influencing family medicine residents perceptions of psychiatric pathologies. Methods This is an analytical cross-sectional study among family medicineresidents enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine in Monastir (Tunisia),conducted over a period of 3 months (July 2022 to October 2022). TheCAMI (Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill) scale was usedto assess the attitude towards mental illness. Sociodemographic datawere collected through a pre-established questionnaire. The data wereanalyzed using SPSS software 26 th version. Percentage comparisonson independent series were performed using the Pearson chi-squaretest. Results Our population was made up of 95 family medicine residents, dividedinto 28 males and 67 females. Sex ratio was 2.39. The average of agewas 28 years with extremes 25 and 35 years. 47.4% of residents(n=45) had a positive attitude towards mental illness. The associationbetween this positive attitude and a previous management of apatient with a mental illness was significant (pless than0.05). On the otherhand, there was no significant association neither with the existenceof a personal or family psychiatric history nor with the passagethrough a psychiatric internship of the residents towards mentalillness. Conclusions The management of patients with mental illness canreduce the stigmatization of mental illness by health professionals.Measures to raise awareness and create empathetic attitudestowards the mentally ill during physician training are needed toimprove the quality of front-line care. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic fungal metabolite produced by some Aspergillus and Penicillium species. This work was designed to explore the presence of OTA and ochratoxigenic fungi in feed grains marketed in Qatar and their biological control by a bacterium (Burkholderia cepacia). Significantly higher levels of OTA were detected in mixed grains samples (144.59 ± 6.63 μg/kg), compared to the maize (25.27 ± 1.89 μg/kg) and wheat (3.37 ± 0.11 μg/kg). OTA-producing fungi (A. niger, A. ochraceus, A. westerdijkiae, A. carbonarius and P. verrucosum) were identified on the basis of their morphological features as well as through polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Putative ochratoxigenic polyketide genes in these isolates were evidenced by using primers AoOTA-L/AoOTA-R (in A. ochraceus and A. westerdijkiae), AoPks1/AoPks2 (in A. niger and A. ochraceus) and PenPks1/Penpks2 (in P. verrucosum). On synthetic media, A. westerdijkiae showed the highest OTA synthesis (5913 ± 576 μg/kg) than the closely related A. ochraceus (3520 ± 303 μg/kg), A. carbonarius (3064 ± 289 μg/kg) and P. verrucosum (3030 ± 710 μg/kg). Burkholderia cepacia cells and culture extract showed promising biological control potentials against OTA producing fungi. On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that animal feed samples are generally contaminated with OTA-producing fungi as well as OTA, and Burkholderia cepacia CS5 exhibits promising antifungal activities.