Background: Khat is a large green shrub grown in Eastern to Southern Africa and extends to Arabian Peninsula. Khat has its own impact on mental and physical health of the chewers. Studies revealed that khat chewing was associated with frequent absenteeism from class and poor academic performance among students. Although khat has harmful consequences, little is known about factors associated wit...

BACKGROUND Gum chewing after cesarean section may stimulate bowel motility and decrease duration of postoperative ileus. OBJECTIVES The current study assessed the effect of chewing sugar-free gum on the return of bowel function, where cesarean section had been performed in nulliparous women. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a randomized clinical trial, 60 patients, scheduled for cesarean section we...

The present study was undertaken to determine the firing patterns and the mechanoreceptive field (RF) properties of neurons within the face primary motor cortex (face-MI) in relation to chewing and other orofacial movements in the awake monkey. Of a total of 107 face-MI neurons recorded, 73 of 74 tested had activity related to chewing and 47 of 66 neurons tested showed activity related to a tra...

Health authorities recommend higher fibre and lower salt content in bread products. However, these basic ingredients of bread composition are multifunctional, and important changes in their content influence the texture, flavour and acceptability of the product. This study was designed to investigate the link between oral processing, bolus formation and sodium release during the consumption of ...

The aim of our study was to describe and compare nutritional status and food related behaviours in rural pregnant women of Li ethnicity as they had been divided into mountainous and costal groups by residential area. One hundred and ninety-six randomly selected healthy rural pregnant women of Li ethnicity for the mountainous group (MG), and eighty-two for the coastal group (CG) were recruited. ...

Prey animals often have to trade off foraging against vigilance. However, vigilance is costly and individuals are expected to adjust their vigilance and its cost in relation to social cues and their predation risk. To test this, we conducted playback experiments in the field to study how lions' (Panthera leo) roars and male impalas' (Aepyceros melampus) territorial vocalizations affected the vi...

BACKGROUND Chewing khat leaves is often accompanied by tobacco use. We assessed aspects of tobacco use and explored factors associated with tobacco use patterns (frequency of use per week) among khat chewers who used tobacco only when chewing khat ("simultaneous tobacco and khat users", STKU). METHODS A sample of 204 male khat chewers was recruited during random visits to khat outlets. Data c...

An experiment of 4 3 3 weeks was carried out to analyse intake level and rate, number of meals and chewing activities of dairy goats. Four pairs of Alpine and Saanen goats in mid lactation were fed ad libitum four complete diets CR, CS, FR and FS in a Latin square design. Forage /concentrate ratio in these diets was low (C 5 30/70) or high (F 5 55/45) and starch, rapidly (R) or slowly (S) degra...

Goniorrhachis marginata Taub. (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) is a tree species found in Brazilian tropical dry forests that retain their leaves during the dry season. That being, we addressed the following question: i) How do insect diversity (sap-sucking and chewing), leaf herbivory and defensive traits (tannin and leaf sclerophylly) vary on the evergreen tree species G. marginata between sea...

objective : the aim of this study was to evaluate fracture characteristics of rigid two-tooth segments splinted with fiber reinforced composite (frc), with and without application of simulated masticatory forces. material and methods: in this experimental study, 80 extracted maxillary bicuspids were joined in pairs from the buccal aspect using frc. the specimens were divided into two groups. in...