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Prediction of water retention properties of Syrian clayey soils
No full textInternational audienceStudies on clayey soils developed in temperate areas have shown that their water retention properties are related to both the clay content and the specific pore volume of the clay, the latter being related to the hydric history of the soil. Our objective was to discuss the validity of these results for clayey soils developed in semi-arid areas. Samples were collected in soils located in Syria. Physico-chemical properties were determined. Water content was measured at field capacity and for water potentials ranging from-10 to-15000 hPa. X-ray diffraction analyses were performed on the clay fraction to identify the clay. Results showed that the clays have both a high cation exchange capacity (0.707 to 0.891 mmol+ per g of clay) and a high external specific surface area (112 and 178 m² per g of clay). 2 These values are consistent with the X-ray diffraction results which showed the presence of a high proportion of smectite in most horizons and secondarily of varying proportions of illite and chlorite; kaolinite, while present, was not abundant. Results also showed that the amount of water retained by the clay according to the water potential was closely related to the specific pore volume of the clay at field capacity. Regression equations established by using both the data published earlier and those of this study enabled us to predict the water retention properties of clayey soils for a larger range of clay mineralogy and climatic environments including semi-arid environments than previously discussed in the literature
Correlates of bullying perpetration among Lebanese adolescents: a national study
No full textInternational audienceBackground: Presently, 1 in 4 Lebanese adolescents is involved in bullying, with 12% being perpetrators. In Lebanon, around 90% of bullying incidents occur in schools. Given the lack of studies tackling bullying perpetration in Lebanon, this study aims to identify and target risk factors of bullying perpetration among Lebanese adolescents, which would serve future prevention and intervention programs. Methods: This cross-sectional study took place between January and May 2019 in a proportionate random sample of schools from all Lebanese districts. A total of 1810 (90.5%) out of 2000 students accepted to participate. Results: Results showed that 831 (49.1%, CI: 0.46-0.51) participants had bullied other people. A stepwise linear regression, using as the dependent variable the bullying perpetration score, showed that higher psychological (β = 0.12; 95% CI 0.083-0.176), sexual (β = 0.26; 95% CI 0.128-0.411), neglect (β = 0.08; 95% CI 0.051-0.120), physical abuse (β = 0.13; 95% CI 0.036-0.235), higher internet addiction (β = 0.07; 95% CI 0.057-0.097), higher social fear (β = 0.10; 95% CI 0.075-0.140), and having separated parents (β = 1.60; 95% CI 0.561-2.650) were significantly associated with more bullying perpetration. Higher social avoidance (β = − 0.03; 95% CI-0.062-0.003) was significantly associated with less bullying perpetration. Conclusion: The results revealed that bullying perpetration is significantly associated with parental status, child abuse, internet addiction, and social fear. Educational and relevant governmental institutions could use our findings to develop and implement efficient bullying prevention and intervention programs for all involved parties
Suicidal ideation among Lebanese adults: scale validation and correlates
No full textInternational audienceBackground: According to the World Health Organization (WHO) figures in 2015, the number of people attempting suicide worldwide per year exceeds 800,000 individuals. The majority of completed suicides (78%) occur in low-and middle-income countries. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the suicidal ideation subscale of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale and evaluate risk factors (emotional intelligence, alexithymia, anxiety, depression, and stress) related to suicidal ideation among the Lebanese adult population. Methods: A structured cross-sectional survey was carried out between November 2017 and March 2018, enrolling a proportionate random sample of 789 community-dwelling participants from all the Lebanese regions. A correlation analysis between the C-SSRS and anxiety and depression assessed the convergent validity of the scale. An exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis validated its construct. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess internal consistency reliability. Multiple linear regression was performed using the suicidal ideation score as the dependent variable. All variables were included in the multivariable model. Results: The C-SSRS scale converged over a solution of one factor; the proportion of explained variance was 0.797. The Cronbach's alpha value was good (0.797). The convergent validity was tested with depression and anxiety scales. The results showed a moderate positive correlation between the suicide ideation score and depression (rho = 0.507, p < 0.001) and anxiety (rho = 0.402, p < 0.001). The multivariable analysis showed that higher depression (Unstandardized Beta, B = 0.035, p < 0.001), higher anxiety (B = 0.015, p = 0.008), and higher alcohol dependence (B = 0.024, p < 0.001) were significantly linked to higher suicidal ideation score. However, higher self-esteem (B =-0.041, p = 0.006) was significantly associated with lower suicidal ideation scores. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the Arabic version of the C-SSRS subscale could serve as an appropriate assessment tool for suicidal ideation. This paper also gave insights into factors correlated with higher suicidal ideation scores, such as depression, anxiety, and alcohol dependence. Further studies are necessary to confirm our findings and implement suicide prevention programs
Self-assessment of social cognition in a sample of Lebanese in-patients with schizophrenia
No full textInternational audienceObjective: The primary objective was to evaluate social cognitive complaints in a sample of chronic in-patients with schizophrenia and compare it to healthy controls. The secondary objective was to explore factors related to social cognitive complaints in these patients, such as neurocognition, clinical symptoms, depression, and insight.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted between July 2019 and March 2020 at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross (HPC)-Lebanon enrolled 120 chronic in-patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders and 60 healthy controls. The Self-Assessment of Social Cognition Impairments (ACSo) scale was used to assess social cognitive complaints.Results: A significant difference was found between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls in all social cognitive complaints: theory of mind complaint, attributional biases complaint, emotional processes complaint, and social perception and knowledge complaint (p < 0.001 for all). All objective cognitive disorders were significantly associated with social cognitive complaints except for attention and speed of information processing. Higher verbal memory and verbal fluency were significantly associated with lower emotional processes complaint scores. The results of the multivariate analysis showed that a higher cognition (Beta = -0.08, p = 0.001) was significantly associated with a lower social cognitive complaint, contrary a higher depression (Beta = 0.38, p = 0.04) was significantly associated with a higher social cognitive complaint, in particular attributional biases complaints.Conclusion: This study showed that patients with schizophrenia have complaints about their social cognition. It could also demonstrate that subjective social cognitive complaints are correlated with depressive symptoms and objective cognitive deficits among these patients
Local variations of air velocity in the vicinity of filter pleats in transitional airflow regime – Experimental and numerical approaches
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Assessing crack initiation and propagation in flax fiber reinforced clay subjected to desiccation
No full textInternational audienceNowadays, raw earth construction is an area of growing interest, both for its eco-friendly characteristics and very interesting thermo-hygroscopic properties. Nevertheless, this type of construction exhibits a weakness related to cracking due to the shrinkage strains caused by desiccation. In this context, this paper presents an experimental study of restrained drying-shrinkage, carried out on a fine clayey soil. Several amounts of soil reinforcement with orderly layout patterns using vegetal flax fibers have been investigated in order to enhance soil properties. The new feature of this work is the analyzing of crack initiation and propagation by coupling the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method with the Clay-Ring-Test (CRT) technique, using an innovative device called DIC-CRT. Suction measurements in clay samples are performed during desiccation using tensiometers. A good agreement is noticed between suction and strain evolution until cracking revealing the direct influence of suction on clay shrinkage. Through the two techniques, DIC and CRT, a relevant parameter to quantify crack intensity in materials is proposed. A significant decrease of crack ratio, by a factor of about 8, highlights the impact of soil reinforcement on the level of crack opening. Likewise, a significant decrease, by a factor of about 20, is observed in the analysis of DIC and CRT slopes, highlighting the impact of reinforcement on the kinetic of crack opening
Variation of psychological and anthropometrics measures before and after dieting and factors associated with body dissatisfaction and quality of life in a Lebanese clinical sample
No full textInternational audienceObjective: The primary objective of this study was to assess a change in the psychological states (stress, self-esteem, anxiety and depression), anthropometric measurements and physical/mental quality of life before and after diet in a sample of Lebanese subjects visiting a diet clinic. The secondary objectives included the evaluation of factors associated with body dissatisfaction, mental and physical quality of life (QOL) before the intervention of the diet program and the change in quality of life after this intervention among those participants. Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted between May and August 2018, enrolled 62 participants recruited from three diet clinics. The QOL was measured using the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and the psychological states was measured using the following scales: The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Results: A significant reduction in body dissatisfaction, anxiety, waist, weight and body fat and a significant increase in the physical and mental quality of life was seen after diet compared to before it (p < 0.001 for all). No significant variation in perceived stress (p = 0.072), self-esteem (p = 0.885), and depression (p = 0.353) after diet were found. Higher BMI (β = 0.440) and higher anxiety (β = 0.132) were associated with higher body dissatisfaction scores, whereas higher self-esteem (β = − 0.818) was significantly associated with lower body dissatisfaction. Higher perceived stress (β = − 0.711), higher body dissatisfaction (β = − 0.480) and being a female (β = − 4.094) were associated with lower mental QOL. Higher Physical Activity Index was significantly associated with higher mental and physical QOL (β = 0.086 and β = 0.123 respectively). Conclusion: The results indicate the effectiveness of diet programs in enhancing the quality of life, psychological and anthropometric measures
Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Arabic version of the BACS scale (the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia) among chronic schizophrenic inpatients
No full textInternational audienceAbstract Background Assessment of cognitive disorders in schizophrenia is becoming a part of clinical and research practice by using batteries that differ widely in their content. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) was developed to cover the main cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. The objective of this study was to assess concurrent validity of the Arabic version of the BACS with a standard neurocognitive battery of tests in Lebanese patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Methods A sample of 120 stable inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 60 healthy controls received the Arabic version of the BACS in a first session, and a standard battery in a second session. Results Mean duration of completion for the BACS was 31.2 ± 5.4 min in patients with schizophrenia. All tests demonstrated significant differences between controls and patients ( p < .01). Principal components analysis demonstrated that a one-factor solution best fits our dataset (64.8% of the variance). High Cronbach alpha was found (.85). The BACS composite scores were significantly correlated with the standard battery composite scores in patients ( r = .73, p < .001) and healthy controls ( r = .78, p < .001). Also, correlation analysis between the BACS sub-scores and the standard battery sub-scores showed significant results ( p < .05). Conclusion Results showed that the Arabic version of the BACS demonstrated high ability to discriminate patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls and it is a useful tool for assessing cognition in patients with schizophrenia and could be used in clinical practice in Lebanon
Prevalence of Posttranscatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Vascular Complications in Real Life
No full textInternational audienceBackground: Vascular complications (VCs) are commonly observed after transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures. Closure devices for the access site were developed to reduce their incidence. We aim to evaluate the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of the occurrence of post-TAVI VCs.Materials and methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 1336 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI at the University Hospital of Toulouse, France, between January 2016 and March 2020. All included procedures were performed through the common femoral artery, and ProGlide® was the used closure device. The studied population was divided into two groups depending on the occurrence of VCs defined according to Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 criteria.Results: The mean age of the studied population was 84.4 ± 6.9, and 48% were male. 90% of TAVI interventions were performed through the right femoral artery. The prevalence of VCs was 18.8%, and 3.7% were major. Prolonged procedure duration was an independent predictor of VCs. Using the right access site and smaller introducer size (14 Fr) were preventive factors. No significant difference in mortality rate was detected between the two groups.Conclusion: This study showed a low prevalence for post-TAVI VCs, especially for the major type. An increase in bleeding events and prolonged cardiac care unit stay were the common adverse outcomes
