Introducing Cichorium Pumilum as a potential therapeutical agent against drug-induced benign breast tumor in rats.

Cichorium Pumilum (chicory) is could be a promising cancer treatment in which a photosensitizing drug concentrates in benign tumor cells and activated by quanta at certain wavelength. Such activated extracts could lead to cell death and tumor ablation. Previous studies have shown that Cichorium Pumilum (chicory) contains photosensitive compounds such as cichoriin, anthocyanins, lactucin, and Lactucopicrin. In the present study, the protective effect of sun light-activated Cichorium against the dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) induced benign breast tumors to female Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated. Chicory's extract has significantly increase P.carbonyl (PC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreases the hepatic levels of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in benign breast tumors-induced group compared to control. It also significantly decrease the number of estrogen receptors ER-positive cells in tumor masses. These results suggest that chicory extracts could be used as herbal photosensitizing agent in treating benign breast tumor in rats.

Smoking-cessation practice guidelines: awareness and implementation among medical teams.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to evaluate the awareness and implementation of the Smoking Cessation Clinical Practice (SCCP) guidelines. METHODS: A self-reported questionnaire based on the updated version of the SCCP guidelines was completed by 422 healthcare providers (HCPs) including physicians, dentists, dental hygienists and pharmacists recruited from both public and private sectors in Jordan. KEY FINDINGS: The majority of HCPs reported good smoking-cessation practices. However, their awareness about the SCCP guidelines was inadequate. Approximately 68% of HCPs lacked knowledge of the 5As; about 74% lacked knowledge of the 5Rs of the clinical guidelines for smoking cessation, which are the principal guidelines for smoking intervention and motivation to quit smoking. Fortunately, about 70% of participants from all groups examined and applied most of the steps in the guideline spontaneously without previous knowledge of the guideline. This spontaneous practice could be due to their vast practical experience, and the use of logic and/or basic knowledge about smoking cessation. Compared to physicians, pharmacists and dental hygienists showed significantly more frequent practice of most steps with patients willing to quit smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Jordanian HCPs showed good, spontaneous smoking-cessation practice. However, this practice could have been better if HCPs had adequate awareness of the SCCP guidelines.

Acceptance sampling plans from truncated life test based on Tsallis q-exponential distribution.

In this study, we propose a new single acceptance sampling plan from truncated life test assuming that the quality characteristics follow the Tsallis q-exponential distribution. The proposed plan is given, and then we derived the operation characteristics function and calculate the optimal sample size and producer''s risk for some given parameter values to measure the performance of this plan. Also, a comparative study with other sampling plan is discussed to show the benefit of the proposed plan, and real data analysis is given to illustrate the applicability of the proposed plan in the industry.

SARS-CoV-2 and Coronavirus Disease 2019: What We Know So Far.

In December 2019, a cluster of fatal pneumonia cases presented in Wuhan, China. They were caused by a previously unknown coronavirus. All patients had been associated with the Wuhan Wholefood market, where seafood and live animals are sold. The virus spread rapidly and public health authorities in China initiated a containment effort. However, by that time, travelers had carried the virus to many countries, sparking memories of the previous coronavirus epidemics, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and causing widespread media attention and panic. Based on clinical criteria and available serological and molecular information, the new disease was called coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), and the novel coronavirus was called SARS Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), emphasizing its close relationship to the 2002 SARS virus (SARS-CoV). The scientific community raced to uncover the origin of the virus, understand the pathogenesis of the disease, develop treatment options, define the risk factors, and work on vaccine development. Here we present a summary of current knowledge regarding the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes.

Human Mammary Tumor Virus, Human Papilloma Virus, and Epstein-Barr Virus Infection Are Associated With Sporadic Breast Cancer Metastasis.

BACKGROUND: Viral cause of sporadic breast cancer (SBC) has been suggested based on the experimental murine model of mammary tumor caused by mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and human papillomavirus (HPV). While some studies have demonstrated the presence of viral sequences of MMTV, HPV, and EBV in breast cancer cells, others failed. These contradictions may be attributed to the geographical distribution of breast cancer incidence and/or technical variations. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the correlation of MMTV, HPV, and EBV infections with the development of breast cancer in Jordanian patients. METHODS: One hundred SBC tissue samples were subjected to laser capture microdissection for the selection of tumor cells populations. Fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the presence of the MMTV env-like sequences. Real-time PCR was used for HPV and EBV detection, and EBV was further confirmed by chromogen in situ hybridization (CISH). RESULTS: Mouse mammary tumor virus, HPV, and EBV were detected in SBC in 11%, 21%, and 23%, respectively. Only 3 of 52 (5.7%) positive cases demonstrated multiple virus infections. However, 49 of 52 (94%) of the positive cases revealed the presence of 1 type of viral sequences. Consequently, 52% of the studied breast cancer cases were infected with at least 1 type of the aforementioned viruses. CONCLUSIONS: The current cohort suggests that MMTV, HPV, and EBV have a potential role in the development of breast cancer and adding more reasons to proceed with the quest of a possible viral origin of breast cancer.

Integrating morphological characters, molecular markers, and distribution patterns to assess the identity of Blepharis species from Jordan.

BACKGROUND: Blepharis constitutes an important part of the vegetation of the Jordanian arid and semi-arid regions, yet whether one or more species of this genus occurs in the Jordanian area is uncertain. We addressed this question by assessing morphological characters and testing Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers from three populations of Blepharis: two northern (lower slopes of Kufranjah valley and the Dead Sea region) and one southern (Wadi al Yutm). RESULTS: Shoots from randomly chosen Blepharis plants were harvested from each of the three populations for morphological and molecular analyses. In the northern populations, spikes were lax and bract width was significantly shorter than length of the longest lateral spine compared to the southern population. A multivariate linear discriminant analysis distinguished the northern populations from the southern one by internode length, bract width, longest lateral spine length, and bract width to spine length ratio. The ISSR analysis revealed that 44 markers across eight primers were polymorphic with major allele frequency of 83.6% and an average of 5.5 polymorphic markers per primer. The genetic resemblance among individuals ranged from 0.27 to 0.96. The three Blepharis populations were accordingly clustered into two distinct groups, similar to the analysis of morphological differences and corresponding with the "northern" and "southern" population designations. CONCLUSIONS: Our results strongly indicate the occurrence of two discrete Blepharis species in Jordan and reject the hypothesis that the genus is represented by only one species. We propose that the Blepharis species in Jordan are B. attenutata Napper (represented by the northern populations) and B. ciliaris (L.) B. L. Burtt (represented by the southern population). These findings are important for informing and revising floristic work within the region and an updated key has been included in our findings.

Using decision trees to explore the association between the length of stay and potentially avoidable readmissions: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing concern that reduction in hospital length of stay (LOS) may raise the rate of hospital readmission. This study aims to identify the rate of avoidable 30-day readmission and find out the association between LOS and readmission. METHODS: All consecutive patient admissions to the internal medicine services (n = 5,273) at King Abdullah University Hospital in Jordan between 1 December 2012 and 31 December 2013 were analyzed. To identify avoidable readmissions, a validated computerized algorithm called SQLape was used. The multinomial logistic regression was firstly employed. Then, detailed analysis was performed using the Decision Trees (DTs) model, one of the most widely used data mining algorithms in Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS). RESULTS: The potentially avoidable 30-day readmission rate was 44%, and patients with longer LOS were more likely to be readmitted avoidably. However, LOS had a significant negative effect on unavoidable readmissions. CONCLUSIONS: The avoidable readmission rate is still highly unacceptable. Because LOS potentially increases the likelihood of avoidable readmission, it is still possible to achieve a shorter LOS without increasing the readmission rate. Moreover, the way the DT model classified patient subgroups of readmissions based on patient characteristics and LOS is applicable in real clinical decisions.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphisms C677T and A1298C as maternal risk factors for Down syndrome in Jordan.

BACKGROUND: The activity of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) enzyme is regulated by the two polymorphisms C677T and A1298C, which reduce enzyme activity and result in hypomethylation of chromosomes that increase the risk of nondisjunction. These polymorphisms are suggested to be risk factors for Down syndrome (DS) in some populations. AIM: The aim of this study was to test if C677T and A1298C polymorphisms are correlated to maternal risk of DS in Jordan. METHODS: The proportions of C677T and A1298C polymorphisms were examined in 53 case mothers who delivered DS children and 29 controls. The median age of case mothers was 35 years when delivering their affected children. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used for genotyping. RESULTS: The frequency of MTHFR C677T allele in all DS mothers was 3.2-fold higher than in the controls (odds ratio [OR] = 3.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.303-7.677). Also, the proportion of 677T in the older case mothers was different from the controls, but was significantly higher in younger case mothers than in the controls (OR = 4.2, 95% CI: 1.61-10.97, p = 0.003). The proportions of 677CT and 677TT genotypes in younger cases are, respectively, 10- and 9-fold higher than in the controls. The proportions of MTHFR A1298C are significantly different among all case groups and the controls (χ(2) = 4.27, p = 0.127), but there was a significant difference between young case mothers and both older case mothers group and the controls (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 0.405-3.85, p = 0.698). CONCLUSIONS: There is strong association between MTHFRC677T and maternal risk of DS in Jordanian mothers younger than 35 years old and the MTHFR1298C allele has a lesser but additive risk effect in MTHFR677T/1298C compound heterozygotes.