• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3205-3211
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• 2013

Background: Bladder cancer is the second most incident malignancy among Lebanese men. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential risk factors associated with this observed high incidence. Methods: A case-control study (54 cases and 105 hospital-based controls) was conducted in two major hospitals in Beirut. Cases were randomly selected from patients diagnosed in the period of 2002-2008. Controls were conveniently selected from the same settings. Data were collected using interview questionnaire and blood analysis. Exposure data were collected using a structured face-to-face interview questionnaire. Blood samples were collected to determine N-acetyltransferase1 (NAT1) genotype by PCR-RFLP. Analyses revolved around univariate, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression, along with checks for effect modification. Results: The odds of having bladder cancer among smokers was 1.02 times significantly higher in cases vs. controls. The odds of exposure to occupational diesel or fuel combustion fumes were 4.1 times significantly higher in cases vs controls. The odds of prostate-related morbidity were 5.6 times significantly higher in cases vs controls. Cases and controls showed different clustering patterns of NAT1 alleles. No significant differences between cases and controls were found for consumption of alcohol, coffee, tea, or artificial sweeteners. Conclusions: This is the first case-control study investigating bladder cancer risk factors in the Lebanese context. Results confirmed established risk factors in the literature, particularly smoking and occupational exposure to diesel. The herein observed associations should be used to develop appropriate prevention policies and intervention strategies, in order to control this alarming disease in Lebanon.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2022

Background: Workers are exposed to several risks in academic laboratories due to the presence of potentially hazardous substances. The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of accident occurrence and associated risk factors among laboratory workers at the scientific laboratories of the public university in Lebanon and the impact of safety measures training and availability. Methods: In this observational study, a survey was conducted for one year in scientific laboratories at faculties of the public university. Results: Among the participants (N = 220), 45.0% have had accidents; the main cause was exposure to chemicals (73.7%) and more specifically by inhalation (45.4%). Females (85.9%) were more exposed to accidents than males. Laboratory workers with a master's degree, a full-time schedule, and more than ten years of experience were significantly more exposed to accidents (p < 0.05). A significant association was found between accident occurrence and training on management of hazardous products (p = 0.044), risks related to workplace (p = 0.030), eyewash and emergency shower (p < 0.001), first aid (p = 0.012), and facial protection availability (p = 0.019). In spite of the lack of safety culture and efficient training on laboratory safety, participants have shown a very good perception regarding safety measures to be applied in case of work accidents. Conclusion: Based on our findings, the prevalence of accident occurrence is elevated among lab workers at the public university. The impact of regular training on laboratory safety preventive measures is of great importance to ensure the efficiency of occupational health and safety in scientific laboratories.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.415-420
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• 2014

Since the day the Internet became a common and reliable mechanism for communication and data transfer, security officers and enthusiasts rallied to enforce security standards on data transported over the globe. Whenever a user tries communicating with another recipient on the Internet, vital information is sent over different networks until the information is dropped, intercepted, or normally reaches the recipient. Critical information traversing networks is usually encrypted. In order to conceal the sender's identity, different implementations have proven successful - one of which is the invention of anonymous networks. This paper thoroughly investigates one of the most common and existing techniques used during data communication for avoiding traffic analysis as well as assuring data integrity - the onion router (TOR). The paper also scrupulously presents the benefits and drawbacks of TOR.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5243-5245
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• 2016

Background and Objective : Bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2) plays an essential role in mesenchymal cell differentiation into osteoblasts، through many intracellular pathways which may also be active in tumors. Invasive oral squamous cell carcinomas account for more than 90% of head and neck malignancies in many cancer registries. They are classified into three types according to epithelial cell differentiation. The present study aimed to identify any relation between BMP-2 expression and tumor histology. Materials and methods: BMP-2 expression was compared immunohistochemically among 30 cases (19 male and 11 female, mean age 48 years) of oral squamous cell carcinoma, Division was into 3 groups (each containing 10 cases) according to the histological grade. Results: No significant correlation between BMP-2 expression and histological grade was observed. Changes in localization and cytoplasmic staining were also not apparent. Conclusion: From the results of this study BMP-2 does not appear to have any application as a prognostic marker for oral squamous cell carcinomas.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.749-754
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• 2016

Extended follow-up of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors indicates that these patients are at high risk of secondary malignant neoplasms (SMNs) contributing to increased morbidity and mortality. This study examined the characteristics of HL survivors who developed SMNs with the aim to report any correlation with radiotherapy (RT) dose. In this retrospective multi-center cohort study of HL patients treated between 1990 and 2011 at three major teaching hospitals in Lebanon, classification was into two groups including those treated with combined modality (RT and chemotherapy-CHT) and those treated with CHT alone. Approval from the University Institutional Review Board (IRB) was obtained. Of the 112 patients evaluated, 52.7% (59) received the combined modality while 47.3% (53) received CHT alone. There were 6 cases of SMNs in the combined modality cohort and 5 cases in the CHT cohort. The mean RT dose in the combined modality cohort was 34.5 Gray (Gy) ($SD{\pm}5.3$). A statistically significant increase (1.5 fold) in the risk of developing SMNs was observed among patients who received a dose higher than 41 Gy compared to a dose between 20 to 30 Gy (OR= 1.5; 95% confidence interval= 0.674 to 3.339, p=0.012). The risk of SMNs was not significantly higher among patients who received extended field compared to involved field RT (p=0.964). This study showed that the risk of developing SMNs is higher among patients treated with RT dose greater than 31 Gy, independent of the RT type used.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9471-9473
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• 2014

Background: Since 2002, from October till December of each year, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health conducts a mammogram based breast cancer screening campaign in the whole country for women over 40 years of age. These mammograms are performed free of charge in governmental hospitals or for reduced fees in private hospitals. The aim of this study is to analyze the direct impact of this campaign on cancer detection and subsequent treatment. Materials and Methods: Radiologic records of women screened with a mammogram during the campaign period from October till December 2012 at Saint Joseph Hospital, Baouchrieh, Beirut, were reviewed. Results of mammograms were reported using the ACR score. Women with ACR score ${\geq}4$ were tracked and investigated. Results: 900 screening mammograms were performed; median age was 55.2 years (range:31-81 years). Some 826 (91.8%) had an ACR score of ${\leq}2$; 66 (7.3%) an ACR =3 and only 8 (0.89%) an ACR=4. Thus, less than 1% (8/900) of all screened women were considered at high risk and needed a close follow-up. Among these 8 women, 4 underwent surgery for an early breast cancer, one had synchronous metastatic breast cancer and two were lost to follow-up. Conclusions: To coclude, Among 900-screened women for BC, less than 1 % (8 out of 900) were at high risk of hiding a BC (ACR=4), half of them benefited from early therapy (4 women out of 900) and one was a false positive. Larger studies on national level should be accomplished to have a complete data on breast cancer screening in Lebanon. The results of these studies can affect the Lebanese health policy regarding BC.

• Journal of applied mathematics & informatics
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• v.32 no.3_4
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• pp.511-527
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• 2014

This paper provides a new application similar to the Local Defect Correction (LDC) technique to solve Poisson problem -u"(x) = f(x) with Dirichlet boundary conditions. The exact solution is supposed to have high activity in some region of the domain. LDC is combined with a fourth order compact scheme which is recently developed in Abbas (Num. Meth. Partial differential equations, 2013). Numerical tests illustrate the interest of this application.

• Korean Journal of Mathematics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.63-80
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• 2019

In this paper, we consider a special hypergroup defined by Corsini and we name it Corsini hypergroup. First, we investigate some of its properties and find a necessary and sufficient condition for the productional hypergroup of Corsini hypergroups to be a Corsini hypergroup. Next, we study its regular relations, fundamental group and complete parts. Finally, we characterize all Corsini hypergroups of orders two and three up to isomorphism.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2679-2681
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• 2016

Background: Gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NEN) are relatively rare tumors, not equally distributed in gastro-intestinal system. In 2010, a revised version of the WHO classification of GEP-NENs was published. This study reports for the first time the distribution and characteristics of GEP-NEN in a Lebanese population. Materials and Methods: This descriptive retrospective study concerns all the digestive neuroendocrine tumors with their characteristics diagnosed in $H\hat{o}tel$ Dieu de France in Beirut, Lebanon from 2001 to 2012, all the pathology reports being reanalyzed according to the latest WHO 2010 classification. The characteristics and features of GEP-NEN analyzed in this study were age, gender, grade and site. Results: A total of 89 GEP-NENs were diagnosed, representing 28.2% of all neuroendocrine tumors. The mean age of GEP-NEN patients was 58.7 years and the M/F sex ratio was 1.2. The primary localization was as follows: 21.3%(19) pancreatic, 18% (16) gastric, 15.7% (14) duodenal, 11.2% (10) appendix, 10.1% (9) intestinal, 10.1% (9) colorectal (7.9% colonic and 2.2% rectal), 5.6% (4) hepatic, 2.2% (2) ampulla, 1.1% (1) esophageal and 7.9%(5) NOS digestive (metastatic with unknown primary). Of the 89 patients with GEP-NEN, 56.2% (50) were diagnosed as grade I, 11.2% (10) as grade II, 20.2% (18) as grade III and 12.4% (11) were considered as mixed adeno-neuroendocrine carcinomas (MANEC). Conclusions: This study, one of the rare examples based on the 2010 WHO classification of neuroendocrine tumors in the literature, indicates that in the Lebanese population, all duodenal and appendicular tumors are G1 and the majority of MANEC tumors are gastric and pancreatic tumors. Moreover, more duodenal tumors and fewer rectal tumors were encountered in our study compared to European reports.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.350-357
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has increased worldwide in parallel with overnutrition characterized by high-fat and high-carbohydrate intake. Our objective was to establish, in 16 weeks, a model of NAFLD in Wistar pathogen-free rats following four dietary types. MATERIALS/METHODS: Forty (6 weeks old) healthy Wistar male rats, weighing an average of 150 g were randomly divided into four groups of ten and assigned a diet with the same quantity (15 g/rat/day), but with different composition. The moderate-fat (MF) group was fed a moderate-fat diet (31.5% fat and 50% carbohydrates), the high-fat (HF) group was fed a fat-rich diet (51% fat), the high-sucrose (HS) group and the high-fructose (HFr) group were fed a carbohydrate-rich diet (61%). The carbohydrate contents of the HS group was composed of 60.3% sucrose while that of the HFr group was composed of 59.3% fructose. RESULTS: At week 16, the HF group had the highest percentage of cells enriched in fat (40%) and the highest weight and liver weight (P < 0.05). The HFr group showed significantly higher levels of serum triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase and adiponectin at week 16 as compared to week 1 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The 15 g/rat/day diet composed of 51% fat or 61% carbohydrates enriched mainly in fructose may induce characteristics of NAFLD in rats.