ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTIOXIDANT, AND REPELLENCY POTENTIAL OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL FROM SPARTIUM JUNCEUM L. GROWN IN LEBANON

The goal of our present study is to assess the pharmacological potential of essential oil extracted from Spartium junceum cultivated in Lebanon. This oil was obtained by hydrodistillation using the Clevenger apparatus. Then, an organoleptic characterization and an evaluation of its antioxidant, repellent/insecticidal, and antibacterial activities have been evaluated. The obtained results showed that this oil had an antioxidant activity reaching 82 % dependent on the dilution used. In addition, it showed an insecticidal effect and an antibacterial effect

Nanoscale evidence of erbium clustering in Er-doped silicon-rich silica

International audiencePhotoluminescence spectroscopy and atom probe tomography were used to explore the optical activity and microstructure of Er 3+-doped Si-rich SiO 2 thin films fabricated by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The effect of post-fabrication annealing treatment on the properties of the films was investigated. The evolution of the nanoscale structure upon an annealing treatment was found to control the interrelation between the radiative recombination of the carriers via Si clusters and via 4f shell transitions in Er 3+ ions. The most efficient 1.53-μm Er 3+ photoluminescence was observed from the films submitted to low-temperature treatment ranging from 600°C to 900°C. An annealing treatment at 1,100°C, used often to form Si nanocrystallites, favors an intense emission in visible spectral range with the maximum peak at about 740 nm. Along with this, a drastic decrease of 1.53-μm Er 3+ photoluminescence emission was detected. The atom probe results demonstrated that the clustering of Er 3+ ions upon such high-temperature annealing treatment was the main reason. The diffusion parameters of Si and Er 3+ ions as well as a chemical composition of different clusters were also obtained. The films annealed at 1,100°C contain pure spherical Si nanocrystallites, ErSi 3 O 6 clusters, and free Er 3+ ions embedded in SiO 2 host. The mean size and the density of Si nanocrystallites were found to be 1.3 ± 0.3 nm and (3.1 ± 0.2) × 10 18 Si nanocrystallites·cm −3 , respectively. The density of ErSi 3 O 6 clusters was estimated to be (2.0 ± 0.2) × 10 18 clusters·cm −3 , keeping about 30% of the total Er 3+ amount. These Er-rich clusters had a mean radius of about 1.5 nm and demonstrated preferable formation in the vicinity of Si nanocrystallites

Quality-of-life among women with breast cancer: application of the international classification of functioning, disability and health model

BackgroundThis study aimed to identify the factors that influence Breast Cancer (BC) women’s quality of life (QoL) based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted among 188 women with BC. The dependent variable, QoL, was measured using the Quality of Life Index (QLI-c). The independent variables were measured using the following Arabic-validated questionnaires: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).ResultsThere was a significant positive correlation between monthly income (r = 0.17, p = 0.016) and QoL, and significant negative correlation between the stage of disease (r = −0.221, p = 0.002) and duration of first diagnosis (r = −0.280, p = 0.004) with QoL. Poor sleep quality, sexual dysfunction, fatigue, depression, and anxiety had significant negative correlations with QoL (p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that among the various factors that might affect QoL, sexual dysfunction, poor sleep quality, depression, and anxiety were significant predictors of QoL (p ≤ 0.05).ConclusionThe ICF provided an excellent framework to explore the factors influencing QoL among women with BC. This study has given evidence for the relationship of demographic, clinical, and body functional factors with QoL among women with BC. Interestingly, sexual dysfunction, poor sleep quality, depression, and anxiety factors are predictors of QoL. Awareness of these factors that predict QoL will guide healthcare professionals to improve the health and QoL of BC women

Emotional Intelligence Among Medical Students in Palestine A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as a pro-social behavior that deals with recognizing, understanding, influencing and managing our own and other’s emotions. In medical education and clinical practice, EI has been related to improves the doctor-patient relationship. Objectives: Measure EI among Palestinian medical students in two stages of their studies, clinical and basic sciences, and assessing the factors that may affect it. Moreover, compare medical students of Al-Quds and Al-Najah Universities regarding EI score and detect possible differences. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based, online survey was conducted among 692 medical students in Al-Quds and Al-Najah universities in Palestine. Emotional intelligence was evaluated using a 33-item scale as an index introduced by Schutte et al. (1998). Data was analyzed in a quantitative manner using SPSS (VER.20). Results: 745 students filled the questionnaire with a response rate of 92.88%. A total of 692 were sampled which were representative of the student population. The mean score of EI is 3.83 (SD=0.41) out of a maximum possible score of 5 with 69.1% of the sample having high EI. Statistics showed that EI decreased significantly at α≤0.05 among basic and clinical stages of study with a negative correlation between EI and academic year (PCC= -0.086). This indicates that as the academic year increases, EI decreases (p=0.023). Moreover, EI is affected significantly at α≤0.05 in a positive manner by having a hobby or doing extracurricular activities. In addition, students who indicate they always regret studying medicine tend to relate to lower EI, this may reflect the lack of interest to study this field. Conclusion: Medical students, both male and female, have a relatively high level of emotional intelligence in the universities that were studied. Students in the clinical stage have lower EI than basic sciences medical students, which indicates that students have a conflict between objectivity and humanity while training clinically. Therefore, emotional support during clinical years would serve in improving EI. Moreover, EI is affected by having a hobby or extracurricular activities, indicating that EI can be modulated through the encouragement of such activities

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

Contribution à l’optimisation du couplage Erbium – Nanograins de silicium pour des dispositifs photoniques compacts.

This study focuses on the erbium doped nanostructured semi-conductors materials, innovativeand compatible with the Si technology to develop photonic devices such as waveguide, opticalamplifiers, and laser. The development of such devices is linked to the enhancement of the opticcommunications rate in the metropolitan network, but also to promote microelectronic and photonicfunctions on the same chips. Such applications are made possible due to the beneficial effects ofsilicon nanoclusters in erbium doped silica layer. After an excitation by a beam laser, the siliconnanocluster in its excited state transfers efficiently its energy to the surrounding erbium ions, for whichthe desexcitation is followed by the emission of photon at 1.54 μm. This later is the standardwavelength of the telecommunications. Thanks to this coupling Si-Er, the effective excitation crosssection of Er ions is increased by about five orders of magnitude. Such an effect is a promoter for theapplications mentioned above. This work has therefore consisted in fabricating Er doped-Si-SiO2 thinlayers by RF confocal magnetron co-sputtering and in the optimization of the Si-Er coupling. Theeffects of the deposition parameters on the microstructure and the optical properties of the depositedlayers have been deeply studied. At the end, I succeeded to couple 30% of the Er ions to Sinanoclusters. Optical and electrical devies have been tested and studied.L’étude porte sur des matériaux semi-conducteurs nanostructurés dopés à l’erbium, innovantset compatibles avec la technologie du Si pour développer des dispositifs photoniques tels que lesguides d’onde, les amplificateurs optiques, et les lasers. Ces dispositifs sont destinés à l’augmentationdu débit des communications optiques dans le réseau métropolitain (amplificateur planaire), mais aussià favoriser l’association des fonctions microélectroniques et photoniques sur une même plaquette(source). De telles applications sont rendues possibles en utilisant les effets bénéfiques de la présencedes nanograins de silicium dans une couche de silice dopée à l’erbium. En effet, suite à une excitationpar un faisceau laser, le nanograin de silicium dans son état excité transfère efficacement son énergieaux ions erbium qui ensuite se désexcite en émettant un photon à 1,54 μm qui est la longueur d’ondestandard des télécommunications. Grâce à ce couplage Si-Er, la section efficace effective de l’ionerbium est augmentée de 4 à 5 ordres de grandeur, ce qui est promoteur pour les applicationssusmentionnées. Le travail de ma thèse a donc consisté à fabriquer des couches minces Si-SiO2-Er parco-pulvérisation magnétron confocale et à optimiser le couplage Si-Er. Pour cela les effets dedifférents paramètres de dépôt sur la microstructure et les propriétés optiques des couches mincesdéposées ont été analysés pour aboutir au final à un taux d’ions Er3+ couplé aux nanograins de Sid’environ 30%. Des dispositifs optiques et électriques ont été testés en fin de thèse

Contribution à l optimisation du couplage Erbium Nanograins de silicium pour des dispositifs photoniques compacts

L étude porte sur des matériaux semi-conducteurs nanostructurés dopés à l erbium, innovants et compatibles avec la technologie du Si pour développer des dispositifs photoniques tels que les guides d onde, les amplificateurs optiques, et les lasers. Ces dispositifs sont destinés à l augmentation du débit des communications optiques dans le réseau métropolitain (amplificateur planaire), mais aussi à favoriser l association des fonctions microélectroniques et photoniques sur une même plaquette (source). De telles applications sont rendues possibles en utilisant les effets bénéfiques de la présence des nanograins de silicium dans une couche de silice dopée à l erbium. En effet, suite à une excitation par un faisceau laser, le nanograin de silicium dans son état excité transfère efficacement son énergie aux ions erbium qui ensuite se désexcite en émettant un photon à 1,54 mu.m qui est la longueur d onde standard des télécommunications. Grâce à ce couplage Si-Er, la section efficace effective de l ion erbium est augmentée de 4 à 5 ordres de grandeur, ce qui est promoteur pour les applications susmentionnées. Le travail de ma thèse a donc consisté à fabriquer des couches minces Si-SiO2-Er par co-pulvérisation magnétron confocale et à optimiser le couplage Si-Er. Pour cela les effets de différents paramètres de dépôt sur la microstructure et les propriétés optiques des couches minces déposées ont été analysés pour aboutir au final à un taux d ions Er3+ couplé aux nanograins de Si d environ 30%. Des dispositifs optiques et électriques ont été testés en fin de thèse.This study focuses on the erbium doped nanostructured semi-conductors materials, innovative and compatible with the Si technology to develop photonic devices such as waveguide, optical amplifiers, and laser. The development of such devices is linked to the enhancement of the optic communications rate in the metropolitan network, but also to promote microelectronic and photonic functions on the same chips. Such applications are made possible due to the beneficial effects of silicon nanoclusters in erbium doped silica layer. After an excitation by a beam laser, the silicon nanocluster in its excited state transfers efficiently its energy to the surrounding erbium ions, for which the desexcitation is followed by the emission of photon at 1.54 mu.m. This later is the standard wavelength of the telecommunications. Thanks to this coupling Si-Er, the effective excitation cross section of Er ions is increased by about five orders of magnitude. Such an effect is a promoter for the applications mentioned above. This work has therefore consisted in fabricating Er doped-Si-SiO2 thin layers by RF confocal magnetron co-sputtering and in the optimization of the Si-Er coupling. The effects of the deposition parameters on the microstructure and the optical properties of the deposited layers have been deeply studied. At the end, I succeeded to couple 30% of the Er ions to Si nanoclusters. Optical and electrical devies have been tested and studiedCAEN-BU Sciences et STAPS (141182103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Trust but verify: the effect of religiosity and social conformity on verification of content shared via social media

Purpose: This study aims to understand the patterns of content-sharing behaviour on major social media platforms by young adult users with reference to how these sharing patterns are influenced by two main sociocultural factors in their lives, religiosity and social conformity. Design/methodology/approach: Online surveys including both the ATSCI test for social conformity as well as the Hoge test for religiosity were filled out by 590 participants. In-depth interviews with six participants representative of the same population were conducted to deepen analysis of key variables explored in the surveys. The design of the interviews was semi-structured, whereby the focus was to achieve a general overview of participants\u27 intentions and habits regarding sharing information via social media. Findings: The findings show a significant positive impact of religiosity and social conformity on users\u27 sharing intention which, in turn, affects their inclination towards verifying the content they share. Social implications: The authors\u27 findings emphasise how users bear the onus of correcting the online information space. It paves the way for future research by recognising the value of independent corroboration amongst users. Originality/value: This study lends key support to the growing body of research on social media use in societies in which shared religious and cultural values tend to clearly impact everyday social interaction