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CORRELATES OF MENTAL HEALTH, ACCEPTANCE, AND COMMITMENT TO THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS
(An-Najah National University, 2026-09-06) Abu Ltayef Sumaya
Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) requires treatment and self-management. Psychological distress and illness acceptance may influence medication adherence, yet their interrelationships remain insufficiently examined in Palestine. Aim: To examine mental health distress, illness acceptance, and commitment to therapy among patients with T2DM from a clinical pharmacy perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study included 350 adults with T2DM. Data collection was completed in 2026 using a demographic questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, Acceptance of Illness Scale, and Medication Adherence Report Scale-5. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and multiple linear regression were performed. Results: Participants had a mean age of 53.4 ± 14.8 years, diabetes duration of 13.9 ± 10.9 years, and HbA1c of 8.5 ± 1.3%. Anxiety was the most prominent psychological problem, with 54.0% classified as extremely severe. Illness acceptance was moderate (24.0 ± 8.5), while medication adherence was high (19.7 ± 4.4); 57.4% demonstrated high adherence. Mental health distress was negatively correlated with commitment to therapy (r = −0.355, p < 0.001) and illness acceptance (r = −0.808, p < 0.001). Illness acceptance was positively correlated with commitment to therapy (r = 0.487, p < 0.001). Illness acceptance (β = 0.39), physician follow-up (β = 0.33), family support (β = 0.15), and exercise (β = 0.15) independently predicted commitment to therapy, whereas mental health distress did not (β = −0.02, p = 0.824). Conclusion: Illness acceptance showed the strongest independent association with commitment to therapy among the variables included in the regression model. Physician follow-up, family support, and exercise were also positively associated with commitment to therapy. These findings support consideration of psychological and adherence-related factors within multidisciplinary diabetes care; however, the cross-sectional design does not permit causal inference. Keywords: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; Mental Health; Illness Acceptance; Medication Adherence; Clinical Pharmacy; Palestine.
THE PHARMACOLOGICAL IMPACT OF "NOVEL" DIACEREIN DERIVATIVES
(An-Najah National University, 2026-09-27) Nour Nasser Nawahdah
Abstract Background: Today, cancer is regarded as one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Therefore, new anticarcinogenic drugs that are safer and more effective should be discovered. Cyclooxygenase-2 or COX-2 overexpression is common in many tumors and is associated with increased proliferation and invasiveness of cancer cells resulting from angiogenesis. Diacerein, a mild anti-inflammatory drug, acts as a prodrug by converting to rhein in the body; however, it is primarily used for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Anthraquinone derivatives demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activity, but their chemical structure should be optimized to improve the therapeutic efficiency. In addition, eugenol is a bioactive phenolic compound that can enhance the anticarcinogenic properties of other medicinal plants with apoptotic effects. Methods: A new amide derivative of diacerein, N-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-4,5-bis(acetyloxy)-9,10-dioxo-9,10-dihydroanthracene-2-carboxamide (NT4), was designed and synthesized via an EDCI/DMAP-mediated carbodiimide coupling of diacerein with 4-tert-butylaniline in anhydrous dichloromethane at room temperature. Its biological activities were evaluated in comparison with laboratory-made rhein. Following antioxidant activity assessment via the DPPH assay, the in vitro cytotoxic potential of the compounds was evaluated against MCF-7, HeLa, Hep3B, and B16F1 tumor cell lines, both alone and in combination with an eugenol vehicle. Additionally, in vitro enzyme inhibition assays and in silico studies were conducted to determine the selectivity of NT4 and the reference drug toward COX-1 and COX-2 isoenzymes, as well as to evaluate the drug-like properties of the lead compound. Results: All data are reported as mean ± SD (n = 3). In the DPPH assay, NT4 displayed significant antioxidant activity (IC50 = 9.99 μg/mL; maximum inhibition 61.8 ± 2.9% at 100 μg/mL) compared to Trolox (IC50 = 4.31 μg/mL; 99.1 ± 4.8%). NT4 demonstrated notable antiproliferative activity against HeLa (IC50 = 25.75 μg/mL; 76.8 ± 3.9% inhibition at 50 μg/mL) and MCF-7 cell lines (IC50 = 58.71 μg/mL). Co-administration with eugenol markedly enhanced cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells, reducing the IC50 of diacerein from 41.37 to 25.17 μg/mL (89.1 ± 4.5% inhibition at 50 μg/mL) and NT4 from 58.71 to 38.19 μg/mL (74.1 ± 3.6% inhibition at 50 μg/mL). Against B16F1 melanoma cells, eugenol combination improved diacerein cytotoxicity, decreasing its IC50 from 48.68 to 17.52 μg/mL (78.9 ± 3.9% inhibition at 50 μg/mL). Non-cancerous HEK293T assays showed safety optimization, with NT4 exhibiting a higher IC50 in eugenol (22.44 μg/mL) than alone (11.23 μg/mL). Biochemically, NT4 displayed superior COX-2 isoenzyme inhibition (IC50 = 1.79 ± 0.08 μg/mL; SI = 47.96 ± 2.15), representing over 5-fold greater potency and higher selectivity relative to diacerein (IC50 = 9.62 ± 0.45 μg/mL; SI = 26.77 ± 1.20). Off-target COX-1 inhibition was minimal for both agents (IC50 = 85.85 ± 4.12 μg/mL for NT4 vs. 257.54 ± 12.80 μg/mL for diacerein). Conclusion: Compound NT4 is a novel, selective COX-2 inhibitor featuring promising cytotoxic potency and synergistic enhancement when paired with eugenol. Future work will focus on developing optimized nano-formulation drug delivery vehicles and conducting preliminary in vivo pharmacokinetic and therapeutic trials. Keywords: Diacerein; Rhein; COX-2 inhibitors; Eugenol; Cytotoxicity; DPPH; NSAIDs.
KNOWLEDGE, SOURCES, PERCEPTIONS, BARRIERS, AND FACILITATORS OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES UTILIZATION AMONG EMERGENCY NURSES IN THE NORTHERN WEST BANK, PALESTINE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
(An-Najah National University, 2026-08-24) Ahmad Al Sadi
Background: The concept of evidence-based practice is considered as one of the most crucial factors in helping to enhance decision-making within the medical field, which can lead to enhancing the quality of health care provided. Evidence-based practice provides safety and effectiveness of care that is centered on patients through combining research findings with expertise and values of patients. Many people have accepted the idea of evidence-based practice; however, implementing this concept in practice is still hard, especially when it comes to emergency nurses working under pressure. In Palestine, implementation of evidence-based practice is even more complicated due to political and organizational problems, and shortage of resources. Aim: This study aimed to assess knowledge, sources, perception, barriers, and facilitators of EBP utilization among emergency nurses in northern West Bank, Palestine. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study that involved 120 emergency nurses from Northern West Bank private and governmental hospitals who were chosen using a convenience sampling technique. Using a validated 67-item questionnaire, data were gathered between April to May 2026. There are sections on demographics, knowledge, perceptions, obstacles, and enablers of evidence-based practice in the questionnaire. With SPSS software, statistical analysis was carried out, including analytical and descriptive statistics. Results : From 120 nurses involved in our study, with a mean age of 34.47 ± 7.02 years. The mean score of EBP knowledge was 6.34 ± 2.04 (out of 10), while perception was 37.17 ± 2.17 (out of 50). The most frequent sources of EBP were personal experience, hospital protocols, colleagues, and internet resources. The main barriers to the use of EBP were insufficient time, heavy workload, insufficient resources, and limited English proficiency, while the main facilitators were continuous professional development programs, access to updated clinical guidelines, adequate training, and reliable internet access. There were significant differences in the level of EBP knowledge by education level (p = .043) and work experience (p = .013), but not by gender, marital status, and income. There was also a significant weak correlation between age and knowledge of EBP (rs = .242, p < .01). Conclusion: The findings indicate that the successful integration of evidence-based practice in nursing requires a system approach and involves building skills of nurses as well as improving the clinical environment. Although it seems that nurses are receptive to evidence-based practice, the success of its application depends on its integration into practice through the provision of evidence, availability of time, continuing education, up-to-date guidelines, and leadership. It should be added that the process of capacity building requires consideration of nurses’ educational and professional background.
Real Estate Price Prediction in Dubai Using Machine Learning Models with Stacking Ensemble Technique
(2026-09-28) Jodallah,Mohammed
This study empirically compares and applies several machine learning models to estimate real estate prices in Dubai. The study also investigates the effect of feature engineering and temporal dynamics on models’ performance. It uses a large-scale dataset of 610,089 residential property transactions from the Dubai Land Department (DLD) / Dubai Pulse open-data repository over the period 2015–2024. Addressing a gap identified in the literature, its contribution lies in combining temporal feature engineering (lag and rolling indicators), leakage-aware time-series validation, stacking ensemble evaluation, and valuation-specific metrics in the Dubai context. We test several machine learning models including Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, LightGBM, CatBoost, Ridge Regression, K-Nearest Neighbors as well as several different versions of a stacking ensemble. The models are tested using the standard metrics for machine learning, R², MAE, RMSE, MAPE as well as two metrics specific to financial/valuation modeling, COD and PRD. The experiments show that among the considered machine learning models the tree-based ensemble models and the stacking ensemble models clearly outperform the linear and the distance-based models. The two-stage stacking ensemble attains the highest coefficient of determination (R² = 0.8109), while CatBoost achieves the lowest error (RMSE = 660,702; R² = 0.8097) and LightGBM reaches R² = 0.8025, with feature engineering based on lag and rolling features contributing substantially to these results. In valuation terms, the leading models achieve strong consistency and minimal systematic bias, with LightGBM attaining the lowest coefficient of dispersion (COD = 13.80%) and the stacking ensemble maintaining a price-related differential close to one (PRD = 1.049). The results of the feature importance show that the structural characteristics of a property (especially the size) play the biggest role for the pricing of a property. Temporal and spatial features provide additional information that, although less explanatory for individual forecasts, improves overall forecasting performance.
النمذجة البنائية للعلاقة بين الذكاء العاطفي، الذكاء الاصطناعي والإبداع الكامن لدى طلبة المرحلة الإعدادية في الداخل الفلسطيني (1948)
(جامعة النجاح الوطنية, 2026-08-27) حكمت أحمد عبد الكريم أبو صالح
هدفت الدراسة إلى الكشف عن طبيعة العلاقة بين الذكاء العاطفي، واستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي، والإبداع الكامن لدى طلبة المرحلة الإعدادية في الداخل الفلسطيني، واختبار نموذج بنائي مقترح يفسر العلاقات بين هذه المتغيرات، إضافة إلى فحص الفروق فيها تبعًا لبعض المتغيرات التصنيفية. واعتمدت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي الارتباطي، وتكون مجتمع الدراسة من طلبة المرحلة الإعدادية في المدارس الحكومية العربية في الداخل الفلسطيني، واختيرت عينة الدراسة بالطريقة العنقودية العشوائية، وبلغ عدد أفرادها (371) طالبًا وطالبة من الصفوف السابع والثامن والتاسع. ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة، استخدمت الباحثة اختبار الإمكانات الإبداعية الكامنة (EPoC)، ومقياس الذكاء العاطفي (Bar-On EQ-i:YV) بصورته المعدلة، إضافة إلى مقياس من إعداد الباحثة لقياس استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي. وتم التحقق من الخصائص السيكومترية للأدوات باستخدام التحليلين العاملي الاستكشافي والتوكيدي، ومعاملات الثبات، كما استُخدم برنامج (AMOS) لاختبار النموذج البنائي المقترح. أظهرت النتائج أن متوسطات استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي والذكاء العاطفي جاءت ضمن المستوى المرتفع وفق مستويات الأداتين المستخدمتين في الدراسة، في حين أظهر الإبداع الكامن توزيعًا قريبًا من التوزيع المعياري لإختبار(EPoC)، مع تباين بين المجالين اللفظي والرسومي، وبين بعدي التفكير التباعدي الاستكشافي والتقاربي التكاملي، بما يؤكد طبيعته متعددة الأبعاد. كما كشفت النتائج عن عدم وجود علاقة ذات دلالة إحصائية بين الذكاء العاطفي والإبداع الكامن، وعدم وجود علاقة دالة بين استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي والإبداع الكامن، في حين ظهرت علاقة موجبة ذات دلالة إحصائية بين استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي والذكاء العاطفي، حيث أسهم استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي في تفسير (15.4%) من التباين في الذكاء العاطفي، دون أن يمتد هذا الأثر إلى الإبداع الكامن، وبذلك لم تدعم البيانات الميدانية النموذج البنائي المقترح. وعلى صعيد المتغيرات التصنيفية، ظهرت فروق في الذكاء العاطفي تُعزى لعدد ساعات استخدام أدوات الذكاء الاصطناعي يوميًا، حيث ارتبط الاستخدام المعتدل بمستويات أفضل في بعض أبعاده مقارنة بالاستخدام المرتفع. كما ظهرت فروق في استخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي تُعزى إلى الصف الدراسي، الوضع الأسري، وعدد ساعات الاستخدام اليومي، ظهرت فروق في الإبداع الكامن بالصف الدراسي، النوع الاجتماعي، الوضع الأسري، والمستوى التعليمي للأم. وأوصت الدراسة بتطوير برامج تربوية تعزز الاستخدام الواعي للذكاء الاصطناعي، وتنمية الذكاء العاطفي، وتوظيف أدوات حديثة، مثل اختبارEPoC ، في الكشف عن الإمكانات الإبداعية والاستثمار بها لدى طلبة المرحلة الإعدادية.