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We examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students’ dietary practices and lifestyles. In this study, the term “dietary practices” refers to people’s choice in food consumption, whereas “lifestyles” refers to their overall habits including both diet and exercise. We followed a quantitative approach through a cross sectional study and collected data from 475 university students in the UAE by means of an online survey. The results of this study indicated that a majority (67%) of the surveyed students seem to have changed their dietary practice for the better and were making healthier life choices. Additionally, it appears that students started leading more active, healthier lifestyles by incorporating exercise in their daily routine. The research concludes with initial suggestions and implications for healthcare practitioners and providing them with information regarding how younger adults in the UAE have behaved during a pandemic. Understanding the results from similar studies will help the health authorities in reshaping policies on nutrition in anticipation of any future pandemics.

Environmental policy is often characterized by differences of opinion and polarized perceptions. This holds for all groups involved in lobbying, creating, implementing, and researching policy. Q methodology is a technique originally developed by William Stephenson in the 1930s for work in psychology as an alternative to R methodology, which was dominant at the time. R methodology involves gathering scores from subjects being analyzed, such as those generated by intelligence tests, and then correlating the scores with factors such as gender or ethnicity. Obviously, the scores are heavily dependent on the choice of questions set by the researcher in the tests. In contrast, Q methodology commonly uses statements generated by the participants of the study, and it is these that the subjects are asked to score. This helps to avoid the type of bias that might result from a researcher formulating the statements presented to the subjects, though it is important to note that researcher bias is also present in Q methodology through selection of the statements and the type of quantitative analysis used. In studies involving evaluation of environmental policy, Q methodology is typically used to elicit opinions from subjects by scoring participant statements obtained from interviews or statements from secondary sources such as written reports, news articles, or images. These scores are then correlated using factor analysis, and statements that group together are compiled to create discourses about different aspects of the environmental policy under evaluation.

Ethylene is the most important factor playing roles in senescence and deterioration of harvested crops including cut flowers. Brassinosteroids (BRs), as natural phytohormones, have been reported to differently modulate ethylene production and related senescence processes in different crops. This study was carried out to determine the effects of different levels of 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) on ACC oxidase enzyme activity, the final enzyme in ethylene biosynthesis pathway, vase life, and senescence rate in lisianthus cut flowers. Harvested flowers were treated with EBL (at 0, 3, 6, and 9 µmol/L) and kept at 25 °C for 15 days. The ACC oxidase activity, water absorption, malondialdehyde (MDA) production and vase solution absorption rates, chlorophyll and anthocyanin contents, and the vase life of the flowers were evaluated during and at the end of storage. EBL at 3 µmol/L significantly (p ≤ 0.01) enhanced the flower vase life by decreasing the ACC oxidase activity, MDA production and senescence rates, and enhancing chlorophyll and anthocyanin biosynthesis and accumulation, relative water content, and vase solution absorption rates. By increasing the concentration, EBL negatively affected the flower vase life and postharvest quality probably via enhancing the ACC oxidase enzyme activity and subsequent ethylene production. EBL at 6 and 9 µmol/L and in a concentration dependent manner, enhanced the ACC oxidase activity and MDA production rate and decreased chlorophyll and anthocyanin accumulation and water absorption rate. The results indicate that the effects of brassinosteroids on ethylene production and physiology of lisianthus cut flowers is highly dose dependent.

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