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The (Re)Construction of Refugeedom: Narrating Refugee Agency in Alameddine and El Akkad
No full textWhere mass media falls short, contemporary refugee literature intervenes in its attempt to negotiate a genuine and faithful literary representation of the refugee. The purpose of this study is to show how refugee literature challenges the notion of the ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ story by employing narratological and metafictional techniques that, despite disrupting the boundary separating fiction from reality, create a necessary intersection of the legal and the literary aspects of refugee storytelling.
This thesis explores how the use of literary code-switching in contemporary refugee literature—that is both metafictional and experimental—reconstructs the image of the refugee. By conducting close readings of Rabih Alameddine’s The Wrong End of the Telescope and Omar El Akkad’s What Strange Paradise, both published in 2021, this research utilizes sociological, narratological, linguistic, and metafictional frameworks to analyze the construction of refugee characters as active subjects. My analysis reveals, in the form of an argument, that in their attempts to represent an agentic refugee, both Alameddine and El Akkad demonstrate a major struggle in refugee literature to close the habitus of difference separating the refugee from the Western reader.
This research expands on refugee discourse while incorporating numerous disciplines that encompass both legal and literary frameworks of storytelling. It fills in the gaps in the existing scholarship not only on the novels themselves by Alameddine and El Akkad but also on the analysis of experimental metafiction and Arabic code-switching in diasporic contemporary Arab American literature
Let's explore our Lebanon
No full textWelcome to the ABCD of Lebanon!
This book takes you on a colorful journey through the alphabet, where each letter introduces a special word connected to the heart and soul of Lebanon
Starting and Sustaining Writing Centers in Lebanese Schools
No full textMENA Writing Studies Journal, vol. 1.1, Spring 2025, pp. 48-64Includes bibliographical references (pages 62-63)This paper provides an overview of a project initiated in 2016 that aimed to
introduce school writing centers in Lebanon. A review of the literature at the time
reflected an urgent need for pre-university writing support systems. The spread of
school writing centers stemmed from the growth of a leading university writing
center in Lebanon. The project spanned over 3 years and covered theoretical and
practical components, with 20 schools, represented by 52 teachers, and three
universities, represented by five faculty members, attending the sessions. As a
result, six schools launched their own writing centers, adopting their own vision to
cater to their diverse student populations. In 2018, a progress assessment was
performed with the school directors, and in 2021, a questionnaire was shared with
the same group to trace theirlong-term accomplishments and challenges. Findings
showed the project not only met its aims, but also exceeded expectations, as
schools across Lebanon established successful writing centers. Although the
American model of university writing centers inspired the project, it was reshaped
to serve the needs of ESL/EFL students. In future initiatives, it will be important to
consider certain fiscal and administrative restrictions that some schools,
especially public ones, might encounter
Exploring the Gut Microbiota of Lebanese Ulcerative Colitis Patients: Implications for Disease Pathogenesis and Treatment
No full textBackground: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
affecting the colon and rectum, characterized by flare-ups and remission. UC
pathogenesis involves genetic, immune, and environmental factors, with growing
evidence that gut microbiota dysbiosis contributes to chronic inflammation and immune
dysfunction. However, specific microbial shifts in UC remain poorly characterized,
particularly in the Lebanese population. This study investigates the gut microbiota of
UC patients, focusing on microbial diversity and composition, and employs culturomics
to isolate microbial communities for further functional analysis. This approach,
combined with sequencing, addresses a gap in regional microbiota data and offers new
insights into microbial roles in UC pathogenesis.
Methods: Stool samples were collected from nine UC patients at the American
University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). Targeted metagenomics was employed
for molecular profiling via 16S rRNA gene sequencing on both the Oxford Nanopore
Technologies (ONT) MinION and Illumina MiSeq platforms. Additionally, culturomics
was used to isolate bacterial colonies from UC stool samples, enabling functional
characterization of microbial strains not captured by sequencing alone. Taxonomic
composition was assessed using bioinformatics pipelines, with quality control steps to
ensure accurate read classification.
Results: The microbial analysis revealed significant differences in UC patient gut
microbiota. The dominant phylum Bacillota (formerly Firmicutes) was associated with
a decrease in anti-inflammatory genera, such as Faecalibacterium and Roseburia. In
contrast, pathogenic genera, such as Escherichia and Shigella, were more abundant in
UC patients, aligning with dysbiosis and chronic inflammation. Additionally,
culturomics led to the isolation of 195 bacterial colonies, providing functional insights
into unculturable organisms that sequencing alone could not capture. A substantial
proportion of sequencing reads were assigned to unclassified taxa, representing
potential novel microorganisms that may play a significant role in UC pathogenesis.
Conclusion: This study provides novel insights into UC pathogenesis by revealing
significant shifts in microbial composition, including a substantial proportion of
unclassified reads. These uncharacterized taxa may represent previously unidentified
microorganisms crucial for UC progression, emphasizing the need for more
comprehensive microbiota characterization. Culturomics, which isolated 195 bacterial
strains, complements sequencing data by offering functional insights into previously
unculturable microbes, opening the door for identifying potential therapeutic targets.
These findings highlight the importance of region-specific microbial profiles in UC and
the potential for developing personalized microbiota-based therapies. Future studies
should focus on exploring these novel organisms and evaluating their role in therapeutic
applications
Predicting Emergency Department Bounce Backs: A Machine Learning Approach
No full textIn recent years, there has been a growing interest in utilizing machine learning to predict the likelihood of specific outcomes, particularly in emergency medicine. This thesis focuses on applying machine learning techniques to predict emergency department (ED) bouncebacks—unscheduled patient revisits to the ED within 72 hours—which significantly strain resources, contribute to overcrowding, and often highlight gaps in clinical care in the ED. This study specifically targets high-risk ED revisits that result in hospital admission. Methods: Patient data from a major academic hospital in Lebanon was analyzed using various machine learning algorithms, including logistic regression, neural networks, LightGBM, and XGBoost. Innovative approaches, such as frequency encoding for high-cardinality categorical variables like diagnoses and chief complaints, were employed to optimize model performance while minimizing computational complexity. A temporal training strategy was implemented, training models on data from 2018 to 2022 and part of 2023, with predictions made on the remaining portion of 2023. For the refined model, the dataset was reduced to the top 48 features of importance, supplemented with medication data, to enhance prediction accuracy further. Results: In the initial analysis, XGBoost demonstrated the highest performance among all models, achieving a sensitivity of 0.97, precision of 0.83, and an AUC-ROC of 0.99. Key predictors identified by the model included arrival-to-disposition duration, Age, Diagnosis, BP_Systolic, and Chief Complaint. In the refined model, the XGBoost model trained on a reduced feature set achieved a sensitivity of 0.86, specificity of 0.98, precision of 0.71, and an AUC-ROC of 0.99 on the test set. The refined model confirmed the importance of temporal variables, such as arrival-to-disposition duration and triage duration, alongside patient-specific and clinical features. Although the refined model exhibited a slight decrease in sensitivity, it remained the preferred choice due to its reliance on the most influential features identified in the initial analysis. Furthermore, it was trained using a temporal validation approach that mirrors real-world clinical scenarios, where models are trained on past data and tested on unseen future cases. This strategy enhances the model’s generalizability and practical applicability in dynamic healthcare environments. At the same time, incorporating medication data further improved predictive performance. Conclusion: This research highlights the potential of machine learning to support clinical decision-making by identifying high-risk ED revisits. The findings demonstrate that integrating medication data, leveraging frequency encoding for high-cardinality features, and applying temporal validation strategies enhance model performance and generalizability. By optimizing feature representation and incorporating both historical and recent patient data, the initial and refined models provide a scalable framework for predictive modeling. These approaches contribute to more accurate identification of high-risk ED bounce backs and support the future integration of machine learning in clinical practice
Tetherless Tunes: Accelerometer-Enhanced Wearable Device for Recording Songbird Vocalizations
No full textStudies have explored the complex realm of animal communication, utilizing songbirds as a model for vocal learning and social interaction, which have a lot in common with human speaking. Through examining animals such as canaries and zebra finches, scientists have discovered the neuronal foundations of vocal learning, which are similar to aspects of human language acquisition. Important social roles including mate attraction and territorial defense are notably served by songbird vocalizations, highlighting the evolutionary significance of communication systems. This research uses a revolutionary method that records bird songs using a wireless wearable device to go further into these social connections. Accelerometers have several advantages over ordinary microphones, especially when it comes to separating individual bird calls/songs from background noise.
The study uses state-of-the-art wearable equipment with a vibration sensor to record sound accurately and connects it to an advanced processing system for amplification and filtering. This novel approach to recording songbird vocalizations promises improved fidelity and clarity, and more freedom of movement for subject songbirds, providing fresh insight into the subtleties of social communication in bird species and others too
The Reno-protective Effect of Liraglutide in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Shifting Macrophage Polarization Through NADPH-TRP crosstalk Modulation
No full textBackground: Diabetes mellitus, a chronic metabolic disorder affecting millions of individuals worldwide, is associated with a multitude of complications, including diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Despite numerous choices of hypoglycemic agents use for diabetes management, DKD remains a significant health burden. Among the various agents investigated for their potential reno-protective effects is the glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), liraglutide. GLP-1RAs are primarily used in the management of type 2 diabetes, and their reno-protective mechanisms are not well defined. Furthermore, the beneficial effects of GLP-1RAs in type 1 diabetes and their action on kidney function remain understudied. Recent evidence highlights the crucial role of the immune system in DKD, with macrophages being implicated in the initiation and progression of the disease. Furthermore, extensive data from our group and others have shown that reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction and calcium signaling dysregulation also play a crucial role in the progression of the disease. We hypothesize that the mechanism behind inflammatory deregulation is macrophage polarization towards an M1 pro- inflammatory phenotype instead of an M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype. This is associated with increased ROS production and calcium signaling alteration. Consequently, this study aims to investigate the mechanism behind the reno-protective effect of liraglutide in a type 1 diabetic animal model and to elucidate its effect on macrophage polarization by modulating NADPH oxidase - TRP crosstalk. Materials and methods: Adult male Sprague Dawley rats as well as C57/BL6J mice were divided into three groups: a control group (C), an STZ-induced insulin deficient animal model group mimicking type 1 diabetes, T1D (D), and a T1D group treated with subcutaneous injections of liraglutide at a dose of 0.3mg/kg twice daily (DL) for8 and 13 weeks period. Following treatment, renal function studies were performed after which mice were sacrificed and the 2 kidneys removed for histopathological, biochemical, and molecular analyses. Results:
Liraglutide treatment significantly improves diabetes-induced kidney injury despite the sustained high glucose levels, by reducing renal hypertrophy, decreasing blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels, serum creatinine (sCr), urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR), and proteinuria. Histopathology analysis shows reduced glomerular hypertrophy, decreased glomerulosclerotic index, and reduced collagen deposition. These functional changes were paralleled by a normalization of fibronectin, collagen IV, WT1, nephrin and podocin expression. Besides, liraglutide treatment decreases mRNA levels and protein expression of general inflammatory cytokines, as well as specific markers of M1 macrophage phenotype. Conversely, there was an increase in the mRNA and protein levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines, along with an increase in markers of M2 macrophage phenotype. Besides, liraglutide treatment attenuates ROS overproduction, as evidenced by the reduction of NADPH oxidase activity in mice kidney biopsies. In addition, liraglutide treatment restores the expression of TRPM2 and TRPC6 cation channel expression to near normal levels. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show an anti-inflammatory reno-protective effect of liraglutide in T1DM manifested by a shift in macrophage polarization from the M1 inflammatory phenotype to the M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype associated with a modulation of the NADPH-TRP crosstalk
“Turcos” in 20th-Century Latin American Literature: Representations of the Lebanese in Gallegos’ “Los Inmigrantes,” García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Fayad’s La Caída de los Puntos Cardinales
No full textThis thesis examines the literary representations of Lebanese immigrants in Latin American literature, focusing on how their complex identities are shaped, contested, and reconstructed in different narrative forms. As I analyze Rómulo Gallegos’ short story Los Inmigrantes (1922), Gabriel García Márquez’s novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981), and Luis Fayad’s novel La Caída de los Puntos Cardinales (2000), I aim to explore the complexities of the Turco figure—a term historically used in Latin America to refer to Syrian and Lebanese immigrants. Drawing on theories of Orientalism, self-identity, and exile, this research introduces the concept of Turco Orientalism to investigate how these representations interact with national discourses of belonging and exclusion. Through a close reading of formal elements such as narrative structure and language used by the narrator and the characters, this thesis argues that while early depictions of Lebanese immigrants often relied on reductive stereotypes, later narratives offer a more nuanced portrayal of their struggles with assimilation, cultural hybridity, and displacement. In doing so, this study contributes to the broader discourse on migration, identity formation, and the evolving literary history of Arab-Latin American communities
The Day the Moon Visited the Earth
No full textA children's book, created by AUB students from the Education Department, for the course EDUC218 as a final project.The Moon sets out on an extraordinary adventure from space to discover friends among the people of Earth. The Moon unexpectedly lands in the backyard where two brothers discover it while showing great interest and happiness. The night becomes magical as the pair create memories through playful laughter before immersing themselves in creative games and whimsical storytelling and dancing cheerfully under starlight. The Moon expresses gentle tales as their recently formed partnership illuminates the night sky with brilliant sparks. The Moon says goodbye as dawn nears while promising more future travel before departing peacefully to leave behind pleasant memories for the boys to cherish beneath moonlight. The story radiates joy about friendship together with fantasy and enchanted staples that exist daily
Investigating the Effects of Fosfomycin on Cognition, Sensory Processing, Locomotor Function and Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Healthy Rats
Full text linkNeurogenesis is primarily defined as the development of neurons, which occur in several locations of the brain including the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. This region is responsible for learning and memory, along with spatial processing and cognition. The proliferation stage of neurogenesis is the earliest stage in which the neural stem cells produced can be affected by a variety of factors, such as antibiotic toxicity. Fosfomycin (FOS) is a very reactive broad-spectrum antibiotic that works by disrupting the early stages of bacterial cell wall synthesis and is commonly prescribed for urinary tract infections. Our laboratory has previously published a study that entails a decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis upon administering the required dosage of FOS to treat induced-UTIs in Sprague-Dawley rats. In this study, we will delve in a deeper focus on the potential neurotoxic effects of Fosfomycin on proliferating neural stem cells in the absence of infection