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EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF DATE PALM (ELAEIS QUINEENSIS JACQ.) LEAVES ON THE PERFORMANCE AND SOME PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS OF CROSSBRED EWES
(An-Najah National University, 2025-02-27) Shakhshir, Ali Abdo Ali
Abstract
This research comprised two experiments. The first experiment aimed to examine how various preparations of date palm leaves (DPL), including chopped, ensiled, and alkali-treated forms, affected the performance and reproductive efficiency of crossbred ewe lambs. A total of twenty female ewes were used at age of 6-7 months were fed the DPL at 15% of their diets for a period of 6 weeks. DPL was replaced similar percent of wheat hay in the control diet. The ewes were split into four experimental groups, with each group consisting of five ewes, and each ewe treated as a separate replicate. Ewes were fed as the following: Group 1 (G1) served as the control, consisting of 70% concentrate and 30% wheat straw, for the experimental groups G2 to G4, various forms of date palm leaves (DPL) were incorporated into the diets to replace half of the wheat straw. A digestion trial was conducted after 28 days of the feeding trial. Ewes were exposed to rams were conception rates and other reproductive traits were recorded. Prior to conception ewes were examined for blood parameters and a digestibility trial was performed. The results indicated that form of DPL had no significant effects on all study parameters. The second experiment consisting of 28 cross bred lactating ewes were used to examine the DPL forms on milk yield and quality, blood parameters and nutrient digestibility. The ewes were organized into four experimental groups, with each group containing seven ewes, and each ewe regarded as an individual replicate. Ewes were fed similar diets as in experiment 1. Results of experiment 2 indicated the lack of effects of forms of DPL on the tested parameters. In experiments 1 and 2 the economic efficiency of feeding DPL was examined. In conclusion, incorporating date palm leaves (DPL), whether in their raw or treated forms (ensiled or alkali-treated), offers significant benefits by lowering feed costs and contributing to environmental protection. However, further research is needed to determine the optimal treatment and inclusion levels for these diets.
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QUALITY OF LIFE AND SOCIAL SUPPORT AMONG PALESTINIAN BREAST CANCER WOMEN
(An-Najah National University, 2025-04-17) Abu Sa A, Walaa Hani Abdul-Jabbar
Background: Globally, the incidence and mortality rates of cancer are ranking withrising., with breast cancer ranking with the leading causes of death for women worldwide, including in Palestine (Devi, 2025; Elshami et al., 2022). This disease greatly affects the quality of life of affected women. Social support, meanwhile, plays an essential role in mitigating challenges and enhancing well-being in daily life.
Aim: the main aim of current study is to assess the quality of life (QoL) among women diagnosed as breast cancer, evaluate the level of social support they receive, and examine the relationship between QoL and social support.
Method: A cross-sectional study design was employed, involving 210 women diagnosed with breast cancer recruited from daycare units in hospitals across the West Bank of Palestine. A questionnaire was used to measure quality of life, the Arabic version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Scale (EORTC-C30), and to assess the support provided to women we used the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support (MPSS).
Results: This study enrolled 210 participants women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, the mean of age was 50.54 ± 11.83 years, regarding to marital status majority of them were married 72.4%, and 73.8% were unemployed. 51.4% of respondents resided in urban, about financial support the majority of them 73.3% depended on their family members. The mean QoL score was 52.33, reflecting a moderate level of overall well-being. A significant positive correlation was identified between social support and QoL (r = 0.65, p < 0.001). Furthermore, 78% of the participants reported moderate to high levels of social support.
Conclusion: This study highlights the critical role of social support in improving the quality of life of women with breast cancer. The findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing types of social support and implementing tailored interventions to address individual needs effectively. Such personalized strategies are vital for enhancing QoL in this population.
Keywords: Breast Cancer, Quality of Life, Social Support, Palestine
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EXPLORING THE STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL, ELECTRONIC, MAGNETIC, OPTICAL AND THERMOELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF QUATERNARY HEUSLER ALLOYS FEMNSCGA, FEMNSCAL AND FEMNCRGE
(An-Najah National University, 2025-04-27) Masri, Hasan
This dissertation presents a comprehensive analysis of the structural, electronic, magnetic, optical, and thermoelectric properties of three quaternary Heusler compounds: FeMnCrGe (Iron-Manganese-Chromium-Germanium), FeMnScAl (Iron Manganese-Scandium-Aluminum), and FeMnScGa (Iron-Manganese-Scandium-Gallium), using first-principles theoretical frameworks. This research relies on the density functional theory (DFT). The calculations use the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (GGA-PBE) functional. This approach uses a generalized gradient approximation. It ensures precise electronic structure analysis. Additionally, it uses the modified Becke-Johnson (mBJ) functional. These approaches help to evaluate the material's potential applications in spintronics and energy conversion devices. All three compounds have a face-centered cubic structure with adherence to the Fm-3m space group. A negative formation energy characterizes their stable configurations. This confirms their stability. Moreover, they comply with mechanical stability conditions.
FeMnCrGe (Type 1 structure), FeMnScAl, and FeMnScGa (Type 2 structures) all meet mechanical stability requirements and exhibit structural stability through a hybrid ionic-covalent bonding framework. The electronic structure analysis depicts strong half-metallic behavior for all compounds studied, with 100% spin polarization. The FeMnCrGe compound has a spin-down bandgap value calculated as 0.974 eV with a modified Becke-Johnson potential, compared with a 0.1574 eV bandgap for FeMnScAl and 0.442 eV for FeMnScGa. As per the Slater-Pauling rule, magnetic moments have been calculated. The FeMnCrGe compound illustrates a magnetic moment value per formula unit as 1.00 μB, with FeMnScAl and FeMnScGa having magnetic moments of 3.00 μB each. Such a fluctuation is attributed to strong ferromagnetic behavior, which is substantiated through strong magnetic interactions from manganese. Investigation of the thermoelectric properties reveals high efficiency in energy conversion. The material FeMnScAl has a peak value for ZT of 0.689 at 150 K, and FeMnCrGe has a value of 0.42 at 500 K.
Also, the optical properties of all three compounds demonstrate high ultraviolet absorption, with FeMnScGa having absorption coefficients above 180 × 10⁴/cm. Additionally, all materials exhibit a high refractive index, and large interband transitions are present. These characteristics suggest excellent potential for optoelectronic devices. Their impact could be significant in advanced applications. These materials offer significant potential. They could advance spintronic, thermoelectric, and optoelectronic technologies. These materials exhibit half-metallicity, stable magnetism, and strong thermoelectric properties. This unique combination creates new opportunities. It helps to address challenges in conventional electronics and energy harvesting. The theoretical framework as a whole presents a solid foundation for future empirical research, as well as for real applications of these flexible materials for constructing novel technological advancements.
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DESIGN, SYNTHESIS, BIOACTIVITY AND MOLECULAR DOCKING OF IMIDAZOLONE DERIVATIVES HAVING HYDROPHILIC AND LIPOPHILIC FUNCTIONALITIES
(An-Najah National University, 2025-05-07) Fares, Oswa Marwan
The currently used chemotherapies showed negative side effects that can lead to permanent damage to human organs. Therefore, finding an effective anticancer therapy with minimum side effects is considered a major challenge for scientists. In this work, two new series of imidazolones were prepared, one containing phenyl group (3a-g) and the other containing thiophene group (5a-g). Both of these imidazolones were combined with different substituents including lipophilic and hydrophilic moieties. The synthesis was performed via condensation cyclization of vanillin-based oxazolones with various amines. The anticancer activity of the synthesized imidazolones was analyzed against four different cancer cell lines: liver cancer cells (HepG2), cervical adenocarcinoma cells (HeLa), colon cancer cells (CaCo-2) and breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Among the prepared imidazolones, it was found that imidazolone 3f with dodecyl chain exhibited the highest anticancer activity with IC50 value of 65.26 ± 3.2 µM against HepG2 and 20.02 ± 3.5 µM against MCF-7. Imidazolone 3d with amino alkyl group displayed an IC50 value of 36.57 ± 4.1 µM against the Hela cell and 24.68 ± 3.8 µM against the CaCo-2 cell line. Imidazolone 5g with thiophene and pyridyl group showed the highest efficiency among all tested derivatives with an IC50 value of 18.44 ± 2.3 µM and 5.96 ± 2.3 µM against Hela and CaCo-2 cell lines, respectively. Imidazolone 5b with chlorophenyl moiety displayed an IC50 value of 2.18 ± 0.7 µM and 5.51 ± 1.1 µM against HepG2 and Hela cell lines, respectively.
Computational tools were also used to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, and the antitumor potential of imidazolone molecules with the highest activities through ADME analysis and molecular docking. ADME properties, estimated by the Swiss ADME server, emphasize favorable drug-likeness under Lipinski’s guidelines, with molecular weights ranging from 357.43 (5d) to 468.65 g/mol (5f). Molecules 3g, 3f, and 5f show optimal hydrogen bonding, moderate bioavailability (0.55), and synthetic accessibility scores from 3.78 to 4.76. Docking studies with proteins 4MAN and 1HNJ highlight strong interactions for 3g, 3f, and 5f, with molecule 3g showing the best binding for 4MAN (-52.13 kcal/mol) and 5f for 1HNJ (-38.63 kcal/mol). These results recognize 3g and 5f imidazolones as promising candidates for targeted cancer therapy.
In addition, antibacterial activity was studied for the prepared oxazolones. It was noticed that oxazolone 8 containing 2-thiophenyl moiety was the most potent to stop the bacterial growth of all types of bacteria, even the most resistant Staphylococcus aureus with MIC of 500 µg/mL. A combination of these oxazolones with commercial antibiotics can provide a synergetic effect to inhibit the bacterial growth at lower MIC values.
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COMPARISON OF THE OUTCOMES BETWEEN PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTION ALONE AND PHARMACOINVASIVE CORONARY INTERVENTION AMONG ST-SEGMENT ELEVATION MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION (STEMI) PATIENTS
(An-Najah National University, 2025-02-03) Ma’ali, Basel Khairy Ali
Background: Myocardial infarction is among the most diagnosed cardiological diseases in the whole world and in Palestine, and is managed mainly by invasive interventions to control or treat coronary artery occlusion, while some centers add tissue plasminogen activator to the plan in what so called pharmacoinvasive approach. The incidence of postoperative complications is inevitable, and therefore, the aim of the current study is to identify the most common complications compared between two myocardial infarction management approaches (percutaneous and pharmacoinvasive coronary interventions) in two tertiary centers in Ramallah and Nablus, and determine the most common risk factors associated with the differences between them.
Methodology: The study utilized retrospective cohort design on a randomized sample of 160 adult (30 – 75 years old) patients who were admitted to intensive care cardiology departments of Palestine Medical complex (for pharmacoinvasive approach) and An-Najah National University Hospital (for percutaneous coronary intervention approach). The researcher used a data sheet that was developed based on previous literature, and data were analyzed using software.
Results: Patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (n = 82, 51.2%) were significantly older (mean = 59.8 ± 9.7 vs 56.2 ± 12.7) than pharmacoinvasive (n = 78, 48.8%). Catheter insertion site was mostly radial in percutaneous coronary intervention patients (95.1%) compared to pharmacoinvasive (15.4%), with no significant difference in MI location. Patients with percutaneous coronary intervention patients showed more significant decrease in white blood cells, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride and heart rate, with more significant increase in troponin-I, and less increase in sodium, compared to pharmacoinvasive patients (p-value < 0.05) between pre- and post-operative phases. All postoperative complications, except for upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and mortality rate were significantly higher among pharmacoinvasive patients (p-value < 0.05). Lastly, significantly more postoperative complications were found among patients with dyslipidemia, valve regurgitation and cardiac hypokinesia.
Conclusion: Patients who were treated with pharmacoinvasive approach showed higher postoperative complications and 30-day mortality rate. More research is needed in this area of cardiology management in Palestine. A prospective design is also recommended to be conducted for this topic in the future research.