Objectives
Most epidemiologic studies on soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and bone sarcomas (BS) are performed in western countries, with few in the Middle East and North Africa region. We describe the ...epidemiology of sarcomas in Lebanon using the medical records database at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC).
Methods
This single-center retrospective cohort study included patients with sarcomas registered in the database between 2015 and 2019. Their charts were reviewed for baseline characteristics, tumor biology and location, treatment modalities, recurrence, metastasis, and death.
Results
The cohort included 234 patients with STS and 99 patients with BS. Most tumors were <10 cm in size. The most common subtypes were liposarcoma for STS and osteosarcoma for BS. The most common location of STS was the thigh. The most frequent sites of STS metastasis were the lungs. Histological subtype, smoking status, and tumor size and grade were significant for progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with STS. By multivariable analysis, smoking was significantly associated with poorer PFS in STS. For BS, only tumor grade was significant for PFS.
Conclusion
The epidemiology of sarcomas at AUBMC is similar to that previously reported. Smoking history was associated with poorer survival in patients with STS.
This paper investigates the effect of simultaneous adding of recycled tire rubber (RTR) and marble waste (MW) as fine aggregates on the properties of concrete. To achieve this objective, the ...particles size distribution of crushed sand (CS) was corrected by the use of marble waste sand (MWS), and RTR was used by volumetric substitution (1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) of aggregates in concrete. The fresh properties were investigated using the slump, density and air content tests. Hardened properties were investigated through the compressive strength, flexural strengths, pulse velocity, elastic modulus and water absorption. The obtained results showed that the increase in the substitution rate of RTR reduced the fresh and hardened properties of concrete containing marble waste sand. However, with low substitution rates the properties of concrete remain satisfactory and the utilization of RTR and MWS leads to making a green concrete while protecting the environment.
This paper starts by presenting the concept of a mobile application. A literature review is conducted, which shows that there is still a certain lack with regard to smartphone applications in the ...domain of engineering as independent simulation applications and not only as extensions of smartphone tools. The challenges behind this lack are then discussed. Subsequently, three case studies of engineering applications for both smartphones and the internet are presented, alongside their solutions to the challenges presented. The first case study concerns an engineering application for systems control. The second case study focuses on an engineering application for composite materials. The third case study focuses on the finite element method and structure generation. The solutions to the presented challenges are then described through their implementation in the applications. The three case studies show a new system of thought concerning the development of engineering smartphone applications.
Given a graph G and a positive integer i, an i-packing in G is a subset W of
the vertex set of G such that the distance between any two distinct vertices
from W is greater than i. The packing ...chromatic number of a graph G, ??(G),
is the smallest integer k such that the vertex set of G can be partitioned
into sets Vi, i ? {1,..., k}, where each Vi is an i-packing. In this
paper, we present some general properties of packing chromatic numbers of
finite super subdivisions of graphs. We determine the packing chromatic
numbers of the finite super subdivisions of complete graphs, cycles and some
neighborhood corona graphs.
Vaccination against COVID-19 was one of the most important resolute to stop the spread of the pandemic; however, its acceptance was controversial especially by pregnant and lactating women. This ...study aims to assess the prevalence of vaccination among participants as well as to explore the determinants of reluctance or adherence to vaccination among this population, and to investigate the intention towards vaccination among the unvaccinated.
This is a cross-sectional study conducted among mothers (n = 458) residing in the prefecture of Skhirat-Temara in Morocco, and who have children aged between one month to 2 years, the survey was conducted on the basis of a semi-structured questionnaire.
The prevalence of vaccination among the participants was 61.8%, although they were all vaccinated after their delivery. Among the unvaccinated, 64% wanted to be vaccinated either because they believed the vaccines were useful or because they wanted to get the vaccine pass, while 36% absolutely refused to be vaccinated due to lack of sufficient information on the efficacy and safety of new vaccines against COVID-19. The age of the last child (p < 0.001) and no gestational diabetes during pregnancy (p = 0.016) were found to be positive predictors of vaccination adherence; however, the average or the high monthly income (p = 0.003) and the lack of medical coverage (p = 0.046) were predictive factors limiting adherence to vaccination.
The results of this study suggest that public health decision-makers need to increase awareness of the benefits of vaccination and to address the economic and social factors limiting access to COVID-19 vaccination.
During the pandemic of covid-19, Safe and effective vaccines have been urgently needed. Our study aims to investigate the adverse effects of vaccines and their severity factors in people who have ...been vaccinated in the Rabat region.
This is a multicentric cross-sectional study conducted in the Rabat region of Morocco from February to December 2021. Consenting subjects aged 12 years and older who presented symptoms after a first, second or third dose of covid 19 vaccine and who received one of the following vaccines were included in the study: AstraZeneca-Oxford, Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech. An evaluation form was drawn up. Univariate analysis was performed using the chi-square, Fisher's exact and Mann Whitney tests. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression, and data analysis was performed using Jamovi 2.3.19 and R 4.3.1.
We recruited 489 patients with a median age of 52 years 32.3–66.0, 67.2 % were women,52.6%were vaccinated by AstraZeneca,4.8 % by Pfizer, and 42.6 % by Sinopharm, 84 of cases were severe 17.2 %, the majority of side effects were represented by influenza-like illness, fever, dizziness, vagal shock, skin rash, Covid, cardiac, digestive and neurological manifestations.
In univariate analysis, age and the presence of a previous history were risk factors, and in multivariate analysis only age remained a risk factor for the severity of adverse events.
The study identifies common adverse events and underlines the importance of ongoing surveillance and suggests the need for large samples in order to comprehensively assess the effects of vaccines.
The clinical presentation of COVID-19 shows high variability among individuals, which is partly due to genetic factors. The
OAS1/2/3
cluster has been found to be strongly associated with COVID-19 ...severity. We examined this locus in the Moroccan population for the occurrence of the critical variant rs10774671 and its respective haplotype blocks. The frequency of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cluster of
OAS
immunity genes in 157 unrelated individuals of Moroccan origin was determined using an in-house exome database.
OAS1
exon 6 of 71 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals with asymptomatic/mild disease and 74 with moderate/severe disease was sequenced by the Sanger method. The genotypic, allelic, and haplotype frequencies of three SNPs were compared between these two groups. Finally, males in our COVID-19 series were genotyped for the Berber-specific marker E-M81. The prevalence of the
OAS1
rs10774671-G allele in present-day Moroccans was found to be 40.4%, which is similar to that found in Europeans. However, it was found equally in both the Neanderthal GGG haplotype and the African GAC haplotype, with a frequency of 20% each. These two haplotypes, and hence the rs10774671-G allele, were significantly associated with protection against severe COVID-19 (
p
= 0.034,
p
= 0.041, and
p
= 0.008, respectively). Surprisingly, in men with the Berber-specific uniparental markers, the African haplotype was absent, while the prevalence of the Neanderthal haplotype was similar to that in Europeans. The protective rs10774671-G allele of
OAS1
was found only in the Neanderthal haplotype in Berbers, the indigenous people of North Africa, suggesting that this region may have served as a stepping-stone for the passage of hominids to other continents.
In the context of growing scarcity of natural resources, the high demand of aggregates and the difficulties to open new quarries, several studies were carried out to study the possibility of reuse of ...waste and industrial by-products to replace traditional materials which would run out, replace materials when transport distances increase to reduce construction costs and protect the environment. This experimental study aims to investigate the effect of marble waste used as powder on the shrinkage and absorption of sand concrete in order to reuse it in the production of sand concrete. To achieve this goal, several sand concrete mixtures containing different substitutions rates of marble powder (4, 8 and 12%), and different Water / Cement ratio (0.71, 0.74, 0.77) were produced. Then, the evolution of the shrinkage and absorption values of sand concrete mixtures was studied. The obtained results showed that marble waste powder plays a positive role in reducing of shrinkage and absorption values of sand concrete and lead to the production of eco-friendly sand concrete.
Abstract Background Despite their importance in reducing maternal mortality, information on access to Mifepristone, Misoprostol, and contraceptive medicines in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is ...limited. Methods A standardized assessment tool measuring access to Mifepristone, Misoprostol, and contraceptive medicines included in the WHO essential medicines list (EML) was implemented in eight countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Pakistan, and Somalia) between 2020–2021. The assessment focused on five access measures: 1) the inclusion of medicines in national family planning guidelines; 2) inclusion of medicines in comprehensive abortion care guidelines; 3) inclusion of medicines on national essential medicines lists; 4) medicines registration; and 5) procurement and forecasting of Mifepristone, Misoprostol, and contraceptive medicines. A descriptive analysis of findings from these eight national assessments was conducted. Results Only Lebanon and Pakistan included all 12 contraceptives that are enlisted in the WHO-EML within their national family planning guidelines. Only Afghanistan and Lebanon included mifepristone and mifepristone-misoprostol combination in post-abortion care guidelines, but these medicines were not included in their national EMLs. Libya and Somalia lacked a national regulatory authority for medicines registration. Most contraceptives included on the national EMLs for Lebanon, Morocco and Pakistan were registered. Misoprostol was included on the EMLs—and registered—in six countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Pakistan). However, only three countries procured misoprostol (Iraq, Morocco, and Somalia). Conclusion These findings can guide efforts aimed at improving the availability of Mifepristone, Misoprostol, and contraceptive medicines in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Opportunities include expanding national EMLs to include more options for Mifepristone, Misoprostol, and contraceptive medicines and strengthening the registration and procurement systems to ensure these medicines’ availability were permitted under national law and where culturally acceptable.
High-resolution multispectral imaging of agricultural fields is expensive but helpful in detecting subtle variations in plant health and stress symptoms before the appearance of visible indications. ...To aid precision agriculture (PA) practices, an innovative and inexpensive protocol for robust and timely monitoring of vegetation symptoms has been evaluated. This innovative but inexpensive protocol uses machine vision (MV) and generative adversarial networks (GAN) to translate red-green-blue (RGB) imagery captured with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) into a valuable normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) map. This study used direct translation of RGB imagery in NDVI index, in contrast with similar studies that used GANs in near-infrared (NIR) translation. The protocol was tested by flying a fixed-winged UAV developed by senseFly Inc. (Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland) model Ebee-X, equipped with a RedEdge-MX sensor, to capture images from five different potatoes fields located in Prince Edward Island – Canada, during the growing season of 2021. The images were captured throughout the growing season under vegetation (15–30 DAP; days after plantation), tuber formation (30–45 DAP), tuber bulking (75–110 DAP), and tuber maturation stages (> 110 DAP). The NDVI was calculated from captured UAV aerial surveys using NIR and red bands to develop pairwise datasets for the training of GANs. Five hundred pairwise images were used (80% training, 10% validation, and 10% testing) for training and evaluation of GANs. Two famous GANs, namely Pix2Pix and Pix2PixHD, were tested compared to various training and evaluation indicators. The Pix2PixHD outperformed Pix2Pix GAN by recording lower root mean square error (RMSE) (5.40 to 13.73) and higher structural similarity index matrix (SSIM) score (0.69 to 0.90) during the evaluation of the protocol. The results of this study are breakthroughs to be used for economic vegetation and orchard health monitoring after the training of models. The trained GANs can translate simple RGB domains into useful vegetation indices maps for variable rate PA practices. This innovative protocol can also translate remote sensing imagery of large-scale agricultural fields and commercial orchards into NDVI to extract useful information about plant health indicators.
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