Alopecia has become a growing concern since it directly affects the quality of life of the patients. It can be stimulated by various factors including stress, lifestyle changes, genetic predisposition, and aging. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the lifestyle patterns of alopecia patients, to understand alopecia´s characteristics and treatment options, and finally to assess the factors affecting the willingness to undergo treatment. An observational crosssectional study was conducted targeting 171 alopecia patients in the Lebanese adult population in 2020. A survey was administered during face-to-face interviews to collect the study data. Almost half of the participants in this study were smokers and alcohol consumers. For the majority of participants, alopecia initiated between 20 and 40 years and was associated with family history. Moreover, the willingness to use hair loss treatment is higher with age and university graduates had 5.05 higher odds to use them compared to primary and intermediate levels. The existence of family history had 3.42 higher odds to use hair loss treatment. In conclusion, patients with alopecia had specific lifestyle patterns. Pharmacists were the main source of information for alopecia treatment. Therefore, empowering their role in providing the adequate support for the patients is essential.
The biological activity of the essential oils extracted from the leaves of Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis L. growing naturally (Honaine region, Algeria), and cultivated Rosmarinus tournefortii de Noé (Tlemcen region, Algeria) was tested under laboratory conditions against the chickpea bruchid Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) which causes losses in the field and during storage. The essential oils were tested at three different doses 1, 3, and 5 µL/30 g of seeds, on different biological parameters: adult mortality, female fecundity, and fertility of laid eggs. Results indicated that these essential oils exert varying toxicity levels on the adults of C. maculatus, with a decrease or even inhibition of the fecundity of the females and the fertility of the laid eggs at high doses. However, the essential oils of R. officinalis were more effective than that of R. tournefortii with LD50 of 2.97 and 4.74 µL/30 g of seeds and LT50 of 2.10 and 3.14 days, respectively. Thus, the chemical composition of the major toxic components in the two essential oils, like α-pinene, camphor, β-pinene, cineole, and borneol, extracted from the two national regions is essential to make use of these products as botanical insecticides.
This research aims at optimizing eggplant cultivation by comparing hydroponic fertigation recipes in coco-peat substrate with traditional soil cultivation. The first two groups of 36 plants each are fertilized according to the recipes recommended by two companies (A and B), treatments 1 and 2 respectively. The third is fertilized according to the conventional method in the soil adopted by farmers (group C). Company A applies standard fertilizer application protocol throughout the life of the plant with a stable pH and electro conductivity of 6 and 2.8 mS / cm respectively. Company B applies an upward fertilizer scheme during the plant's production cycle with a stable pH of 5.6, but an electro conductivity that varies from 2.1 mS / cm at the vegetative phase to 2.5 mS / cm from the appearance of the 1st fruit. Despite its high investment, the two hydroponic treatments T1 and T2 showed greater plant size (127 cm and 129 cm respectively at the 12th week), more fruits (15 fruits per plant each week, compared to 8 fruits per plant in the soil), and higher yield (average mass per plant reached a maximum value at the 11th week of 1.192 g for T1 and 1,189 g for T2 compared to 499 g for the soil). The difference in revenues shows a negligible financial advantage in favor of Company B. Adopting fertilization recipe of Company A or B is not a limiting factor at the financial level hence either one of the two formulations is adequate.
Universities need to operate a transition from the common ‘traditional’ settings towards an education that contributes to a sustainable social change by preparing students to be change agents who care for others and for the well-being of society. We designed an interpretative qualitative approach using the unique case study of a Jesuit University, based on interviews with leaders of and participants to volunteering initiatives driven by that university. The objective of the study was to identify the drivers of change of the outreach model in higher education and analyze if the Jesuit way of doing things, or Jesuit tradition, is an effective tool to drive the change in universities. Five key drivers of change were identified (communication, participation, sharing, empathy and reflexivity), all in line with the characteristics of the Jesuit tradition. Both empathy and reflexivity are drivers of change, which were not cited in previous works on change management and may be considered as the study’s added value to the conceptual framework. The results of this study need to be confirmed on a larger sample of participants and would be enriched by a benchmarking work on Jesuit-led outreach bodies.
The present study aims to isolate and identify bioactive phytocompounds derived from the crude methanolic extract, an effective extract of Erythrina senegalensis DC. (Fabaceae). The chloroform extract (selective extract of the crude methanol extract) was obtained by liquidliquid extraction, then tested for its protective activity in vivo against Alzheimer's disease in a mouse model. After showing a beneficial effect, this extract underwent chromatographic (open column, HPLC) and spectroscopic (NMR) analyzes in order to isolate and characterize the phytocompounds which would be at the origin of the observed biological activities. Thus, two phycompounds of the flavonoid class: osajin and cajaflavanone, were isolated for the first time from E. senegalensis from Côte d'Ivoire.
