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Tackling the COVID-19 infodemic among Syrian refugees in Lebanon: Development and evaluation of the “Wikaytek” tool
Get PDFObjective: The COVID-19 infodemic has been a global public health challenge, especially affecting vulnerable populations such as Syrian refugees with limited internet access and functional, health, digital, and media literacies. To address this problem, we developed Wikaytek, a software to diffuse reliable COVID-19 information using WhatsApp, the preferred communication channel among Syrian refugees. In this paper, we describe the systematic development of the tool. Methods: We undertook a pilot study guided by the Humanitarian Engineering Initiative (HEI)'s user-centered design framework, comprising five stages: (a) user research, including needs assessment and desk review of interventions with target users; (b) concept design based on platform and source selection, message format, concept testing, and architecture design; (c) prototyping and implementation, encompassing software development and system operation; (d) user testing (alpha and beta); and (e) evaluation through software analytics and user interviews. We reported a qualitative process evaluation. Results: Wikaytek scrapes validated and reliable COVID-19-related information from reputable sources on Twitter, automatically translates it into Arabic, attaches relevant media (images/video), and generates an audio format using Google text-to-speech. Then, messages are broadcast to WhatsApp. Our evaluation shows that users appreciate receiving “push” information from reliable sources they can trust and prefer the audio format over text. Conclusions: Wikaytek is a useful and well-received software for diffusing credible information on COVID-19 among Syrian refugees with limited literacy, as it complements the texts with audio messages. The tool can be adapted to diffuse messages about other public health issues among vulnerable communities, extending its scope and reach in humanitarian settings. © The Author(s) 2023
Relationship Between Nature of Science and Argumentation: a Follow-Up Study
Get PDFThe purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between high school students’ understandings of aspects about nature of science (NOS) and their argumentation skills, particularly whether informed conceptions of NOS contribute to better argumentation skills. Participants, a total of 125 Grade 10 students, responded to an open-ended questionnaire, Controversial Socioscientific Issues Questionnaire (CSI), that involved two scenarios addressing socioscientific issues (SSI) about genetically modified food and water fluoridation. Each of the two scenarios was accompanied by two sets of questions that address argumentation and NOS. Stepwise regression analyses were performed on data from the participants’ responses with three NOS aspects (subjective, tentative, and empirical) as independent variables and the argumentation components (argument, counterargument, and rebuttal) as dependent variables (each at a time). The results demonstrated positive correlation between argumentation and NOS. Moreover, the results showed that the tentative, empirical, and subjective aspects are significant predictors of the argumentation components with some variations depending on the context (whether genetically modified food or water fluoridation). These results provide concrete evidence illustrating the associations between argumentation and NOS knowledge within two SSI (water fluoridation and genetically modified food). © 2022, National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan
Multidrug Resistance and Plasmid Profiles of Escherichia coli Isolated from Lebanese Broiler Farms
Get PDFThe present study was undertaken to determine the antimicrobial resistance patterns and plasmid fingerprints of commensal Escherichia coli isolated from Lebanese broiler chickens. To that end, a total of 30 E. coli isolates were collected from 15 semi-open broiler farms from North Lebanon and Bekaa Valley. Results showed that all the isolates were resistant to at least nine out of 18 evaluated antimicrobial agents. The best-performing antibiotic families were Carbapenems (Imipenem) and Quinolones (Ciprofloxacin and Norfloxacin) to which only 0.0 and 8.3% of the isolates were resistant, respectively. Fifteen various plasmid profiles were depicted, and all the isolates were found to possess one or multiple plasmids. The plasmid sizes varied from 1.2 to 21.0 kbp, and the most commonly detected plasmid had a size of 5.7 kbp (23.3% of the isolates). There was no significant association between the number of plasmids per isolate and resistance to a particular drug. Nevertheless, the presence of specific plasmids, namely, the 2.2 or 7.7 kbp sized ones, was strongly correlated to Quinolones or Trimethoprim resistance, respectively. Both the 7.7 and 6.8 kbp plasmids showed mild correlation to Amikacin resistance, and the 5.7 kbp plasmid was mildly correlated to Piperacillin-Tazobactam resistance. Our findings highlight the need to revise the list of antimicrobials currently used in Lebanese poultry and associate the presence of specific plasmids to antimicrobial resistance patterns in E. coli isolates. The revealed plasmid profiles could also serve any future epidemiological investigation of poultry disease outbreaks in the country. © 2023 Houssam Shaib et al
Modified SWAT to Forecast Water Availability in Mediterranean Mountainous Watersheds with Snowmelt Dominated Runoff
Get PDFThe assessment of the hydrological response to projected changes in climatic variables is imperative for water resources management, especially in watersheds where snowmelt represents a significant source of runoff. In this study, we modify the source code of the snow accumulation and melting algorithm of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to improve runoff simulations in snow dominated basins. A sinusoidal snowmelt function under the degree-day factor method was adopted with its parameters calibrated based on historical data. River flow simulations were compared to measured data under the modified and unmodified SWAT models. Model differences in future predictions of river flows (2032- RCP 4.5) were also assessed. The results showed that the modifications improved runoff simulations by better capturing flow dynamics as represented by daily flows and corresponding variability during the snowmelt period. The modified model increased the Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (from 0.64 to 0.79; 0.60 to 0.80; 0.70 to 0.75) and the coefficient of determination (from 48 to 67%, 48 to 69%, 58 to 70%) at three gauging stations. While both models predicted a decrease of water availability in the basin, future simulations with the modified snowmelt algorithm predicted that the drop in water availability as compared to baseline year (2008) will be less dramatic (24%) compared to predictions from the unmodified SWAT (31%). We argue that the proposed source code modifications to the snowmelt algorithm of SWAT provide better insights about future water availability in snow-dominated watersheds. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V
Interactive community-based theatre to address social barriers to accessing reproductive health services in patriarchal societies: the case of Jordan
Get PDFInteractive community-based theatre is used to engage with audience members and allow for free exchange of ideas relevant to context. It aims to bring about a new understanding of an issue while challenging people’s attitudes and perceptions. Its application within the field of sexual and reproductive health has been limited, particularly in low and middle-income contexts. This paper presents the rationale for a research-arts partnership in Jordan and describes the process and some lessons learned from the development and country-wide performances of a research-informed interactive play. The play, Mish ‘Ayb (Not a Shame) was designed to address social barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive services in a patriarchal society. The sensitive portrayal by Jordanian actors of real-life scenarios pertaining to specific health issues encouraged identification of the audience with the actors, thereby building trust. This process helped to uncover cultural norms that facilitate and impede people’s access to health services and information. Qualitative research designs that incorporate interactive theatre present a strong potential avenue to explore sensitive topics related to sexuality, particularly in patriarchal contexts. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Determinants of human papillomavirus vaccine hesitancy among Lebanese parents
No full textIntroduction Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection. HPV is responsible for cancer of cervix uteri. Despite its safety and immunogenicity, HPV vaccine hesitancy is one of the most challenging topics that pediatricians face. Methods We aimed to describe the impact of knowledge, attitude, and practice towards vaccines in general, on practice related to HPV vaccination in Lebanon. A questionnaire addressed to parents of students (3-18 years of age) was distributed in 2 public and 2 private schools randomly selected from the greater Beirut area during the school year 2017-2018. Questionnaires covered knowledge, attitude, and practices of vaccination in general and HPV vaccine in particular. Results Out of 400 distributed questionnaires, 306 (76.5%) were returned. Of the 185 parents aware of HPV vaccine, 60% hadn't given or were not planning to give the HPV vaccine to their children. Of parents not in favor of HPV vaccine, 7.5 thought that vaccines aren't necessary versus none among those in favor of HPV vaccine(p = 0.02). Thirteen percent of those not in favor of HPV vaccine thought that vaccines are not safe versus 2.7% in the group in favor (p = 0.02). An effect of gender on vaccine acceptance was noted: mothers vs fathers and daughters vs sons. Lack of recommendation by pediatricians and the thought that too little is known about the vaccine were the most selected reasons for parents not wanting to vaccinate their children against HPV, whereas cost and religious and cultural beliefs seemed to have no impact. Conclusion Most parents in our study did not vaccinate or weren't willing to vaccinate their children against HPV even when they were in favor of vaccines in general. Physician recommendation was shown to be one of the most important predictors of vaccination. Effort should be put into educating parents about the importance of the vaccine and its well-established safety and efficacy regardless of gender. Lebanese physicians should also be educated and empowered to recommend HPV vaccine more strongly and consistently. Copyright: © 2023 Zakhour et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
A Millimeter-Wave Polarization-Reconfigurable Double-Folded Antenna Array
Get PDFThis letter introduces a double-folded, polarization-reconfigurable, dual-antenna array for millimeter-wave communications. The proposed structure reconfigures its polarization by supporting either left- or right-handed circularly polarized radiation with a maximum realized gain that reaches up to 15.8 dBic for each state. Reconfiguration is achieved through the activation of a single-pole-double-throw switch. A dedicated folded feeding network with a triangular power distribution is designed to achieve the required in-phase power distribution between the ten radiating elements that compose each antenna array. The folded feeding network eliminates the need for a stacked design with integrated vias, which reduces undesired interferences and inductive parasitic effects. The fabricated prototype validates the operation of the proposed reconfigurable structure where a measured axial ratio that is less than 3 dB is achieved between 28.8 and 31.2 GHz with a measured half-power beamwidth of 13° along the direction of maximum radiation. © 2002-2011 IEEE
Streptococcus oralis pulmonic valve endocarditis: a case report and review of the literature
Get PDFBackground: Several factors increase the risk of right-sided endocarditis. The tricuspid valve is usually involved in right-sided endocarditis cases. Infective endocarditis of the pulmonic valve is rare, and few cases of pulmonic valve endocarditis were reported previously. Case presentation: Here we describe a case of a 81-year-old Middle Eastern male patient, admitted to our hospital three times in a period of 2 months for fever and cough. He had Streptococcus oralis bacteremia with vegetation that was on the pulmonic valve. We diagnosed him with pulmonic valve endocarditis, and he was treated successfully with intravenous antibiotics. Conclusion: It is important to keep high suspicion for isolated pulmonic valve endocarditis in patients with respiratory symptoms. Adequate dental care is important in patients with risk factors for infective endocarditis. © 2023, The Author(s)
Best Strategies to Support Farmers in Transitioning from Tobacco Farming to the Cultivation of HVMAPs: Case Study in Lebanon
No full textMedicinal and aromatic plants, besides being used in health and wellness industries, create an aesthetically pleasing scenery affecting the senses of vision (seeing the flowers), smell (smelling the flowers), sound (hearing the bees, birds), and taste (eating the plant-based products). Despite the multitude of benefits farmlands can offer, and the money flows it can attract, there are not always local policies, aimed at incentivizing farmers to provide such landscapes (Ciani 2014, Hatan, Fleischer et al. 2021). Allocation of agricultural land for the provision of organoleptic experiences on a farm will have a substantial multiplier effect on other ecosystem services (Simpson 2011). It is expected that when the current tobacco fields are converted into perennial herbal farmlands both for production and recreation, people will visit the farms for fun, solace, education and shopping. They could go plant gathering as a leisure and tourism activity, take therapeutic walks and practice meditation with plant-based essential oils, prepare local cuisine, discover regional customs, attend festivals, and share local history (Al-Obaidi, Desa et al. 2022). They would support the neighborhood economy and value chains by paying for experiences, services, and artisan goods. Measuring stakeholder desire to participate is crucial to develop workable policy frameworks for such entrepreneurship in agricultural settings. It is useful to know if a piece of land would be better kept to supply additional ecosystem services or allocated for direct provisioning ecosystem services only (Simpson 2011). It is also necessary to understand visitors’ feelings and perceptions of the aesthetic qualities of a landscape since it refers to its worth, relative to other values, resources, and human desires (Estruch-Guitart Vicent and Valles 2017)
Aerosol Heat and Mass Transfer in The Regulatory Science of Emerging Tobacco Products
Get PDFFor decades, the tobacco industry has manipulated the sensory characteristics of tobacco products including the degree of harshness experienced at the back of the throat. Commonly referred to as “throat hit”, this harshness derives from absorption of gas-phase nicotine by the sensory nerves. Users learn to associate throat hit with the positive psychological effects of nicotine, making throat hit a secondary reinforcer for smoking. On the other hand, throat hit can make products aversive to nicotine naïve users and can mediate inhalation patterns. In recent years, ENDS manufacturers have increased nicotine content and lowered the freebase nicotine fraction of their products, making products that can deliver palatably a high nicotine dose. In this study we developed a simplified computational model of the heat and mass transfer processes for a nicotine-containing aerosol generated by an ENDS device of given power and liquid composition flowing through the mouth and throat. We compared computed nicotine absorption in the throat to reported subjective effects from previous clinical studies conducted by our group. Across various ENDS configurations, we found that computed nicotine absorption in the upper airways strongly predicted subjective harshness scores (r=0.58; p<0.0001). This finding indicates the technical feasibility of making ENDS throat hit a regulatory target, i.e. to reduce product appeal to prospective nicotine naïve users. In addition, this work comprises three additional studies directed at assessing toxicant origins, mouth level emissions, and nicotine emission rates of novel tobacco products