Three-dimensional numerical schemes for the segmentation of the psoas muscle in X-ray computed tomography images.

The analysis of the psoas muscle in morphological and functional imaging has proved to be an accurate approach to assess sarcopenia, i.e. a systemic loss of skeletal muscle mass and function that may be correlated to multifactorial etiological aspects.

BEATS: BEAmline for synchrotron X-ray microTomography at SESAME.

The ID10 beamline of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) synchrotron light source in Jordan was inaugurated in June 2023 and is now open to scientific users. The beamline, which was designed and installed within the European Horizon 2020 project BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME (BEATS), provides full-field X-ray radiography and microtomography imaging with monochromatic or polychromatic X-rays up to photon energies of 100 keV. The photon source generated by a 2.

Establishment of a birth-to-education cohort of 1 million Palestinian refugees using electronic medical records and electronic education records.

Introduction: By linking datasets, electronic records can be used to build large birth-cohorts, enabling researchers to cost-effectively answer questions relevant to populations over the life-course. Currently, around 5.8 million Palestinian refugees live in five settings: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, and Gaza Strip.

Classifying caesarean section to understand rising rates among Palestinian refugees: results from 290,047 electronic medical records across five settings.

Background: Rising caesarean-section rates worldwide are driven by non-medically indicated caesarean-sections. A systematic review concluded that the ten-group classification system (Robson) is the most appropriate for assessing drivers of caesarean deliveries. Evidence on the drivers of caesarean-section rates from conflict-affected settings is scarce.

Long-term effect of field triage on times to endovascular treatment for emergent large vessel occlusion.

Background: Delays to endovascular therapy (EVT) for stroke may be mitigated with direct field triage to EVT centers. We sought to compare times to treatment over a 5.5 year span between two adjacent states, one with field triage and one without, served by a single comprehensive stroke center (CSC).

Emergence of the first XAFS/XRF beamline in the Middle East: providing studies of elements and their atomic/electronic structure in pluridisciplinary research fields.

XAFS/XRF is a general-purpose absorption spectroscopy beamline at the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), Jordan. Herein, its optical layout is presented along with its powerful capabilities in collecting absorption and fluorescence spectra within a wide energy range (4.7-30 keV).

Operational status of the X-ray powder diffraction beamline at the SESAME synchrotron.

The Materials Science (MS) beamline at SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East), dedicated to the X-ray powder diffraction technique, started its operational phase in December 2020 by hosting its first users. The MS endstation comprises a two-circle diffractometer coupled with a PILATUS 300K area detector, with which direct beam images are collected and compared with the initial ray-tracing simulation results. We present a detailed description of the beamline components and the experimental characterization of the main instrumental parameters relying on the instrumental profile and the angular resolution.

Co-payments and equity in care: enhancing hospitalisation policy for Palestine refugees in Lebanon.

Background: This paper measures the impact of introducing a 10% co-payment on secondary care hospitalization costs for Palestine refugees living in Lebanon (PRL) in all UNRWA contracted hospitals, except for the Red Crescent Society. This ex-post analysis provides a detailed insight on the direction and magnitude of the policy impact in terms of demand by hospital type, average length of stay and treatment costs.

Methods: With a complete population episode level dataset, we use multinomial logit, negative binomial, and linear models to estimate impacts on the different dependent variables, controlling for disease, patient and hospital characteristics.

The first infrared beamline at the Middle East SESAME synchrotron facility.

SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is the only synchrotron light facility in the Middle East and neighboring regions, officially opened in 2017. Among the identification and construction of the first operational beamlines, infrared spectromicroscopy was selected as one of the two beamlines to be opened to the general users' program (the so-called Day-1 beamlines). Being one of the most demanded techniques by various scientific communities in the Middle East, the beamline has been designed and implemented in the framework of a collaboration agreement with the French synchrotron facility, SOLEIL.

Morbidity patterns among hospitalised Palestine refugees from Syria in Jordan: a population-based study.

Background: Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS) are among the most vulnerable refugee groups for adverse health outcomes and require assistance from humanitarian agencies. As the armed conflict in Syria has continued, most Palestinians have been displaced from that country to neighbouring countries, where they have experienced difficulties in accessing essential services. More than 17 000 PRS are in Jordan as of 2018 and have received assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), including free primary care and subsidised secondary and tertiary care through contracted governmental hospitals.

Effects of change in hospital treatment payment policy for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon: a health economics analysis.

Background: In 2016, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) changed from covering the full cost of secondary care in contracted public and private hospitals in Lebanon, Jordan, to requesting that these hospitals pay 10% of the costs. Meanwhile, services at UNWRA-contracted Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) hospitals remained fully covered. We did a health economics analysis to assess the effects this policy change on the demand for secondary care in UNRWA hospitals.

Evaluation of an advanced practice provider emergency department critical care step-down unit.

Objective: In response to concerns about patient care and safety, our urban, tertiary care, Level 1 trauma center adult emergency department (ED) created an advanced practice provider-staffed critical care step-down unit (CCSU). We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the CCSU's impact on patient care, safety, and ED operations.

Methods: We compared ED length of stay, return visits to the ED within 72 hours, billing code assignments (current procedural terminology evaluation and management [CPT E&M] codes), and quality of electronic health record documentation per QNOTE for the 2 years after the CCSU was initiated (CCSU period) versus before its initiation (pre-CCSU period).

The Addition of Atrial Fibrillation to the Los Angeles Motor Scale May Improve Prediction of Large Vessel Occlusion.

Background And Purpose: There is evidence suggesting that Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS) ≥ 4 predicts large vessel occlusion (LVO). We aim to determine whether atrial fibrillation (AF) can improve the ability of LAMS in predicting LVO.

Methods: We included consecutive patients with a discharge diagnosis of ischemic stroke admitted within 24 hours from last known normal time who underwent emergent vascular imaging using a computerized tomography angiography (CTA) of the head and neck.

Health and dignity of Palestine refugees at stake: a need for international response to sustain crucial life services at UNRWA.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals affirm equality and dignity as essential to the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which promotes global solidarity among all people, including refugees. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has provided support to Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank since the 1950s. Today, however, conflict and violence, occupation, high levels of poverty, and other social determinants of health jeopardize the wellbeing of Palestine refugees.

Emergency medical systems education may improve knowledge of pre-hospital stroke triage protocols.

Background: Following the results of randomized clinical trials supporting the use of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) with tissue plasminogen activator for emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO), our state Stroke Task Force convened to: update legislation to recognize differences between Primary Stroke Centers (PSCs) and Comprehensive Stroke Centers (CSCs); and update Emergency Medical Services (EMS) protocols to triage direct transport of suspected ELVO patients to CSCs.

Purpose: We developed a single-session training curriculum for EMS personnel focused on the Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS) score, its use to correctly triage patients as CSC-appropriate in the field, and our state-wide EMS stroke protocol. We assessed the effect of our training on EMS knowledge.

Developing a statewide protocol to ensure patients with suspected emergent large vessel occlusion are directly triaged in the field to a comprehensive stroke center: how we did it.

We describe the process by which we developed a statewide field destination protocol to transport patients with suspected emergent large vessel occlusion to a comprehensive stroke center.

Council Regulation (EC) No. 1099/2009: State of the Art and Its Application in a Local Health Unit in Piedmont, Italy.

In the last decade, the European Union has reinforced the concept of animal welfare throughout the food chain, from breeding to slaughtering. Studies and assessments of economic nature led to the adoption of Regulation EC 1099/2009 and at the end of 2014 this regulation will be applied to all the members involved in the food chain. For this reason several local health units organized different initiatives.

New insights on cytotoxic activity of group 3 and lanthanide compounds: complexes with [N,N,N]-scorpionate ligands.

Objectives: In this work was to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of a series of monomeric group 3 and lanthanide (N,N,N)-heteroscorpionate-triflate complexes (M (OTf) 2 (cybpamd) (THF)) (Ln = Sc (2), Y (3), La (4), Nd (5), Sm (6), Dy (7), Yb (8); OTf = SO3CF3; cybpamd = N, N'-dicyclohexyl-2,2-bis-(3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-1-yl)-acetamidinate) having octahedral geometry around the metal atoms on the human epithelial lung adenocarcinoma (A549), human melanoma (A375), human cervical epithelial adenocarcinoma, human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) and murine macrophages (J774.A1) cell lines.

Methods: All the tested compounds were incubated with cells for 72 h and their growth inhibition assessed by using MTT assay.

Use of in situ simulation and human factors engineering to assess and improve emergency department clinical systems for timely telemetry-based detection of life-threatening arrhythmias.

Background And Objectives: Medical simulation and human factors engineering (HFE) may help investigate and improve clinical telemetry systems. Investigators sought to (1) determine the baseline performance characteristics of an Emergency Department (ED) telemetry system implementation at detecting simulated arrhythmias and (2) improve system performance through HFE-based intervention.

Methods: The prospective study was conducted in a regional referral ED over three 2-week periods from 2010 to 2012.

Synthesis and cytotoxic activities of group 3 metal complexes having monoanionic tridentate ligands.

Complexes of scandium, yttrium, samarium and neodymium bearing monoanionic tridentate ancillary ligands have been synthesized and characterized. The cytotoxic activities of novel compounds, as well as that of similar compounds previously reported have been evaluated on rat glioma (C6), murine fibrosarcoma (WHEI-164) and human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cell lines. Scandium complex with quinolinephenoxyamine (NNHO) ligand showed very interesting activity against C6 cell line.

Unexpected behavior of the surface composition of PtRh alloys during chemical reaction.

The changes in the surface composition of a Pt(50)Rh(50)(100) alloy due to an ongoing 2H(2) + O(2)-->2H(2)O chemical reaction have been studied in situ. Exploiting the high-energy resolution and surface sensitivity of synchrotron radiation core-level spectroscopy it was possible to monitor the population of the two transitions metals atoms at the gas-surface interface. Sequences of fast high-resolution core-level spectra of the Rh3d(5/2), Pt4f(7/2), and O1s core levels showed a continuous exchange of atoms between the first and subsurface layers.

Targeted inhibition of NMYC by peptide nucleic acid in N-myc amplified human neuroblastoma cells: cell-cycle inhibition with induction of neuronal cell differentiation and apoptosis.

We developed an antisense peptide nucleic acid (PNA) targeted against a unique sequence in the terminus of the 5'-UTR of N-myc, designed for selective inhibition of NMYC in neuroblastoma cells. Fluorescent microscopy showed carrier-free delivery of the PNA to two human neuro-blastoma cell lines: GI-LI-N (N-myc-amplified) and GI-CA-N (N-myc-unamplified). Only in the former, PNA treatment determined 70% cell-viability reduction (at 48 h).

MLL-AF9 oncogene expression affects cell growth but not terminal differentiation and is downregulated during monocyte-macrophage maturation in AML-M5 THP-1 cells.

The MLL-AF9 oncogene - one of the most frequent MLL/HRX/ALL-1 rearrangements found in infantile and therapy-related leukaemias - originates from t(9;11)(p22;q23) and is mainly associated with monocytic acute myeloid leukaemia (AML-M5; FAB-classification). Here, we investigated the MLL-AF9 function by means of an antisense phosphorothioate-oligodeoxyribonucleotide (MLL-AF9-PS-ODNas) using the THP-1 AML-M5 cell line carrying t(9;11). Having confirmed that MLL-AF9-PS-ODNas induces strong inhibition of THP-1 cell growth, but only a moderate increase in apoptosis, we found that MLL-AF9-PS-ODNas did not induce morpho-functional terminal differentiation or restore M-CSF-, G-CSF- or GM-CSF-induced differentiation.

Non-radiolabelled PCR consensus primers and automatic sequencing enable rapid identification of tumor-specific V(H) CDR3 in aggressive B-cell malignancies.

Even though the results of current therapy are improved for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), prognosis of relapsed mature B-ALL and BL still remain extremely poor. In this study, we investigated the possibility of applying the use of non-radiolabelled PCR consensus primers and automatic sequencing for the rapid identification of the tumor-specific V(H) CDR3 nucleotide sequence, in mature B-ALL and BL. RNA was extracted from four consecutive, unselected samples from BL cases and three consecutive, unselected samples from mature B-ALL cases.