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The Anonymous Multi-AttributedʿAẓama: A Network of Cosmological and Wondrous Narratives from Daniyāl’s Books in Four Manuscripts
No full textThis thesis presents an in-depth study of al-‘Aẓama as a multi-stranded intellectual project reimagined in four of its manuscripts. I approach these manuscripts through a posthuman reading that intersects with the new philological approaches by moving the text from its rigid framework to a more fluid and open network. Thus, allowing for an understanding of the transmission of knowledge production and the process of constant transformation of texts within it based on the taste and reception of the audience and the scripts’ creativity and experimental talents dealing with their sources. The analysis in this thesis is conducted on two main levels: textual and contextual. At the textual level, I examine the linguistic identity of the manuscripts (Middle Arabic), as well as the narrative and rhetorical mechanisms they employ—from the frame narrative to the apocryphal knowledge documentation methods. At the contextual level, I analyze the manuscripts in terms of the tools they offer for knowledge production, including emotions, senses, and questions, and based on their interaction with the surrounding circumstances of this production, particularly regarding the addressed tastes and the reception of the audience. Based on this analysis, the thesis proposes that this network exhibits a fluid relationship with eschatological and wondrous Adab. It also suggests a connection with a narrative and storytelling tradition traceable through specific works and with the Quran itself. Accordingly, the manuscripts are divided into two groups, each containing two manuscripts. My analysis of their interactions proposes that each group adheres to a distinctive pattern or project. For the first group, based on my reading of its project and my reimagining of it, I suggest that it has didactic project or concerns. While in light of the characteristics of the second group and its active engagement with various frameworks, I propose that this group has more epistemological concerns in its conceptualization of knowledge from the beginning of creation, with a complex and dynamic relationship to the religious texts in the literary heritage and in the Quran itself, forming a project that through its structure, themes, and ethics aligns with a particular Quranic Surah
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards Poultry Handling and Salmonella Risk Among Households in Beirut, Lebanon
No full textFood poisoning or food-borne disease (FBD) is defined as an illness that results from consuming foods contaminated with bacteria, their toxins, viruses, or parasites. Food poisoning due to improper food handling is a major public health problem globally. FBD’s are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In Lebanon, there exists a plethora of challenges which affect the consumption of safe food. Poultry has been identified as a common food vehicle for many pathogens, such as Salmonella spp. This bacterium can contribute to serious range of illnesses such as gastroenteritis which includes abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. FBD’s may be prevented and reduced with increased consumer food safety practices and knowledge.
This study aimed to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) towards poultry handling among households in Beirut, Lebanon, and to identify factors that affect KAP levels. Unfortunately, there still exists numerous misconceptions on handling chicken, therefore, this study intended to address this research gap. A cross-sectional study was conducted through face-to-face interviews among 125 households in different areas of Beirut. The interview was divided into four main parts: sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The results showed that the consumers knowledge and practices were inadequate, however, their attitude was positive. Those between 43-55 years old had higher odds of having good level of knowledge compared to those between 18-29 years old (OR = 3.889, p = 0.02). Nonetheless, those with a college education were 7.442 times more likely to have a positive attitude towards food safety compared to those with no previous formal education (p=0.005). The majority of the participants (91.2%) do not check their refrigerator and freezer temperatures regularly. Furthermore, there were significant associations (p=0.000) between the different KAP levels.
This study was intended to raise public awareness regarding handling chicken directed towards minimizing food-borne illnesses through evaluating food handlers’ knowledge and behaviors
THE IMPACT OF ESTROGEN DEFICIENCY ON CEREBRAL HOMEOSTASIS FOLLOWING ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN FEMALE MICE
No full textAcute myocardial infarction (AMI) is marked by a decline in cardiac output (CO) and a subsequent reduction in cerebral blood flow (CBF). This hypoperfusion poses a risk of brain damage and may contribute to accelerated cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the context of aging. Estrogen, known for its role in neuromodulation and hippocampal synaptic plasticity, becomes deficient during menopause, coinciding with cognitive changes and brain pathologies. The primary objective of this study is to assess whether the early stages of myocardial infarction (MI) reveal potential signs of brain injury in the presence or absence of ovariectomy. Our study involved ovariectomized and non-ovariectomized female mice subjected to left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery coronary artery ligation at five months of age. Hemodynamic analyses revealed a significant increase in left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV) and left ventricular internal diameter end diastole (LVIDd), seven days after LAD ligation in the female MI (FMI) group only. However, both the FMI and female with ovariectomy followed by a myocardial infarction (FOVX-MI) groups, exhibited a notable increase in left ventricular end systolic volume (LVESV) and left ventricular internal diameter end systole (LVIDs) after seven days post-MI. Additionally, a substantial decrease in both ejection fraction (EF) and CO, in FMI and FOVX-MI groups was observed at D7. Cardiac dysfunction is evident in the FOVX-MI group, resulting in a notable reduction in CO, however, it is noteworthy that EF demonstrates a substantial decrease in the FOVX-MI group at D7 when compared to FMI group. Several key findings emerged, including mRNA-levels that revealed the absence of increased inflammatory markers’ expression (IL-1 β, IL-6, TNF- α, iNOS, and IL-4) in the brain hippocampus. Analysis of protein blots within the hippocampus indicated the absence of significant alterations in neurotrophic and growth factors (BDNF and bFGF). Notably, no signs of neuronal apoptosis were observed, as evidenced by the unchanged expression of caspase-3 protein, and the absence of expressed chromatolysis observed by Nissl stain. Furthermore, our molecular assessment uncovered a significant but comparable increase in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) post-MI in both groups. Despite these changes, hippocampal hypoxia, assessed through hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), remained unaltered. In summary, our study did not demonstrate significant acute cerebral injuries or the initiation of chronic adverse neurological outcomes in the brain hippocampus within 7 days post-MI. This suggests a relatively short timeframe for the potential detrimental effects of MI and estrogen deficiency on the hippocampus. Further research is warranted to explore longer timeframe post-MI and its impact on cerebral injury in the presence or absence of ovariectomy
Least Gradient Problem
Get PDFFor a given continuous function g defined on the boundary of Ω where Ω is a bounded lipschitz domain in ℝsatisfying some conditions, we consider proving the existence of a function u in the space of BV(Ω) that is equal to g on the boundary in the trace sense, and the total variation of its distributional derivative evaluated over Ω is minimal among all such functions,in addition to proving uniqueness when u belongs to BV(Ω)∩C(Ω̅).The exposition go deeply in the study of BV theory and sets of finite perimeter
Enhancing AI-Based Intrusion Detection Via Generative Adversarial Networks
Get PDFAs Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to gain importance in the field of cybersecurity [1], it is being used in a variety of areas such as intrusion detection [2], securing industrial networks [3], and improving cryptography [34]. we investigated the impact of using AI for intrusion detection purposes, specifically for detecting DDOS and PortSCAN attacks. Our study indicates that different ML and DL models can achieve great results in terms of metrics.
Our findings suggest that different feature selection methods can be applied to also achieve good results even with lower number of features.
This research sheds the light also on adversarial attacks and how they affect the performance of the models from cybersecurity and AI perspectives. As the field continues to evolve, further investigation is needed in terms of robustness of the model and the datasets that are being created [4]
Inclusion of Older Syrian Refugees in the Humanitarian Response in Lebanon
No full textThis dissertation explores the health and wellbeing of older people affected by humanitarian crises, with a special focus on Syrian refugees in Lebanon and their inclusion in the humanitarian response. The study aims to explore the breadth of the literature on the health and wellbeing of older populations affected by humanitarian crises. It also aims to fill existing gaps in the literature on the unmet needs, coping strategies across the shelter, health, nutrition and food security, and water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors, and indicators of humanitarian inclusion of older Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Furthermore, it also aims to explore the perceptions and multi-dimensional determinants of their self-rated health and mental health, with a special focus on humanitarian cash assistance and its indirect effect via improving food security and affordability of healthcare. In order to achieve these objectives, the dissertation work included a scoping review of published peer-reviewed literature, and a mixed methods study with older Syrian refugees (aged 50 or older) in Lebanon. The quantitative component includes a cross-sectional survey with 461 refugees while the qualitative component included 14 key informant interviews. The scoping review showed that limited literature exists on the health and well-being of older populations affected by humanitarian crises, with most studies focusing on mental health and on non-displaced populations. The research predominantly employs cross-sectional designs and lacks evidence on the effectiveness of humanitarian health interventions and on healthcare utilization. Significant research gaps exist across multiple dimensions, including under-researched themes (e.g., NCDs, communicable diseases), contexts (e.g., armed conflicts), sub-populations (e.g., gender, mainly older men, displaced populations, older persons with disability), and study designs (longitudinal and quasi-experimental). The mixed methods study found a myriad of unmet needs across the sectors of interest, namely high rents, inappropriate shelters, high cost of medication and healthcare, inappropriate latrines and lack of access to clean and affordable water, and food insecurity. Indicators of inclusion showed poor inclusion of OSRs in the humanitarian response. SRH was mainly construed as physical health, with 4 in 10 reporting poor SRH. Risk factors included health-related variables such as number chronic diseases, bodily pain, caregiving need, and poor mental health. In addition, poor SRH was correlated with worse household hunger. On the other hand, MH was also reported to be poor by most OSRs, and the main determinants included the number of diagnosed chronic diseases, and poverty-related indicators such as the presence of household debt, consuming less than 2 meals per day, and reporting inability to afford healthcare when needed. Furthermore, exposure to severe traumatic incidents and poor neighborhood safety were correlated with poorer mental health. Cash assistance was not found to affect either outcomes directly or indirectly. However, cash assistance was found to improve household hunger. The findings point to the inadequacy and inappropriateness of cash assistance to older members of households and the need for more tailored and contextualized aid. This dissertation hence provides evidence for the gaps in the literature, and fills some of them by revealing unmet needs through a comprehensive multi-sectoral assessment. It also reveals, in detail, the coping strategies employed, and the risk factors of poor physical and mental health. Findings point to the central role of social determinants, such as poverty and lack of access to monetary resources in contexts of forced displacement and under exclusionary regulations. The dissertation also presents the first attempt to explore the effect of cash assistance on the health and wellbeing of older members of supported households. It shows, consistently with existing literature, that older populations affected by humanitarian crises are indeed overlooked by humanitarian actors, a fact that becomes grimmer when nested within a context of overlapping socioeconomic and political crises with targeted exclusionary regulations against refugees. These findings call for immediate action at the level of policy, programming, and research to ensure older populations are no longer ‘left behind’ in such complex situations
The introduction of Rayhānat Al-Alibbā Wa-Zahrat Al-Hayāt Al-Dunyā: planning and purpose in Shihāb Al-Khafājī (D. 1659 AD) literary anthology
Get PDFتنطلق هذه الرسالة في دراستها لمقدّمة كتاب الخفاجيّ من تفحّص التقاطع بين المختارات كشكل أدبيّ وبين البُنى التي شَغَلَها الخفاجيّ في مسيرته العلميّة/المهنيّة. ومن هنا تتفاعل مع حقل المختارات الأدبيّة من ناحية ومع حقل التأريخ للقرنين السادس عشر والسابع عشر الميلاديّين، فتفتح حوارًا بينهما من موقع نصّ الخفاجيّ ذاته في محاولة لتفحّص بنية النصّ ومنطق الجمع فيه. إنّ ما يميّز نصوص المختارات الأدبيّة هي المعايير الحاكمة للاختيار من جهة ومنطق نظم وعرض الموادّ ضمن أبواب أو فصول من ناحية أخرى، وعليه فإنّي أقوم بتسمية الجانبين معًا "منطق الجمع" أي جمع المادّة من ناحية وجمعها في الكتاب من ناحية أخرى. يقدّم الخفاجيّ في مقدّمة كتابه منطق الجمع هذا من خلال الخطّة التي يضعها للكتاب: تحمل المقدّمة المحاور الناظمة للكتاب ومواضيعه المُتقاطعة ما بين التجربة الشخصيّة والتاريخ والتأليف في المختارات الأدبيّة. أضف إليه، فإنّ المقدّمة تقدّم تأريخًا لتأليف الكتاب نفسه خاصّةً وأنّ الكتاب هو إعادة كتابة لكتاب آخر أو لمؤلَّف سابق للمؤلّف نفسه، ومن ناحية أخرى فهي تقدّم تخطيطًا للكتاب يسمح لنا بفهم طريقة حياكة هذه الأجزاء وفهم علاقتها ببعضها والغرض من جَمعِها في مؤلَّف واحد.
إنّ دراسة تجربة الشهاب تسمح لنا باستكمال صورة دراسات القرن السابع عشر، وتحديدًا فهي تسهم في دراسة الإنتاج الفكريّ والأدبيّ في القرن السابع عشر بعيدًا عن سرديّة الانحطاط، ويتمثّل الإسهام الرئيس لهذه الرسالة في تقديمها قراءةً لرؤية الخفاجيّ لمشروع كتابه كما يبلوره في مقدّمة الكتاب، فنستكشف من خلال هذه المقدّمة العلاقة ما بين الكتاب وحياة المؤلّف، فلا يمكن فصل عمليّة التأليف أو ما نسمّيه في رسالتنا "منطق الجمع" عن الدوائر المعرفيّة التي تحرّك فيها المؤلّف، ومثالٌ عليها موقعه العلميّ ضمن مؤسّسات السلطنة العثمانيّة وعلاقاته الشخصيّة ومحيطه الجغرافيّ. ثمّ إنّ هذه العلاقة تفرضها بنية النصّ نفسه، حيث تشير إلى الرابط النصّيّ ما بين تأريخ الخفاجيّ لنفسه وعمليّة تأليف الكتاب، ويظهر هذا جليًّا في أنّ الكتاب نفسه تحرّك ما بين نسختين، نسخة أصليّة تتمثّل بكتاب خبايا الزوايا فيما في الرجال من بقايا أعاد الشهاب ترتيبها ليؤلّف كتابه ريحانة الألبّا وزهرة الحياة الدنيا من منطلق النظر في رحلة حياته. ومن هنا فإنّ هذه الرسالة تقدّم قراءة نصّيّة بالأساس، والتي لا يمكن أن تتمّ دون فهم حياة الخفاجيّ وتاريخ تلك الفترة، وعملًا بما تقدّم فإنّها تقترح مقاربةً إضافيّةً لما قُدّمَ سلفًا عن التأليف في المختارات الأدبيّة من خلال تفحّص البُنى المعرفيّة التي تُحَرّك الكاتب في عمليّة جمعه لعناصر النصّ المختلفة من سياقات اجتماعيّة وتاريخيّة وأدبيّة. ثمّ إنّ مقاربتنا هذه سمحت لنا بتدقيق آخِر ما توصّلت إليه آخِر الأبحاث حول شخصيّة الخفاجيّ كما تظهر مثلًا في دائرة المعارف الإسلاميّة النسخة الثالثة
A Prototype Curriculum for Medical-Surgical Registered Nurses on Delirium Care in Older Adult Inpatients
Get PDFDelirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder that is highly prevalent in older adult population. This preventable disorder is often unrecognized which poses significant challenges in patient care. Registered nurses serve as an initial observer in alterations in mental status for which they play a vital role in detection and prevention of delirium. Providing an educational program for nurses is essential for optimum delirium care in older adult population.
The development process included a thorough literature review on the role of registered nurses in delirium care. In addition, it includes most common and specific assessment tools for nurses to utilize.
The project offers the development and implementation of a prototype curriculum designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of medical-surgical nurses in providing optimal care for older adult inpatients experiencing delirium. The curriculum focuses on evidence-based practices in delirium care, covering key aspects such as early recognition, comprehensive assessment, underlying etiologies, and a multidisciplinary approach to management. Interactive, case-based, and reflective learning methods are incorporated to facilitate active engagement and practical application of the acquired knowledge.
Conclusion: Delirium is a common yet often underdiagnosed condition in this population, and its proper management is crucial for improving patient outcomes. This prototype curriculum has the potential not only to improve the competence and confidence of medical-surgical nurses, but also to positively influence the standard of care provided to older adult inpatients experiencing delirium
Unveiling Gender in Text: Advanced Approaches in Language Model Analysis
No full textThis thesis investigates the complex task of gender detection in text analysis, focusing on identifying an author's gender through linguistic and stylistic analysis. The study emphasizes the role of gender detection in enhancing the precision and relevance of information processing systems, which is pivotal for more personalized content strategies and combating gender biases in various sectors such as social media, and AI-driven analytics. The research conducts an exhaustive evaluation of diverse methodologies, encompassing a range of preprocessing techniques and feature selection strategies, and assesses the effectiveness of both traditional and advanced language models like BERT, particularly in analyzing tweets. Our study's key findings show that username-based data splitting in social media, as opposed to random splitting, enhances model performance and generalization, and prevents data leakage. Integrating word and character N-Grams, along with combining linguistic and textual features, proved highly effective. BERT emerged as a superior performer among large language models, though it did not outperform traditional models. This work not only advances the understanding of gender detection but also contributes significantly to the development of more sophisticated and equitable text analysis tools in the field of computational linguistics
Impact of Dietary Lactobacillus Plantarum Postbiotics on Gut Health and Immunity of Layers Under Heat Stress Conditions
No full textThe effect of feeding lactobacillus plantarum RS5 probiotic and its products on gut health and immune status in laying hens under heat stress were assessed in this study. A total of 192 twenty-week-old pullets of an Isa White strain were randomly assigned in cages in identical environmentally controlled chambers. During the starter period from 1 to 21 days, all the birds were fed the same basal diet. On day 22, the birds were weighed and randomly divided into six treatment groups of 32 birds each.
Half of the birds were reared under regular temperature conditions, while the other half was subjected to cyclic daily heat stress gradually reaching about 30°C. Layers were offered one of three different diets: 1) Control, or 2) Control + Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 probiotic, or 3) Control + Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 postbiotic products. The liquid probiotics (RS5 in De Man Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) broth) and postbiotics (cell free supernatant in MRS broth) were mixed with 100 kg of the feed at a concentration of 200 ml and 300 ml of solution respectively and the feeding trial lasted for 5 months.
The study showed that heat stress had a negative impact on the blood profile, mainly on the concentration of red blood cells RBC (2.8 × 106 µl), hemoglobin HGB (11.34 g/dl), hematocrit HCT (27.32 %), mean corpuscular volume MCV (96.26 fl), platelets PLT (35.82 × 103/ml), mean platelet volume MPV (5.53 fl), and plateletcrit count PCT (0.02 ng/ml), where their means showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease compared to control groups at two and five months of the trial. The microscopic and macroscopic intestinal lesions highlighted the influence of probiotic/ postbiotic supplementation in the numerical improvement of the lesions that were caused by heat stress namely, mucosal cells degeneration, deciliation and the number of villi. Dietary probiotics numerically increased the humoral immunity response to Newcastle Disease vaccine at 2- and 4-weeks post vaccination, in comparison to the control group. In addition, the level of antibodies against the Fusion protein was not significantly different among various treatments.
In conclusion, both probiotics and postbiotics could be used as a potential alternative antibiotic health promoter and might alleviate the impact of heat stress in the poultry industry. New heat stress models can be evaluated while assessing various dietary probiotics and/or postbiotics in layers