Factors that Influence Awareness of Breast Cancer Screening among Arab Women in Qatar: Results from a Cross Sectional Survey

Donnelly, Tam Truong,Al Khater, Al-Hareth,Al-Bader, Salha Bujassoum,Al Kuwari, Mohammed Ghaith,Malik, Mariam,Al-Meer, Nabila,Singh, Rajvir,Fung, Tak Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the State of Qatar. Due to low participation in breast cancer screening (BCS) activities, women in Qatar are often diagnosed with breast cancer at advanced stages of the disease. Findings indicate that low participation rates in BCS activities are significantly related to women's low level of awareness of breast cancer screening. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the factors that influence Qatari women's awareness of breast cancer and its screening activities: and (2) to find ways to effectively promote breast cancer screening activities among Arabic speaking women in Qatar. Materials and Methods: A multicenter, cross-sectional quantitative survey of 1,063 (87.5% response rate) female Qatari citizens and non-Qatari Arabic-speaking residents, 35 years of age or older, was conducted in Qatar from March 2011 to July 2011. Outcome measures included participant awareness levels of the most recent national recommended guidelines of BCS, participation rates in BCS activities, and factors related to awareness of BCS activities. Results: While most participants (90.7%) were aware of breast cancer, less than half had awareness of BCS practices (28.9% were aware of breast self-examination and 41.8% of clinical breast exams, while 26.4% knew that mammography was recommended by national screening guidelines. Only 7.6% had knowledge of all three BCS activities). Regarding BCS practice, less than one-third practiced BCS appropriately (13.9% of participants performed breast self-examination (BSE) monthly, 31.3% had a clinical breast exam (CBE) once a year or once every two years, and 26.9% of women 40 years of age or older had a mammogram once every year or two years). Awareness of BCS was significantly related to BCS practice, education level, and receipt of information about breast cancer and/or BCS from a variety of sources, particularly doctors and the media. Conclusions: The low levels of participation rates in BCS among Arab women in this study indicate a strong need to increase awareness of the importance of breast cancer screening in Qatari women. Without this awareness, compliance with the most recent breast cancer screening recommendations in Qatar will remain low. An increased effort to implement mass media and public health campaigns regarding the impact of breast cancer on women's health and the benefits of early detection of breast cancer must be coupled with an enhanced participation of health care providers in delivering this message to Qatar population.

Arab Women's Breast Cancer Screening Practices: A Literature Review

Donnelly, Tam Truong,Al Khater, Al-Hareth,Al-Bader, Salha Bujassoum,Al Kuwari, Mohammed Ghaith,Al-Meer, Nabila,Malik, Mariam,Singh, Rajvir,Jong, Floor Christie-De Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.8

Breast cancer incidence and mortality rates are increasing in the Arab world and the involved women are often diagnosed at advanced stages of breast cancer. This literature review explores factors influencing Arab women's breast cancer screening behavior. Searched databases were: Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL Plus, Google Scholar, Index Medicus for WHO Eastern Mediterranean, and Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention. Breast cancer screening participation rates are low. Screening programs are opportunistic and relatively new to the region. Knowledge amongst women and health care providers, professional recommendation, socio-demographic factors, cultural traditions, beliefs, religious, social support, accessibility and perceived effectiveness of screening influence screening behavior.

Addressing Factors Associated with Arab Women's Socioeconomic Status May Reduce Breast Cancer Mortality: Report from a Well Resourced Middle Eastern Country

Donnelly, Tam Truong,Al Khater, Al-Hareth,Al Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith,Al-Bader, Salha Bujassoum,Abdulmalik, Mariam,Al-Meer, Nabila,Singh, Rajvir,Fung, Tak Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.15

Differences in socioeconomic status (SES) such as income levels may partly explain why breast cancer screening (BCS) disparities exist in countries where health care services are free or heavily subsidized. However, factors that contribute to such differences in SES among women living in well resourced Middle East countries are not fully understood. This quantitative study investigated factors that influence SES and BCS of Arab women. Understanding of such factors can be useful for the development of effective intervention strategies that aim to increase BCS uptake among Arab women. Using data from a cross-sectional survey among 1,063 Arabic-speaking women in Qatar, age 35+, additional data analysis was performed to determine the relationship between socioeconomic indicators such as income and other factors in relation to BCS activities. This study found that income is determined and influenced by education level, occupation, nationality, years of residence in the country, level of social activity, self-perceived health status, and living area. Financial stress, unemployment, and unfavorable social conditions may impede women's participation in BCS activities in well resourced Middle East countries.

Protective Effect of Soybean against Hepatocarcinogenesis Induced by DL-Ethionine

( Fatma Aiad ),( El Gamal Basiouny ),( Al Meer Jehan ),( El Kerdasy Zinab ),( Nadia Zakhary ),( El Aaser Abdelbaset ) 생화학분자생물학회 2004 BMB Reports Vol.37 No.3

Thew has been increasing interest in the value of using soybean to delay or reduce the tumor incidence. This study was undertaken to investigate the possible protective effects of soybean against hepatocarcinogenesis induced by DL-ethionine. Accordingly, we measured biochemical changes occurring in serum and liver of rats treated with DL-ethionine in the presence or absence of soybean. Male albino rats were fed a control diet containing the hepatocarcinogen, DL-ethionine, or the control diet plus soybean 30%, or the control diet plus soybean plus DL-ethionine 0.25% for three months and then returned to a control diet for up to nine months. Rats fed a control diet plus DL-ethionine showed a gradual decrease in liver DNA, RNA, total protein, and liver weight and enzyme activites of liver transaminases (GOT and GPT) and alkaline phosphatase over the 7-month study period. This was followed by a large increase in the liver parameters at the end of the 9^(th) month, except for 5^(1)-nucleotidase and glucose-6-phosphatase that showed a large decrease. On the other hand, a gradual increase in the serum enzyme activities of GOT, GPT, 5-nucleotidase, alkaline phosphatase, and in the albumine/globulin(A/G) ratio is observed in the group of rats fed a control diet plus DL-ethionine compared to the control group over 8 months, and this was followed by a large increase in all serum parameters studied at nine-months. The administration of 30% soybean to the rat diet in addition to DL-ethionine maintained all parameters studied at near control values until the end of the 9^(th) month. This study suggests that soybean has a protective effect against the hepatocarcinogenesis induced by DL-ethionine.

Protective Effect of Soybean against Hepatocarcinogenesis Induced by DL-Ethionine

Aiad, Fatma,El-Gamal, Basiouny,Al-Meer, Jehan,El-Kerdasy, Zinab,Zakhary, Nadia,El-Aaser, Abdelbaset Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol 2004 Journal of biochemistry and molecular biology Vol.37 No.3

There has been increasing interest in the value of using soybean to delay or reduce the tumor incidence. This study was undertaken to investigate the possible protective effects of soybean against hepatocarcinogenesis induced by DL-ethionine. Accordingly, we measured biochemical changes occurring in serum and liver of rats treated with DL-ethionine in the presence or absence of soybean. Male albino rats were fed a control diet containing the hepatocarcinogen, DL-ethionine, or the control diet plus soybean 30%, or the control diet plus soybean plus DL-ethionine 0.25% for three months and then returned to a control diet for up to nine months. Rats fed a control diet plus DL-ethionine showed a gradual decrease in liver DNA, RNA, total protein, and liver weight and enzyme activites of liver transaminases (GOT and GPT) and alkaline phosphatase over the 7-month study period. This was followed by a large increase in the liver parameters at the end of the $9^{th}$ month, except for 5'-nucleotidase and glucose-6-phosphatase that showed a large decrease. On the other hand, a gradual increase in the serum enzyme activities of GOT, GPT, 5-nucleotidase, alkaline phosphatase, and in the albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio is observed in the group of rats fed a control diet plus DL-ethionine compared to the control group over 8 months, and this was followed by a large increase in all serum parameters studied at nine-months. The administration of 30% soybean to the rat diet in addition to DL-ethionine maintained all parameters studied at near control values until the end of the $9^{th}$ month. This study suggests that soybean has a protective effect against the hepatocarcinogenesis induced by DL-ethionine.

Synthesis and Physicochemical Studies of Perovskite Manganite La<SUB>0.8</SUB>Ca<SUB>0.2</SUB>Nn<SUB>1-x</SUB>Co<SUB>x</SUB>O₃ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3)

D. Turki,Zafar Khan Ghouri,Saeed Al-Meer,Khaled Elsaid,M. I. Ahmad,Ahmed Easa,M. Ellouze,E. K. Hlil 한국자기학회 2017 Journal of Magnetics Vol.22 No.3

The physicochemical properties of La0.8Ca0.2Mn1−xCoxO₃ nanopowders as a function of Co content (x) have been investigated. La0.8Ca0.2Mn1−xCoxO₃ nanopowders were synthesized by sol-gel method and morphologically and structurally well characterized by Scanning electron microscopic (SEM), Infrared spectroscopic (IR) and Raman spectroscopic techniques. IR spectra shows peak at around 600 cm<SUP>−1</SUP> attributed to the stretching mode of MnO6 octahedral and peak at 700 cm<SUP>−1</SUP> assigned to La-Ca-O-Mn bending vibrations. Raman spectra indicate peaks at around 512 and 652 cm<SUP>−1</SUP> related to the Jahn-Teller octahedral distortions. The intensity of these peaks increases with increasing Co doping. The UV-visible spectra were measured in the frequency range of 200-800 nm and two energy gaps were found at 1.63 eV and 3.294 eV for x = 0, 0.1 and 0.3.

Ammonium phosphate as promised hydrogen storage material

Barakat, N.A.M.,Ahmed, E.,Abdelkareem, M.A.,Farrag, T.E.,Al-Meer, S.,Al-Deyab, S.,Elsaid, K.,Nassar, M.M. Pergamon Press ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2015 International journal of hydrogen energy Vol.40 No.32

Most of the reported hydrogen storage materials are either expensive or based on synthetically complicated compounds. Ammonium phosphates are cheap and available product; it is being used as fertilizer. These compounds could be utilized as hydrogen storage materials. Stoichiometrically, mono-, di- and tri-ammonium phosphate can lead to evolve 3.875, 7.867 and 11.903 hydrogen equivalent, respectively. Using Pt/C (20 wt %) leads to produce 17.28, 11.35 and 10.15% from the equivalent hydrogen in the mono-, di- and tri-ammonium phosphate, respectively. Analyzing the obtained gases by GC confirms evolution of pure hydrogen. Moreover, ion chromatography detects and ions in the liquid which indicates hydrolysis of the ammonium phosphate. Ni/C and Co/C NPs can be exploited as catalysts; Ni/C containing 20 wt% metal reveals comparable results to Pt/C. Overall, this study opens promising avenue to develop new catalysts to enhance the hydrolysis of ammonium phosphate to produce hydrogen. Comparing to the reported hydrogen storage materials, ammonium phosphates possess comparable hydrogen content 97.28, 118.3 and 115.72 kg/m<SUP>3</SUP> for mono-, di- and tri-ammonium phosphate, respectively which is very close to the MgH<SUB>2</SUB> (115.5 kg/m<SUP>3</SUP>) and not so far from ammonia borane (148.2 kg/m<SUP>3</SUP>). However, in contrast to these compounds, hydrogen can be released from the introduced storage materials by hydrolysis only using the proper catalyst. Furthermore, the hydrolysis process results in producing different acids; nitrous, nitric and phosphoric acid which should be considered in the reactor construction precautions.

Stable and effective super-hydrophilic polysulfone nanofiber mats for oil/water separation

Obaid, M.,Barakat, Nasser A.M.,Fadali, Olfat A.,Al-Meer, Saeed,Elsaid, Khalid,Khalil, Khalil Abdelrazek Elsevier 2015 Polymer Vol.72 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Hydrophobicity of polysulfone is the main constraint facing wide application in the most important field; water treatment, although this polymer shows promising characteristics to be used in different separation technologies. In this study, super-hydrophilic polysulfone nanofiber mats are introduced using novel modifications. The introduced nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning of polysulfone/NaOH/DMF electrospun solution. The prepared electrospun nanofibers have been activated by deposition of a polyamide layer using interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction between m-phenylenediamine and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl chloride. Three different heat treatment methodologies were investigated to enhance the characteristics of the activated nanofiber mats; normal drying at 70 °C, and soaking in boiled water followed by either normal drying at 70 °C or storing in the water. Investigation of the mechanical properties indicated that incorporation of NaOH improves the tensile stress by 40% compared to the pristine polysulfone nanofibers. Interestingly, treatment of the activated nanofiber mats in the boiled water followed by storing in water led to produce super-hydrophilic mats with water contact angle of 3° due to enhancing the IP reaction on the surface of the individual nanofibers. In oil/water separation process, the proposed heat treatment for the modified nanofiber mats resulted in increase the water flux from 8 to 12.21 m<SUP>3</SUP>/m<SUP>2</SUP> day with oil rejection of 99.976%.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Super-hydrophilic membrane based on PSF nanofibers is introduced. </LI> <LI> The membrane was modified using simple and effective heat treatment process. </LI> <LI> The corresponding water flux is very high; 12.21 m<SUP>3</SUP>/m<SUP>2</SUP> day. </LI> <LI> The fabrication process is simple, cheap and applicable. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Preparation and characterization of wollastonite/titanium oxide nanofiber bioceramic composite as a future implant material

Aly, I.H.M.,Abed Alrahim Mohammed, L.,Al-Meer, S.,Elsaid, K.,Barakat, N.A.M. Ceramurgica ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2016 CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL Vol.42 No.10

In this study, novel composites consisting of electrospun titanium dioxide (TiO<SUB>2</SUB>) nanofibers incorporated into high-purity wollastonite glass ceramics were prepared as materials for use in hard tissue engineering applications. These materials were characterized and investigated by means of physical, mechanical and in vitro studies. The proposed composite showed greater densification and better mechanical characteristics compared to pure wollastonite. The influence of densification temperature and TiO<SUB>2</SUB> content was investigated. Typically, TiO<SUB>2</SUB>/wollastonite composites having 0, 10, 20 and 30wt% metal oxide nanofibers were sintered at 900, 1100 and 1250<SUP>o</SUP>C. The results indicated that increasing TiO<SUB>2</SUB> nanofibers content leads to increase the bulk density, compressive strength and microhardness with negligible, high and moderate influence for the densification temperature, respectively. While porosity and water adsorption capacity decreased with increasing the metal oxide nanofibers with a considerable impact for the sintering temperature in both properties. Moreover, bone-like apatite formed on the surface of wollastonite and wollastonite/TiO<SUB>2</SUB> nanofibers soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF). All these results show that the inclusion of TiO<SUB>2</SUB> nanofibers improved the characteristics of wollastonite while preserving its in vitro bioactivity; hence, the proposed composite may be used as a bone substitute in high load bearing sites.

Biochar, a potential hydroponic growth substrate, enhances the nutritional status and growth of leafy vegetables

Awad, Y.M.,Lee, S.E.,Ahmed, M.B.M.,Vu, N.T.,Farooq, M.,Kim, I.S.,Kim, H.S.,Vithanage, M.,Usman, A.R.A.,Al-Wabel, M.,Meers, E.,Kwon, E.E.,Ok, Y.S. Butterworth-Heinemann, Ltd 2017 Journal of cleaner production Vol.156 No.-

A hydroponics system developed using a nutrient film technique was used to evaluate the effectiveness of rice husk biochar (RB) alone or in combination with perlite (PL) as substrates for increasing the growth of leafy vegetables compared with that of PL. Seedlings of cabbage, dill, mallow, red lettuce, and tatsoi were grown hydroponically in PL, RB, and PL + RB (1:1 ratio of PL to RB, v/v) substrates for a 30-d under optimal environmental conditions in a greenhouse. Shoot length and fresh/dry masses of cabbage, dill, and red lettuce plants grown in RB substrate were decreased by 49% on average compared to those plants grown in PL substrate. In contrast, PL + RB substrate led to approximately 2-fold increases in shoot length, number of leaves, and fresh/dry masses of leafy vegetable plants compared with those grown in PL substrate. Foliar nutritional composition (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Mn, Fe, and Zn) and nitrogen status (SPAD index) of plants grown in PL + RB and PL substrates suggested the presence of optimal growth conditions for ensuring optimum yield with high quality. In addition, RB substrate contributed to respective increases of 1.2-3.5-fold in leaf K, Mg, Mn, and Zn contents in most vegetable plants compared with those grown in PL substrate. The RB alone or in combination with PL substrates decreased algal growth in the nutrient solutions as confirmed by scanning electron micrographs of microalgae on the RB surface. The results also indicated that use of PL + RB hydroponic substrate could be an alternative and effective technology for the better management of unwanted algal growth in nutrient solutions and high production of leafy vegetables.