Factors influencing development of management strategies for the Abou Ali River in Lebanon. I: Spatial variation and land use

Surface water bodies are progressively subject to increasing stress as a result of environmentally degrading processes primarily related to anthropogenic activities. This study assesses and examines the impact of land use and anthropogenic activities on the spatial variation in water quality of the Abou Ali River in North Lebanon. It is the first detailed study of its kind in Lebanon and adds to the existing Knowledge by shedding light on a relatively small Mediterranean river in a developing country where there is a paucity of such studies. The assessment was conducted at the end of the dry season in 2002 and 2003 and the end of the wet season in 2003 and 2004. The study has demonstrated the importance of anthropogenic influences on the water quality of the Abou Ali River Basin, as concentrations of most contaminants were higher at locations with greatest human activity. The most adversely affected area was the section of the river that flows through an entirely urbanized and highly populated region, the Tripoli conurbation. Upstream rural sites were enriched by contaminants primarily from non-point sources such as agricultural runoff and poultry litter whereas contaminant concentrations at the urban sites were enriched by a combination of sewage discharge and flow of contaminants from upstream. If the Abou Ali River is to be utilized as a managed water resource and its water quality sustained, point source discharges will require treatment and land use management must be planned to minimize the impact of diffuse source pollution on the river. A high priority should be given to the implementation and enforcement of the precautionary and polluter pays principles. Moreover, an effective legal, economic and institutional framework is required to encourage investment in waste reduction and control and to introduce environmentally sound practices

Dysregulation of micro-RNA contributes to the risk of unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss

Although there are plenty of evidence that dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) level is involved in many human diseases, it is still unknown whether abnormal levels of specific miRNAs are associated with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). We believe that such an association do exist as this study confirmed significant differences in the level of specific miRNAs between RPL cases and healthy controls. The study was conducted on 100 Palestinian women: 60 patients with at least two unexplained consecutive pregnancy losses half of them were pregnant at the first trimester and the rest were non-pregnant and 40 healthy controls with at least two live births and no history of pregnancy loss; half of them were at their first trimester of pregnancy and the rest were non-pregnant. We investigated the relative expression of miR-21, miR-126, miR-155, miR-182, miR-222 and miR-517* using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Ct method experiments. Differential expression was evaluated using Student t-test and fold change analyses. The expression difference of miR-21, miR-126 and miR-182 between patients and controls in the pregnant subjects showed statistically significant difference (p-value ≤ 0.05) with fold decrease of 1.5, 1.6 and 5.6, respectively. In the non-pregnant group miR-21, miR-126, miR-222 and miR-517* expressions were significantly different with fold decrease of 2.4, 2.9, 2.7 and 11.8, respectively. In conclusion, at least miR-21 and miR-126 could serve as potential markers for idiopathic RPL as their levels were significantly lower in patients before being pregnant and during pregnancy. Moreover, restoration of the normal level of those miRNAs might be a novel intervention strategy in unexplained RPL

Developing Landsat Based Algorithms To Augment In Situ Monitoring Of Freshwater Lakes And Reservoirs

Many lakes and reservoirs lack adequate water quality monitoring programs. With little information on the state of these systems, managing these resources and their contributing watersheds is a challenge. The use of remote sensing presents an opportunity to better characterize these freshwater systems. The full potential of using the Landsat program to measure optically active water quality parameters, such as chlorophyll-a, suspended sediments and water clarity was explored using the Qaraoun Reservoir in Lebanon as a case study. An in situ monitoring program was developed and synchronized with the overpass of Landsat 7 and the newly launched Landsat 8 satellites in an effort to develop, calibrate, and validate empirical relationships that link water quality parameters with sensor radiances. Collected monitoring data revealed that the reservoir was hypereutrophic, with median summer chlorophyll-a concentrations exceeding 70 ug/L. The generated models showed promise in capturing the state of the reservoir, with some differences between the models developed for Landsat 7 and 8. These differences are expected to have implications on the transferability of the developed algorithms and on blending data from both satellites. Yet, the results highlight the importance of using the Landsat program as part of future monitoring activities as well as for hindcasting surface water quality, both a key step towards tracking changes in the system over time

Role of intraoperative arthrogram in decision making of closed versus medial open reduction of developmental hip dysplasia

Background: Hip arthrography in developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) has the advantages of viewing the shape and size of the cartilaginous part of both the femoral head and acetabulum, besides the soft tissue obstacles. The aim of the work was to assess the role of arthrogram in evaluation of closed reduction of developmental dysplasia of the hip.Methods: This prospective study included 30 patients with 36 involved hips who presented with DDH. This study included 7 males (23.3%) and 23 females (76.7%). There were 6 patients with bilateral hip involvement (20.0%) and 24 patients with unilateral involvement (80.0%). In this study we used 3 ml Urografin 76% diluted in 7 ml saline and 3 to 5 ml of diluted Urografin was injected into the hip joint.Results: Out of the 36 hips, closed reduction was successful in 33 hips (91.7%) and failed in 3 (8.3%). After the interpretation of the arthrogram we considered the reduction of 7 (21.2%) reduced hips nonconcentric because of the soft tissue obstacles. In the 7 hips with nonconcentric reduction besides the 3 hips with failed closed reduction, we proceeded to open reduction of the hip through medial approach. At the end of follow up, all hips (100%) showed concentric reduction without re-dislocation in any case.Conclusions: Hip arthrogram is a very reliable method in diagnosing hip concentricity and the presence of soft tissue obstacles in management of DDH by closed reduction. Arthrogram helps the operator to decide open reduction in such cases achieving excellent results in all cases

Land Use Impact on the Spatial and Seasonal Variation of the Contaminant Loads to Abou Ali River and Its Coastal Zone in North Lebanon

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 6 (2004): M. Massoud, M. El-Fadel, M. Scrimshaw, and J. Lester. Land Use Impact on the Spatial and Seasonal Variation of the Contaminant Loads to Abou Ali River and Its Coastal Zone in North Lebanon. (May 2004)

BETAMETHASONE DIPROPIONATE GEL FOR TREATMENT OF LOCALIZED PLAQUE PSORIASIS

Objective: The main aim of this study was to design and characterise betamethasone di-propionate loaded transfersomes (BD-T); as a topical formulation for the treatment of localized plaque psoriasis.Methods: A full factorial design (23) was applied to study the effects of three independent variables: drug content, type of surfactants and surfactant contents on particle size (PS), entrapment efficiency (EE %), zeta potential (ZP), polydispersity index (PI) and drug release profiles. The optimized BD-T was formulated as a hydrogel using 5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The gel was characterized for viscosity, drug content, in vitro drug release and stability. A comparative clinical study was performed on 20 patients with psoriasis to investigate the effect of BD-T gel and the marketed betamethasone dipropionate (BD) cream.Results: The optimized BD-T formulation containing 50 mg betamethasone dipropionate (BD) and 5 mg tween 80 showed spherical unilamellar vesicles with an average particle size of 242.80, % EE of 90.19%, ZP of-15.00 mV, PI of 0.407 and K0 of 4.290 mg/hr. The formulation showed good stability at 4 °C and 25 °C for 6 mo. The results revealed significant clinical improvement and a significant increase in safety and tolerability with BD-T gel compared with BD cream.Conclusion: As a conclusion, BD-T was found to be more effective, safe and tolerable for the treatment of psoriasis compared with the marketed product

An analytical hierarchy process approach for the prequalification process of Serbian construction contractors.

Građevinske industrije su velike i kompleksne. Uzimajući u obzir da sami izvođači radova izvršavaju najveći procenat građevinskih radova, uspešnost građevinskih projekata zavisi najviše od njihovih sposobnosti i kvalifikovanosti. Zbog toga selekcija kvalifikovanih izvođača predstavlja kritičnu odluku sa vitalnom ulogom u svakom projektu. Radi povećanja efektivnosti procesa donošenja odluke, dobro je uvesti pretkvalifikacioni proces sa ciljem evaluacije podobnosti potencijalnih izvođača radova pre donošenja konačne odluke u fazi dodele tendera. Pošto ovaj problem predstavlja tipični višekriterijumski problem odlučivanja, upotrebljen je AHP metod za njegovo rešavanje. Cilj ove disertacije je da predloži model koji bi mogao biti od pomoći Centralnoj tenderskoj komisiji Libije za pretkvalifikaciju izvođača u budućnosti. Model je evaluiran na četiri srpske građevinske kompanije i uzima u obzir šest kriterijuma: iskustvo izvođača, tehničku osposobljenost, upravljačke sposobljenost, ljudski kapaciteti, zdravstvene i bezbednosne procedure i reputaciju izvođača. Analiza senzitivnosti je urađena kako bi se testirala robusnost predloženog modela. Zaključeno je da predloženi model može ponuditi pouzdani okvir za Centralnu tendersku komisiju Libije prilikom donošenja odluke o prioritetizaciji alternativa. Takođe je zaključeno da predloženi model može raditi efikasno, pružajući prihvatljive rezultate i uspešno omogućujući donošenje razumnih odluka u okviru pretkvalifikacionog procesa, što bi definitivno povećalo kredibilnost i transparentnost tenderskim procesima u Libiji.Construction industries are huge and complex. Given that contractors execute a considerable portion of construction works, the successfulness of these projects depends mainly on their capabilities and qualifications. Therefore, the selection of an eligible contractor is a vital role that involves a critical decision to be made in each project. To do that effectively, it is better to conduct a prequalification process to evaluate their eligibility prior to the bid awarding stage where the final decision of the selection is made. Since the problem represents a typical multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem, the AHP method was used. The aim of this disertation is to propose a model to help the Libyan Central Committee of Tendering (in further text: Commitee) in prequalifying future candidate contractors. The model was evaluated on four Serbian construction companies and consists of four criteria namely, experience, technical capability, managerial capability, and human capability. A sensitivity analysis was done to test the robustness of this model. We conclude that the proposed model can offer a reliable framework for the Libyan Central Committee of Tendering when exercising such a prioritization decision. Further, we can say that the proposed model would work efficiently, yielding acceptable results, and succeed in dragging reasonable decisions in construction contractor prequalification process, which definitely enhances the credibility and transparency of bid awarding processes in the country

Developing A Hydrologic Information System: Towards Promoting Sustainable Standardization

Water quantity and quality monitoring plays a key role towards the development of a sustainable water sector. The required infrastructure needed to monitor and manage surface and groundwater systems are often lacking particularly in developing countries. When available, water quantity and quality data are invariably fragmented, intermittent, not shared, with deficient metadata, and stored in formats that hinder establishing seamless coupling with hydrological models. Most data are saved locally with little attention placed on defining and maintaining metadata on the collection protocols, geographic referencing, measurement accuracy, resolution, detection limits, and data censorship. These limitations present serious challenges in reaching sound water management strategies. To alleviate these shortcomings, a Hydrologic Information System (HIS) based on the ArcHydro data model was developed using the country of Lebanon as a prototype. The HIS centralized available hydrological and water resources information; coupled spatial coverage with respective time series data on flow, water demand, meteorology, and water quality; and standardized metadata. Additionally, the system was structured to support hydrologic modeling and water resources analysis. A loose coupling was also integrated between the system and the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) hydrological model and tested on the Upper Litani River Basin. The framework encompassed the ability to export back model simulation results and incorporate them within the HIS as time series records. The developed HIS system has since been adopted as a data repository for other water related projects in Lebanon and has helped identify key gaps in existing data and set monitoring priorities

Immigrant and Refugee COVID-19 Vaccination Attitudes in South Philadelphia

Immigrants and refugees have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, it is important to determine the specific factors that are promoting vaccination in the immigrant and refugee populations to develop equitable health services. This study surveys the attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine mandates in the Southeast Asian and Hispanic immigrant and refugee populations in South Philadelphia. A questionnaire was administered to all patients receiving the COVID-19 vaccine during six clinic days from November 15th-31st 2021. Investigators asked participants about their intention behind vaccination, barriers to access, work requirements regarding COVID-19 vaccination, and attitudes toward vaccine mandates. For people receiving their booster vaccine, the most cited reasons for getting vaccinated were protecting their health (75.4%) and travel (11.0%), whereas most people receiving their first or second vaccine were most motivated by vaccine mandates at work (34.6%) and health (30.8%). Staying healthy or “health” was the most common reason for getting vaccinated among people receiving their booster vaccine (74.8%) which was significantly higher than the proportion of people getting their first or second vaccine (30.7%) (p<0.05). As people continue to get vaccinated, determining motivating factors can help promote appropriate messaging. The results of the study suggest that, in a clinical setting geared towards Southeast Asian and Hispanic immigrants and refugees, those getting their first and second dose were motivated by work mandates more than health at the time of the study, whereas those adults receiving their booster are most motivated by health and safely traveling. As we continue to aim for mass vaccination, vaccine mandates appear to be an effective method of motivating people to get their first and second dose