Publications by authors named "Masood A"

Aims: This study focuses on the synthesis and characterization of novel sitagliptin derivatives, aiming to develop potent, orally active anti-diabetic agents with minimal side effects for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Copper (II) (SCu1-SCu9) and zinc (II) (SZn1-SZn9) metal complexes of sitagliptin-based derivatives were synthesized via a template reaction.

Material & Method: The synthesized complexes were comprehensively characterized using elemental analysis, FTIR, UV-Vis, 1 h NMR, and 13C NMR spectroscopy.

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a minimal (<15%) 5-year existence, in part due to resistance to chemoradiotherapy. Previous research reveals the impact of paricalcitol (P) and hydroxychloroquine (H) on altering the lysosomal fusion, decreasing stromal burden, and triggering PDAC to chemotherapies. This investigation aims to elucidate the molecular properties of the H and P combination and their potential in sensitizing PDAC to gemcitabine (G).

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  • Cancer is predicted to rise significantly, with 35 million new cases expected by 2050, mainly impacting low- and middle-income countries, particularly in the SAARC region.
  • There is a research investment and output gap in SAARC countries compared to high-income nations, leaving a lack of local studies and clinical trials in crucial areas like targeted therapy and immunotherapy.
  • Addressing the challenges of healthcare access, cultural and economic barriers, and limited funding in SAARC countries requires collaboration, improved research infrastructure, and local studies to develop practical and affordable cancer treatments.
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  • - The South Asian region faces a critical shortage of oncology professionals due to inadequate education and training programs, impacting the quality of cancer care.
  • - Challenges for oncology workers include lack of trained personnel, poor healthcare infrastructure, and limited educational resources.
  • - The paper suggests both short-term strategies to enhance training and long-term goals to create self-sufficient cancer care systems through regional collaboration and innovative education.
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  • Cancer care in SAARC countries faces major challenges like poor infrastructure, lack of skilled professionals, and economic issues, leading to delayed diagnoses and worse health outcomes.
  • There are significant disparities in healthcare systems across the region, with some countries providing free public services while others rely heavily on out-of-pocket payments, creating financial inequities for cancer patients.
  • To improve cancer care, coordinated efforts are needed, including better infrastructure, expanded health insurance, and national cancer control programs, along with regional collaboration to ensure equitable access and advance health goals.
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  • * In 2022, cancer accounted for about 9.3% of global cases and 12% of deaths in this region, with major cancers including lung, head and neck, gastrointestinal, cervical, and breast cancers.
  • * The text emphasizes the need for regional collaboration to create an effective cancer control plan, stressing the importance of strong political commitment to tackle the growing cancer crisis and align with Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
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(1) Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common chronic inflammation of the nasal mucosa and the paranasal sinuses. The pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is multifactorial and, as of yet, not well understood. (2) Methods: Nasal lavage fluid samples were collected from patients diagnosed with chronic sinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) (n = 10) and individuals without sinusitis (control group) (n = 10) who had no nasal complaints.

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  • Catatonia is a serious condition with psychomotor disturbances, often treated with benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy, but some cases don't respond to these treatments.
  • A study examined the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for catatonia, identifying 12 cases where 9 showed improvement, but there was significant variation in the clinical details and treatment methods.
  • While results are inconclusive, rTMS may be considered if first-line treatments fail, highlighting the need for more standardized, larger clinical trials to confirm its effectiveness.
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Unlabelled: activating mutations occur in approximately 10% of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRCs) and are associated with worse prognosis due to an inferior response to standard chemotherapy. Standard of care for patients with refractory metastatic CRC is treatment with BRAF and EGFR inhibitors. However, responses are not durable.

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Introduction And Importance: Warfarin prevents thromboembolic events by acting as a vitamin-K antagonist. Close monitoring with an international normalized ratio (INR) is required to avoid bleeding-related complications. One of its rare complications is sublingual hematoma, with potentially life-threatening conditions such as severe airway obstruction.

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Background Lung cancer is a significant global health concern, with Pakistan lacking a national cancer registry. Methods A retrospective study analyzed 345 lung cancer patients at Shifa International Hospital from 2018 to 2020. Demographics, symptoms, cancer stage, site, and histological types were assessed using descriptive statistics and Pearson's chi-square test.

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Current immunoassay techniques for analyzing clinically relevant parathyroid hormone (PTH) circulating fragments cannot distinguish microheterogeneity among structurally similar molecular species. This hinders the identification of molecular species and the capture of target analyte information. Since structural modifications are important in disease pathways, mass spectrometry can detect, identify, and quantify heterogeneous ligands captured by antibodies.

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  • Nanotechnology has applications across many sciences but traditional methods for producing nanoparticles (NPs) can be toxic and environmentally harmful, while also leading to antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
  • This study focused on the biogenic synthesis of silver-zinc nanoparticles using Moringa oleifera and green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles from Aloe vera and papaya, highlighting an eco-friendly approach.
  • The antimicrobial effectiveness of these NPs was tested on resistant bacteria, using advanced techniques for characterization, which showcase their cost-effectiveness and potential for large-scale industrial use.
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  • Liraglutide is a medicine for type 2 diabetes that helps control blood sugar and reduces heart problems for patients.
  • Researchers studied how Liraglutide affects the body's metabolism by looking at blood samples before and after treatment from 20 diabetes patients.
  • They found that Liraglutide changed 93 different substances in the body, which could help explain its health benefits, like improving immune functions and helping remove harmful substances.
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Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the cytotoxicity, phytotoxicity, and proximate and phytochemical analysis of methanolic extracts of the leaves of .

Methods: Methanolic leaf extract of was screened for phytotoxic activity by using root length inhibition and seed germination assays. Cytotoxic activity was calculated using brine shrimp lethality bioassay.

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Background: Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in clinical trials is increasingly recognized as vital for ensuring research relevance and accessibility. Despite its proven benefits, PPIE remains limited, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and more examples of effective strategies for involvement are needed. This commentary outlines the establishment of a PPIE group for clinical trials in a lower-middle-income country setting with limited research infrastructure.

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Background: Liraglutide, a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP1RA), is a well-established anti-diabetic drug, has also been approved for the treatment of obesity at a dose of 3 mg. There are a limited number of studies in the literature that have looked at changes in metabolite levels before and after liraglutide treatment in patients with obesity. To this end, in the present study we aimed to explore the changes in the plasma metabolomic profile, using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) in patients with obesity.

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  • The study explored the effects of the GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide on plasma protein profiles in patients with obesity, finding significant changes in weight, BMI, and HbA1c after three months of treatment.
  • A total of 151 proteins showed significant dysregulation, with 31 being upregulated and 120 downregulated post-treatment, highlighting potential biomarkers like Cystatin-B and multimerin-2.
  • Pathway analysis revealed major signaling pathways involved, particularly MAPK, AKT, and PKc, which play a crucial role in cell communication and could inform future obesity treatments.
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  • The study focuses on the importance of evaluating biochemical markers in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) grades 4 and 5 undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) to improve treatment outcomes and quality of life.
  • Researchers collected detailed clinical histories and blood samples from 312 patients, identifying diabetic and hypertensive nephropathy as the most common causes of CKD.
  • The findings suggest that a tailored panel of biochemical tests can enhance management strategies and monitor disease progression in MHD patients, facilitating better clinical practices.
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  • * New Schiff base derivatives of amlodipine were created to evaluate their potential for inhibiting urease and their antibacterial and antioxidant properties.
  • * Among the derivatives, 3g showed significant anti-hypertensive effects, while 3b, 3f, and 3g demonstrated the ability to inhibit urease, making them promising candidates for future research.
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Although the spatial, cellular and molecular landscapes of resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are well documented, the characteristics of its metastatic ecology remain elusive. By applying spatially resolved transcriptomics to matched primary and metastatic PDAC samples, we discovered a conserved continuum of fibrotic, metabolic and immunosuppressive spatial ecotypes across anatomical regions. We observed spatial tumor microenvironment heterogeneity spanning beyond that previously appreciated in PDAC.

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The current study explored the differential interaction between ethylene (ET) and abscisic acid (ABA) in relation to salt stress in mustard ( L.) plants. Significant reductions in seed germination, growth, and photosynthesis were observed with 100 mmol NaCl.

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Worldwide environmental challenges pose critical problems with the growth of the global economy. Addressing these issues requires the development of an eco-friendly and sustainable catalyst for degrading organic dye pollutants. In this study, copper-doped magnesium aluminates (CuMgAlO) with x = 0.

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Background: Medical image analysis, particularly in the context of visual question answering (VQA) and image captioning, is crucial for accurate diagnosis and educational purposes.

Objective: Our study aims to introduce BioMedBLIP models, fine-tuned for VQA tasks using specialized medical data sets such as Radiology Objects in Context and Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-Chest X-ray, and evaluate their performance in comparison to the state of the art (SOTA) original Bootstrapping Language-Image Pretraining (BLIP) model.

Methods: We present 9 versions of BioMedBLIP across 3 downstream tasks in various data sets.

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Purpose: To compare the deviation in cases of horizontal strabismus as assessed from photographs with the measurements as obtained in the strabismus clinic.

Methods: After obtaining informed consent, we recruited subjects with manifest horizontal strabismus. We took a frontal flash photograph from a distance of 50 cm using smart-phone-based cameras with the flash light vertically aligned with the lens.

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