Assessment of sexual and reproductive health knowledge and awareness among single unmarried women living in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Sexual and reproductive health (SRH), a globally recognized fundamental health concern and a basic human right is poorly addressed and seldom researched in the Arab world. Disregarding this aspect of health creates various obstacles to accessing SRH related services and education. This threatens the health of a female, namely through increasing the probability of unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions, augmenting the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections, and most importantly, increasing the hazard of maternal and neonatal death. Thus, this study aimed to assess the level of SRH related knowledge and awareness among single unmarried women living in Lebanon. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire in both English and Arabic languages. The questionnaire included 9 sections; socio-demographic characteristics section, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) section, premarital tests section, vaccines section, menstruation and its abnormalities section, pregnancy symptoms and identification section, methods of contraception section, vitamins section, and honeymoon events section. The questionnaire was distributed among all Lebanese governorates to 491 single unmarried women living in Lebanon aged between 17 and 55 years. Student t-test and Chi-Square test were used to analyze results. RESULTS: It was found that only 8.8% of all the participants had adequate knowledge. The highest level of SRH related knowledge was about pregnancy (88.0%), and the least was about contraception (13.5%). Most of the knowledgeable participants lived in Beirut governorate (13.6%, n = 8) and had reached universities (10.3%, n = 41), but this was not statistically significant (p-value > 0.05). The effect of a prior visit to a gynecologist was statistically non-significant on the overall level of knowledge (p-value = 0.269). CONCLUSION: Due to the inadequate level of knowledge, SRH education campaigns empowered by the Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with primary care physicians and gynecologists, are recommended in both the societal and academic sectors to enhance the awareness level and make SRH knowledge readily available among unmarried women aged between 17 and 55. Knowing the massive role of social media nowadays, the messages they present should contribute to enhancing the level of SRH knowledge and redirect attitudes and behaviors of unmarried females in Lebanon.

Synthesis, characterization and properties of sulfate-modified silver carbonate with enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance.

Sulfate-modified Ag2CO3 was successfully synthesized via a simple precipitation method. Its visible light photocatalytic performance against the removal of Orange G was found to be significantly enhanced in comparison with the one of pure Ag2CO3. While SO42--Ag2CO3 ensured a removal efficiency of 100% of OG within 30 min, the unmodified Ag2CO3 exhibited a degradation threshold at hardly 60%. Likewise, the degradation rate constant in the presence of SO42--Ag2CO3 photocatalyst was assessed to be twice that determined upon the involvement of pristine Ag2CO3. Furthermore, Total Organic Carbon (TOC) measurements evidenced the occurrence of a quasi-total mineralization of the dye pollutant upon the use of SO42--Ag2CO3 photocatalyst. Scavenger experiments highlighted the dominant role of photo-induced h+ along with ˙O3- ozonide radicals in the OG photocatalytic oxidation mechanism. Reuse cycles revealed that the modification by SO42- is a promising route to improve the stability of silver carbonate against photocorrosion. All these improvements could be ascribed to electronic transfer from the upper SO42- HOMO to the lower Ag2CO3 conduction band.

How to guarantee adequate sun protection for a young sportsperson.

BACKGROUND: Young male athletes involved in sports like soccer are subject to sun exposure which can often be intense because of the timing and duration of their practice time. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The goal of this work was to study using a spectrophoto-metric method what level of sun protection was provided by the various articles of clothing which make up a standard soccer uniform, as well as by the cosmetics used by fan clubs. RESULTS: We were able to demonstrate that the sports clothing does guarantee a good level of protection for the skin areas covered. CONCLUSIONS: Depending on the type of clothing, the level of sun protection will vary greatly, with UPF values ranging from 30 for a T-shirt to 300 for a club shirt. This type of protection is higher than that obtained by sun creams and does not change over time.