METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into normal control rats (N) which received vehicle, and diabetic rats which either received vehicle (DV) or 100 mg/kg of TRF (DT). Diabetes was induced with intraperitoneal injection of STZ (60 mg/kg body weight). Treatments were given orally, once daily, for 12 weeks after confirmation of hyperglycaemia. Fundus photographs were captured at baseline, 6- and 12-week post-STZ injection and average diameter of retinal veins and arteries were measured. At 12-week post-STZ injection, rats were euthanised, and retinae were collected for measurement of Ang-2 and PKC gene and protein expressions.
RESULTS: Retinal venous and arterial diameters were significantly greater in DV compared to DT at week 12 post-STZ injection (p
METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using a convenience sample technique. The translation procedure included five stages: forward translation, revision of translation, backward translation, refinement of translation, and a final test of the pre-final version. The final sets of questionnaires were constructed using an online JotForm platform. The online platform was chosen to automatically calculate the questionnaire's final overall score. Overall, 260 participants were instructed to fill out the English and the Arab-OSDI version twice to conduct the reliability of the translated version and repeatability evaluation.
RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 33.45 ± 11.74 years old. Cronbach's alpha for all items was greater than 0.80, except for the "blurred vision" and "deteriorating vision" items (0.77 and 0.74, respectively). The mean overall score difference between the English-OSDI and Arab-OSDI was 0.86 based on the Bland-Altman chart. For repeatability, no significant difference in the overall scores between the two repeats of the Arab-OSDI (p = 0.632). The Arab-OSDI overall score (sessions 1 and 2) has a clinical difference (bias) of 0.21. Using the varimax rotation method, only three factors (ocular symptoms, vision-related function, and environmental triggers) had eigenvalues greater than one in the structure of the Arab-OSDI.
CONCLUSION: The Arab-OSDI is an appropriate, reliable, and repeatable tool for the determination of dry eye symptoms, ocular discomfort, and quality of life in the Gazan population. This version could remove the language barrier in answering OSDI items more easily.
METHODS: 108 participants were categorized into preRA, eRA, RA, and nonRA controls with and without PD. Periodontal and rheumatological parameters were assessed. ppad gene expression was quantified in subgingival plaque samples, and salivary and serum levels of CitH3, LL-37 and ACPA were measured. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 26.
RESULTS: ppad expression was elevated in all PD groups, irrespective of RA status. Among PD groups, ppad correlated with salivary CitH3 only in eRA-PD (r = 0.628) and with serum ACPA only in RA-PD (r = 0.503), while no significant associations were detected between ppad and LL-37. CitH3 was not associated with serum ACPA in any PD group. As secondary findings, salivary CitH3 correlated with gingival bleeding index (GBI) in eRA-PD (r = 0.628) and RA-PD (r = 0.608) while serum LL-37 correlated with serum ACPA in eRA-PD (r = 0.767), CONCLUSION: Elevated ppad expression was primarily associated with PD rather than RA status. PPADs association with salivary CitH3 in eRA-PD suggests its strong role in periodontal inflammation during early phases of RA but disproves a mechanistic link between PPAD to NETs and RA.
METHODS: Questionnaire development was conducted in two stages: i) item generation and ii) judgement and quantification. Ten experts from relevant disciplines assessed content validity, while 10 primary healthcare workers participated in face validation. The content validity index (CVI), face validity index (FVI), and modified Kappa were calculated to evaluate clarity, relevance, necessity, and representativeness.
RESULTS: The initial questionnaire comprised 62 items across two domains (knowledge and readiness). During content validation, one item assessing clarity yielded an item-level CVI (I-CVI) of 0.70 and a modified Kappa of 0.67; other items achieved excellent thresholds (I-CVI ≥ 0.78; modified Kappa ≥ 0.74). Scale-level CVI (S-CVI/Ave) across all criteria was >0.90, indicating excellent overall validity. The universal agreement S-CVI (S-CVI/UA) for relevance was 0.76, slightly below the recommended cut-off. Based on these findings and expert recommendations, one item was removed due to subthreshold performance and redundancy. Face validation demonstrated strong comprehensibility, with item-level FVI (I-FVI), scale-level FVI (S-FVI/Ave), and universal agreement S-FVI (S-FVI/UA) values exceeding recommended thresholds (0.78, 0.90, and 0.83, respectively). The final questionnaire contained 61 items.
CONCLUSION: This study provides a validated Malay-language questionnaire for assessing knowledge and readiness for mpox management among primary healthcare workers. This tool provides a standardised approach for identifying knowledge gaps and guiding targeted training to strengthen outbreak preparedness.