Hand hygiene during the spread of COVID-19: a cross-sectional study of awareness and practices among academic institutions in Lebanon.

Introduction: During the pandemic, the World Health Organization has recommended hand hygiene as one of the effective preventive measures to limit the global spread of COVID-19. However, the awareness gap of hand hygiene protocols could increase the spread of COVID-19 and consequently increase the absenteeism rate among academic institutions. This study aims to assess hand hygiene awareness and practices levels among various university communities in Lebanon.

Evaluation of awareness and performance towards COVID-related disinfectant use among the university communities in Lebanon.

Background: The fast spread of COVID-19 reinforced the daily use of disinfectants around the world. However, the awareness gap of disinfectant use could lead to health risks during the prevention of the pandemic. This study aims to assess the level of awareness and performance towards COVID-related disinfectant use among various university communities (student, staff, and faculty) in Lebanon.

Association between visual impairment and sleep duration in college students: A study conducted in UAE and Lebanon.

To examine whether self-reported sleep duration and visual impairment were associated among College students. Students (n = 1002, age 17-35 years) from Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. Students were asked to complete a validated questionnaire between October 2018 and May 2019.

N-homocysteinylation of tau and MAP1 is increased in autopsy specimens of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

The pathomechanisms that associate a deficit in folate and/or vitamin B12 and the subsequent hyperhomocysteinemia with pathological brain ageing are unclear. We investigated the homocysteinylation of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia, and in rats depleted in folate and vitamin B12, Cd320 KO mice with selective B12 brain deficiency and H19-7 neuroprogenitors lacking folate. Compared with controls, N-homocysteinylated tau and MAP1 were increased and accumulated in protein aggregates and tangles in the cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum of patients and animals.

Augmented Quadruple-Phase Contrast Media Administration and Triphasic Scan Protocol Increases Image Quality at Reduced Radiation Dose During Computed Tomography Urography.

Purpose: The aim of this article was to investigate the opacification of the renal vasculature and the urogenital system during computed tomography urography by using a quadruple-phase contrast media in a triphasic scan protocol.

Materials And Methods: A total of 200 patients with possible urinary tract abnormalities were equally divided between 2 protocols. Protocol A used the conventional single bolus and quadruple-phase scan protocol (pre, arterial, venous, and delayed), retrospectively.

256 Slice Multi-detector Computed Tomography Thoracic Aorta Computed Tomography Angiography: Improved Luminal Opacification Using a Patient-Specific Contrast Protocol and Caudocranial Scan Acquisition.

Clinical Relevance Statement: Caudocranial scan direction and contrast injection timing based on measured patient vessel dynamics can significantly improve arterial and aneurysmal opacification and reduce both contrast and radiation dose in the assessment of thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) using helical thoracic computed tomography angiography (CTA).

Objectives: To investigate opacification of the thoracic aorta and TAA using a caudocranial scan direction and a patient-specific contrast protocol.

Materials And Methods: Thoracic aortic CTA was performed in 160 consecutive patients with suspected TAA using a 256-slice computed tomography scanner and a dual barrel contrast injector.

Late Maternal Folate Supplementation Rescues from Methyl Donor Deficiency-Associated Brain Defects by Restoring Let-7 and miR-34 Pathways.

The micronutrients folate and vitamin B12 are essential for the proper development of the central nervous system, and their deficiency during pregnancy has been associated with a wide range of disorders. They act as methyl donors in the one-carbon metabolism which critically influences epigenetic mechanisms. In order to depict further underlying mechanisms, we investigated the role of let-7 and miR-34, two microRNAs regulated by methylation, on a rat model of maternal deficiency.

Imaging in multiple sclerosis: A new spin on lesions.

This article evaluates the most relevant state-of-the-art magnetic resonance (MR) techniques that are clinically available to investigate multiple sclerosis (MS). The presence of hypo- and hyperintense lesions on T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences in white matter (WM) is a common finding that is occasionally a diagnostic challenge for the radiologist. The technical requirements and how they may help to understand, classify or follow-up these pathologies are briefly summarized.

Early methyl donor deficiency may induce persistent brain defects by reducing Stat3 signaling targeted by miR-124.

The methyl donors folate (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12 are centrepieces of the one-carbon metabolism that has a key role in transmethylation reactions, and thus in epigenetic and epigenomic regulations. Low dietary intakes of folate and vitamin B12 are frequent, especially in pregnant women and in the elderly, and deficiency constitutes a risk factor for various diseases, including neurological and developmental disorders. In this respect, both vitamins are essential for normal brain development, and have a role in neuroplasticity and in the maintenance of neuronal integrity.

Homocysteinylation of neuronal proteins contributes to folate deficiency-associated alterations of differentiation, vesicular transport, and plasticity in hippocampal neuronal cells.

Despite the key role in neuronal development of a deficit in the methyl donor folate, little is known on the underlying mechanisms. We therefore studied the consequences of folate deficiency on proliferation, differentiation, and plasticity of the rat H19-7 hippocampal cell line. Folate deficit reduced proliferation (17%) and sensitized cells to differentiation-associated apoptosis (+16%).