A positive yet complicated case of gender-based violence coordination: a qualitative study of Lebanon's protracted humanitarian emergency, 2012-22.

Gender-based violence (GBV), a global health and human rights concern, often intensifies during emergencies. This paper explores the evolution of GBV coordination in Lebanon's protracted Syrian refugee crisis from 2012-22. Utilising 38 in-depth interviews and a document review, the findings were analysed using the framework for effective GBV coordination.

Gender based violence (GBV) coordination in a complex, multi-crisis context: a qualitative case study of Lebanon's compounded crises (2019-2023).

Background: Since 2019 Lebanon has faced multiple compounded crises. Political and social instability, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut Port explosion, alongside the influx of refugees related to the ongoing Syrian conflict, have resulted in a nationwide economic emergency. In the context of the humanitarian response to the Syrian conflict, the UN and government-led gender-based violence (GBV) task force has coordinated the sub-sector since 2012.

Mannose Inhibits the Pentose Phosphate Pathway in Colorectal Cancer and Enhances Sensitivity to 5-Fluorouracil Therapy.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading cancers and causes of death in patients. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is the therapy of choice for CRC, but it exhibits high toxicity and drug resistance. Tumorigenesis is characterized by a deregulated metabolism, which promotes cancer cell growth and survival.

Development of an assessment tool to measure communication skills among family medicine residents in the context of electronic medical record use.

Background: The introduction of the electronic medical record (EMR) has led to new communication skills that need to be taught and assessed. There is scarce literature on validated instruments measuring electronic-specific communication skills. The aim is to develop an assessment checklist that assesses the general and EMR-specific communication skills and evaluates their content validity and reliability.

Anxiety Among Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic in Lebanon: The Importance of the Work Environment and Personal Resilience.

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to their risk of direct exposure to the virus, they were subjected to long working hours, scarcity of PPE, and additional stressors that impacted their psychological wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to assess anxiety and its predictors among a sample of HCWs at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) and to evaluate the association between resilience and anxiety.

Prioritising women's and girls' health in disaster settings: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and the overlapping crises affecting Beirut, Lebanon.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed strain on healthcare systems across the world; however, countries experiencing overlapping crises such as economic or political unrest face immense pressure in ensuring routine healthcare services can continue to operate. Despite being less likely suffer severe disease or die from COVID-19, data suggest women have experienced poorer mental health, higher rates of unemployment, and more social isolation during the pandemic. In general, we know women and girls experience multiple forms of disadvantage in disaster contexts including being more likely to become homeless, work as an unpaid carer, and to experience poverty.

The Pentose Phosphate Pathway in Cancer: Regulation and Therapeutic Opportunities.

Background: Tumorigenesis is associated with deregulation of nutritional requirements, intermediary metabolites production, and microenvironment interactions. Unlike their normal cell counterparts, tumor cells rely on aerobic glycolysis, through the Warburg effect.

Summary: The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is a major glucose metabolic shunt that is upregulated in cancer cells.

Women family physicians' working conditions and career satisfaction: a multinational study.

Background: As the proportion of women in family medicine increases, their well-being and job satisfaction become concerns.

Objectives: This study aimed to uncover the working conditions and career satisfaction of women family physicians across multiple countries.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of the WONCA Working Party on Women and Family Medicine listserv members to assess working conditions and career satisfaction, with snowballing recruitment.

Confronting Structural Inequities: The Limits of Participation when Developing a Community Health Intervention with Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Lebanon.

Lebanon is one of the most unequal countries in the world, whose economy, social welfare and public health system struggle to meet the needs of the Lebanese and over one million Syrian refugees. Researchers applied Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methodology in collaboration with a non-governmental organization (NGO) in an underserved Beirut neighborhood from 2014 through 2016, aiming to address health inequities, build social cohesion among refugees and host populations, and empower community members to develop a community health intervention. We recruited a community advisory board (CAB), conducted six focus groups and sixteen individual interviews, and held several community meetings.

Perspectives of elder abuse in Lebanon.

Elder abuse is a preventable problem. Presently, little is known about this phenomenon in Middle Eastern settings. The purpose of this study was to explore elder abuse in Beirut, Lebanon from different stakeholders' points of view with a focus on identifying behaviors that are considered to be abusive to older adults and predisposing factors.

Predictors of Contraception Use Among Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore the factors that could predict contraceptive use. This will help develop interventions to increase the use of family planning methods among Syrian refugees.

Methods: We conducted a cross sectional survey on a random sample of male and female Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon.

Psychological Distress among Syrian Refugee Women and a Control Group in an Urban Settlement in Beirut- a Pilot Study.

The Syrian conflict has created approximately five million refugees. Of these, more than one million have settled in Lebanon. This project aimed to determine the prevalence of psychological distress (PD) amongst Syrian refugee mothers compared to a control group of local mothers living in the same informal urban settlement in Beirut.

High rates of maternal depression amongst Syrian refugees in Lebanon - a pilot study.

This pilot study compares symptoms of depression and risk factors amongst Syrian refugees and low-income Lebanese mothers accessing a primary care centre in Beirut between January and June 2018. Women who gave birth in the previous two years or who were currently pregnant were included in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Arabic Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).

Prevalence and health outcomes of domestic violence amongst clinical populations in Arab countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: An estimated 30% of women worldwide experience intimate partner violence (IPV) during their lifetime. Exposure to IPV is associated with poor health outcomes and the prevalence of violence may be higher amongst women seeking healthcare. Existing evidence from the Arab region is limited.

An unusual urinary tract infection caused by Vibrio fluvialis.

We describe an unusual case of a urinary tract infection (UTI) in a 52-year-old woman caused by Vibrio fluvialis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this organism causing such an infection. The source of the organism could be the highly contaminated water she is using at home.

Primary healthcare policy implementation in the Eastern Mediterranean region: Experiences of six countries.

Background: Primary healthcare (PHC) is essential for equitable access and cost-effective healthcare. This makes PHC a key factor in the global strategy for universal health coverage (UHC). Implementing PHC requires an understanding of the health system under prevailing circumstances, but for most countries, no data are available.

Wilson's disease in Lebanon and regional countries: Homozygosity and hepatic phenotype predominance.

Aim: To determine the phenotypes and predominant disease-causing mutations in Lebanese patients with Wilson's disease, as compared to regional non-European data.

Methods: The clinical profile of 36 patients diagnosed in Lebanon was studied and their mutations were determined by molecular testing. All patients underwent full physical exam, including ophthalmologic slit-lamp examination ultrasound imaging of the liver, as well as measurement of serum ceruloplasmin and 24-h urinary-Cu levels.

Understanding the phenotypic similarities between IFAP and Olmsted syndrome from a molecular perspective: the interaction of MBTPS2 and TRPV3.

Ichthyosis Follicularis, Atrichia, and Photophobia (IFAP) is a severe rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the gene encoding the Membrane-Bound Transcription Factor Peptidase, Site 2 (MBTPS2). Olmsted syndrome is another rare genetic disease with overlapping clinical features caused by mutations in the gene encoding the Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel, subfamily V (TRPV3). Mutations in MBTPS2 have been recently reported in Olmsted syndrome, underscoring the overlap and the confusion in separating Olmsted from IFAP syndrome.

[Confluent and reticulated papillomatosis subsiding spontaneously after delivery: Report of one case].

Gougerot and Carteaud confluent and reticulated papillomatosis (CARP) is an uncommon dermatosis characterized by hyperpigmented scaly macules or papillomatous papules coalescing into confluent patches or plaques centrally with a reticular pattern peripherally. We report a 28-year-old woman presenting at 16 weeks of gestation with an itchy rash that was biopsied and turned out to be consistent with CARP. Options for treatment were discussed but the woman refused to take any systemic therapy and used only moisturizers throughout her pregnancy.

Chemosensitivity of MCF-7 cells to eugenol: release of cytochrome-c and lactate dehydrogenase.

Phytochemicals have been extensively researched for their potential anticancer effects. In previous study, direct exposure of rat liver mitochondria to eugenol main ingredient of clove, uncoupled mitochondria and increased FFATPase activity. In the present study, we further investigated the effects of eugenol on MCF-7 cells in culture.

Chemosensitivity of U251 Cells to the Co-treatment of D-Penicillamine and Copper: Possible Implications on Wilson Disease Patients.

D-Penicillamine (PA), a copper chelator, and one of the recommended drugs for treatment of Wilson disease (WD) has been reported to worsen the symptoms of patients with neurologic presentations. However, the cause of this paradoxical response has not been fully elucidated and requires further investigations. Accordingly, we have studied the effect of Copper (Cu) and/or PA treatment on human glioblastoma U251 cells as an model of Cu cytotoxicity.

Moringa oleifera's Nutritious Aqueous Leaf Extract Has Anticancerous Effects by Compromising Mitochondrial Viability in an ROS-Dependent Manner.

Introduction: Moringa oleifera (MO) is an important dietary component for many populations in West Africa and the Indian subcontinent. In addition to its highly nutritious value, almost all parts of this plant have been widely used in folk medicine in curing infectious, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hepatic, and other diseases. Evidence-based research supported its versatile medicinal properties; however, more rigorous research is required to establish it in cancer therapy.