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Commentary on the endocrine society clinical practice guideline on the “treatment of hypercalcemia of malignancy in adults”
Get PDFCan Sustainable Pasture Management Improve the Ecosystem Services for Small Ruminant Farmers and Rural Communities? A Case Study from West Bekaa, Lebanon
Get PDFRangelands represent the most extensive land cover type of the earth’s land area. They
are natural ecosystems embracing genetic resources of microorganisms, animals and
plants. Worldwide, rangelands’ diverse ecosystems provide a wide diversity of services:
some can be traded within traditional market systems others have intangible values. Given
the unavailability and outdated policies in Lebanon toward the importance of these
services to sustain these ecosystems, rangeland management plans must be set to preserve
their services.
This study assesses the ecosystem services of rangelands in the chosen villages of the
West Bekaa, to propose management plans for the use of these services in a sustainable
way allied with regulations for a sustainable management of the rangeland.
This study was conducted in the West Bekaa, more specifically in the villages of Ammiq,
Khorbet Qanafar, Ain Zebde, Saghbine,Bab Mareh, Aitanit and Machghara.
Data was collected from the database of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Unit (ESDU) at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Information was retrieved on
livestock farming, history and current status in addition to uses, grazing routes and
adaptation strategies. Furthermore, data was retrieved from database on perceived
rangeland ecosystem services by people who forage edible plants as well as changes
occurring throughout time, any regulations enforced by the municipalities towards
grazing and rangeland managements.
A case-study on pasture management plan was implemented in the West Bekaa to
investigate the benefits it offers to the farmers and other stakeholders that were involved.
Results show that shepherds are shifting to sedentary farming systems following the
depletion of pastures and their farming cost is increasing making it hard to continue with
their activities in the absence of governmental support. Concerning people who forage,
their benefits from rangelands differ between the selling of products, household
consumption, foraging, hunting and woodcutting. Local authorities knowledge that
grazing is forbidden in the villages but is practiced illegally, therefore there is a need for
sustainable rangeland management plans accompanied with policies to enforce these
plans, some of which are recommended, with an assumption of improving ecosystem
services for pasture users
Trophoblast Differentiation: Interest in the Controversial HTR-8/SVneo Cell Line as Model of Extravillous Trophoblast Differentiation and Specification
No full textBackground: The human placenta is a transient organ that provides the interface between the fetus and the mother. Trophoblasts, the functional cell type of the placenta, differentiate along two pathways; the villous or the extra-villous pathway. A successful pregnancy outcome largely depends on the ability of progenitor cytotrophoblasts (CTBs) to exit the cell cycle, change from epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype through EMT process and differentiate into various subtypes of extra-villous CTBs (evCTBs), including the interstitial CTBs. Due to limiting access to human first trimester placentas and the scarcity of models in the field, HTR-8/SVneo cell line has been widely used in elucidating extra-villous trophoblast biology and functions. Recently, our group used various experimental approaches to prove that the HTR-8/SVneo cell line undergoes EMT under normal culture conditions.
Objective: Our aim is to investigate the ability of HTR-8/SVneo cells to fully recapitulate the phenotypic heterogeneity of evCTB differentiation pathway observed in vivo.
Methods: The morphology of cells from various passages was assessed using phase-contrast microscopy. Moreover, the expression of classical EMT markers was interrogated using quantitative real-time PCR and immunofluorescence (IF) analysis. Furthermore, spheres formation assay was conducted on different cell passages, after which spheres were transferred onto 5% matrigel in 2D culture. A morphological assessment of the cells propagating from the spheres was conducted, in addition to evaluating the expression of the epithelial and mesenchymal markers using immunofluorescence.
Results: Morphological assessment using IF analysis revealed that an epithelial large polygonal-like morphology prevailed in culture alongside the appearance of large multinucleated cells. These observations were further corroborated by the shift in the mesenchymal gene expression profile in sorted cells that have undergone EMT towards a mainly epithelial gene expression pattern in cells at late passages. Furthermore, our IF analysis showed that cells propagating from spheres generated from cells at late passages had an epithelial large polygonal-like phenotype.
Conclusion/Future Perspectives: In summary, our data provide solid evidence that the the HTR-8/SVneo cell line serves as a reliable model for evCTB differentiation. Further investigation is required to unravel the molecular mechanisms underpinning this differentiation process
The Therapeutic Wound Healing Bioactivities of Various Medicinal Plants
Get PDFThe skin serves as the body’s first line of defense, guarding against mechanical, chemical, and thermal damage to the interior organs. It includes a highly developed immune response that serves as a barrier against pathogenic infections. Wound healing is a dynamic process underpinned by numerous cellular activities, including homeostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling, that require proper harmonious integration to effectively repair the damaged tissue. Following cutaneous damage, microorganisms can quickly enter the tissues beneath the skin, which can result in chronic wounds and fatal infections. Natural phytomedicines that possess considerable pharmacological properties have been widely and effectively employed forwound treatment and infection prevention. Since ancient times, phytotherapy has been able to efficiently treat cutaneous wounds, reduce the onset of infections, and minimize the usage of antibiotics that cause critical antibiotic resistance. There are a remarkable number of wound-healing botanicals that have been widely used in the Northern Hemisphere, including Achiella millefolium, Aloe vera, Althaea officinalis, Calendula officinalis, Matricaria chamomilla, Curcuma longa, Eucalyptus, Jojoba, plantain, pine, green tea, pomegranate, and Inula. This review addresses the most often used medicinal plants from the Northern Hemisphere that facilitate the treatment of wounds, and also suggests viable natural alternatives that can be used in the field of wound care. © 2023 by the authors
Navigating Dahiyeh, negotiating everyday peace: mediation practices across Beirut’s Southern Suburbs
Get PDFHow do ‘ordinary’ residents in violently contested cities navigate everyday conflict? Who do they turn to and how do they induce more powerful actors to step in and resolve their conflicts? How do socio-spatial structures shape everyday mediation practices? And what do these practices tell us about the constructive potential of cities? To explore the duality of destruction and construction in contested cities, we draw on fieldwork conducted across Beirut’s Southern Suburbs (Dahiyeh), bringing it into dialogue with a Bourdieusian framework to analyse residents’ experiences of informal mediation as everyday urban peace practices. While these practices are shaped by Dahiyeh’s particular context, they speak to practices in other urban contexts, in both the Global North and Global South. We make theoretical contributions by bringing the everyday peace and urban peacebuilding literatures together and contributing to their vernacular, spatial and practice turns, and by developing a spatialised subaltern reading of Bourdieu. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Dispensing and Purchasing Antibiotics Without Prescription: A Cross-sectional Study Among Pharmacists and Patients in Beirut, Lebanon
No full textAntimicrobial resistance is a global public health issue, exacerbated by dispensing and purchasing antibiotics without a prescription, common in low- and middle-income countries, such as Lebanon. This study aimed to (1) describe behavioral patterns underpinning dispensing and purchasing antibiotics without a prescription among pharmacists and patients, (2) describe reasons for, and (3) attitudes toward these behaviors. A cross-sectional study targeted pharmacists and patients, respectively, identified through stratified random sampling and convenience sampling from all 12 Beirut quarters. Questionnaires assessed behavioral patterns, reasons for, and attitudes toward dispensing and purchasing antibiotics without prescription among the 2 samples. A total of 70 pharmacists and 178 patients were recruited. About a third (37%) of pharmacists supported dispensing antibiotics without a prescription, considering it acceptable; 43% of patients report getting antibiotics without a prescription. Reasons for distributing and purchasing antibiotics without prescription include financial costs associated with the drugs and convenience, coupled with inexistent law enforcement. Dispensing antibiotics without prescription was shared among a relatively high proportion of pharmacists and patients residing in Beirut. Dispensing antibiotics without prescription is common in Lebanon, where law enforcement needs to be stronger. National efforts, including anti-AMR campaigns and law enforcement, must be rapidly implemented to avoid the double disease burden, especially when old and new vaccines are available, and superbugs are making preventative public health efforts more difficult. © The Author(s) 2023
Quadratically presented grade three Gorenstein ideals
No full textLet J be a quadratically presented grade three Gorenstein ideal in the standard graded polynomial ring R=k[x,y,z], where k is a field. Assume that R/J satisfies the weak Lefschetz property. We give the presentation matrix for J in terms of the coefficients of a Macaulay inverse system for J. (This presentation matrix is an alternating matrix and J is generated by the maximal order Pfaffians of the presentation matrix.) Our formulas are computer friendly; they involve only matrix multiplication; they do not involve multilinear algebra or complicated summations. As an application, we give the presentation matrix for J1=(xn+1,yn+1,zn+1):(x+y+z)n+1, when n is even and the characteristic of k is zero. Generators for J1 had been identified previously; but the presentation matrix for J1 had not previously been known. The first step in our proof is to give improved formulas for the presentation matrix of a linearly presented grade three Gorenstein ideal I in terms of the coefficients of the Macaulay inverse system for I. © 2023 Elsevier Inc
High fat diet exacerbates long-term metabolic, neuropathological, and behavioral derangements in an experimental mouse model of traumatic brain injury
No full textAims: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) constitutes a serious public health concern. Although TBI targets the brain, it can exert several systemic effects which can worsen the complications observed in TBI subjects. Currently, there is no FDA-approved therapy available for its treatment. Thus, there has been an increasing need to understand other factors that could modulate TBI outcomes. Among the factors involved are diet and lifestyle. High-fat diets (HFD), rich in saturated fat, have been associated with adverse effects on brain health. Main methods: To study this phenomenon, an experimental mouse model of open head injury, induced by the controlled cortical impact was used along with high-fat feeding to evaluate the impact of HFD on brain injury outcomes. Mice were fed HFD for a period of two months where several neurological, behavioral, and molecular outcomes were assessed to investigate the impact on chronic consequences of the injury 30 days post-TBI. Key findings: Two months of HFD feeding, together with TBI, led to a notable metabolic, neurological, and behavioral impairment. HFD was associated with increased blood glucose and fat-to-lean ratio. Spatial learning and memory, as well as motor coordination, were all significantly impaired. Notably, HFD aggravated neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration. Also, cell proliferation post-TBI was repressed by HFD, which was accompanied by an increased lesion volume. Significance: Our research indicated that chronic HFD feeding can worsen functional outcomes, predispose to neurodegeneration, and decrease brain recovery post-TBI. This sheds light on the clinical impact of HFD on TBI pathophysiology and rehabilitation as well. © 2022 Elsevier Inc
Agrarian Transition and Food Security in the Village of Nahle, Northern Bekaa
Get PDFMy thesis addressed agrarian transition and livelihood diversification and how they contribute to remarkable changes in the survival of rural households in parts of the developing world, in Lebanon and particularly in the Lebanese village Nahle. It included these issues in the rural African countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia, in the Vietnamese rural area, and in the rural communities in Rwanda and Honduras. Literature reviews on livelihood diversification identified many reasons behind its prevalence amongst rural households in developing countries. Agrarian transition and its accompanying livelihood diversification can have various impacts on the agricultural sectors and food and nutrition security of most developing countries including Lebanon. In this regard, agricultural transformation and livelihood diversification can strengthen food and nutrition security and livelihood resilience to predicaments such as pandemics, wars and economic crises and be pro-poor. To test the validity of this hypothesis, a sample of 150 heads of households in the Lebanese village of Nahle was selected. The following survey tools were used based on a system of indicators for assessing food and nutrition security: 1) Livelihood Questionnaire, 2) Food Consumption Score (FCS), 3) Household Expenditure Module, and 4) Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software, the results were statistically analyzed. The findings indicate that most of the permanent residents in Nahle shifted from full-agrarian to non-agrarian sources of livelihood between the 1960 period and the recent crises’ period which extends from September 2019 and June 2021. The village of Nahle witnessed a decline in the cultivation of wheat and barley used for the preparation of staple foods in the Lebanese diet. The study also found out that using both scales, the Lebanese scale and the global scale categories’ grouping of FIES raw scores, about 70 percent of the sample studied in Nahle experiences food insecurity. Thus, this decline negatively impacted the food security and the socio-economic status and well-being of Nahle villagers. Therefore, to combat the prevalence of food insecurity in the village of Nahle, it is highly recommended to revitalize the Bekaa valley, especially Nahle village, with cereal and legumes cultivation. In addition, there was no significant association between livelihood sources and the heads of households’ (HH) food security according to their food consumption neither between livelihood sources and food security (through testing global and Lebanese FIES scales) of Nahle residents; nevertheless, results showed a significant relationship between the FCS and FIES variables: those who had higher affirmative answers in the FIES were more likely to have significantly low scores in the FCS. Moreover, results also showed a significant positive association between total expenditure and income and the correlation between the two indicators is almost moderate; income significantly explains observed variations in expenditures: those who had higher income were more likely to have significantly high expenditures. In the retrieved results and its analysis, food insecurity was found more prevalent among the studied heads of households in the village of Nahle. As a conclusion, the null hypothesis was rejected and Lebanon National Agricultural Strategy (NAS) (2020-2025) was recommended
Improved Weighted Restriction Estimates in R3
Get PDFSuppose 0 < α≤ n , H: Rn→ [0 , 1] is a Lebesgue measurable function, and Aα(H) is the infimum of all numbers C for which the inequality ∫ BH(x) dx≤ CRα holds for all balls B⊂ Rn of radius R≥ 1 . After Guth introduced polynomial partitioning to Fourier restriction theory, weighted restriction estimates of the form ‖Ef‖Lp(B,Hdx)≲RϵAα(H)1/p‖f‖Lq(σ) have been studied and proved in several papers, leading to new results about the decay properties of spherical means of Fourier transforms of measures and, in some cases, to progress on Falconer’s distance set conjecture in geometric measure theory. This paper improves on the known estimates when E is the extension operator associated with the unit paraboloid P⊂ R3 , reaching the full possible range of p, q exponents (up to the sharp line) for p≥ 3 + (α- 2) / (α+ 1) and 2 < α≤ 3 . © 2023, Mathematica Josephina, Inc