Background and aim The study aimed to address the need for reliable and non-invasive biomarkers (NIBM) for detecting fibrosis among patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). Material and methods This was a diagnostic validation study executed at the Department of Gastroenterology, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. The study was carried out from July 2023 to June 2024, enrolling a total of 88 patients using non-probability consecutive sampling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe idea of linear Diophantine fuzzy sets (LDFs) is a novel tool for analysis, soft computing, and optimization. Recently, the concept of a linear Diophantine fuzzy graph has been proposed in 2022. The aim of this research is to extend topological numbers to LDFSs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) adversely affect the quality of life and are usually under-reported because of a stigma associated with these symptoms. Unless specifically probed for these symptoms, most patients do not report Lower urinary tract symptoms. This study focused on the treatment-seeking behaviour of otherwise healthy individuals who had LUTS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: By 2021, Pakistan had an estimated 210 000 people living with HIV (PLHIV), and 27% of those initiated into treatment in 2020 had disengaged from care within one year.
Aim: We assessed the effectiveness of an intervention to re-engage PLHIV lost to follow-up into care in Pakistan.
Methods: Between September 2020 and May 2021, the Association of People Living with HIV (APLHIV) implemented a search and rescue intervention for PLHIV lost to follow-up in 2 large treatment centres in Pakistan.
Objective This study aims to determine whether disease activity was associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the Pakistani population with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Rheumatology Department of the National Hospital & Medical Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, from April 2021 to June 2022. A sample of 60 patients, both male and female, diagnosed with a case of SLE was collected through the purposive sampling technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Childhood obesity is a significant public health issue with far-reaching implications. The World Health Organization reported that in 2020, around 38 million children under five were overweight or obese globally, and in 2016, 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were affected. In Pakistan, the situation is alarming; 66.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Cancer Res
October 2024
Some of these include basal cell carcinoma (BCCs), squamous cell carcinoma (SCCs), and melanoma; skin cancer is a leading global health problem due to its high prevalence and possibly due to its serious health implications. Conventional and known therapies like surgeries, radiation therapies and chemotherapy although helpful are sometime deleterious and do not specifically attack the cancers. New advancement is half-breed technique has recently been recognized that photodynamic therapy (PDT) can be considered as a potentially effective modality by using photosensitizers which work through the generation of localized ROS on exposure to light.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The diagnostic criteria of lymphatic vascular invasion have not been standardized. Our investigation assesses the factors associated with lymphatic vascular invasion positive tumors and the impact of lymphatic vascular invasion on overall survival for patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing (bi)lobectomy with an adequate node dissection.
Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried from the years 2010 to 2015 to find surgical patients who underwent lobectomy with at least 10 lymph nodes examined (adequate node dissection) and with known lymphatic vascular invasion status.
Betel quid chewing is a culturally significant practice among the indigenous people (Orang Asli) in Malaysia, but it poses serious health risks, including oral cancer and systemic diseases. Studies on betel quid chewing are limited, making it difficult to develop effective public health interventions. This study aimed to explore the cultural significance, perceived health effects, and misconceptions surrounding betel quid chewing among the indigenous people, assess their awareness of health risks, and explore factors influencing their intentions to quit or reduce betel quid chewing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hypertension affects 26.7% of Pakistan's population, with only 6% achieving control. This study investigates antihypertensive medication adherence in Multan, focusing on socioeconomic and patient-related factors influencing non-adherence to study the lack of adherence to antihypertensive medications in hypertensive patients and its associated factors at Nishtar Hospital in Multan, Pakistan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCadmium, a hazardous heavy metal prevalent in plants and soil, poses a significant threat to human health, particularly as approximately 60% of the global population consumes wheat, which can accumulate high levels of Cd through its roots. This uptake leads to the translocation of Cd to the shoots and grains, exacerbating the potential health risks. However, promising results have been observed with the use of moringa leaf extract (MLE) foliar spray in mitigating the adverse effects of Cd stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To investigate retinal capillary plexus capillary flow speed and vessel density in diabetic retinopathy and normal subjects using variable interscan time analysis optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
Methods: High speed swept source OCTA imaging using multiple interscan times was performed over a 5 mm × 5 mm field-of-view with 600 kHz A-scan rate. Second-generation variable interscan time analysis OCTA was used to measure a surrogate marker for capillary blood flow speed, variable interscan time analysis flow speed (VFS), in the superficial and intermediate capillary plexuses VFS , and deep capillary plexus VFS .
A rare histological variant of transitional cell urothelial carcinoma, the plasmacytoid variant, was recently included in the World Health Organization classification of urothelial tract tumors. This variant has a morphological resemblance to other tumors, which poses a diagnostic challenge for identifying this tumor and may often lead to misdiagnosis. Vigilant histopathological analysis and immunostaining are required to delineate the correct diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCrystalline ZIF-8 (C-ZIF-8) and amorphous ZIF-8 (Am-ZIF-8) were prepared and investigated to control the germination of Striga hermonthica, a root parasitic plant, which threatens cereal crops production particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. We have demonstrated that Am-ZIF-8 shows a better performance than C-ZIF-8 in inhibiting Striga seeds germination. This efficient performance of Am-ZIF-8 materials can be attributed to the incomplete deprotonation of 2 methylimidazole (2MIM) during amorphization, leading to the presence of unsaturated Zn-N coordination with the uncoordinated -NH groups available to undergo hydrogen bonding with the strigolactone analog GR24 forming a more stable Am-ZIF-8⋅⋅⋅GR24 hydrogen bonded network.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Social network-based testing approaches (SNAs) encourage individuals ("test promoters") to motivate sexual partners and/or those in their social networks to test for HIV. We conducted a systematic review to examine the effectiveness, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of SNA.
Methods: We searched five databases from January 2010 to May 2023, and included studies that compared SNA with non-SNA.
Aim And Background: This study aimed to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in end-stage kidney disease (ESRD) patients on maintenance hemodialysis through the Missoula-Vitas Quality of Life Index-15 (MVQOLI-15) to identify factors affecting their well-being.
Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dialysis Unit of the Nephrology Department, Nishtar Hospital Multan. Over six months, 140 eligible patients were enrolled using non-probability consecutive sampling.
Caregiver-assisted testing using HIV self-test (CG-HIVST) kits has been proposed to enhance paediatric HIV case finding and contribute toward ending paediatric HIV/AIDS by 2030. We conducted a systematic review to assess the risks and benefits of CG-HIVST. We searched nine electronic databases and consulted experts to identify relevant articles through 5 February, 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe yield of pearl millet, a resilient cereal crop crucial for African food security, is severely impacted by the root parasitic weed Striga hermonthica, which requires host-released hormones, called strigolactones (SLs), for seed germination. Herein, we identify four SLs present in the Striga-susceptible line SOSAT-C88-P10 (P10) but absent in the resistant 29Aw (Aw). We generate chromosome-scale genome assemblies, including four gapless chromosomes for each line.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo maximise the benefits of HIV self-testing (HIVST), it is critical to support self-testers in the testing process and ensure that they access appropriate prevention and care. To summarise systems and tools supporting HIVST (hereafter, 'support systems') and categorise them for future analysis, we synthesised the global data on HIVST support systems and proposed a typology. We searched five databases for articles reporting on one or more HIVST support systems and included 314 publications from 224 studies.
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