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This study seeks for classical estimations to estimating the anonymous parameters and reliability function of Modified Weighted Exponential Rayleigh MWER distribution. These classical methods are chosen precisely because all of these methods maximize the probability density function. Newton-Raphson technique was used to derive estimation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-19 has impacted the health and well-being of children worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate parental acceptance of and concerns about vaccinating their children against Covid-19 in Ras Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The study adopted a cross-sectional design. Parental acceptance of and concerns about vaccinating their children were collected using a structured questionnaire. A total of 366 parents were selected, using purposive sampling from the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, during the period of November 2021 to February 2022. Of all, 5.3% (56) of the parents expressed a high level of concern regarding vaccinating their children against Covid-19, while 80.6% (295) expressed a medium level and 4.1% (15) a low level of concern. Parental acceptance was found to be medium and high among 71% (260) and 8.8% (69) of the parents respectively, as opposed to 10.1% (37) who were reluctant (low) to do so. The most important concerns for the low acceptance of Covid-19 vaccination were safety, side effects and effectiveness of the vaccination. The study reveals the need to initiate more targeted interventions to improve the acceptability of vaccines and the acceptance of the parents in order to alleviate the concerns of parents about vaccinating their children against Covid-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the nephroprotective effect of lycopene (LPN) in acute kidney injury (AKI) regarding the oxidative stress (OS). Materials and Methods: Thirty Sprague Dawley male rats were divided into three groups - control group: rats treated with distilled water (orally) for 10 days (n = 10); AKI group: rats treated with distilled water and diclofenac (intraperitoneal) for 10 days (n = 10); treated group: rats treated with LPN (orally) and diclofenac for 10 days (n = 10). Body mass index (BMI) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were measured. Blood urea, serum creatinine (CreSerum), serum malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and kidney injury molecules (KIM-1) were measured in the all groups on the 11th day of the experiment. Results: Diclofenac-induced AKI led to significant elevations of BMI, CreSerum, and blood urea compared with control (P < 0.05). In AKI model, eGFR was reduced to 11.69 ± 2.64 ml/min/1.73 compared with control group (15.88 ± 3.75 ml/min/1.73, P = 0.03). NGAL, MDA, and KIM-1 were elevated in AKI compared with control (P < 0.001). Pretreatment with LPN led to the reduction of blood urea and CreSerum as compared with AKI (P < 0.001). Similarly, eGFR was increased significantly to 14.81 ± 3.21 ml/min/1.73 compared with 11.69 ± 2.64 ml/min/1.73 in AKI (P = 0.02). Serum levels of NGAL, KIM-1, and MDA were reduced significantly in the LPN group as compared with AKI (P = 0.001), while the SOD serum level was increased to 33. 86 ± 8.61 pg/ml as compared to 22.78 ± 7.56 pg/ml in AKI (P = 0.006). As well, LPN reduced MDA/SOD ratio as compared with AKI (P = 0.00001). Conclusion: The finding of this study illustrated that LPN is an effective natural antioxidant that attenuates and prevents AKI through modulation of OS and lipid peroxidation. As well, LPN might be of great value in the prevention of nephrotoxicity that induced by nephrotoxic agents like diclofenac. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the link between subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and erectile dysfunction (ED). Materials and Methods: Seventy-two male patients aged 23–41 years with SCH compared with 25 healthy matched subjects were recruited, and they were divided into Group A: healthy controls (n = 25), Group B: patients with SCH with ED (n = 43), and Group C: patients with SCH without ED (n = 29). Thyroid function test and hormonal assay included total testosterone (TT), sex hormone-binding globulin, free androgen index, and prolactin (PRL) were measured; erectile function was assessed by the 5-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) questionnaire. Results: Free triiodothyronine serum level and thyroid uptake were lower in patients with SCH with ED (240.31 ± 23.85 pg/dL) as compared with patients with SCH without ED or the controls (P = 0.008 and P = 0.004, respectively). Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) serum levels differed significantly; they were normal in the control group (2.86 ± 1.86 mIU/L), higher in patients with SCH with ED (12.41 ± 4.73 mIU/L), and relatively low in patients with SCH without ED (7.32 ± 4.81 mIU/L) (P = 0.001). TT serum level was low in patients with SCH with ED as compared with the controls, but this level was high in patients with SCH without ED as compared with those with SCH with ED (P = 0.001). PRL serum level was high in patients with SCH with or without ED as compared with the controls (P = 0.001). IIEF-5 score was low in patients with SCH with ED (11.73 ± 5.79) as compared with the controls (P = 0.001, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 14.3985–7.8215) or patients with SCH without ED (P = 0.001, 95% CI = 13.1152–6.7448). Conclusion: SCH-induced ED is related to the elevated PRL and reduced TT and TSH serum levels more than 10 mIU/L. Furthermore, the high TSH serum level was linked with the low IIEF-5 scores; therefore, the severity of SCH is correlated with the severity of ED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prolactin is a polypeptide hormone secreted from the anterior part of the pituitary gland which was implicated as a diabetogenic factor in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate prolactin serum levels in patients with T2DM regarding the effect of diabetic pharmacotherapy. Eighty patients with T2DM compared with 25 male healthy controls were recruited and divided into four groups: Group I – 29 patients with T2DM treated with metformin, Group II – 30 patients with T2DM treated with glyburide, Group III – 21 patients with T2DM treated with glyburide plus metformin, and Group IV – 25 control male healthy patients. Prolactin serum levels were high in patients with T2DM compared with controls (P < 0.01). Prolactin serum levels were higher in glyburide-treated patients compared with metformin-treated patients (P < 0.01). This study concludes that high prolactin levels in patients with T2DM are linked with diabetic complications and regarded as a beneficial phenomena to overcome IR and diabetic complications. Metformin but not glyburide reduced prolactin levels due to the improvement of insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nephrotoxicity is defining as rapid deterioration in the kidney function due to toxic effect of medications and chemicals. There are various forms, and some drugs may affect renal function in more than one way. Nephrotoxins are substances displaying nephrotoxicity. Different mechanisms lead to nephrotoxicity, including renal tubular toxicity, inflammation, glomerular damage, crystal nephropathy, and thrombotic microangiopathy. The traditional markers of nephrotoxicity and renal dysfunction are blood urea and serum creatinine which are regarded as low sensitive in the detection of early renal damage. Thus, the detection of the initial renal injures required new biomarkers which are more sensitive and highly specific that gives an insight into the site of underlying renal damage. Kidney injury molecule-1, Cystatin C, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin sera levels are more sensitive than blood urea and serum creatinine in the detection of acute kidney injury during nephrotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Bayes estimators for the shape and scale parameters of Gamma distribution under the Entropy loss function have been obtained, assuming Gamma and Exponential priors for the shape and scale parameters respectively. Moment, Maximum likelihood estimators and Lindley’s approximation have been used effectively in Bayesian estimation. Based on Monte Carlo simulation method, those estimators are compared depending on the mean squared errors (MSE’s). The results show that, the performance of the Bayes estimator under Entropy loss function is better than other estimates in all cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary hypothyroidism is associated with oxidative stress and insufficient antioxidant capacity. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of levothyroxine replacement therapy on paraoxonase 1 (PON-1) serum levels in a patients with primary hypothyroidism. Thirty-one patients with primary hypothyroidism compared to 20 healthy controls were recruited from. A venous blood sample were taken after an overnight fasting for biochemical parameters, before and after starting levothyroxine therapy (100 µg/day) for 3 months duration. The biochemical variables were PON-1 serum levels, lipid profiles, triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxin (T4), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) serum levels. Levothyroxine replacement therapy leads to a significant amelioration of thyroid functions, lipid profile, cardiometabolic measures P < 0.05 in patients with primary hypothyroidism. Levothyroxine leads to significant elevation in PON-1 serum levels from 188.42 ± 19.81 (U/mL) to 361.23 ± 33.62 (U/mL) P < 0.0001. This study concluded that levothyroxine replacement therapy significantly increases PON-1 serum levels in patients with primary hypothyroidism and attenuating hypothyroidism-induced oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orexin is a neuropeptide secreted from lateral hypothalamus and pre-frontal cortex concerned in the wakefulness and excitement. This study aimed to review the possible neurobiological effect of orexin. A diversity of search strategies was adopted and assumed which included electronic database searches of Medline and PubMed using MeSH terms, keywords, and title words during the search. Orexin plays a vital role in activation of learning, memory acquisition, and consolidation through activation of monoaminergic system, which affect cognitive flexibility and cognitive function. Orexin stimulates adrenocorticotropin and corticosteroid secretions via activation of central corticotropin-releasing hormone. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum orexin serum levels are reduced in depression, schizophrenia, and narcolepsy. However, high orexin serum levels are revealed in drug addictions. Regarding neurodegenerative brain diseases, CSF and serum orexin serum levels are reduced Parkinson disease, Alzheimer dementia, Huntington's disease, amyotrphic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. Orexin antagonist leads to significant reduction of sympathetic over-activity during withdrawal syndrome. As well, orexin antagonist improves sleep pattern. Orexinergic system is involved in the different psychiatric and neurological disorders; therefore, targeting of this system could be possible novel pathway in the management of these disorders. In addition, measurement of CSF and serum orexin levels might predict the relapse and withdrawal of addict patients., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Brain Circulation.)

Sulfonylurea (SUR) agents are the second and most used oral hypoglycemic drugs after metformin and they still as an imperative tool for most favorable of glucose control. SURs are used mainly in the management of Type 2 diabetes mellitus since; they are effective in the glycemic control and reduction of microvascular complications. First-generation SUR represents 3% of used oral hypoglycemic agents while second and third generations are used in about 25% in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Upregulation of SUR1 receptor has been observed after stroke and traumatic brain injury, therefore, SUR such as glibenclamide inhibits brain edema and astrocyte swelling following brain insults. SUR drugs mainly glibenclamide is effective at a low dose in the management of cerebral stroke and could be a contestant with corticosteroid in controlling brain edema., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.