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Background: It is widely known that tobacco use significantly contributes to a variety of health problems, including mouth cancer. The proteins P16 and Ki-67 have a role in regulating the cell cycle and promoting cell growth. Analyzing the levels of these proteins can give us valuable information about the overall health of cells., Objective: This study aims to assess the cellular alterations and immunohistochemical expression of P16 and Ki-67 in the oral mucosa of Saudi smokers., Method: From March to December 2023, a cross-sectional study scraped 500 samples from the buccal mucosa. Participants in the study were Saudi citizens of both genders. We selected a total of 300 individuals who smoked cigarettes and 200 individuals who did not smoke tobacco as the control group. The selection process involved two sample techniques: initially purposive sampling and subsequently snowball sampling. The samples underwent an immunohistochemical examination to determine the presence of P16 and Ki-67 protein overexpression. We evaluated the samples by assessing the proportion of cells that exhibited positive staining and the intensity of the staining. The data were examined utilizing SPSS. We identified categorical variables by calculating frequencies and percentages using the chi-squared test. A significance level of p < 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance., Results: A total of 48% of cigarette users had abnormal results, compared to 20% of nonsmokers. These abnormalities included cytological atypia, inflammation, reverse cytological infection, and binucleated or multinucleated cells (p = 0.015). People who smoked had higher levels of P16 and Ki-67 expressions than people who did not smoke, 12% and 5%, respectively (p = 0.042). There were no important changes in P16/Ki-67 expression between participants of different ages (p = 0.68) or between men and women (p = 0.27)., Conclusion: These results demonstrate the detrimental effects of smoking on cell health, underscoring the importance of quitting to reduce the risk of cytological abnormalities and related diseases. Smokers have higher levels of the proteins P16 and Ki-67, which shows how important these biomarkers are for understanding the risks to oral health., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Piezo1 is a mechanosensitive, nonselective Ca2+ channel which is broadly expressed in CD4+ T cells. Using lineage-specific Piezo1 knockout mice (Piezo1cKO), we show that loss of Piezo1 in CD4+ T cells significantly increased IFNγ and IL-17 production in vitro under TH1 and TH17 polarizing conditions, respectively. Despite their intrinsic proinflammatory phenotype, Piezo1cKO T cells are incapable of establishing disease in vivo in three separate adoptive transfer (AT) T cell-mediated inflammatory mouse models, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and graft versus-host disease. These phenomena coincided with a decreased effector memory (CD44hiCD62Llo) CD4+ T cell pool derived from donor Piezo1cKO T cells, an observation that is related to intrinsic T-cell fitness, as co-transfer IBD mouse model revealed a deficiency in the CD4+ effector memory population derived only from the naïve Piezo1cKO but not co-infused Piezo1WT CD4+ T cell source. Taken together, our results support Piezo1 as restraining proinflammatory T cell differentiation while contributing to the generation and persistence of the effector memory pool during CD4+ T cell-mediated immunopathology., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for Leukocyte Biology.)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or simply autism, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication deficit, restricted interests, and repetitive behavior. Several studies suggested a link between autism and the dysregulation of the Wnt signaling pathway which is mainly involved in cell fate determination, cell migration, cell polarity, neural patterning, and organogenesis. Despite the absence of effective therapy, significant progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of ASD. Neuropharmacological studies showed that drugs acting on the Wnt pathway like Canagliflozin can alleviate autistic-like behavior in animal models. Hence, this pathway could potentially be a futuristic therapeutic target to mitigate autism's symptoms. This systematic review aims to collect and analyze evidence that elucidates how alterations in the Wnt pathway may contribute to the pathogenesis of autism in animal models at the molecular, cellular, and physiological levels. Comprehensive searches were conducted across multiple databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus to identify relevant studies up to March 2024. The inclusion criteria encompassed experimental studies that focused on the link between autism and this pathway, and the quality assessment was ensured by SYRCLE's risk of bias tools. Collectively, the included articles highlighted the possible implication of this pathway in the abnormalities found in autism, which impacted processes such as energy metabolism, oxidative stress, and neurogenesis. These alterations could underlie autistic behavior by affecting synaptic transmission and mitochondrial function., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A devastating admission to a tertiary hospital intensive care unit led to the discovery of a case of congenital duplicated superior vena cava (DSVC). Following the insertion of a temporary left internal jugular vein catheter, a subsequent chest X-ray indicated that the left catheter was not reaching the right heart. This resulted in a chest computed tomography scan with contrast, which confirmed the diagnosis of DSVC. The asymptomatic nature of these conditions reduces their prevalence. To date, there is no documented history of DSVC patients in Palestine. Therefore, it is important to report such a case to highlight the needs for larger studies in the future that aim to define the characteristics and varying features of patients with DSVC and the associated clinical findings., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of University of Washington.)

In this case, the patient sustained a gunshot injury to the thigh and underwent surgery to treat a comminuted fracture. Six weeks after discharge, the patient presented with upper-thigh pain. Doppler ultrasound showed a deep femoral artery pseudoaneurysm, confirmed with computerized tomography (CT). We used coil embolization, a newly used method worldwide in recent years, to occlude the pseudoaneurysm. This reflects the complex, unknown mechanisms that contribute to such rare findings and draws attention to cases that require more extensive studies to understand potential pathological processes, leading to better management and improved outcomes. Furthermore, this case includes figures and images that illustrate the findings both pre- and postintervention, significantly enhancing the visual appeal of the procedure. Additionally, it provides a comprehensive review of other related cases, each with detailed presentations. Finally, this case illuminates the innovative application of embolization techniques in developing nations, which has resulted in lifesaving, cost-effectiveness, and a reduction in complications compared to other techniques., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of University of Washington.)

Herein, we describe the first consistent regiospecific reaction of isothiocyanates with a variety of substituted N -arylcyanothioformamides in a 1:1 molar ratio to generate a series of imidazolidineiminodithiones decorated with a multitude of functional groups on both aromatic rings. The reaction is carried out at room temperature using a 20 mol% catalytic amount of triethylamine with DMF as the solvent to selectively form the mentioned products with exclusive regioselectivity. The methodology features wide substrate scope, no requirement for chromatography, and good to high reaction yields. The products were isolated by simple ether/brine extraction and the structures were verified by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and high accuracy mass measurements. The first conclusive molecular structure elucidation of the observed regioisomer was established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Likewise, the tautomer of the N -arylcyanothioformamide reactant was proven by X-ray diffraction analysis. Density functional theory computations at the B3LYP-D4/def2-TZVP level in implicit DMF solvent were conducted to support the noted regiochemical outcome and proposed mechanism.

Dengue fever is a growing worldwide public health concern. In mid-October 2023, multiple cases of uncommon febrile illness were reported among patients in Niamey, Niger. Fifteen samples were tested by using molecular methods, from which 7 (46.66%) were confirmed positive for mosquitoborne dengue virus belonging to serotypes 1 and 3.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic strained healthcare systems around the world. This study aims to understand the preparedness of private remote hospitals in Lebanon to respond to the pandemic and evaluate the impact of inter-hospital collaborations on the hospitals' readiness., Methods: A multi-centered study was conducted between August 2020 and June 2021 in ten Lebanese private remote hospitals based on a mixed-methods embedded approach where the quantitative supported the qualitative. Through the AUB-USAID (American University of Beirut-United States Agency for International Development) COVID-19 project, these hospitals received personal protective equipment and medical equipment in addition to COVID-19-related training using the Train-the-Trainer model. The quantitative part used knowledge and evaluation questionnaires and a pre-post-intervention hospital preparedness checklist. The qualitative approach adopted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample from key hospital personnel. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 27, and a p -value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. For the qualitative data, a thematic analysis was performed by adopting the six-phase process described by Braun and Clarke., Results: Of the 393 healthcare workers who attended the training and completed the evaluation questionnaire, 326 completed the pre- and post-training knowledge questionnaire. A significant improvement was observed in mean knowledge scores following training for infection control, nursing, and polymerase chain reaction sampling staff ( p -value < 0.001, p -value < 0.001, and p -value = 0.006, respectively), but not for housekeeping staff. More than 93% of the participants showed high trainer and content evaluation scores. As for the hospitals' preparedness assessments, there was a clear improvement in the pre- and post-assessment scores for each hospital, and there was a significant difference in the mean of the total scores of partner hospitals pre- and post-USAID-AUB project ( p -value = 0.005). These findings were supported by the qualitative analysis, where nine hospitals expressed the positive impact of the USAID-AUB intervention in improving their preparedness to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic at a critical time when it was highly needed. Despite the intervention, persistent challenges remained., Conclusions: A timely and proactive collaborative program between academic/tertiary care centers and remote community hospitals that includes sharing supplies and expertise is feasible and highly effective during public health emergencies.

Background: Delayed Developmental Milestones is a physical disability affecting the child development, occurs when the child fails to attain normal milestones compared to other children. Globally, 180-200 million infants have signs of developmental delay, and 86% are from developing countries. In Dar es Salaam, proportion of children with cognitive delay is 12.3%., Objectives: This study explored the experiences and challenges of mothers in caring for infants with delayed developmental milestones., Methods: In-depth interviews with ten mothers explored their experiences and identified challenges they encountered while caring for infants with delayed developmental milestones. NVIVO plus software was used for content analysis., Results: Results showed that parents raising infants with delayed developmental milestones had negative experiences on the cause and types of delayed milestones. They lost hope. They were facing different challenges like lack of specialists, conflict in marriage and stigma., Conclusion: Mothers of infants with delayed developmental milestones had negative experiences about this problem and they face many challenges in caring the infants., (© The East African Health Research Commission 2024.)

Background and Aims: Diabetes is prevalent in Saudi Arabia. As dietary concerns are central in patients with diabetes, the impact of fasting on health during Ramadan is potentially significant. Decreased meal frequency and changes in food type and amount affect body weight and metabolic profiles. This study aimed to investigate the association between Ramadan fasting and anthropometric measurements and cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in Saudi adults with diabetes., Methods: Sixty-eight Saudi adults with diabetes, admitted at the University Diabetes Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were enrolled in this study. Participants were evaluated at the following time points: Six weeks before Ramadan (pre-fasting) and at least 15 days after the initiation of Ramadan (peri-fasting). Anthropometric measurements and cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarker levels were assessed during both visits., Results: After accounting for confounding factors, Ramadan fasting was found to be associated with reduced body weight (kg), waist circumference (cm), and hip circumference (cm). Increased log high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and decreased log interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein levels were observed., Conclusions: Ramadan fasting was associated with increased HDL-C levels and decreased anthropometric measurements and inflammatory cytokine levels. These results support the beneficial role of Ramadan fasting in reducing cardiometabolic abnormalities and inflammation in adults with diabetes., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)