Precision Oncology Approach for Urachal Carcinoma: A Clinical Case Report.

Urachal cancer (UrC) is a rare disease which is mostly diagnosed late due to symptoms caused by its local invasion to the urinary bladder. Given the lack of clinical trials and guideline recommendations for systemic treatment, a molecularly informed precision oncology approach is a viable option for UrC already in the early lines of systemic treatment. While single case experiences may provide valuable reference for later decision-making, well-documented clinical experience with off-label targeted treatments is limited to a few patients.

Effect of Foot Insole on Planter Pressure Distribution in Patients with Neuropathic Diabetic Foot Ulcer: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blinded, Controlled Clinical Trial.

Patients with diabetes polyneuropathy are at a heightened risk for developing foot ulcers, often due to dynamic plantar foot pressure patterns that lead to increased pressure and shear forces in specific foot areas. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of foot insoles on peak pressure and the pressure-time integral in patients with polyneuropathy diabetic foot ulcers over a twelve-week period followed by an eight-week follow up. : This was a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, controlled clinical trial involving 60 patients aged between 50 and 65 years of both genders.

Potential Use of Plasma Rich in Growth Factors in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Evidence from a Mouse Model.

: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of low vision and legal blindness in adults in developed countries. Wet AMD can be successfully treated using vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors; however, dry AMD currently has no effective treatment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the efficacy of intraocular injection of plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) in an AMD mouse model induced by intraperitoneal administration of sodium iodate.

Utility of Fundus Autofluorescence and Optical Coherence Tomography in Measuring Retinal Vascular Thickness, Macular Density, and Ophthalmic Manifestations in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a transient elevation of blood glucose during pregnancy. It is typically not associated with diabetic retinopathy. However, certain investigators revealed retinal microvascular injury.

An Intelligent Approach for Early and Accurate Predication of Cardiac Disease Using Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Techniques.

This study proposes a new hybrid machine learning (ML) model for the early and accurate diagnosis of heart disease. The proposed model is a combination of two powerful ensemble ML models, namely ExtraTreeClassifier (ETC) and XGBoost (XGB), resulting in a hybrid model named ETCXGB. At first, all the features of the utilized heart disease dataset were given as input to the ETC model, which processed it by extracting the predicted probabilities and produced an output.

On the Road to Safety: Examining Children's Cycling Skills and Physical Activity Levels.

Background/objectives: Studies indicate a decline in children's physical activity (PA) levels, active mobility, and psychomotor skills, reflected in poorer cycling abilities. These trends are worrying given the rising prevalence of childhood obesity and sedentary lifestyles. This study assessed cycling skills among primary school children in Lower Austria, comparing self-perceptions with objective assessments, and explores the relationship between cycling skills, PA levels, and school performance, as well as the impact of cycling training on skill development.

Advancing Glaucoma Treatment During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: Contemporary Management Strategies and Prospective Therapeutic Developments.

The management of glaucoma in pregnancy and breastfeeding requires a careful evaluation of treatment choices to guarantee the well-being of both the mother and the developing fetus. This review explores the intricacies of controlling glaucoma in pregnant and breastfeeding women, including a comprehensive overview of existing glaucoma treatment methods, clinical guidelines, and future therapeutic approaches. The efficacy and safety profiles of traditional treatment approaches, such as topical and systemic medicines and surgical treatments, are evaluated specifically about their use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Polymeric Nanoparticles Potentiate the Anticancer Activity of Novel PI3Kα Inhibitors Against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells.

: Dysregulation in phosphoinositide-3-kinase alpha (PI3Kα) signaling is implicated in the development of various cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We have previously synthesized a series of N-phenyl-6-chloro-4-hydroxy-2-quinolone-3-carboxamides as targeted inhibitors against PI3Kα. Herein, two drug candidates, R7 and R11, were selected to be further investigated as a nanoparticle (NP) formulation against TNBC.

Garlic and Chitosan Improve the Microbial Quality of Hummus and Reduce Lipid Oxidation.

This study investigated the antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of garlic and chitosan on hummus. Hummus was prepared by using 0.5% or 1% (/) chitosan, with or without 1% (/) garlic, and samples were stored at 4, 10, or 25 °C for 28, 21, or 7 d, respectively.

Monitoring of Antibiotic Resistance Patterns Within Al-Karak Governmental Hospital, Jordan, in 2022.

: Antimicrobial resistance is considered one of the foremost global public health challenges, and its prevalence is increasing. In Jordan, particularly in Al-Karak Governorate, there is a lack of sufficient data on antimicrobial resistance to make accurate assessments. The main aim of the current study was to evaluate antibiotic resistance trends in clinical specimens from 2022 and assess antibiotic resistance patterns.

Potential Synergy of Fluoxetine and Antibacterial Agents Against Skin and Soft Tissue Pathogens and Drug-Resistant Organisms.

The feasibility of repurposing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as adjunctive antibacterial agents is an area of current investigation. We sought to evaluate if fluoxetine will achieve synergistic killing with relevant antibacterial drugs against skin and soft tissue pathogens and multidrug-resistant pathogens. : The MIC of fluoxetine was determined using broth microdilution for a diverse isolate collection of 21 organisms.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention for the Family Caregiver Attending Primary Health Care Setting: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified as one of the top ten public health threats facing humanity. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of an antimicrobial stewardship educational intervention on family caregivers' knowledge and practices in primary healthcare settings in Egypt. A quasi-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest design involving a sample of 300 family caregivers attending family health centers.

Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players.

Action video games foster competitive environments that demand rapid spatial navigation and decision-making. Action video gamers often exhibit faster response times and slightly improved accuracy in vision-based sensorimotor tasks. However, the underlying functional and structural changes in the two visual streams of the brain that may be contributing to these cognitive improvements have been unclear.

The Effect of Atorvastatin on Oncogenic miRNAs in Hematological Malignancies: A Central Study.

The efficacy of statins as anti-cancer drugs has been demonstrated in several malignancies but has been poorly investigated in hematological malignancies (HM). By studying its effect on oncogenic miRNAs, we investigated the effect of statin therapy on HM patients. The data were used to identify enriched pathways that were altered due to statin treatment.

Addiction to Smartphone Use in Smokers Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in Jordan: Are Their Medications Involved?

Background/objectives: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes and smoking is increasing in developing countries and is associated with deteriorated health outcomes. Also, addiction to smartphone use is an alarming behavior that can be associated with clinical factors. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and clinical correlates of smartphone addiction in smokers with T2DM in Jordan, with a particular focus on the role of medications.

Prevalence of Maternal Anemia in Southern Jordan: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study and 5-Year Review.

The literature underrepresents maternal anemia in southern Jordan, and national studies often have small sample sizes. According to the 2019 Jordan National Micronutrient Survey, maternal anemia in Jordan accounted for 19.1% of cases, with the majority experiencing mild anemia (17.

The Expression of Proteases and the Oligopeptide Transporter in the Yolk Sac Membrane, Proventriculus, and Small Intestine During the Development of Embryo.

The role of the yolk sac membrane (YSM) and digestive tract in the processing of egg yolk proteins during embryogenesis is unexplored in the duck . Here, we investigated in the duck embryo the function of the YSM, proventriculus, and small intestine in protein digestion and uptake. We tested the expression of aminopeptidase N () and the oligopeptide transporter as well as the expression of cathepsin B () and cathepsin D () lysosomal genes in the YSM during incubation days 12, 14, 16-18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28 (the day of hatch).

Efficient Convolutional Neural Network Model for the Taxonomy and Sex Identification of Three Phlebotomine Sandfly Species (Diptera, Psychodidae, and Phlebotominae).

Sandflies, small insects primarily from the Psychodidae family, are commonly found in sandy, tropical, and subtropical regions. Most active during dawn and dusk, female sandflies feed on blood to facilitate egg production. In doing so, they can transmit infectious diseases that may cause symptoms such as fever, headaches, muscle pain, anemia, skin rashes, and ulcers.

A taxonomy of the factors contributing to the overtreatment of cancer patients at the end of life. What is the problem? Why does it happen? How can it be addressed?

Many patients with cancer approaching the end of life (EOL) continue to receive treatments that are unlikely to provide meaningful clinical benefit, potentially causing more harm than good. This is called overtreatment at the EOL. Overtreatment harms patients by causing side-effects, increasing health care costs, delaying important discussions about and preparation for EOL care, and occasionally accelerating death.

Receipt of humanitarian cash transfers, household food insecurity and the subjective wellbeing of Syrian refugee youth in Jordan.

Objective: Humanitarian aid, including food aid, has increasingly shifted towards provision of cash assistance over in-kind benefits. This paper examines whether food security mediates the relationship between receipt of humanitarian cash transfers and subjective wellbeing among Syrian refugee youth in Jordan.

Design: Secondary analysis of the 2020-21 Survey of Young People in Jordan, which is nationally representative of Syrian youth aged 16-30.

Coronary Artery Ectasia in Acute Coronary Syndrome: The Role of Non-vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants in Management.

Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is an abnormal dilatation of coronary artery segments, often linked with atherosclerosis. This report discusses two cases of CAE presenting as acute coronary syndrome. A 36-year-old man had proximal blockage in the left circumflex artery (LCx) and ectasia in the obtuse marginal artery and left anterior descending artery (LAD), while a 53-year-old male smoker had an ectatic LAD with a substantial thrombus.

Untargeted metabolomics profiling of gestational diabetes mellitus: insights into early diagnosis and metabolic pathway alterations.

Introduction: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a metabolic disorder marked by Q10 hyperglycemia that can negatively affect both mothers and newborns. The increasing prevalence of GDM and the limitations associated with the standard diagnostic test highlight the urgent need for early screening strategies that promote timely interventions.

Methods: This study aims to investigate the metabolic profile associated with GDM through an untargeted metabolomic analysis using mass spectrometry (MS)- based omics.

Mitochondrial DNA variant detection in over 6,500 rare disease families by the systematic analysis of exome and genome sequencing data resolves undiagnosed cases.

Background: Variants in the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) cause a diverse collection of mitochondrial diseases and have extensive phenotypic overlap with Mendelian diseases encoded on the nuclear genome. The mtDNA is often not specifically evaluated in patients with suspected Mendelian disease, resulting in overlooked diagnostic variants.

Methods: Using dedicated pipelines to address the technical challenges posed by the mtDNA - circular genome, variant heteroplasmy, and nuclear misalignment - single nucleotide variants, small indels, and large mtDNA deletions were called from exome and genome sequencing data, in addition to RNA-sequencing when available.

Genetic profiling of Wilson disease reveals a potential recurrent pathogenic variant of ATP7B in the Jordanian population.

Objectives: Wilson disease (WD) is an autosomal-recessive disorder that disrupts copper homeostasis. ATPase copper transporting beta (ATP7B) gene is implicated as the disease-causing gene in WD. The common symptoms associated with WD include hepatic, neurological, psychiatric, and ophthalmic manifestations.