Chronic moderate alcohol consumption has been implicated in promoting bone health in acyclic (postmenopausal) women via increasing bone mineral density. To our knowledge, no studies investigated the potential effects of ethanol on the bone-specific markers osteocalcin and RANKL which are important in regulating osteoblast - osteoclast activity and bone metabolism. Therefore, the aim of the study was to look into RANKL expression in serum and RANKL and osteocalcin expression in the femoral neck following chronic alcohol consumption of 12% v/v ethanol in water in acyclic C57BL/6 mice. Female ...

Sexual activity constitute in the life of the adolescent, a risk-taking and possibly health-compromising behavior. Since unfortunately, knowledge about sexuality is often acquired after sexual activity has begun, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) should be given high priority in health care and in education. Sexual education is an indispensable need, especially for adolescents, in order to protect them from irresponsible and non-conscious behavior. In the areas of adolescent sexual behavior, sexual education and knowledge, it is imperative and of paramount importance that the health-care ...

Background: School-based breastfeeding education (SBBE) may help increase breastfeeding rates in the long run by targeting the young generation’s knowledge and attitudes towards breastfeeding. Breastfeeding rates in Lebanon are suboptimal in part due to negative attitudes and misinformation. While recent evidence suggests Lebanese schools offer limited SBBE, high school teachers at two large Lebanese schools seemed keen to receive training and incorporate SBBE into their classes. Determinants of their students’ breastfeeding intentions have been identified, but the need to assess parents’ consent ...

Food packaging has a critical role in all food types and along the food chain from product preservation to transportation, distribution, storage, retailing, and end-use. However, it can become a source of contamination and transfer of microorganisms to the packed food when its hygienic status is not well maintained. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Prerequisite programs (PRPs) implementation in 5 food packaging companies across Mount Lebanon through on-site inspections and to assess the compliance of contact surfaces, employee hands and packaging materials to microbiological specifications. ...

Background: The Mediterranean diet (MD), the golden standard for healthy nutrition, has positive health impacts on metabolic disorders. Over the last few decades, Lebanon has been witnessing a gradual change in food intake nowadays referred to as “nutritional transitioning” defined as a shift from traditional to Western dietary pattern. Exploring the main determinants of adherence to the MD may be useful in understanding and counterbalancing this shift toward a Western diet. Objectives: The aims of our study were to assess the level of MD adherence and examine the associations between perceived ...

Background: major depression is classified as a global health priority and burden on societies. Lately, the role of diet and lifestyle factors in aggravating or attenuating depressive symptoms has started to gain interest among the scientific community worldwide. Objective: the purpose of this study is to identify the association of dietary patterns, socio-demographic, lifestyle factors, and stressful life events, with severity of depressive symptoms among NDU students. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study of 457 randomly selected undergraduate students at NDU who were asked to complete a ...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of patient satisfaction in the healthcare sector, the links between its factors, and the impact of each factor on the overall satisfaction for its positive feedback on the workflow and progress of hospitals, despite the fact of the rising cost of health care and the high rates of out-of-pocket expenditure in Lebanon. Methodology – A post-positivist philosophical position and a deductive reasoning approach were adopted through this research. This study deals with a case study of the attributes of patient satisfaction of AWMV ...

Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to attempt to investigate the potential existence of an Audit Expectation Gap (AEG) in the Lebanese Commercial Banking Sector and assess the understanding of bank employees of the standards of internal audit as promulgated by both the Institute of Internal Audit and the Lebanese Central Bank. Design/methodology/approach - Deductive in nature, this thesis uses a questionnaire survey to examine the existence of a significant AEG in different areas of audit. Findings - The thesis finds evidence that an AEG exists in the areas of fraud detection and ...

The Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) is a test used to differentiate between humans and machines. In this thesis, we have implemented a deep neural network architecture to automatically recognize CAPTCHAs. The main idea behind this thesis is to test the reliability of test-based CAPTCHAs in differentiating between humans and machines. We utilized convolutional neural networks instead of the conventional strategies of CAPTCHA breaking which, typically, use segmentation techniques. Our model is comprised of 8 layers to learn textbased images; ...