A Telephone-Based Tobacco Cessation Program in the State of Qatar: Protocol of a Feasibility Study.

In Qatar, tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death and disease. Telephone-based interventions for smoking are cost-effective and scalable interventions that are effective in promoting smoking behavior change. While many countries have implemented these services within their tobacco control programs, there is a distinct dearth of a telephone-based smoking cessation intervention that is adapted and tailored to meet the needs of people who smoke in Qatar.

The effect of vitamin D supplementation on the glycemic control of pre-diabetic Qatari patients in a randomized control trial.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with indicators of pre-diabetes including, insulin resistance, β-cell dysfunction and elevated plasma glucose with controversial findings from current trials. This study aims to investigate the long-term effect of vitamin D on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in pre-diabetic and highly vitamin-deficient subjects.

Methods: One hundred thirty-two participants were randomized to 30,000 IU vitamin D weekly for 6 months.

A birth cohort study in the Middle East: the Qatari birth cohort study (QBiC) phase I.

Background: The latest scientific reports raise concerns about the rapidly increasing burden of chronic diseases in the state of Qatar. Pregnant Qatari women often confront complications during pregnancy including gestational diabetes, hypertension, abortion and stillbirth. The investigation of early life environmental, genetic, nutritional and social factors that may affect lifelong health is of great importance.

Study protocol: Mother and Infant Nutritional Assessment (MINA) cohort study in Qatar and Lebanon.

Background: The Middle East and North Africa region harbors significant proportions of stunting and wasting coupled with surging rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Recent evidence identified nutrition during the first 1000 days of life as a common denominator not only for optimal growth but also for curbing the risk of NCDs later in life. The main objective of this manuscript is to describe the protocol of the first cohort in the region to investigate the association of nutrition imbalances early in life with birth outcomes, growth patterns, as well as early determinants of non-communicable diseases.

The global relationship between the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and incidence of tuberculosis: 2000-2012.

Background: The dual burden of tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes mellitus (DM) has increased over the past decade with DM prevalence increasing in countries already afflicted with a high burden of TB. The coexistence of the two conditions presents a serious threat to global public health.

Objective: The present study examines the global relationship between the prevalence of DM and the incidence of TB to evaluate their coexistence worldwide and their contribution to one another.

Change in the structures, dynamics and disease-related mortality rates of the population of Qatari nationals: 2007-2011.

Background: Developing effective public health policies and strategies for interventions necessitates an assessment of the structure, dynamics, disease rates and causes of death in a population. Lately, Qatar has undertaken development resurgence in health and economy that resulted in improving the standard of health services and health status of the entire Qatari population (i.e.

Relationship between insulin resistance and plasma vitamin D in adults.

A recent relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and insulin resistance has been established through several studies. Research suggests a correlation between serum vitamin D and glycemic status measures. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the plasma vitamin D levels (25[OH]D) and the factors linked to insulin resistance in a representative sample of Canadians ranging in age from 16-79 years.

Prevalence of vitamin d insufficiency in qatar: a systematic review.

Qatar has a high burden of chronic diseases including obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Low serum vitamin D levels have been implicated in the development and progression of a range of these chronic conditions. The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency in the general population of Qatar has still not been investigated.

Control Issues in High-speed AFM for Biological Applications: Collagen Imaging Example.

This article considers the precision positioning problem associated with high-speed operation of the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), and presents an inversion-based control approach to achieve precision positioning. Although AFMs have high (nanoscale) spatial resolution, a problem with current AFM systems is that they have low temporal resolution, i.e.

Atherosclerotic lesions in the common coronary arteries of ApoE knockout mice.

Objective: The present study describes the distribution of atherosclerotic lesions in the coronary arteries of chow-fed 60-week-old male ApoE(-/-), 17-beta-estradiol-treated ApoE(-/-), and wild-type mice.

Methods And Results: The histologic examination of coronary arteries in 12 ApoE(-/-) and 6 wild-type mice, in contrast to the distribution of atherosclerosis in human coronary arteries, reveals that the major lesions in the mouse are located in the valve sinus, including the origins of the coronary arteries. These retrovalvular lesions either stop abruptly at the orifice of the common coronary artery or extend a short distance onto the arterial trunks.

Enhanced angiogenesis characteristic of SPARC-null mice disappears with age.

The impairment of angiogenesis in aging has been attributed, in part, to alterations in proteins associated with the extracellular matrix (ECM). SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine/osteonectin/BM-40) is a matricellular protein that regulates endothelial cell function as well as cell-ECM interactions. We have previously shown that angiogenesis, as reflected by fibrovascular invasion into subcutaneously implanted polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sponges, is increased in SPARC-null mice (6-9 months of age) relative to their wild-type (WT) counterparts.

Defects in activation of nitric oxide synthases occur during delayed angiogenesis in aging.

Angiogenesis, the formation of new vessels from pre-existing vasculature, is impaired in aging. This is due, in part, to a lack of regulatory molecules such as nitric oxide (NO). We wished to test the hypothesis that there are deficits in the pathways that mediate NO production during angiogenesis (as defined by fibrovascular invasion into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sponge implant), in aged mice in comparison to young mice.

Inhibited angiogenesis in aging: a role for TIMP-2.

Factors responsible for age-associated impairment of angiogenesis are poorly understood. We observed that in aged mice, new fibrovascular tissue within subcutaneous polyvinyl alcohol sponges expressed more tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-2 than did corresponding tissue from young mice. In complementary studies in vitro, we utilized young and aged human microvascular endothelial cell lines (hmEC36 and hmEC90, respectively) and compared their morphogenetic capacity within three-dimensional collagen.

Impaired angiogenesis in aging is associated with alterations in vessel density, matrix composition, inflammatory response, and growth factor expression.

It is generally accepted that angiogenesis is delayed in aging. To define the effects of age on the neovascular response, polyvinyl alcohol sponges were implanted SC in young (6-8 months old, n=11) and aged (23-25 months old, n=13) mice and sampled at 14 and 19 days. Angiogenic invasion was significantly delayed in aged mice at 14d relative to young at 14d (% area of invasion 9.

Inhibition of TIMP1 enhances angiogenesis in vivo and cell migration in vitro.

Neovascular invasion into a 3-dimensional matrix is controlled, in part, by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). We tested the hypothesis that increasing MMP activity, via a specific blocking antibody to TIMP1, would enhance fibrovascular invasion into a PVA sponge. In vivo, inhibition of TIMP1 doubled the amount of angiogenic invasion (percentage area of invasion 33.

MT1-MMP, but not secreted MMPs, influences the migration of human microvascular endothelial cells in 3-dimensional collagen gels.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their specific inhibitors the TIMPs play significant roles in angiogenesis. We investigated how the expression of specific MMPs and TIMPs by human microvascular endothelial cells (hmECs) was modulated by culture of the cells in 3-dimensional (3D) type I collagen gels versus 2-dimensional (2D) collagen-coated surfaces. By reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), levels of mRNA for MMPs-1, -2, and -13, MT1-MMP, and TIMPs-1 and -2 were similar in 2D versus 3D cultures.

Insulin secretion and sensitivity in children on cyclic total parenteral nutrition.

Background: Some children receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN) have abnormal glucose tolerance.

Methods: Insulin secretion and sensitivity were studied in 12 patients, aged 5.7 to 19.

[Neonatal diabetes mellitus associated with an autoimmune disease].

Background: Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus can be associated to an auto-immune disease. A similar association may be seen in the neonate.

Case Report: A one-day-old boy was admitted for ketoacidosis due to diabetes mellitus.

Metabolism of substance P and neurokinin A by human vascular endothelium and smooth muscle.

Analysis of SP and NKA metabolism by human vascular endothelium, relative to that in human plasma, identified integrative, multiple pathways for the processing of circulating SP (but not NKA) by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE; EC 3.4.15.

[Severe Crohn's disease in children. Retrospective study of 38 cases].

Thirty-eight children presenting with severe Crohn's disease (CD) were studied retrospectively over a mean period of 6 years. The severity of CD was estimated according to an activity score. This was initially 66 +/- 19 reaching 100 in 16% of cases.