Parents' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Baby Walkers, Baby Car Seats, Oral Health, and Child Screen Time in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background Awareness of age-appropriate milestones and developmental stages is crucial for parents to identify any potential delays or concerns early on and seek appropriate interventions. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers in Saudi Arabia regarding baby walkers, baby car seats, early dental visits, and screen time for young children. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents in Saudi Arabia using a structured questionnaire. A convenience and snowball sampling method was employed to recruit participants from various regions of the country. The questionnaire aimed to assess parents' knowledge regarding the recommended use of baby walkers and baby car seats, their awareness of the importance of early dental visits, and their understanding of appropriate screen time guidelines. Additionally, the survey explored parents' practices toward these recommendations. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and associations between variables were examined using the chi-squared test. Results A total of 1318 participants were included. The analysis revealed that the majority of the participants (n=1066,81.3%) use a baby walker, while only (n=292,22.3%) consider that they should never be used. Overall, (n=388,29.6%) of the participants never used a car seat for their infants or children. In terms of early childhood dental visits, approximately (n=518,39.5%) of the participants reported actually taking their child to the dentist within the recommended timeframe. Regarding screen time for children, (n=148,11.3%) of the participants reported that their children spend >5 hours daily in front of the screen.  Conclusions Raising parents' awareness about recent childcare recommendations and safe practices is crucial for promoting optimal child development, preventing health problems, facilitating evidence-based decision-making, reducing risks, enhancing parental confidence and empowerment, and nurturing positive parent-child relationships.

Metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma in pleural effusion: a case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: Papillary thyroid carcinoma accounts for the most common type of thyroid cancer of well-differentiated type. Papillary thyroid carcinoma is featured by biologically low-grade and less aggressive tumors with a survival rate of 10 years in most of the diagnosed cases. Papillary thyroid carcinoma can be presented with the involvement of cervical lymph nodes in about 50% of the patients, yet distant spread is very uncommon. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein, we discuss a Saudi male patient in his early 50s with a history of papillary thyroid carcinoma who presented to the emergency department complaining of shortness of breath and a radiological finding of hydrothorax. Cytologic examination together with immune-histochemical staining and molecular studies of pleural effusion aspiration concluded the definitive diagnosis of metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma in the pleural space. CONCLUSIONS: Papillary thyroid carcinoma seldom causes metastatic niches in the pleural space; this is a rare clinical presentation, nevertheless, a differential diagnosis of thyroid metastasis needs to be excluded. A definitive diagnosis of metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma can be made using clinical presentation, cytologic examination, immunohistochemical investigation, and molecular testing. The most common mutation found in papillary thyroid carcinoma cases is the V600E mutation found in the BRAF gene, yet these patients have a relatively low probability of cancer recurrence. Patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma who have the BRAF mutation frequently experience metastases and relapses of the disease after the cancer has progressed aggressively. To help with therapy planning and the introduction of BRAF inhibitors, genetic testing for BRAF mutation may therefore prove to be a useful tool, especially in cases of aggressive subtypes of TC.

Hypoxia-induced oxidative stress in high altitude population: impact of coenzyme Q10 supplementation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) supplementation on oxidative stress engendered from hypoxia in population live at high altitude. METHODS: This is an intervention study in which 50 females of volunteers population-36 of them who live at high altitude compared with the placebo group (14 from the total population that live at sea level). Blood samples were collected in -anticoagulant tubes from control and high altitude before and after CoQ10 supplementation (150 mg/day for 2, 4 and 8 weeks). Plasma was separated and used for the determination of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NOx), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), paraoxonase (PON1) by spectrophotometer, CoQ10 and vitamin E by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: Our results appeared that TAC, PON1, vitamin E and CoQ10 concentrations were significantly decreased in population at high altitude at base line compared to placebo group population at sea level. Whereas, administration of CoQ10 attenuated all measured parameters especially after eight weeks of administration. CONCLUSION: We concluded that coenzyme Q10 supplement at a dose of 150 mg/day has a powerful effect in oxidative stress parameters and increased antioxidant parameters included vitamin E in population with hypoxia after 4 and 8 weeks. So that supplementation positively affects oxidative stress and is recommended CoQ10 supplementation in population who live at high altitude.

Evaluating the therapeutic potential of one-carbon donors in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Defect in one-carbon metabolism is one of the multiple underlying pathological pathways contributing to NAFLD pathogenesis. Hence, our study was designed to examine whether different one-carbon donors; betaine, choline, and folic acid would possess beneficial effects in NAFLD treatment. Rats were fed with high fat diet and NAFLD rats were orally treated with different doses of betaine or choline or folic acid for 28 days. All used one-carbon donors had dose-dependent ameliorating effects on NAFLD as they succeeded to reduce body and relative liver weights, serum lipids and liver enzymes. These were accompanied by decreasing hepatic fat accumulation and amending hepatic histological structure. They also improved serum and hepatic redox systems (total glutathione (tGSH), reduced GSH, oxidized GSSG, and GSH/GSSG ratio), hepatic S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosyl homocysteine (SAM/SAH) ratio and increased hepatic global DNA methylation. There were some discrepancies in the dose and the extent of their effect, where folic acid showed the most prominent effects that could be mediated through the significant surge in hepatic SAM/SAH ratio and better efficient correction of one-carbon metabolism than the other donors. Thus, one-carbon donors can be strongly considered in NAFLD management and might influence the whole therapeutic approaches of fatty liver diseases.

Efficacy of pentoxifylline as an antifibrotic drug in experimental murine schistosomal hepatic fibrosis.

This study evaluated the possible antifibrotic effect of pentoxifylline on experimentally induced schistosomal hepatic fibrosis and its effect on serum leptin and transforming growth factor-ß1 levels as possible antifibrotic mechanisms in correlation with the hepatic fibrosis indices. A total of ninety clean laboratories bred, males Swiss, albino mice were included, of which ten mice served as a control non-infected, non-treated group and sacrificed at one time. Eighty mice, each was subcutaneously infected with 50 Schistosoma mansoni cercariae and classified into groups: GI (infected & non-treated), GII (infected & treated with Mirazid), GIII (infected & treated with Pentoxifylline) and GIV (infected & treated with a combination of Mirazid and Pentoxifylline). Each group was further subdivided into 2 subgroups; subgroup 'a' which started treatment at 6th week post-infection (P.I.) and sacrificed at the end of 9th week P.I and subgroup 'b' which started treatment at 14th week P.I and sacrificed at the end of 17th week P.I. The efficacy of the treatment was assessed by histopathological examination of the liver with measurement of granuloma sizes, estimation of hydroxyproline content in the liver, and assessment of serum levels of leptin and transforming growth factor- ß1 (TGF-ß1).Mirazid (MZD) caused significant reductions in granuloma sizes and hepatic hydroxyproline content and caused non-significant reductions in serum levels of leptinand transforming growth factor- ß1 t 9th & 17t hweeks P.II(GIII. Pentoxifylline (PTX) caused significant reductions in granuloma sizes, hepatic hydroxyproline, and serum levels of leptin and transforming growth factor- ß1 t the 9"th& 17kt weeks P.II (GIII. While combined therapy of both MZD & PTX in GIIVcaused more reductions in granuloma sizes, hepatic hydroxyproline, and serum levels of leptin and TGF- ß1 t the 9th & 17th weeks P.IIwhen compared to the other groups.

Seroprevalence study of Toxocara canis in selected Egyptian patients.

This study was conducted in order to reveal the seroprevalence of T. canis infection in selected 150 Egyptian patients with presumptive clinical syndromes. They were children (128) with respiratory symptoms or pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO)and adults (22) with PUO. Anti-Toxocara antibodies (IgG) were detected in sera by ELISA. The results showed 6.2% positivity in children. The frequency increased in male gender, those in rural residence and in 6-12 years group versus 1-6 years, and 4% & 13.3% positivity in those with respiratory symptoms and PUO respectively. Adults positivity was 18%. So, male gender and residence in rural regions could be considered as risk factors for transmission of toxocariasis in children.