Publications by authors named "Farah S"

. Telecontrol approaches for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management aim to enhance patient outcomes. This pilot study assessed whether the Rheumatoid Arthritis Impact of Disease (RAID) approach could be used during teleconsultations to monitor RA disease activity through a web-based platform called iARPlus (Innovative Approach in Rheumatology).

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To investigate the relationships among neuropathic pain (NP), pain catastrophizing (PC), and central sensitization (CS) in relation to functional status and radiological damage in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). This cross-sectional study included knee OA patients derived from an observational cohort. The Spearman correlation test was used to analyze the relationship between the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and the PainDetect Questionnaire (PDQ), Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI), and Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS).

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Although observational studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to diabetes, it is unknown if taking vitamin D supplements can reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The purpose of this systematic review is to determine whether vitamin D supplementation lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to search for studies based on pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria.

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Gouty arthritis is one of the most common forms of inflammatory arthritis and has brought a significant burden on patients and society. Current strategies for managing gout primarily focus on long-term urate-lowering therapy. With the rapid advancement of point-of-care testing (POCT) technology, continuous monitoring of gout-related biomarkers like uric acid (UA) or inflammatory cytokines can provide rapid and personalized diagnosis for gout management.

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Robotic cholecystectomy (RC) using the da Vinci surgical system has been introduced as a potential alternative to the gold standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for gallbladder removal. This systematic review aims to evaluate and compare the postoperative outcomes (operative time, bile leak, and postoperative complications) and cost-effectiveness between da Vinci RC and LC. A comprehensive search of electronic databases, including EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and PubMed, used Medical Subject Headings terms and Boolean operators to identify relevant studies.

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Quality control (QC) samples are commonly used in metabolomics approaches for three main reasons: (i) the initial conditioning of the column; (ii) the correction of analytical drift especially between batches; and (iii) the evaluation of measurement precision. In practice, there are several ways to prepare and conserve QC samples. The most common in untargeted metabolomics is to pool samples after or before extraction, in order to obtain pooled QC samples accounting, respectively, for analytical variance or for both analytical and sample preparation variances.

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  • Bacterial wound infections are increasingly problematic in healthcare, potentially causing severe health risks and an estimated 10 million deaths by 2050.
  • Antibacterial hydrogels that mimic extracellular matrix characteristics show promise in treating these infections, but their mechanisms remain poorly understood, especially when using traditional agents.
  • This research introduces a new type of antibacterial hydrogel made from modified imidazolidinyl urea, which showcases tissue-like properties, rapid healing, good biocompatibility, and effective antibacterial action, making it a potential game-changer for wound care.
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  • Escherichia coli is a leading cause of bloodstream infections and sepsis, but existing animal models fail to replicate the complexities of these conditions, hindering the development of effective treatments.
  • Researchers aimed to create a more accurate large-animal model of septic shock using sheep, by infusing a specific strain of antibiotic-resistant E. coli and closely monitoring their health over 48 hours.
  • The study successfully induced septic shock in five sheep, showing consistent and reproducible results, including significant drops in blood pressure and increases in lactate levels following the bacterial infusion.
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Purpose: Our aim is to review transgender people in terms of education, religion, financial security, quality of life (QOL), sexual orientation, behaviors, relationships, access to health care, and gender-affirming therapies in the Middle East region.

Methods: Electronic databases were used. Eligible studies were those targeting transgender people exclusively in Middle Eastern countries.

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This article aims to provide an overview of areas impacting adolescent well-being, offering input and sensible parenting tips. The article is structured into 5 key components that are critical in adolescent life including social media use, nutrition and physical activity, discipline, mental health, and sexual health.

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Background: Geographic origin may represent a variable capable of influencing health status. This study aims to investigate the presence of differences of disease severity in Italian patients with fibromyalgia from different macro-regions.

Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional study involved patients included in the Italian Fibromyalgia Registry.

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Importance: Colchicine has many drug-drug interactions with commonly prescribed medications. Only pharmacokinetic studies have provided data on colchicine drug-drug interactions.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical tolerability of colchicine according to the presence or absence of a drug-drug interaction.

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  • * Accurate diagnosis of SI joint issues usually requires advanced imaging techniques like MRI or CT, as conventional radiography may not provide enough detail due to the joint's complex anatomy.
  • * The text also highlights how different conditions can mimic each other on imaging, discusses the importance of lesion distribution for diagnosis, and outlines treatment strategies for inflammatory back pain.
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The comprehensive detection of new psychoactive substances, including synthetic cannabinoids along with their associated metabolites in biological samples, remains an analytical challenge. To detect these chemicals, untargeted approaches using appropriate bioinformatic tools such as molecular networks are useful, albeit it necessitates as a prerequisite the identification of a node of interest within the cluster. To illustrate it, we reported in this study the identification of synthetic cannabinoids and some of their metabolites in seized e-liquid, urine, and hair collected from an 18-year-old poisoned patient hospitalized for neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Background: Individuals with a uterus experience menopause, the cessation of menses, on average at age 51 years in the United States. While menopause is a natural occurrence for most, over 85% of women experience multiple interfering symptoms. Menopausal women face health disparities, including a lack of access to high-quality healthcare and greater disparities are experienced by women who are black, indigenous, and people of color.

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  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that mainly affects the small joints in hands and feet, leading to pain and joint damage.
  • MRI is a crucial tool for detecting and monitoring inflammation and damage in these joints, assisting in evaluating treatment responses alongside clinical assessments.
  • Various MRI scoring systems, like RAMRIS and its updated versions, have been developed to objectively measure inflammation and damage in RA, with RAMRIS-5 focusing specifically on five hand joints for better evaluation.
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Symptoms of fibromyalgia (FM) fluctuate and vary in severity. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) in FM patients over a 24-month period and to investigate the mediating function of pain catastrophizing subdomains in unfavorable relationships with disease severity levels in patients with FM. Patients were evaluated at baseline, after 12 months, and after 24 months, using different patient-reported measures (FIQR, FASmod, PSD, and PCS) to distinguish different levels of FM disease severity.

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Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the diagnostic delay on fibromyalgia (FM) severity.

Methods: Data were retrospectively extracted from a large database of patients with FM belonging to the Italian Fibromyalgia Registry (IFR) residents on the Marche Region. The diagnosis of FM was formulated according to the 2016 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria.

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Prevalence of diabetes in Arab region has significantly increased, resulting in a significant economic burden on healthcare systems. This surge can be attributed to obesity, rapid urbanization, changing dietary habits, and sedentary lifestyles. The Arab Diabetes Forum (ADF) has established localized recommendations to tackle the region's rising diabetes prevalence.

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Unlabelled: The aim of this paper is to identify factors associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and build an algorithm to better define this association for a personalised application in clinical practice.

Methods: A total of 78 SSc patients underwent HRCT to assess ILD. Demographic, clinical and laboratory variables were collected, focusing on those associated either directly or indirectly with lung involvement.

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  • - This study investigates the correlation between a new echocardiographic parameter called Pressure-Strain Product (PSP) and established metrics like Left Ventricular Stroke Work Index (LVSWI) and Cardiac Power Index (CPI) in sheep experiencing cardiogenic shock under veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-A ECMO).
  • - Research involved nine Dorset-cross ewes undergoing induced cardiogenic shock, with simultaneous measurements of PSP, LVSWI, and CPI taken at multiple time points during a 24-hour observation period.
  • - Results indicate that PSPcirc (a variant of PSP) shows a significant correlation with LVSWI and CPI, suggesting its potential as a reliable, non-invasive
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Background: A far more common disease than Cushing's syndrome is subclinical hypercortisolism or mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS), with an overall prevalence of 0.2-2%.

Objective: This review aims to shed light on the prevalence, screening and diagnostic criteria, comorbidities, and management of Mild Autonomous Cortisol Secretion (MACS).

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Using an open-source operant feeding device (FED3), we measured food-seeking nose poking behavior in mice. When the mice were exposed to 4 h restricted feeding at night, all mice exhibited robust food anticipatory nose poking starting ~4 h before scheduled mealtime. When the light-dark cycle was advanced by 6 h, mice exhibited two distinct bouts of anticipatory poking, one corresponding to actual mealtime which continued at the same time of day, and one corresponding to predicted mealtime which shifted parallel with the light-dark cycle.

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Objectives:  To assess primary care physicians' (PCPs) perception of the need for serious illness conversations (SIC) or other palliative care interventions in patients flagged by a machine learning tool for high 1-year mortality risk.

Methods:  We surveyed PCPs from four Brigham and Women's Hospital primary care practice sites. Multiple mortality prediction algorithms were ensembled to assess adult patients of these PCPs who were either enrolled in the hospital's integrated care management program or had one of several chronic conditions.

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Background: Given the protective effect of nurturing caregivers and families for child and adolescent mental health, there is a need to review and synthesize research evidence regarding the effectiveness of parenting and family interventions in low and middle-income countries, including humanitarian settings. To advance practice, further understanding of the active ingredients of such interventions and implementation factors that lead to effectiveness are essential.

Method: This systematic review, an update from a previous review, included studies on any parenting or family intervention for children and adolescents aged 0-24, living in a low- or middle-income country, that quantitatively measured child or adolescent mental health outcomes.

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