Situation Reports--Afghanistan, Bahrein, Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Paraguay, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, St. Christopher/Nevis, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen Arab Republic.

Science.gov (United States)

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

Data relating to population and family planning in 17 foreign countries are presented in these situation reports. Countries included are Afghanistan, Bahrein, Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Paraguay, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, St. Christopher/Nevis, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and…

The Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme: evaluation of Edinburgh's reception arrangements.

Science.gov (United States)

Weir, Katherine E A; Wilson, Sheila J; Gorman, Dermot R

2017-11-07

During 2015 and 2016 a group of Syrian refugees were resettled in Edinburgh, Scotland under the United Kingdom Government Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme. We evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the settling in arrangements for these refugees. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Arabic interpreters who had worked extensively with these refugees. Interviews sought their impressions about what went well or was not successful. Interviews were transcribed and key themes extracted and analysed. Six themes emerged: 'first impressions', language skills, different healthcare systems, health of the refugees, relationships between the interpreters and refugees and support for the interpreters. The welcoming arrangements went well and exceeded refugees' and interpreters' expectations. There was perhaps too much information given immediately and reinforcing details about various public services and facilities after a first few months would be worthwhile. The Syrians were unfamiliar with NHS structures and found lack of direct specialist access surprising. Problems were amplified by low English levels. A need for Arabic literacy classes was also identified. Interpreters were often used informally out-of-hours and a better system with first contact in Arabic should be established. Interpreters find this work particularly stressful and the provision of psychological support for them should be prioritized. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

The Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia in the Near East at the Beginning of the 21st Century

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Igor V. Kryuchkov

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the formation of a new foreign policy strategy of Saudi Arabia in conditions of the changing situation in the Middle East after the “Arab spring” and the “nuclear deal” with Iran. It is shown in the article that the instability of domestic policy and economic problems connected with oil price drop have influence on the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia. Struggle with Iran for domination in the region becomes the basis of its policy in the Middle East. The author notes that the complication of relations with the USA also greatly influences the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom condemned the nuclear program agreement of Iran. Riyadh didn’t manage to neutralize the growth of influence of Iran in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Riyadh places a bet on B. Asad opponents support in the Syrian conflict aiming to strengthen its positions in the country and to dislodge Iran and Russia from it. Confrontation with Iran forced Saudi Arabia to interfere with the civil war in Yemen and to carry out a successful operation in Bahrein. The article shows the aspiration of Saudi Arabia to withhold Egypt, Jordan and a number of other countries of the region in the sphere of its foreign policy through financial aid to these countries. It is proved that the reasons of the conflict of Saudi Arabia with Iran were of economic, geopolitical and religious nature, and that Saudi Arabia aspired to strengthen its positions in the Middle East and East Africa. A great breakthrough was acquisition of two islands in the Red Sea from Egypt by Riyadh.

Adherence of preventive oral care products in the Syrian market to evidence-based international recommendations.

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Habes, D; Mahzia, R; Nakhleh, K; Joury, E

2016-09-25

No study has investigated the availability and adherence of preventive oral care products on the Syrian market to evidence-based international recommendations. Data were collected in 2012, and updated in 2016, in terms of availability, characteristics and adherence to evidence-based international recommendations. Few preventive products adhered to the recommendations. Despite the large decrease in the number of oral care products on the Syrian market, due to the Syrian crisis, nonadherence of some of the available products is still present. A multisectorial approach at a policy level is needed to address such important limitations. The Syrian Ministry of Health should reform regulations for fluoride products to become subject to drug monitoring systems; the Syrian Arab Committee for Measurements and Standards needs to update its standards; and the Syrian General Dental Association should distribute a preventive booklet to dental practitioners.

A field study on the anthelmintic resistance of Parascaris spp. in Arab foals in the Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia.

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Alanazi, Abdullah D; Mukbel, Rami M; Alyousif, Mohamed S; AlShehri, Zafer S; Alanazi, Ibrahim O; Al-Mohammed, Hamdan I

2017-12-01

In the last decade, Parascaris spp. resistance to anthelmintics has been recorded in many countries. In Saudi Arabia, there are limited data available on Parascaris spp. resistance to anthelmintics. To determine the current status of ivermectin, abamectin and praziquantel combined, and fenbendazole resistance to Parascaris spp. in horses in Saudi Arabia. Three hundred and forty-one foals from eleven different farms were examined by faecal egg count (FEC). The foals were all Arab horses aged 17.2 ± 4.5 (SD) months. Ivermectin (n = 46 foals), abamectin and praziquantel combined (n = 46), and fenbendazole (n = 46) were administered on day 0 and faeces were collected on day 14. The study comprised 41 untreated foals as controls. Animals that have FEC of ≥100 eggs per gram (EPG) were used to measure anthelmintic efficacy. Parascaris spp. populations were considered susceptible when faecal egg count reduction (FECR) was ≥95% associated with a lower 95% confidence limit (LCL) >90%, suspected resistant when FECR ≤90% or LCL Saudi Arabia.

Mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Syrians affected by armed conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, G; Ventevogel, P; Jefee-Bahloul, H; Barkil-Oteo, A; Kirmayer, L J

2016-04-01

This paper is based on a report commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which aims to provide information on cultural aspects of mental health and psychosocial wellbeing relevant to care and support for Syrians affected by the crisis. This paper aims to inform mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) staff of the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing issues facing Syrians who are internally displaced and Syrian refugees. We conducted a systematic literature search designed to capture clinical, social science and general literature examining the mental health of the Syrian population. The main medical, psychological and social sciences databases (e.g. Medline, PubMed, PsycInfo) were searched (until July 2015) in Arabic, English and French language sources. This search was supplemented with web-based searches in Arabic, English and French media, and in assessment reports and evaluations, by nongovernmental organisations, intergovernmental organisations and agencies of the United Nations. This search strategy should not be taken as a comprehensive review of all issues related to MHPSS of Syrians as some unpublished reports and evaluations were not reviewed. Conflict affected Syrians may experience a wide range of mental health problems including (1) exacerbations of pre-existing mental disorders; (2) new problems caused by conflict related violence, displacement and multiple losses; as well as (3) issues related to adaptation to the post-emergency context, for example living conditions in the countries of refuge. Some populations are particularly vulnerable such as men and women survivors of sexual or gender based violence, children who have experienced violence and exploitation and Syrians who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex. Several factors influence access to MHPSS services including language barriers, stigma associated with seeking mental health care and the power dynamics of the helping relationship. Trust

The identity and witness of Arab pre-Islamic Arab Christianity: The Arabic language and the Bible

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David D. Grafton

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This article argues that Arab Christianity has had a unique place in the history of World Christianity. Rooted in a biblical witness, the origins and history of Arab Christianity have been largely forgotten or ignored. This is not primarily as a result of the fact that the Arab Christian historical legacy has been overcome by Islam. Rather, unlike other early Christian communities, the Bible was never translated into the vernacular of the Arabs. By the 7th century the language of the Qur’an became the primary standard of the Arabic language, which then became the written religious text of the Arabs. This article will explore the identity and witness of the Christian presence in Arabia and claims that the development of an Arabic Bible provides a unique counter-example to what most missiologists have assumed as the basis for the spread of the Christian faith as a result of the translation of the Christian scriptures into a vernacular.

African Journals Online: Syrian Arab Republic

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic, Congo, Republic, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Arab Rep.

Sex division of labour in Syrian school textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Alrabaa, Sami

1985-12-01

The sexist division of labour, particularly in the occupational sector, which is believed to be more eminent in developing countries than in the developed ones, is reinforced by school textbooks. This state of affairs is hampering sex-role equality on the way to emancipation. Various Syrian school textbooks have been scrutinized and proved to be malebiased in content and language. Despite quantitative growth of education, the emancipatory quality of the school textbooks leaves much to be desired. The government has had the chance since 1963 to produce textbooks conductive to its promise of sex-role equality in education. The textbooks portray males for a bustling world of decision making, while conditioning the females to seek fulfilment in the background where servitude and support are the only requirement. Females are derogated and victimized. These contents, which are internalized at school and reproduced in society, certainly do not serve development. The exclusion of one-half of the population from contributing to the tasks of development is a waste of human talent which no society can afford. Furthermore, the sexist portrayal of females in Syrian textbooks is a pale reflection of Arab women in Arab history and literature.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Arabic version of the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly among community-dwelling older adults in Saudi Arabia

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Alqarni AM

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Ayidh M Alqarni,1,2 Vishal Vennu,1 Sulaiman A Alshammari,3 Saad M Bindawas1 1Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Physical Therapy, King Abdullah Hospital, Bisha, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Purpose: Older adults are the fastest growing population group worldwide. Regular physical activity (PA is reported to reduce the risk of health conditions and improve personal well-being. Few validated instruments can be used to measure the PA levels among older adults in Saudi Arabia. The Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE is used worldwide for evaluating the PA levels of the elderly in epidemiological studies. However, this scale has not been translated into Arabic. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt the PASE into Arabic language and evaluate its reliability and validity among community-dwelling older adults in Saudi Arabia. Patients and methods: This study was a cross-sectional one following Beaton guidelines to translate and perform cultural adaptation, as well as test the reliability and validity of the PASE Arabic version (PASE-A. Elderly (N=74 people from both genders, who lived in a community dwelling in Riyadh city, were selected from several primary health care centers. The study used Cronbach’s alpha coefficient to assess the internal consistency reliability, while intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1 was used for test–retest reliability and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (r was used to evaluate the correlation among PASE-A and grip strength, Timed Up and Go test, body mass index, and fat percentage. Results: Out of 74 older adults, 59 (79.7% completed the PASE-A questionnaire twice. The internal consistency of the PASE-A components was good (Cronbach’s alpha 0.70–0.75, and the reliability of the components

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

Romania, 20. Russian Federation, 82. Rwanda, 5. Saudi Arabia, 36. Senegal, 12. Serbia, 7. Singapore, 10. Slovakia (Slovak Republic), 4. Slovenia, 5. South Africa, 59. Spain, 60. Sri Lanka, 6. Sudan, 6. Sweden, 13. Switzerland, 15. Syrian Arab Republic, 16. Taiwan, 33. Tanzania, 25. Thailand, 43. Togo, 8. Trinidad and ...

Predicting the duration of the Syrian insurgency

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Ulrich Pilster

2014-08-01

Full Text Available While there were several relatively short uprisings in Northern Africa and the Middle East during the Arab Spring, the dispute between the rebels and government forces in Syria has evolved into a full-scale civil war. We try to predict the length of the Syrian insurgency with a three-stage technique. Using out-of-sample techniques, we first assess the predictive capacity of 69 explanatory variables for insurgency duration. After determining the model with the highest predictive power, we categorize Syria according to the variables in this final model. Based on in-sample approaches, we then predict the duration of the Syrian uprising for three different scenarios. The most realistic point prediction is 5.12 years from the insurgency’s start, which suggests an end date between the end of 2016 and early 2017.

Scientific publications from Arab world in leading journals of Integrative and Complementary Medicine: a bibliometric analysis.

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Zyoud, Sa'ed H; Al-Jabi, Samah W; Sweileh, Waleed M

2015-09-04

Bibliometric analysis is increasingly employed as a useful tool to assess the quantity and quality of research performance. The specific goal of the current study was to evaluate the performance of research output originating from Arab world and published in international Integrative and Complementary Medicine (ICM) journals. Original scientific publications and reviews from the 22 Arab countries that were published in 22 international peer-reviewed ICM journals during all previous years up to December 31(st) 2013, were screened using the Web of Science databases. Five hundred and ninety-one documents were retrieved from 19 ICM journals. The h-index of the set of papers under study was 47. The highest h-index was 27 for Morocco, 21 for Jordan, followed by 19 for each Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and Egypt, and the lowest h-index was 1 for each of Comoros, Qatar, and Syrian Arab Republic. No data related to ICM were published from Djibouti, and Mauritania. After adjusting for economy and population power, Somalia (89), Morocco (32.5), Egypt (31.1), Yemen (21.4), and Palestine (21.2) had the highest research productivity. The total number of citations was 9,466, with an average citation of 16 per document. The study identified 262 (44.3 %) documents with 39 countries in Arab-foreign country collaborations. Arab authors collaborated most with countries in Europe (24.2 %), followed by countries in the Asia-Pacific region (9.8 %). Scientific research output in the ICM field in the Arab world region is increasing. Most of publications from Arab world in ICM filed were driven by societal use of medicinal plants and herbs. Search for new therapies from available low cost medicinal plants in Arab world has motivated many researchers in academia and pharmaceutical industry. Further investigation is required to support these findings in a wider journal as well as to improve research output in the field of ICM from Arab world region by investing in more national and

The authoritarian castling of the Syrian regime: from popular uprising to civil war

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio Alvariño

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Instead of hastening political change, the Syrian uprising has led to greater authoritarianism. At first, president Bashar al-Assad adopted various cosmetic reforms (a party law and constitutional referendum, which were designed more as a survival strategy than a genuine process of political liberalisation. In its first four years, the Syrian crisis has gone from being an anti-authoritarian popular uprising to a proxy war with the active presence of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar and Turkey. Control of the state apparatus on the part of the Alawite minority has been instrumentalised by the Salafist and jihadist groups to intensify sectarianism and claim the establishment of an Islamic State.

Between the Fears and Hopes for a Different Future for the Nation-States: Scholarship Programs in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates from a Public Policy Standpoint

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Hilal, Kholoud T.

2013-01-01

As Bereday (1964) once said, comparative education research, in its most rudimentary form, begins with juxtaposition. When juxtaposing contemporary trends concerning higher education in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates--both of which currently provide substantial support to improve their higher education systems--differences abound in…

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

Romania, 1. Russian Federation, 5. Saudi Arabia, 6. Serbia, 3. Singapore, 1. Slovenia, 4. South Africa, 4. Spain, 3. Sudan, 1. Sweden, 1. Switzerland, 3. Syrian Arab Republic, 1. Taiwan, 5. Tanzania, 3. Togo, 1. Tunisia, 18. Turkey, 23. Ukraine, 3. United Kingdom, 23. United States, 35. Unknown, 1. Vietnam, 1. Zambia, 2 ...

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Nigeria, 8. Oman, 2. Pakistan, 5. Philippines, 3. Romania, 6. Russian Federation, 3. Saudi Arabia, 13. South Africa, 4. Spain, 3. Sri Lanka, 1. Switzerland, 6. Syrian Arab Republic, 4. Taiwan, 2. Thailand, 3. Togo, 3. Tunisia, 17. Turkey, 17. Uganda, 1. Ukraine, 3. United Kingdom, 9. United States, 22. Unknown, 4. Vietnam, 1 ...

The Syrian Refugee Crisis: What Nurses Need to Know.

Science.gov (United States)

Almontaser, Esmihan; Baumann, Steven L

2017-04-01

The civil war in Syria that began in 2011 has displaced millions of Syrians of all ages. While the number that have arrived in the United States is small in comparison to many other countries, it is important that nurses and other healthcare workers here understand that many of them have faced considerable trauma and endured stresses. Most of them are Muslims. Muslims in the United States and elsewhere represent a heterogeneous group of people with a long intellectual and cultural history. Islamic cultural patterns do pose unique barriers to a primarily Anglo-Saxon medical system that medical practitioners need to consider in order to avoid misunderstanding and provide culturally sensitive care. The authors discuss the Syrian refugee crisis and the experience of being a Muslim or Arab American patient in U.S. healthcare settings.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Arabic version of the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly among community-dwelling older adults in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alqarni, Ayidh M; Vennu, Vishal; Alshammari, Sulaiman A; Bindawas, Saad M

2018-01-01

Older adults are the fastest growing population group worldwide. Regular physical activity (PA) is reported to reduce the risk of health conditions and improve personal well-being. Few validated instruments can be used to measure the PA levels among older adults in Saudi Arabia. The Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) is used worldwide for evaluating the PA levels of the elderly in epidemiological studies. However, this scale has not been translated into Arabic. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt the PASE into Arabic language and evaluate its reliability and validity among community-dwelling older adults in Saudi Arabia. This study was a cross-sectional one following Beaton guidelines to translate and perform cultural adaptation, as well as test the reliability and validity of the PASE Arabic version (PASE-A). Elderly (N=74) people from both genders, who lived in a community dwelling in Riyadh city, were selected from several primary health care centers. The study used Cronbach's alpha coefficient to assess the internal consistency reliability, while intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC 2,1 ) was used for test-retest reliability and the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ( r ) was used to evaluate the correlation among PASE-A and grip strength, Timed Up and Go test, body mass index, and fat percentage. Out of 74 older adults, 59 (79.7%) completed the PASE-A questionnaire twice. The internal consistency of the PASE-A components was good (Cronbach's alpha 0.70-0.75), and the reliability of the components was excellent (ICC 2,1 0.90-0.98). A higher PASE-A score was associated with higher grip strength ( r =0.28, p =0.05) and with shorter Timed Up and Go test times ( r =-0.45, p =0.01). The PASE-A version was easy, understandable, and relevant for Saudi older adults' culture. This scale was a reliable and valid tool for evaluating and assessing the PA level among community-dwelling older adults in Saudi Arabia.

Sex Differences in Arab Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Amr, Mostafa; Raddad, Dahoud; El-Mehesh, Fatima; Mahmoud, El-Hassanin; El-Gilany, Abdel-Hady

2011-01-01

Although autism spectrum disorders (ASD) prevalence is higher in males than females in Arab countries, few studies address sex differences in autistic symptoms and coexiting behavioral problems. A total of 37 boys and 23 girls recruited from three Arab countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) matched for age and IQ. They were compared using Indian…

The Arab activity in uranium exploration and recovery: pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banany, Mohamad; Lababidi, M.M.

1985-01-01

This is the second part of a paper given during the third Arab energy conference held in Algeria, 4 - 9 May, 1985. Information concerning uranium resources and exploration in some Arab Countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Lybia is presented. In addition to that, uranium content in phosphate rocks in the world and specially in Arab Countries is discussed. 5 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Cultural and Religious Educational Needs of Overseas Nurses Working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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Al-Yateem, Nabeel; AlYateem, Sami; Rossiter, Rachel

2015-01-01

A competent transcultural health care service has been identified as essential for the delivery of safe health care in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and indeed internationally. Delivery of contextually informed educational programs to new employees forms an important component of achieving this requirement. Nurse educators have an essential role in identifying the cultural and religious knowledge needed by new employees and in designing programs to address these needs. The objective of this article was to explore the cultural and religious educational needs of overseas nurses working with Muslim patients in the KSA and the UAE as derived from the experience of nurses themselves. Written narratives from nurses employed to work primarily with Muslim nurses were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive methodology. In the UAE and the KSA context, and perhaps for nurses working with Muslim-Arabic patients worldwide, the culturally and religiously specific topics that need to be a component of preemployment education include the basic Islamic principles (5 daily prayers, Ramadan fasting, Zamzam water, and time management skills to accommodate religious practices within care); Kinship and Social Factors (family structure, gender-related issues, and social support system); and Basic Arabic language skills.

Undergraduate Arab International Students' Adjustment to U.S. Universities

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Abu Rabia, Hazza M.

2017-01-01

The adjustment process and issues of 16 Arab international students enrolled at two universities in the Northeast of the United States were examined through this qualitative, exploratory study. The participants were from Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and United Arab Emirates and had been in the US for 2 to 5 years. In-depth…

Communication dated 19 January 2009 received from the Resident Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Council of Ambassadors of Arab States Members of the Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The Director General has received a communication dated 19 January 2009 from the Resident Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Vienna on behalf of the Council of Ambassadors of Arab States Members of the Agency. The communication, as requested therein, is circulated herewith for information of all Member States

Current situation in the Arab countries and the AAEA Role

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takriti, Salaheddin

2013-01-01

Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) is one of the organizations of the League of Arab States (LAS). AAEA is working within the framework of the LAS to coordinate the scientific efforts of the Arab Countries in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy. So, AAEA works hard to enhance the socio-economical development in Arab countries by promoting the peaceful applications of atomic energy in many aspects of life. The Arab Authority contributes for the implementation of training programs for Arab staff in the field of parameters mentioned above through the implementation of training courses, workshops and expert meetings in addition to scientific visits exchanged between the researchers and Arabs scientists and translation of books from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Arabic language and circulated to the Arab countries. At Arab Summits (Riyadh - 2007 - Damascus and Doha 2008 - 2009), AAEA elaborates 12 projects on the Arab strategy for the peaceful uses of atomic energy until 2020 and planed all applications of atomic energy. Integration of radioisotopes production in the Arab countries is among these projects. This project aims to unify efforts and coordinate cooperation between the Arab countries together to develop the human potential and benefit from the expertise available in some Arab countries in the production of radioisotopes to insure the integration between Arab countries. Nuclear and radioactive facilities in Arab countries are:- Research reactors (RRs) that can produce isotopes (Egypt -2, -2 Algeria, Libya -1) and (-1 Morocco, Syria -1).- Ions accelerators (cyclotron) for isotope production (Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt).- Ions accelerators (VDG) for research and analysis (Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Algeria and Jordan).- Electron accelerator (LINAC) for research and industry applications (Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, UAE and Kuwait).- Electron accelerators (LINAC) for nuclear medicine therapy

77 FR 19026 - Designation of Syrian Arab Republic for Temporary Protected Status

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-29

... Syrian military have also shot unarmed protestors, including children, medical doctors, ambulance drivers..., and a higher drop is expected in 2012. Tourism, which accounted for 6 to 9 percent of Syria's gross... also indicate that medical doctors providing treatment to wounded members of the opposition have been...

A Study on the use of Facebook, RSS, Blogs and Twitter (Web2.0) among selected academic libraries from 6 Gulf countries namely: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.

2014-01-01

This paper aims to explore and study the current usage trends of Web2.0 namely Facebook, RSS, Blogs and Twitter among selected higher education institutions’ libraries in 6 gulf countries namely: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar

Post-traumatic stress disorder among Syrian refugees in Turkey: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Alpak, Gokay; Unal, Ahmet; Bulbul, Feridun; Sagaltici, Eser; Bez, Yasin; Altindag, Abdurrahman; Dalkilic, Alican; Savas, Haluk A

2015-03-01

Refugees have had major challenges to meet their health care needs throughout history especially in war zones and natural disaster times. The health care needs of Syrian refugees have been becoming an increasingly important issue. We aimed to examine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and explore its relation with various socioeconomic variables among Syrian refugees, who sought asylum in Turkey. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tent city. Sample size calculation yielded 352 and the participants of the study were determined randomly. Experienced and native Arabic speaking, psychiatrist evaluated the participants. The frequency of PTSD was 33.5%. Through the binary logistic regression analysis, we calculated that the probability of having PTSD among Syrian refugees in our sample was 71%, if they had the following features: with female gender; being diagnosed with psychiatric disorder in the past; having a family history of psychiatric disorder; and experiencing 2 or more traumas. The findings of our study suggest that PTSD among Syrian refugees in Turkey might be an important mental health issue in refugee camps especially among female refugees, who were exposed to 2 or more traumatic events and had a personal or family history of psychiatric disorder.

Agreement of 25 February 1992 between the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the application of safeguards in connection with the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-07-01

The document contains two parts. The first one stipulates the agreement of the Syrian Arab Republic to accept Safeguards on all source or special fissionable material in all peaceful nuclear activities within its territory, under its jurisdiction or carried out under its control anywhere, for the exclusive purpose of verifying that such material is not diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The second part specifies the procedures to be applied in the implementation of the safeguards provisions of Part I

Saudi Arabia between conservatism, accomodation and reform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, R.; Aarts, P.; Wagemakers, J.; Kanie, M.; Geel, A.

2012-01-01

Of all the countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia seems to have remained immovable since the beginning of the Arab Spring. What does conservatism mean, are reforms possible, and what is the pace of change? The clever mix of conservatism, reform and accommodation are the characteristic features

Mashreq Arab interconnected power system potential for economic energy trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Shehri, A.M.; El-Amin, I.M.; Opoku, G.; Al-Baiyat, S.A.; Zedan, F.M.

1994-01-01

The Mashreq Arab countries covered in this study are Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. A feasibility study for the interconnection of the electrical networks of the Mashreq Arab countries, sponsored by the Arab Fund, was completed in June 1992. Each country is served by one utility except Saudi Arabia, which is served by four major utilities and some smaller utilities serving remote towns and small load centers. The major utilities are the Saudi consolidated electric Company in the Eastern Province (SCECO East), SCECO Center, SCECO West, and SCECO South. These are the ones considered in this study. The Mashreq Arab region has a considerable mix of energy resources. Egypt and Syria have some limited amounts of hydropower resources, and the Arabian Gulf region is abundant in fossil fuel reserves. Owing to the differences in energy production costs, a potential exists for substantial energy trading between electric utilities in the region. The major objective of this project is to study the feasibility of electric energy trading between the Mashreq Arab countries. The basis, assumptions, and methodologies on which this energy trading study is based relate to the results and conclusions arising out of the previous study, power plant characteristics and costs, assumptions on economic parameters, rules for economy energy exchange, etc. This paper presents the basis, methodology, and major findings of the study

Cenozoic volcanic rocks of Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, R.G.; Gregory, R.T.; Brown, G.F.

2016-01-01

The Cenozoic volcanic rocks of Saudi Arabia cover about 90,000 km2, one of the largest areas of alkali olivine basalt in the world. These volcanic rocks are in 13 separate fields near the eastern coast of the Red Sea and in the western Arabian Peninsula highlands from Syria southward to the Yemen Arab Republic.

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Adolescents in Seven Arab Countries: A Cross-Cultural Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulrahman O. Musaiger

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in seven Arab countries using similar reference standard. Methods. A school-based cross-sectional study was carried out in seven cities in Arab countries, namely, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and United Arab Emirates. A multistage stratified random sampling technique was used. The total sample included was 4698 adolescents aged from 15 to 18 years (2240 males, 2458 females. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF reference standard was used to classify the adolescents as nonobese, overweight, and obese. Results. Among males, overweight was highest among Kuwaiti adolescents (25.6%, followed by Jordanian (21.6%, and Syrian (19.7% adolescents. Among females, the highest prevalence of overweight was reported in Libyan adolescents (26.6%, followed by Kuwaiti (20.8%, and Syrian (19.7% adolescents. As for obesity, Kuwaiti adolescents showed the highest prevalence of obesity for both males (34.8% and females (20.6%. Conclusion. There is an urgent need to establish a plan of action to combat obesity in schoolchildren in these countries.

Relative Frequencies of Arteritic and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy in an Arab Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Gruener, Anna M; Chang, Jessica R; Bosley, Thomas M; Al-Sadah, Zakeya M; Kum, Clarissa; McCulley, Timothy J

2017-12-01

To evaluate the relative frequencies of arteritic and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) in an Arab population and to compare and contrast these findings with known epidemiological data from Caucasian populations. A retrospective review of the medical records of all patients diagnosed with AION at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 1997 and 2012. Of 171 patients with AION, 4 had biopsy-proven giant-cell arteritis (GCA). The relative frequencies of arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AAION) and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) in this Arab cohort were 2.3% and 97.7%, respectively. The relative frequencies of arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy differ between Arab and North American clinic-based populations, with giant-cell arteritis-related ischemia being much less frequent in Saudi Arabia.

The Spectrum of Glomerulonephritis in Saudi Arabia: The Results of the Saudi Registry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huraib S

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Only few studies regarding glomerulonephritis, with relatively small numbers of patients, have so far been published from different centers in Saudi Arabia, and have reported conflicting results regarding the patterns, even in the same city. The possible reasons for these differences include the small number of patients in the different studies, differences in the indications for renal biopsies, referral bias, geographical differences, and, sometimes, the non-availability of the necessary diagnostic facilities in the reporting centers. In order to overcome these problems, a registry for glomerulonephropathy was attempted in Saudi Arabia. Six large referral hospitals from different regions of Saudi Arabia participated in this registry. Biopsy reports and clinical information of 1294 renal biopsies were obtained. There were 782 renal biopsies due to glomerulonephritis (GN accounting for 77.2% of the total biopsies. Five hundred eighty seven (72.6% were primary glomerulonephritidis. Focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS (21.3% and membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN (20.7% were the most common types found in the primary glomerulonephritidis. Membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN was present in only 10.6% of the cases. IgA nephropathy was found in 6.5% of the cases. Of the secondary glomerulo-nephritides, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE was the most common indication for biopsy (57.0% and amyloidosis was found in only 3.2% of the biopsies. In conclusion, FSGS and MPGN were the most common forms of primary glomerulonephritis in adult patients in Saudi Arabia. MGN was not as common as in the western world. SLE was the commonest cause of secondary GN. Amyloidosis was not as common as in other Arab countries. There is a need for more centers from Saudi Arabia to join this national GN registry. Similar registries can be established in different Arab countries, which all would, hopefully, lead to a Pan-Arab GN registry.

Validation of a diabetes numeracy test in Arabic

OpenAIRE

Alghodaier, Hussah; Jradi, Hoda; Mohammad, Najwa Samantha; Bawazir, Amen

2017-01-01

Background The prevalence of diabetes Mellitus in Saudi Arabia is 24%, ranking it among the top ten Worldwide. Diabetes education focuses on self-management and relies on numeracy skills. Poor numeracy may go unrecognized and it is important to have an assessment tool in Arabic to measure such a skill in diabetes care. Objectives To validate a 15-item Diabetes Numeracy Test (DNT-15) in the Arabic Language as a tool to assess the numeracy skills of patients with diabetes and to test its proper...

The Repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Tourism in Lebanon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghada Salem

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Lebanon is characterised by a touristic industry, making of it the highest touristic destination in the Arab world before 1975, the year in which Lebanon's civil war has erupted, a war from which Lebanon still suffers until now. Moreover, Lebanon suffers from internal political conflicts and the repercussions of the geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, the latest of which is the Syrian war. While the crises in Lebanon prevail- from political, security, economic, social to even environmental - Lebanese policymakers are still seeking to make out of Lebanon a country considered as a touristic one, and are working on achieving a sustainable touristic development. In this context, this study tackles the crisis that Lebanon is experiencing as a result of forced Syrian displacement into its territory, and sheds light on its negative and positive effects on Lebanese tourism. The study also aims to determine the effectiveness of sustainable tourism development in times of crisis, based on the study of Lebanese touristic data during a specific period of time.

Iraqi, Syrian, and Palestinian Refugee Adolescents' Beliefs About Parental Authority Legitimacy and Its Correlates.

Science.gov (United States)

Smetana, Judith G; Ahmad, Ikhlas; Wray-Lake, Laura

2015-01-01

This study examined intra- and interindividual variations in parental legitimacy beliefs in a sample of 883 Arab refugee adolescents (M(age) = 15.01 years, SD = 1.60), 277 Iraqis, 275 Syrians, and 331 Palestinians in Amman, Jordan. Confirmatory factor analyses showed distinct latent factors for moral-conventional, prudential, and personal legitimacy items. Older adolescents rated legitimacy lower for personal issues, but higher for prudential issues. Beliefs were associated with socioeconomic status (fathers' education, family size), particularly for personal issues, but were more pervasively associated with displacement-related experiences. Greater war trauma was associated with less prudential legitimacy for all youth and more authority legitimacy over moral-conventional issues for Syrian youth. Greater hopefulness was associated with more authority legitimacy over all but personal issues. © 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Arab oil and gas directory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

This reference book is the only oil and gas encyclopedia in the world providing detailed country surveys on the oil and gas industry in the Arab countries and Iran. It provides thorough country reports and detailed statistics on oil and gas exploration, production, transport, refining and petrochemicals, as well as on development projects in all countries in the Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Separate chapters cover OPEC and OAPEC, as well as world oil and gas statistics. It includes 53 maps and 268 tables and graphs, and 2420 addresses and contact names

Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS: objectives, design, methodology and implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Musaiger AO; ATLS Research Group

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Hazzaa M Al-Hazzaa1,2, Abdulrahman O Musaiger3, ATLS Research Group1Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Movement Sciences, College of Education, King Saud University, 2Scientific Board, Obesity Research Chair, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Arab Center for Nutrition, Manama, Bahrain, and Nutrition and Health Studies Unit, Deanship of Scientific Research, University of Bahrain, BahrainBackground: There is a lack of comparable data on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, which limits our understanding and interpretation of the relationship between obesity and lifestyle parameters. Therefore, we initiated the Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS. The ATLS is a multicenter collaborative project for assessing lifestyle habits of Arab adolescents. The objectives of the ATLS project were to investigate the prevalence rates for overweight and obesity, physical activity, sedentary activity and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, and to examine the interrelationships between these lifestyle variables. This paper reports on the objectives, design, methodology, and implications of the ATLS.Design/Methods: The ATLS is a school-based cross-sectional study involving 9182 randomly selected secondary-school students (14–19 years from major Arab cities, using a multistage stratified sampling technique. The participating Arab cities included Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Khobar (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai (United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Amman (Jordan, Mosel (Iraq, Muscat (Oman, Tunisia (Tunisia and Kenitra (Morocco. Measured variables included anthropometric measurements, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration, and dietary habits.Discussion: The ATLS project will provide a unique opportunity to collect and analyze important lifestyle information from Arab adolescents using standardized procedures. This is the first time a collaborative Arab project will

Benchmarking the scientific output of industrial wastewater research in Arab world by utilizing bibliometric techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Zyoud, Shaher H; Al-Rawajfeh, Aiman E; Shaheen, Hafez Q; Fuchs-Hanusch, Daniela

2016-05-01

Rapid population growth, worsening of the climate, and severity of freshwater scarcity are global challenges. In Arab world countries, where water resources are becoming increasingly scarce, the recycling of industrial wastewater could improve the efficiency of freshwater use. The benchmarking of scientific output of industrial wastewater research in the Arab world is an initiative that could support in shaping up and improving future research activities. This study assesses the scientific output of industrial wastewater research in the Arab world. A total of 2032 documents related to industrial wastewater were retrieved from 152 journals indexed in the Scopus databases; this represents 3.6 % of the global research output. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 70. The total number of citations, at the time of data analysis, was 34,296 with an average citation of 16.88 per document. Egypt, with a total publications of 655 (32.2 %), was ranked the first among the Arab countries followed by Saudi Arabia 300 (14.7 %) and Tunisia 297 (14.6 %). Egypt also had the highest h-index, assumed with Saudi Arabia, the first place in collaboration with other countries. Seven hundred fifteen (35.2 %) documents with 66 countries in Arab/non-Arab country collaborations were identified. Arab researchers collaborated mostly with researchers from France 239 (11.7 %), followed by the USA 127 (6.2 %). The top active journal was Desalination 126 (6.2 %), and the most productive institution was the National Research Center, Egypt 169 (8.3 %), followed by the King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia 75 (3.7 %). Environmental Science was the most prevalent field of interest 930 (45.8 %). Despite the promising indicators, there is a need to close the gap in research between the Arab world and the other nations. Optimizing the investments and developing regional experiences are key factors to promote the scientific research.

A Qualitative Investigation of the Factors Affecting Arab International Students' Persistence in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Rabia, Hazza Abu

2017-01-01

This qualitative study explored the factors that enhance Arab international students' persistence and facilitate their academic and cultural adjustment at postsecondary institutions in the United States. The sample for this study consisted of Arab international students from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, UAE, Iraq, and Jordan. In-depth…

Solar energy activities in the Arab countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayigh, A.A.M.

1991-01-01

The Arab countries, 22 in total, are divided into three groups. Group one consists of all countries of the Middle East. The second group is the Arabian Peninsula, and the third group consists of all Arab countries in Africa. The paper outlines the solar density and sunshine hours, as well as wind data in the region and compares them with some industrialized countries. Brief surveys of various solar energy projects are tabulated: that is solar, wind and biomass. Several specific major projects in various parts of the Arab World will be discussed. More specifically, the cooling of the solar energy research building in Baghdad (120 tons of solar absorption chillers, 80 tons of heat pumps), the heating of King Abdu-Asis Airborne and Physical Training School near Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, the 350 kW PV. field of the solar energy village near Riyadh and the 100 kW solar thermal plant in Kuwait are discussed. It is worth noting that the present photovoltaic capacity in the Arab world is more than 3.0 MW and the yearly installation potential per year is 2.0 MW. There are at least five photovoltaic production facilities in the Arab countries. Two of them in Saudi Arabia with capacity of 400 kW, one in Iraq with a capacity of 200 kW, one in Tunisia with a capacity of 100 kW and on in Algeria with capacity of 100 kW. The Arab countries can absorb 5MW per year and more countries like Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Jordan and Libya are thinking of having their own production capabilities. Five desalination plants are also mentioned, plus the Yanbu plant of 240m/day, which is one of the largest in the world. The potential of wind energy utilisation is considered. Obstacles hindering the process of solar energy in the region are also outlined. (author). 11 refs, 1 fig., 4 tabs

Revisiting the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS): The Anxiety of Female English Language Learners in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Saraj, Taghreed M.

2014-01-01

With the increase in globalization, the study of English has become common in Saudi Arabia, but students' experiences of foreign language anxiety (FLA) have been underexamined. Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries are culturally distinct from the Western world, where the most popular assessments of FLA were developed. Through a qualitative and…

Altering Courses in Unknown Waters: Interaction between Traditional and New Media during the first Months of the Syrian Uprising

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenzo Trombetta

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This papers aims at investigating the relationship between traditional and social media during the first six months of the Syrian uprising. Thanks to direct testimony made available to the author by various cyber activists inside and outside Syria and through constant monitoring of the official propaganda and the coverage of the Syrian events by the two main pan-Arab satellite TVs, this article intends to investigate how both the regime and the activists attempt to represent the “real events on the ground”. In a country where the foreign and pan-Arab press have been mostly expelled since the beginning of the protests and the consequent repression, these two opposite poles heavily fight on the media level. On the one hand, the propaganda dominates traditional media and has sought to show familiarity with new methods, while maintaining the same content and rhetorical tone. On the other hand, the activists, masters of the new media, attempted to overcome the limitations of their tools, aiming at more traditional forms of communication. In both cases, the Internet has emerged as the main weapon of this media confrontation.

A screening tool for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children in Saudi Arabia

OpenAIRE

Hassan, Ahmad M.; Al-Haidar, Fatima; Al-Alim, Fateh; Al-Hag, Othman

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A clinically validated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scale in Arabic for evaluating children in Saudi Arabia who might be suspected of having ADHD is lacking. Thus, we studied the validity of an Arabic version of the ADHD Rating Scale in discriminating children with an ADHD diagnosis from normal children or from those with non-ADHD psychiatric diagnoses, including mental retardation. METHODS: The guardians of 119 children provided demographic data ...

[Investigation of the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis among female Syrian refugees with the complaints of vaginitis aged between 15-49 years].

Science.gov (United States)

Yentür Doni, Nebiye; Aksoy, Mustafa; Şimşek, Zeynep; Gürses, Gülcan; Hilali, Neşe Gül; Yıldız Zeyrek, Fadile; Özek, Behire; Yıldırımkaya, Gökhan

2016-10-01

Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, most of the Syrian refugees have immigrated to Turkey due to its open gate policy and the width of the border. By the end of 2015, it was estimated that there were 2.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. Many of the Syrian refugees live in Sanliurfa due to its location on the border with Syria. Trichomonas vaginalis, apart from viral agents is the most common parasite among sexually transmitted infection agents. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of T.vaginalis among female married Syrian refugees living outside of the camps in Sanliurfa city center, aged between 15-49 years with complaints of vaginitis. This multi-purpose survey was carried out between February and March of 2015, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and Harran University. This study was approved under the heading of "General Health Status of Female Syrian Refugees" by the Ethics Committee of Harran University Faculty of Medicine. A total of 460 Syrian refugees house were selected using the probability cluster sampling method, with a 95% confidence level and a 5% confidence interval with a design effect. Two women refused to participate in the study, and the response rate was 99.6%. Two Syrian nurses, one laboratory technician, and one interpreter who knew Kurdish and Arabic were hired for the field survey. A structured questionnaire written in Turkish was translated to Arabic and used to collect the sociodemographic data during face to face interviews. According to the questionnaire data, the women with the complaints of vaginal discharge, unusual vaginal bleeding and/or dyspareunia were invited to the Gynecology Department of Harran University Research and Training Hospital for a medical examination. During gynecological examination, swab samples obtained from posterior fornix were evaluated by direct microscopy and Giemsa staining methods for the presence of T.vaginalis trophozoites. Of 458 women who have

Smoking behaviour and patterns among university students during the Syrian crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Idris, Amr; Al Saadi, Tareq; Turk, Tarek; Alkhatib, Mahmoud; Zakaria, Mohammed; Sawaf, Bisher; Edris, Basel

2018-05-03

The ongoing Syrian war has resulted in many changes in the social and economic life of Syrians. To date, no study has documented the relationship between smoking behaviour and the war. To determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking among university students during the crisis in Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, and the impact of the war on smoking behaviour. We conducted an anonymous online cross-sectional survey of 1027 undergraduate students from all years and colleges at Damascus University. The overall prevalence of tobacco smoking was 24.73% for cigarettes and 30.4% for waterpipe. Prevalence of cigarette smoking was significantly higher in men, non-health profession students, and in students living away from their families. There was no significant difference in prevalence of smoking cigarettes when comparing students according to their origin (urban vs rural), year of study, and change of residence due to war. War was associated with a significant increase in mean number of cigarettes smoked daily, and 53.1% of smokers reported that the number of cigarettes consumed per day had increased since the beginning of the war. Increased smoking is an additional health concern in areas of conflict and may require special consideration and efforts by public health authorities. Copyright © World Health Organization (WHO) 2018. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).

Saudi Arabia and Regional Issues

Science.gov (United States)

1993-04-01

and Kuwait to the north; by the Persian Gulf, Qatar , the United Arab Emirates, and Oman to the east; by Oman and Yemen to the South; and by the Red Sea...on both the east and west coasts, primary and secondary aquifers that may not be renewable, and a growing system of dams that attempt to capture the...water plants producing 230 million gallons of water per day. (1:1289) More than 20 deep aquifers have been discovered in Saudi Arabia with 340

The Shia Factor in Relations Between the Arab Countries of the Persian Gulf and Iran

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Kirichenko Vladimir P.

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The author studies the influence of the “Shia factor” on the relations between Iran and the Gulf Arab countries. In most countries of the Persian Gulf, there are Shia communities that constitute a significant part of the population. After the Islamic revolution of 1979 relations between Iran and most Arab countries have become particularly tense. In the 1980s, the Gulf monarchies also became wary of exporting the Islamic revolution in their countries. This was due to the fact that, being inspired by the success of the co-religionists in Iran, the Arab Shiites became more involved in politics. It should be noted that the way the Arab Gulf countries treat the Shiites in the region is influenced by the fact that Iran and the Arab Gulf countries compete for political and economic predominance in the region. Often the Shia Muslims are discriminated by the authorities of the Arab countries, and are regarded as the so-called “fifth column” of Iran. In the author’s opinion, the policy of oppression of the Shia Muslims in the Persian Gulf monarchies not only worsens the political situation in these countries, but also complicates relations with neighboring Iran. This policy is not constructive. Moreover, the mythical “Iranian threat” does not go to any comparison with the threat posed by the Islamic State. According to the author, although after the execution of the Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of 2016 Iran’s relations with Arab countries became even more strained, the further escalation of the conflict is not in the interests of Iran. Especially now, at the initial stage of removing sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program, the military operations against the Shiites in the Arab countries may slow down the process. As for Saudi Arabia, in the event of the outbreak of hostilities Riyadh may seriously damage relations with the United States. This is because Washington sees no benefits in involving

Video game addiction and psychological distress among expatriate adolescents in Saudi Arabia

OpenAIRE

Saquib, Nazmus; Saquib, Juliann; Wahid, AbdulWaris; Ahmed, Abdulrahman Akmal; Dhuhayr, Hamad Emad; Zaghloul, Mohamed Saddik; Ewid, Mohammed; Al-Mazrou, Abdulrahman

2017-01-01

Introduction: Few studies have estimated screen time among Arab adolescents, and no studies, to date, have published data on addiction to video games or Internet games among Arab adolescents. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of addiction to video games and its correlation with mental health in a sample of expatriate high school students from the Al-Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: The survey was conducted in 2016 among 276 students enrolled in ninth through twelfth grades in t...

Video game addiction and psychological distress among expatriate adolescents in Saudi Arabia

OpenAIRE

Saquib, Nazmus; Saquib, Juliann; Wahid, AbdulWaris; Ahmed, Abdulrahman Akmal; Dhuhayr, Hamad Emad; Zaghloul, Mohamed Saddik; Ewid, Mohammed; Al-Mazrou, Abdulrahman

2017-01-01

Introduction Few studies have estimated screen time among Arab adolescents, and no studies, to date, have published data on addiction to video games or Internet games among Arab adolescents. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of addiction to video games and its correlation with mental health in a sample of expatriate high school students from the Al-Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. Methods The survey was conducted in 2016 among 276 students enrolled in ninth through twelfth grades in the...

Kebijakan Politik Luar Negeri Arab Saudi terhadap Krisis Syria (2011-2014)

OpenAIRE

Tjarsono, Idjang; khsan, Fadhly

2015-01-01

This research is intended to analyze the Saudi Arabia foreign policy toward Syria Crisis. In March 2011,Student of a School in Syria had written anti-governent slogan on their School€™s wall. Syrian Police arrested tand tortured them as punishment to the Student, this action cause Syria people movement to protest the government regime and ask for freedom and democratic transformation. In this case, Syria government tried to handle demonstration with the military action, This conflict increase...

Questioning the role of Facebook in maintaining Syrian social capital during the Syrian crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Reem

2017-12-01

The Syrian crisis is considered the 'world's single largest crisis for almost a quarter of a century that has the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation' (UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 2016). The rapid adoption of Facebook among Syrians questions whether it helps in maintaining the social capital of a war-torn nation and a dispersed Syrian population worldwide. Data was collected by means of a Facebook survey from 964 Syrian users. Results indicated that Facebook enhanced social identity and social capital through facilitating communication, collaboration and resource sharing among dispersed Syrians inside and outside the country. However, the offline rift of the nation was extended to Facebook through promoting hate speech among opposed parties. Results of this study may advance the understanding of the role of Facebook on social capital in countries going through similar crisis situations.

Electric network interconnection of Mashreq Arab Countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Amin, I.M.; Al-Shehri, A.M.; Opoku, G.; Al-Baiyat, S.A.; Zedan, F.M.

1994-01-01

Power system interconnection is a well established practice for a variety of technical and economical reasons. Several interconnected networks exist worldwide for a number of factors. Some of these networks cross international boundaries. This presentation discusses the future developments of the power systems of Mashreq Arab Countries (MAC). MAC consists of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. Mac power systems are operated by government or semigovernment bodies. Many of these countries have national or regional electric grids but are generally isolated from each other. With the exception of Saudi Arabia power systems, which employ 60 Hz, all other MAC utilities use 50 Hz frequency. Each country is served by one utility, except Saudi Arabia, which is served by four major utilities and some smaller utilities serving remote towns and small load centers. The major utilities are the Saudi Consolidated electric Company in the Eastern Province (SCECO East), SCECO Center, SCECO West, and SCECO South. These are the ones considered in this study. The energy resources in MAC are varied. Countries such as Egypt, Iraq, and Syria have significant hydro resources.The gulf countries and Iraq have abundant fossil fuel, The variation in energy resources as well as the characteristics of the electric load make it essential to look into interconnections beyond the national boundaries. Most of the existing or planned interconnections involve few power systems. A study involving 12 countries and over 20 utilities with different characteristics represents a very large scale undertaking

The Arab Uprisings and Social Rights: Asian Migrant Workers in Lebanon

OpenAIRE

Picard , Elizabeth

2013-01-01

The Arab spring of 2011 first reverberated in Lebanon in the form of political protest against the rule, not of one despotic autocrat but of a clique of collusive confessional leaders. Soon, however, demands and demonstrations in favor of reform and secularization fizzled out, engulfed by the 8 March - 14 March dispute exacerbated by the spilling over of the Syrian crisis. Democratization forces and anti-system groups appeared divided along confessional and clannish lines. Hope for political ...

Exploring Pedagogical Leadership in Early Years Education in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Alameen, Lubna; Male, Trevor; Palaiologou, Ioanna

2015-01-01

The empirical research for this paper was undertaken with leaders of early years setting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The investigation sought to establish to what extent it was possible to behave in line with the concept of pedagogical leadership in the twenty-first century in an Arab Muslim monarchy, dominated by Islam, where directive…

The oil policies of the Gulf Arab Nations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ripple, R.D.; Hagen, R.E.

1995-03-01

At its heart, Arab oil policy is inseparable from Arab economic and social policy. This holds whether we are talking about the Arab nations as a group or each separately. The seven Arab nations covered in this report-Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates--participate in several organizations focusing on regional cooperation regarding economic development, social programs, and Islamic unity, as well as organizations concerned with oil policies. This report focuses on the oil-related activities of the countries that may reveal the de facto oil policies of the seven Persian Gulf nations. Nevertheless it should be kept in mind that the decision makers participating in the oil policy organizations are also involved with the collaborative efforts of these other organizations. Oil policies of five of the seven Arab nations are expressed within the forums of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). Only Oman, among the seven, is not a member of either OAPEC or OPEC; Bahrain is a member of OAPEC but not of OPEC. OPEC and OAPEC provide forums for compromise and cooperation among their members. Nevertheless, each member state maintains its own sovereignty and follows its own policies. Each country deviates from the group prescription from time to time, depending upon individual circumstances.

Questioning the role of Facebook in maintaining Syrian social capital during the Syrian crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reem Ramadan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The Syrian crisis is considered the ‘world’s single largest crisis for almost a quarter of a century that has the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation’ (UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 2016. The rapid adoption of Facebook among Syrians questions whether it helps in maintaining the social capital of a war-torn nation and a dispersed Syrian population worldwide. Data was collected by means of a Facebook survey from 964 Syrian users. Results indicated that Facebook enhanced social identity and social capital through facilitating communication, collaboration and resource sharing among dispersed Syrians inside and outside the country. However, the offline rift of the nation was extended to Facebook through promoting hate speech among opposed parties. Results of this study may advance the understanding of the role of Facebook on social capital in countries going through similar crisis situations.

Perspectives of displaced Syrian women and service providers on fertility behaviour and available services in West Bekaa, Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Kabakian-Khasholian, Tamar; Mourtada, Rima; Bashour, Hyam; Kak, Faysal El; Zurayk, Huda

2017-10-01

Prior to the conflict, Syria had relatively high fertility rates. In 2010, it had the sixth highest total fertility rate in the Arab World, but it witnessed a fertility decline before the conflict in 2011. Displacement during conflict influences fertility behaviour, and meeting the contraceptive needs of displaced populations is complex. This study explored the perspectives of women and service providers about fertility behaviour of and service provision to Syrian refugee women in Bekaa, Lebanon. We used qualitative methodology to conduct 12 focus group discussions with Syrian refugee women grouped in different age categories and 13 in-depth interviews with care providers from the same region. Our findings indicate that the displacement of Syrians to Lebanon had implications on the fertility behaviour of the participants. Women brought their beliefs about preferred family size and norms about decision-making into an environment where they were exposed to both aid and hardship. The unaffordability of contraceptives in the Lebanese privatised health system compared to their free provision in Syria limited access to family planning services. Efforts are needed to maintain health resources and monitor health needs of the refugee population in order to improve access and use of services.

Impact of the Syrian Crisis on the Hospitalization of Syrians in a Psychiatric Setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Lama, Souaiby; François, Kazour; Marwan, Zoghbi; Sami, Richa

2016-01-01

Determine the impact of the Syrian crisis on the hospitalization of Syrians in a psychiatric setting. All Syrians admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Lebanon between the 1st of January 2009 and the 31st of December 2013 were included. Number of admissions, psychiatric disorders and demographic and clinical data relative to patients were compared between those admitted before and after the crisis. 44 patients were admitted before the crisis and 106 after it. The distribution of diagnosis varied significantly after the crisis (p = 0.056) with the majority of patients being admitted for schizophrenia (37.7 %). The prevalence of suicidal ideation was higher after the crisis (p = 0.03) but suicidal attempts, need for electroconvulsive therapy and length of hospitalization did not differ significantly between both groups. Clinicians should be aware of the possible burden of mental illness in Syrians after the beginning of the Syrian crisis.

Project and supply agreement: Agreement of 28 February 1992 between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Governments of the Syrian Arab Republic and the People's Republic of China concerning the transfer of a miniature neutron source reactor and enriched uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-07-01

The document reproduces the text of the Project and Supply Agreement between the Agency and the Governments of the Syrian Arab Republic and the People's Republic of China for the transfer of a 30 KW miniature neutron source reactor for radioisotope production, research and tracing and of approximately 980.40 grams of uranium enriched to approximately 90.2 percent by weight in the isotope uranium-235 contained in fuel elements for the supplied reactor. The Agreement was approved by the Agency's Board of Governors on 25 February 1992, signed in Vienna on 28 February 1992, and entered into force on 18 May 1992. 1 tab

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War: Impact on Reemerging Infections, Health Services, and Biosecurity in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Doganay, Mehmet; Demiraslan, Hayati

2016-01-01

After the Arab Spring uprising, Syria descended into a civil war in 2011. By March 2016, the United Nations reported that 13.5 million Syrians required humanitarian assistance, including 6.6 million internally displaced persons and more than 4.8 million refugees outside of Syria. Turkey is currently hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees-more than 2.7 million. A limited number of refugees are living in camps settled around the border, and others are spread throughout Turkey. This explosive and unexpected increase in the Syrian population in Turkey has had several negative impacts on health and social determinants. The overload of healthcare facilities has led to shortages in childhood immunization programs, drugs, and access to clean water and food supplies. According to Ministry of Health data, more than 7.5 million Syrians were examined at outpatient clinics, and 299,240 were hospitalized; most of those hospitalized were injured and wounded victims who require and have been occupying intensive care units. The refugees generally live in crowded and unsanitary conditions, which may lead to the spread of respiratory, skin, gastrointestinal, and genital system infections. Currently, measles, poliomyelitis, leishmaniasis, and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are the reemerging infections being most frequently recorded. Multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections seem to be an increasing problem in gunshot or surgical wounds. Hepatitis A, malaria, and varicella have been seen with a high incidence among the refugees. There are many problems waiting to be resolved for health and living standards in Turkey.

Lactase persistence variants in Arabia and in the African Arabs

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Priehodová, E.; Abdelsawy, A.; Heyer, E.; Černý, Viktor

2014-01-01

Roč. 86, č. 1 (2014), s. 7-18 ISSN 0018-7143 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-37998S Institutional support: RVO:67985912 Keywords : lactase persistence * Arabia * Africa * migration Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology Impact factor: 0.853, year: 2014

Prevalence of congenital color vision defects in Saudi females of Arab origin.

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Alabdelmoneam, Mussaed

2011-09-01

Inherited color vision deficiencies (CVD) vary in prevalence by population and by sex. The most common CVD is X chromosome-linked anomalous trichromacy. Prevalence varies significantly by sex and race. The frequency of color vision defects in Saudi females has not been studied previously. This study surveyed the prevalence of congenital color vision defects in Saudi females of Arab origin. Seven thousand four hundred sixty-seven female subjects (N = 7,467) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were screened using both Ishihara pseudoisochromatic plates and the Farnsworth Dichotomous test (D-15). CVD subjects were tested further with the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue test. Of 7,467 female subjects tested, 26 subjects were found to have defective color vision, for a prevalence of 0.35%. Sixteen subjects had a deutan defect, and 10 had a protan defect. Arab females have significantly lower prevalence of CVD when compared with published data from females of other races. Analysis of the 5 regions of Saudi Arabia showed no significant difference between the regions. Prevalence of CVD among Saudi females of Arab origin is 0.35% and is among the lowest of all published data. Copyright © 2011 American Optometric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Economic feasibility study of onion and potato irradiation in the Syrian Arab Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Bachir, M.; El-Den-Sharabi, N.; Midani, M.Ayman

1995-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the economic and financial feasibility of a food irradiation project proposed by the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission. The prime purpose of the project was to irradiate two important agricultural products, namely, onion and potato. The irradiation process has the effect of reducing sprouting significantly. In Syria onions are usually stored in well ventilated warehouses at ambient temperature. Our investigation showed that sprouting started after 1.5 months of storage. It is estimated that the sprouting rate reaches 100% after five months of storage. This implies a waste factor of 50%. (author). 7 refs., 4 tabs

The Lebanese–Syrian crisis: impact of influx of Syrian refugees to an already weak state

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Cherri, Zeinab; Arcos González, Pedro; Castro Delgado, Rafael

2016-01-01

Background Lebanon, a small Middle Eastern country facing constant political and national unity challenges with a population of approximately 300,000 Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, has welcomed more than 1.2 million Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-registered Syrian refugees since 2012. The Government of Lebanon considers individuals who crossed Lebanese–Syrian borders since 2011 as “displaced”, emphasizing its long-standing position that Lebanon is not a state for refugees, refusing to establish camps, and adopting a policy paper to reduce their numbers in October 2014. Humanitarian response to the Syrian influx to Lebanon has been constantly assembling with the UNHCR as the main acting body and the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan as the latest plan for 2016. Methods Review of secondary data from gray literature and reports focusing on the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon by visiting databases covering humanitarian response in complex emergencies. Limitations include obtaining majority of the data from gray literature and changing statistics due to the instability of the situation. Results The influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon, an already weak and vulnerable state, has negatively impacted life in Lebanon on different levels including increasing demographics, regressing economy, exhausting social services, complicating politics, and decreasing security as well as worsened the life of displaced Syrians themselves. Conclusion Displaced Syrians and Lebanese people share aggravating hardships of a mutual and precarious crisis resulting from the Syrian influx to Lebanon. Although a lot of response has been initiated, both populations still lack much of their basic needs due to lack of funding and nonsustainable program initiatives. The two major recommendations for future interventions are to ensure continuous and effective monitoring and sustainability in order to alleviate current and future suffering in Lebanon. PMID:27471417

The Lebanese-Syrian crisis: impact of influx of Syrian refugees to an already weak state.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherri, Zeinab; Arcos González, Pedro; Castro Delgado, Rafael

2016-01-01

Lebanon, a small Middle Eastern country facing constant political and national unity challenges with a population of approximately 300,000 Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, has welcomed more than 1.2 million Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-registered Syrian refugees since 2012. The Government of Lebanon considers individuals who crossed Lebanese-Syrian borders since 2011 as "displaced", emphasizing its long-standing position that Lebanon is not a state for refugees, refusing to establish camps, and adopting a policy paper to reduce their numbers in October 2014. Humanitarian response to the Syrian influx to Lebanon has been constantly assembling with the UNHCR as the main acting body and the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan as the latest plan for 2016. Review of secondary data from gray literature and reports focusing on the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon by visiting databases covering humanitarian response in complex emergencies. Limitations include obtaining majority of the data from gray literature and changing statistics due to the instability of the situation. The influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon, an already weak and vulnerable state, has negatively impacted life in Lebanon on different levels including increasing demographics, regressing economy, exhausting social services, complicating politics, and decreasing security as well as worsened the life of displaced Syrians themselves. Displaced Syrians and Lebanese people share aggravating hardships of a mutual and precarious crisis resulting from the Syrian influx to Lebanon. Although a lot of response has been initiated, both populations still lack much of their basic needs due to lack of funding and nonsustainable program initiatives. The two major recommendations for future interventions are to ensure continuous and effective monitoring and sustainability in order to alleviate current and future suffering in Lebanon.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Resulting from Torture and Other Traumatic Events among Syrian Kurdish Refugees in Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

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Ibrahim, Hawkar; Hassan, Chiya Q

2017-01-01

Political violence is known to cause psychological distress. There is a large body of empirical studies drawing correlations between war trauma, torture, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are few studies on the effects of war-related trauma among Syrian refugees after events following the 'Arab Spring' uprisings between 2010 and 2012. This study examines the association of PTSD symptoms with torture and other traumatic events among Syrian Kurdish refugees living in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The experiences and PTSD symptoms among 91 Syrian Kurdish refugees in the Arbat camp in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were assessed using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, sections I, IV, and V. Results showed that the estimated levels of PTSD symptoms were high: between 35 and 38%. There were no significant gender differences in the occurrence of PTSD symptoms. However, men reported more general traumatic experiences than women. There were significant positive correlations between PTSD symptoms with traumatic events and torture ( r = 0.500, r = 0.366, respectively). Examining the mental health impact of torture and other traumatic events among refugees has possible implications for organizations managing rehabilitation programs for individuals who have been exposed to traumatic events.

Labor immigration in the Arab Gulf states: patterns, trends and problems.

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Ali, A

1986-09-01

This is an overview of recent labor immigration in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Attention is given to factors contributing to the dependence of these countries on migrant labor, the impact of the decline in oil revenues, and future trends in the size and skill composition of the foreign labor supply.

Estimates of Arab world research productivity associated with groundwater: a bibliometric analysis

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Zyoud, Shaher H.; Fuchs-Hanusch, Daniela

2017-06-01

The sustainable management of groundwater resources is a pressing necessity for most countries. As most of the Arab world is facing severe water scarcity, threats of depletion of non-renewable groundwater, and problems of pollution and salt-water intrusions into groundwater aquifers, much effort should be devoted to eliminate these dangers in advance. This work was devoted to bring up insights into Arab world research activities in groundwater, which is a crucial task to identify their status and can help in shaping up and improving future research activities. A bibliometric analysis has been conducted to track these activities. The study identified 1417 documents which represent 3.3% of global research productivity. Egypt was the most productive country (313; 22.1%), followed by Saudi Arabia (254; 17.9%). Total citations were 9720 with an average of 6.9. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 39, and the highest one was 22 for Egypt. The most common subject category was Environmental Science, and the most productive journal was Arabian Journal of Geosciences (99; 7.0%). In international research collaboration, France was the most collaborated country with Arab world (125; 8.8%), followed by the United States (113; 8.0%). The most productive institution was King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia (66; 4.7%). The outcomes shows remarkable improvements in groundwater research activities originated from the Arab world. Even though, constructive efforts should be pursued vigorously to bridge the gaps in groundwater-based research. Moreover, promotion of better evaluation tools to assess the risks arising from the mismanagement of groundwater resources is required urgently.

Reformasi Sistem Kebudayaan di Arab Saudi Masa Pemerintahan Raja Abdullah (2005- 2015

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Cammelianne Typhano Rachmadie

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This study described the reform of cultural system that occurred in Saudi Arabia during the reign of King Abdullah in 2005-2015. This study used qualitative method which was presented descriptively. The method used  in the discussion was historical method. The technique of collecting data was literature research. The reference books used were related to King Abdullah's cultural reform and government. The data collected was not only from books but also journals, theses, and articles. The writer conducted data selection from all data obtained, then analyzed and  took conclusion. The finding oh the study was the reform of the cultural system carried out by King Abdullah which covered the fields of politics, economics and education. The three areas were included in the main elements of culture. The cultural system reformations that occured in the political field were the appointment of women to become a minister, the first election for women and Arab government relations with foreign policy. The cultural system reformations that occured in the economic field were the formation of Arab common market, the accession process of Saudi Arabia WTO membership, and the involvement of Saudi women in the business world. The cultural system reformations in the field of education were the Saudi Arabian female students scholarship program and the Saudi Arabia Technology and Science University development by King Abdullah.

The Lebanese–Syrian crisis: impact of influx of Syrian refugees to an already weak state

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Cherri Z

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Zeinab Cherri, Pedro Arcos González, Rafael Castro Delgado Unit for Research in Emergency and Disaster, Department of Medicine, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain Background: Lebanon, a small Middle Eastern country facing constant political and national unity challenges with a population of approximately 300,000 Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, has welcomed more than 1.2 million Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR-registered Syrian refugees since 2012. The Government of Lebanon considers individuals who crossed Lebanese–Syrian borders since 2011 as “displaced”, emphasizing its long-standing position that Lebanon is not a state for refugees, refusing to establish camps, and adopting a policy paper to reduce their numbers in October 2014. Humanitarian response to the Syrian influx to Lebanon has been constantly assembling with the UNHCR as the main acting body and the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan as the latest plan for 2016. Methods: Review of secondary data from gray literature and reports focusing on the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon by visiting databases covering humanitarian response in complex emergencies. Limitations include obtaining majority of the data from gray literature and changing statistics due to the instability of the situation. Results: The influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon, an already weak and vulnerable state, has negatively impacted life in Lebanon on different levels including increasing demographics, regressing economy, exhausting social services, complicating politics, and decreasing security as well as worsened the life of displaced Syrians themselves. Conclusion: Displaced Syrians and Lebanese people share aggravating hardships of a mutual and precarious crisis resulting from the Syrian influx to Lebanon. Although a lot of response has been initiated, both populations still lack much of their basic needs due to lack of funding and nonsustainable program initiatives

The Syrian Movement into Upstate New York.

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McHenry, Stewart G.

1979-01-01

Factors associated with the chosen occupation (door to door peddling) of many Syrians account for the initial movement of Syrians into and throughout New York State in the early 1900s. Variations in Syrian population density are explained in this article. (Author/GC)

Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS): objectives, design, methodology and implications.

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Al-Hazzaa, Hazzaa M; Musaiger, Abdulrahman O

2011-01-01

There is a lack of comparable data on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, which limits our understanding and interpretation of the relationship between obesity and lifestyle parameters. Therefore, we initiated the Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS). The ATLS is a multicenter collaborative project for assessing lifestyle habits of Arab adolescents. The objectives of the ATLS project were to investigate the prevalence rates for overweight and obesity, physical activity, sedentary activity and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, and to examine the interrelationships between these lifestyle variables. This paper reports on the objectives, design, methodology, and implications of the ATLS. The ATLS is a school-based cross-sectional study involving 9182 randomly selected secondary-school students (14-19 years) from major Arab cities, using a multistage stratified sampling technique. The participating Arab cities included Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Khobar (Saudi Arabia), Bahrain, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Kuwait, Amman (Jordan), Mosel (Iraq), Muscat (Oman), Tunisia (Tunisia) and Kenitra (Morocco). Measured variables included anthropometric measurements, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration, and dietary habits. The ATLS project will provide a unique opportunity to collect and analyze important lifestyle information from Arab adolescents using standardized procedures. This is the first time a collaborative Arab project will simultaneously assess broad lifestyle variables in a large sample of adolescents from numerous urbanized Arab regions. This joint research project will supply us with comprehensive and recent data on physical activity/inactivity and eating habits of Arab adolescents relative to obesity. Such invaluable lifestyle-related data are crucial for developing public health policies and regional strategies for health promotion and disease prevention.

The Influencing Factors of Cultural Knowledge in Translating Cultural Specific Concepts from Arabic into the English at Jazan University in Saudi Arabia

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Amin Ali Almubark

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study was set out to explore and evaluate the importance of having mastered the cultural knowledge throughout the process of depicting the culture-specific concepts involving two languages namely Arabic and English. In doing so, the participants sampled in this study were a group of final year Bachelor’s degree students majoring in Translation in ALAradha College at the Jazan University. The findings of the study method employed in this study statistically confirmed that the students of the Translation at AL AlAradh college- Saudi Arabia faced considerable difficulties throughout the process of translating cultural concepts owing to inadequate mastery of knowledge in relation to the culture involved. Among the measures which can be taken in addressing the issues in this context are training the learners by means of exposure to real cases involving culture-specific concepts which may help them deal with such difficulties in the translation process.

Arab Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields: The Way Forward

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Islam, Samira I.

2017-01-01

In most countries of the world, 40 to 50 % of students are women. However, there is greater sex imbalance in STEM fields. Indicators show that tertiary education in Arab region is high compared with gender balance in several countries; there is even imbalance in favor of women as in Saudi Arabia & Gulf States. UNESCO and World Bank statistics…

Planning for Development in the Arab Gulf States: A content Analysis of Current Development Plans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvidt, Martin

2012-01-01

Abstract: This paper analyses current development plans published by the GCC states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) in order to explore the region’s future growth trajectory: what barriers to growth are foreseen and how can they be anticipated; what...

Who will resettle single Syrian men?

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Lewis Turner

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Resettlement programmes for Syrian refugees severely restrict access to resettlement for single Syrian men, despite the conditions of vulnerability, insecurity and danger in which they live.

Saudi Arabia: Modernity, Stability, and the Twenty-First Century Monarchy

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

author, Dr. Barrett’s works range from books to articles on the Arab League and digital research techniques: The Greater Middle East and the Cold...states can be viewed as examples of periodic nomadic explosions crushed by Egyptian and Ottoman military, it was the political acumen of Ibn Saud, who...their nomadic lives interrupted. And, finally, 37 Barrett: Saudi Arabia it was accompanied by a decree from Ibn Saud that abolished the tradition

Psychometric assessment of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version for nurses in Saudi Arabia.

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Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Albaqawi, Hamdan Mohammad; Alharbi, Sami Melbes; Alicante, Jerico G; Vitorino, Luciano M; Abunab, Hamzeh Y

2017-12-07

To assess the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version for Saudi nurses. Evidence showed that a high level of spiritual climate in the workplace is associated with increased productivity and performance, enhanced emotional intelligence, organisational commitment and job satisfaction among nurses. A convenient sample of 165 Saudi nurses was surveyed in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation coefficient of the 2 week test-retest scores were computed to establish reliability. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to support the validity of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version. The Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version manifested excellent content validity. Exploratory factor analysis supported a single factor with an explained variance of 73.2%. The Cronbach's α values of the scale ranged from .79 to .88, while the intraclass correlation coefficient value was .90. The perceived spiritual climate was associated with the respondents' hospital, gender, age and years of experience. Findings of this study support the sound psychometric properties of the Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version. The Spiritual Climate Scale Arabic version can be used by nurse managers to assess the nurses' perception of the spiritual climate in any clinical area. This process can lead to spiritually centred interventions, thereby ensuring a clinical climate that accepts and respects different spiritual beliefs and practices. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Protecting the dignity of displaced Syrians

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Kholoud Mansour

2018-02-01

Full Text Available What does dignity mean to Syrian refugees and practitioners? And what can humanitarian organisations do – or abstain from doing – to help Syrians preserve and protect their dignity?

Syrian refugees: thinking beyond gender stereotypes

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Michelle Lokot

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The dominant gender narratives among NGOs responding to Syrian refugees, and their subsequent interventions, are based on sometimes simplistic understandings of the ‘traditional’ Syrian household and power dynamics.

Excerpts from Saudi Ministry of Education Textbooks for Islamic Studies: Arabic with English Translation

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Center for Religious Freedom, 2006

2006-01-01

This appendix is a companion document to "Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance with Excerpts from Saudi Ministry of Education Textbooks for Islamic Studies." The appendix includes selected excerpts in Arabic with English translations for currently-used textbooks in grades 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. These excerpts support the…

Prospects of ''solar'' hydrogen for desert development in the Arab world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel-Aal, H.K.; Al-Naafa, M.A.

1998-01-01

In this paper, the Arab world is surveyed initially for the availability of new and renewable energy sources (NRES) including solar energy. A classification is made based on the level of development and on the energy balance of each Arab country. The target is to utilize these NRES for hydrogen production and hence for desert development claiming more arable land. The emphasis is on using solar energy. Hydrogen will be harnessed along the following avenues: (a) to provide energy for land development, (b) to provide energy for pumping and irrigation, (c) to produce fresh water, (d) to produce fertilizers based on ammonia as a starting raw material. Case studies are presented for Egypt and Saudi Arabia. (author)

Social Representations of Social Media Users toward Syrian Refugees in Turkey

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Fatih Ozdemir

2017-04-01

Full Text Available While the Syrian refugees crisis has increasingly continued its effect in both Turkey and other neighboring countries and European countries for more than five years, refugees do not adapt themselves to society in country of asylum, and are exposed to social exclusion. The purpose of the study is to explore social representations of social media users toward Syrian refugees in Turkey with a qualitative approach; because social representations may indicate the problems in the integration process of Syrian refugees and Turkish society, and the reasons of social exclusion toward Syrian refugees. Accordingly 98 entries, which were taken from frequently used social dictionaries in Turkey, were evaluated by researchers and seven thematic units were formed. Thematic units reflect (i perceived negative features of Syrian refugees, (ii perceived threats in Turkey due to Syrian refugees, (iii criticisms toward Syrian refugees policy of Turkish government, (iv positive attitudes toward Syrian refugees, (v perceived political importance of Syrian refugees, (vi proposed solutions toward perceived Syrian refugees problem, and (vii other criticisms toward Syrian refugees issue. Findings provide useful information which can be used to enable the social adaptation of Syrian refugees into Turkish society

Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS): objectives, design, methodology and implications

OpenAIRE

Al-Hazzaa, Hazzaa M; Musaiger, Abdulrahman O

2011-01-01

Hazzaa M Al-Hazzaa1,2, Abdulrahman O Musaiger3, ATLS Research Group1Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Movement Sciences, College of Education, King Saud University, 2Scientific Board, Obesity Research Chair, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Arab Center for Nutrition, Manama, Bahrain, and Nutrition and Health Studies Unit, Deanship of Scientific Research, University of Bahrain, BahrainBackground: There is a lack of comparable data on physical acti...

Insight into the Attitudes of Speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic towards Their Dialect

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Alahmadi, Sameeha D.

2016-01-01

The current study mainly aims to examine the attitudes of speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic (UMHA) towards their dialect, which is spoken in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It also investigates whether the participants' age, sex and educational level have any impact on their perception of their dialect. To this end, I designed a 5-point-Likert-scale…

The Compatibility of Developed Mathematics Textbooks' Content in Saudi Arabia (Grades 6-8) with NCTM Standards

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Alshehri, Mohammed Ali; Ali, Hassan Shawki

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the compatibility of developed mathematics textbooks' content (grades 6-8) in Saudi Arabia with NCTM standards in the areas of: number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, data analysis and probability. To achieve that goal, a list of (NCTM) standards for grades (6-8) were translated to Arabic language,…

Young lives disrupted: gender and well-being among adolescent Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

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DeJong, Jocelyn; Sbeity, Farah; Schlecht, Jennifer; Harfouche, Manale; Yamout, Rouham; Fouad, Fouad M; Manohar, Seema; Robinson, Courtland

2017-01-01

The conflict in Syria that began in 2011 has resulted in the exodus of over 5 million Syrian refugees to neighbouring countries, with more than one million refugees currently registered by UNHCR in Lebanon. While some are living in tented settlements, the majority are living in strained conditions in rented accommodation or collective shelters in the Bekaa Valley next to Syria. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable in any crisis. In 2013-4, the American University in Beirut in collaboration with the Women's Refugee Commission, Johns Hopkins and Save the Children, sought to understand the specific experiences of very young adolescents, those 10-14 years of age, in this protracted crisis context. The study was conducted in 2014 in Barelias and Qabelias - two urban areas located close to each other in the Beka'a valley that has a large concentration of Syrian refugees. Focus group discussions (FGDs), including community mapping and photo elicitation, were conducted with 10-12 and 13-14 year old Syrian refugee adolescents, in order to obtain information about their experiences and perspectives. FGDs were also implemented with 15-16 year old Syrian refugees and separately also with adult refugees, to consider their perspectives on the needs and risks of these adolescents. A total of 16 FGD (8 for each sex, with 6-9 participants in each) were conducted in Arabic across the two sites, with 59 female participants and 59 male participants. The experiences and risks faced by these adolescents were significantly impacted by economic strain and loss of educational opportunities during displacement, and only a minority of adolescents in the study reported attending school. Additionally, on-going protection risks for girls were felt to be higher due to the crisis and displacement. In Lebanon this has resulted in increased risks of child marriage and limitations in mobility for adolescent girls. Adolescents, themselves expressed tensions with their Lebanese counterparts and

Research on psychosocial aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries: a review of literature.

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Al-Khateeb, Jamal M; Al-Khateeb, Anas J

2014-02-01

This study reviewed research conducted on the psychological aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries. Several databases (Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Link, and PsycInfo) were searched using the following two sets of search words: (1) Arab, Jordan, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Algiers, Palestine, Mauritania, Djibouti, Sudan, Comoros, and Somalia; and (2) epilepsy, seizure disorders, and convulsive disorders. Fifty-one studies were conducted in 12 Arab states. Social/emotional, employment, and other problems; knowledge and attitudes; and quality of life (QOL) were the most commonly measured parameters of psychosocial aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries. Results revealed elevated levels of depression and anxiety, a decline in cognitive function, various behavioral problems, sexual dysfunction, and underemployment among persons with epilepsy (PWE). Misconceptions about epilepsy were found to be prevalent. While many studies reported limited knowledge of epilepsy, some studies found an average knowledge. Negative attitudes toward epilepsy were reported in most studies, and moderately positive attitudes were reported in some studies. Finally, PWE showed low overall QOL scores in the majority of studies. © 2013.

The Arabic Revolt: Context, Perspectives and Effects

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Damjan Mandelc

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In this article we discuss three interrelated topics, framed within discourses of individual and collective human rights, right of self-determination, democratic processes, people`s uprisings, and geopolitical (imbalances. First, we are interested in the situation of Western Sahara and the 37 years of ongoing Moroccan occupation; we refer to this country as Africa’s last colony. Discussion leads us to reflection of the political strategies of Sahrawis to achieve their national liberation, one of them being Gdeim Izik camp, understood by some relevant authors as the beginning of the »Arab spring«. The »Arab spring« is the second focus of our discussion. We offer a timetable and stress the context of events from the Western Sahara attempt in Gdeim Izik, popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen that ended in the resignations of their leaders and governments, civil wars in Syria and Libya, to bigger and smaller protests and their consequences in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Mauretania, Algeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Djibouti. We try to offer a deconstruction and reconstruction of the »Arab spring«. In the third part, we discuss the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the perspectives for solution. The conclusion reflects on the strategic, social and political implications of the »Arab spring«, the role and response of the international community, and the new global wave of resistance against political and financial elites.

An Historical Survey of the British Mandate in Palestine 1920-1948: Policies Contributing to the Jewish/Arab Conflict

Science.gov (United States)

2001-12-01

139. 49 Philip Mattar, “The Mufti of Jerusalem and the Politics of Palestine,” The Middle East Journal 42:2 (Spring 1998) p. 234. 24 renewing...German invasion. Again, the symbiotic relationship that had flour ished between the Jews and the British for so many years in Palestine reemerged...Abdullah was the essential factor in the collusion. He was the glue between the Jews and the British that held the deal together. The Syrian Arab

Genetic stratigraphy of key demographic events in Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Verónica; Triska, Petr; Pereira, Joana B; Alshamali, Farida; Rito, Teresa; Machado, Alison; Fajkošová, Zuzana; Cavadas, Bruno; Černý, Viktor; Soares, Pedro; Richards, Martin B; Pereira, Luísa

2015-01-01

At the crossroads between Africa and Eurasia, Arabia is necessarily a melting pot, its peoples enriched by successive gene flow over the generations. Estimating the timing and impact of these multiple migrations are important steps in reconstructing the key demographic events in the human history. However, current methods based on genome-wide information identify admixture events inefficiently, tending to estimate only the more recent ages, as here in the case of admixture events across the Red Sea (~8-37 generations for African input into Arabia, and 30-90 generations for "back-to-Africa" migrations). An mtDNA-based founder analysis, corroborated by detailed analysis of the whole-mtDNA genome, affords an alternative means by which to identify, date and quantify multiple migration events at greater time depths, across the full range of modern human history, albeit for the maternal line of descent only. In Arabia, this approach enables us to infer several major pulses of dispersal between the Near East and Arabia, most likely via the Gulf corridor. Although some relict lineages survive in Arabia from the time of the out-of-Africa dispersal, 60 ka, the major episodes in the peopling of the Peninsula took place from north to south in the Late Glacial and, to a lesser extent, the immediate post-glacial/Neolithic. Exchanges across the Red Sea were mainly due to the Arab slave trade and maritime dominance (from ~2.5 ka to very recent times), but had already begun by the early Holocene, fuelled by the establishment of maritime networks since ~8 ka. The main "back-to-Africa" migrations, again undetected by genome-wide dating analyses, occurred in the Late Glacial period for introductions into eastern Africa, whilst the Neolithic was more significant for migrations towards North Africa.

Strategy to combat obesity and to promote physical activity in Arab countries

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Abdulrahman O Musaiger

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abdulrahman O Musaiger1, Hazzaa M Al Hazzaa2, Aayed Al-Qahtani3, Jalila Elati4, Jasem Ramadan5, Nebal A AboulElla6, Najat Mokhtar7, Hashem A Kilani81Arab Center for Nutrition, Bahrain; 2,3King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, 4National Institute of Nutrition, Tunisia; 5University of Kuwait, Kuwait; 6National Nutrition Institute, Egypt; 7Ibn Tofail University, Morocco; 8Sultan Qaboos University, OmanAbstract: Obesity has become a major public health problem in the Arab countries, creating a health and economic burden on these countries’ government services. There is an urgent need to develop a strategy for prevention and control of obesity. The third Arab Conference on Obesity and Physical Activity was held in Bahrain in January 2010, and proposed the Strategy to Combat Obesity and Promote Physical Activity in Arab Countries. This strategy provides useful guidelines for each Arab country to prepare its own strategy or plan of action to prevent and control obesity. The strategy focused on expected outcomes, objectives, indicators to measure the objectives, and action needs for 9 target areas: child-care centers for preschool children, schools, primary health care, secondary care, food companies, food preparation institutes, media, public benefit organizations, and the workplace. Follow-up and future developments of this strategy were also included.Keywords: obesity, physical activity, strategy, Arab countries

Genetic diversity of Syrian Arabian horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Almarzook, S; Reissmann, M; Arends, D; Brockmann, G A

2017-08-01

Although Arabian horses have been bred in strains for centuries and pedigrees have been recorded in studbooks, to date, little is known about the genetic diversity within and between these strains. In this study, we tested if the three main strains of Syrian Arabian horses descend from three founders as suggested by the studbook. We examined 48 horses representing Saglawi (n = 18), Kahlawi (n = 16) and Hamdani (n = 14) strains using the Equine SNP70K BeadChip. For comparison, an additional 24 Arabian horses from the USA and three Przewalski's horses as an out group were added. Observed heterozygosis (H o ) ranged between 0.30 and 0.32, expected heterozygosity (H e ) between 0.30 and 0.31 and inbreeding coefficients (F is ) between -0.02 and -0.05, indicating high genetic diversity within Syrian strains. Likewise, the genetic differentiation between the three Syrian strains was very low (F st  horses. Among Arabian horses, we found three clusters containing either horses from the USA or horses from Syria or horses from Syria and the USA together. Individuals from the same Syrian Arabian horse strain were spread across different sub-clusters. When analyzing Syrian Arabian horses alone, the best population differentiation was found with three distinct clusters. In contrast to expectations from the studbook, these clusters did not coincide with strain affiliation. Although this finding supports the hypothesis of three founders, the genetic information is not consistent with the currently used strain designation system. The information can be used to reconsider the current breeding practice. Beyond that, Syrian Arabian horses are an important reservoir for genetic diversity. © 2017 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

Culture-proven early-onset neonatal sepsis in Arab states in the Gulf region: two-year prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammoud, Majeda S; Al-Taiar, Abdullah; Al-Abdi, Sameer Y; Bozaid, Hussain; Khan, Anwar; AlMuhairi, Laila M; Rehman, Moghis Ur

2017-02-01

To investigate the incidence and the pattern of causative organisms of culture-proven early-onset sepsis (EOS) in Arab states in the Gulf region. Five neonatal care units participated in this 2-year prospective study in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Data were collected prospectively using a standardized data collection form. EOS was defined as the growth of a single potentially pathogenic organism from blood or cerebrospinal fluid in infants within 72h of birth, with clinical and laboratory findings consistent with infection. Out of 67 474 live births, 102 cases of EOS occurred. The overall incidence of EOS was 1.5 (95% confidence interval 1.2-1.8) per 1000 live-births, ranging from 2.64 per 1000 live-births in Kuwait to 0.40 per 1000 live-births in King Abdulaziz Hospital in Saudi Arabia. The most common causative organism of EOS was group B Streptococcus (GBS; 60.0%), followed by Escherichia coli (13%). The incidence of invasive GBS disease was 0.90 per 1000 live-births overall and ranged from 1.4 per 1000 live-births in Kuwait to 0.6 per 1000 live-births in Dubai Hospital. The incidence of EOS and the patterns of the causative organisms in the Arab states in the Gulf region are similar to those in developed countries before the era of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. Efforts should be made to improve intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis in the Arab state setting, which could avert large numbers of GBS infections. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The Role of Social Media in Promoting Women's Health Education in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahkali, Salwa; Almaiman, Ahmad; Bahkali, Ahlam; Almaiman, Sara; Househ, Mowafa; Alsurimi, Khaled

2015-01-01

Social media has the potential to improve women's health in developing countries through health education and promotion. In the Arab world, women's health interventions are lacking. However, with a high penetration rate of social media in the Arab world, there is good opportunity to utilize social media platforms such as Twitter to promote women's health. In this paper, we analyze the Tweet feeds of Saudi-based Twitter account to promote women's health. A total of 5167 Tweets were extracted and analyzed retrospectively, using NVivo Ncapture between June 2014 and March 2015. There were a total number of 3449 followers by March 20, 2015. Results showed that a majority of the Twitter followers (61%, n=2104) were seeking gynecological information, followed by pregnancy related information (27%, n=931), breast-feeding advice (9%, n=310), and other health related information (3%, n=103). Results also showed an increased level of health awareness and comprehension among Twitter followers. Further research is needed to promote women's health in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world through social media platforms such as Twitter and similar platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube which are also popular in the Arab world.

Arab and Japanese Universities : The "Culture-bound" vs. the "Culture-free" Position

OpenAIRE

Dedoussis, Vagelis; Czerkawski, Chris J.; Vagelis, Dedoussis; Chris J., Czerkawski

2004-01-01

Aspects of the organizational culture of four universities, two in Japan and one each in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, are discussed and compared. The paper argues that organizations established in countries sharing similarities in national cultures are likely to be characterized by similar values, beliefs, and assumptions, in short, that similarities in national cultures are likely to nurture similarities in organizational cultures. Japan and Arab countries are similar with respect to several cu...

Factorial, Convergent, and Discriminant Validity of TIMSS Math and Science Motivation Measures: A Comparison of Arab and Anglo-Saxon Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Marsh, Herbert W.; Abduljabbar, Adel Salah; Abu-Hilal, Maher M.; Morin, Alexandre J. S.; Abdelfattah, Faisal; Leung, Kim Chau; Xu, Man K.; Nagengast, Benjamin; Parker, Philip

2013-01-01

For the international Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS2007) math and science motivation scales (self-concept, positive affect, and value), we evaluated the psychometric properties (factor structure, method effects, gender differences, and convergent and discriminant validity) in 4 Arab-speaking countries (Saudi Arabia,…

Examining the Effect of Interference on Short-term Memory Recall of Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Using Free, Cued, and Serial Recall Paradigms

OpenAIRE

Ahmed Mohammed Saleh Alduais; Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem

2015-01-01

Purpose: To see if there is a correlation between interference and short-term memory recall and to examine interference as a factor affecting memory recalling of Arabic and abstract words through free, cued, and serial recall tasks. Method: Four groups of undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia participated in this study. The first group consisted of 9 undergraduates who were trained to perform three types of recall for 20 Arabic abstract and concrete words. The second, third and...

THE CURRENT SYRIAN POPULAR VIEW OF THE JEWS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandra Álvarez Suárez

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The remaining small Jewish communities of Syria run the risk of disappearing completely due to the marginalization suffered as a consequence of the political situation since 1948. The Eli Cohen affair (1965, the Six-­Day War (1967, and the Yom Kippur War (1973 made the Baathist authorities of the country consider definitively the Syrian Jews as suspected Zionists or Zionist sympathizers. Nevertheless, in Syrian popular perceptions, the view of the Jews and Judaism did not always coincide with the ideology and propaganda emanating from the regime. In fact it is very interesting to note how good memories of times past, about an erstwhile coexistence with members of the Jewish community, still survive among many Syrians, both Muslims and Christians, belonging to the so-­called “urban middle class.” This paper evaluates some examples, in the forms of anecdotes, popular sayings and proverbs, dealing with the Jews, and popularized in Syrian colloquialisms, in order to reveal some of the popular views of Judaism and Jews within Syrian society.

A Comparative Analysis of the Intended Curriculum and Its Presentation in 10th Grade Chemistry Textbooks from Seven Arabic Countries

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Khaddoor, Rouba; Al-Amoush, Siham; Eilks, Ingo

2017-01-01

This study investigates the nature of intended secondary chemistry curricula, as they are represented by chemistry textbooks, from seven Arabic countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Syria. The curricula are evaluated through analysis of the officially approved 10th grade chemistry textbooks used nationwide in all…

The Impact of Syrian Refugees on the Turkish Economy: Regional Labour Market Effects

OpenAIRE

Oğuz Esen; Ayla Oğuş Binatlı

2017-01-01

The Syrian civil war resulted in mass migration out of Syria into the neighboring countries. Turkey has received the greatest number of refugees from Syria. The Syrian refugees mostly initially settled in refugee camps in Southeastern Turkey. As the Syrian conflict intensified and lengthened, the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey increased and the Syrian population started to reside in the neighboring provinces and started to have important effects on the local economy. In 2016, Syrian refu...

The Impact of Syrian Refugees on the Turkish Economy: Regional Labour Market Effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oğuz Esen

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The Syrian civil war resulted in mass migration out of Syria into the neighboring countries. Turkey has received the greatest number of refugees from Syria. The Syrian refugees mostly initially settled in refugee camps in Southeastern Turkey. As the Syrian conflict intensified and lengthened, the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey increased and the Syrian population started to reside in the neighboring provinces and started to have important effects on the local economy. In 2016, Syrian refugees were allowed to receive work permits and they became more dispersed geographically. This paper investigates the impact of Syrian refugees on regional labour markets. Panel data for the years 2004 through 2016 is utilized for 26 regions in Turkey. Syrian refugees are found to increase unemployment and decrease informal and formal employment.

Systematic thematic review of e-health research in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Arabian Gulf): Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Alan S; Turjoman, Rebal; Shaheen, Yanal; Al Sayyed, Farah; Hwang, Mu Ji; Malick, Faryal

2017-05-01

Introduction The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC or 'Arabian Gulf'), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, is a political organization sharing a common history and culture. All GCC nations have made substantial investments in telecommunications and electronic health infrastructure since 2000. Methods We conducted a literature search in English and Arabic on peer-reviewed e-health research up to December 2014 originating in the GCC. The objective was to retrieve all research on e-health in the GCC and to categorize and analyse it qualitatively to reveal the current state of e-health research and development in the region. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed articles, books, book chapters, conference papers and graduate theses written on e-health in the GCC. Blogs, health websites and non-peer-reviewed literature were excluded. Results Three hundred and six articles were retrieved, categorized and analysed qualitatively to reveal the state of e-health research in the GCC. Both country-specific and GCC-wide major themes were identified using NVivo 10.0 qualitative software and summarized. The most common type of study was an overview (35.0%), with common study designs of case studies (26.8%) and descriptive articles (46.4%). Significant themes were: prospective national benefits from e-health, implementation and satisfaction with electronic health records, online technologies in medical education, innovative systems (case studies), and information security and personal health information. Discussion This is the first comprehensive analytical literature review of e-health in the GCC. Important research gaps were identified: few cost-benefit analyses, controlled interventional studies, or research targeting gender and religious issues were retrieved.

Cord Blood Banking in the Arab World: Current Status and Future Developments.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, Monica M; Dajani, Rana; Matthews, Kirstin R W

2015-07-01

Umbilical cord blood transplants are now used to treat numerous types of immune- and blood-related disorders and genetic diseases. Cord blood (CB) banks play an important role in these transplants by processing and storing CB units. In addition to their therapeutic potential, these banks raise ethical and regulatory questions, especially in emerging markets in the Arab world. In this article, the authors review CB banking in five countries in the region, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, selected for their different CB banking policies and initiatives. In assessing these case studies, the authors present regional trends and issues, including religious perspectives, policies, and demographic risk factors. This research suggests strong incentives for increasing the number of CB units that are collected from and available to Arab populations. In addition, the deficit in knowledge concerning public opinion and awareness in the region should be addressed to ensure educated decision-making. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Imbalance of distribution of physicians in the Arab world].

Science.gov (United States)

el Matri, A

1990-01-01

The Arab world, as a whole, now has 8.5 medical doctors per 10,000 population. This average covers a great diversity of national situations; for example 0.6 doctors per 10,000 population in Somalia, and 17.5 doctors per 10,000 population in Qatar. From the viewpoint of medical staffing, the Arab countries can be grouped into four categories: (i) Countries with low medical density: their national staff is scarce, they do not have a long academic tradition, and they have to rely on foreign physicians (Yemen, Djibouti, Somalia, Mauritania). (ii) Countries with acceptable medical density: they have strengthened their medical training system during the last decades, their production of medical graduates is now fairly high, and there is seemingly a threat of oversupply (Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq). (iii) Countries with relatively high medical density: their medical staffing is below that of developed countries, but their economic possibilities are reduced, which leads to an oversupply; these countries are exporters of medical manpower (Egypt, Jordan). (iv) Countries that import medical manpower although their own medical density is quite high: their medical training is recent or non-existent and their health system relies to a great extent on foreign doctors (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Kuwait). They are all oil producers. In brief, a shortage and an oversupply of medical doctors coexist in the Arab world, and concerted action is required.

The use of Syrian bentonite to remove organics and other ions from commercial Syrian phosphoric acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khorfan, S.; Abdulbaki, M.; Zein, A.

2006-01-01

Using of activated carbon to remove organic matter from phosphoric acid in uranium and P 2 O 5 extraction units has high cost. A new study was conducted to establish a new material instead of activated carbon. Experiments were carried out on removing organic matter by adsorption on Syrian bentonite. The experiments of the removal of humic acid by Syrian bentonite gave good results and showed that the chemical and thermal activation of bentonite increased the adsorption efficiency. (Authors)

The use of Syrian bentonite to remove organics and other ions from commercial Syrian phosphoric acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khorfan, S.; Abdulbaki, M.; Zein, A.

2005-03-01

Using of activated carbon to remove organic matter from phosphoric acid in uranium and P 2 O 5 extraction units has high cost. A new study was conducted to establish a new material instead of activated carbon. Experiments were carried out on removing organic matter by adsorption on Syrian bentonite. The experiments of the removal of humic acid by Syrian bentonite gave good results and showed that the chemical and thermal activation of bentonite increased the adsorption efficiency. (Authors)

Radon in Syrian houses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Othman, I.; Hushari, M.; Raja, G.; Alsawaf, A.

1996-01-01

A nationwide investigation of radon levels in Syrian houses was carried out during the period 1991-1993. Passive radon diffusion dosemeters using polycarbonate detectors were distributed in houses all over Syria. Detectors were subjected to electrochemical etching to reveal latent tracks of alpha particles. The mean radon concentration in Syrian houses was found to be 45 Bq m -3 with some values several times higher. This investigation indicated that there were a few houses in Syria that require remedial action. Most houses that have high levels of radon were found in the southern area, especially in the Damascus governorate. The study also indicated that radon concentrations were higher in old houses built from mud with no tiling. (author)

Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Utilization by Syrian Refugees Residing in Ankara, Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Altıner, Ali Osman; Yeşil, Sıdıka Tekeli

2018-04-01

Introduction Many Syrians have left their country and migrated to other countries since March 2011, due to the civil war. As of March 2016, a total of 2,747,946 Syrian refugees had immigrated to Turkey. Some Syrian refugees have been living in camps, while 2,475,134 have been living in metropolitan areas, such as Ankara. Study Objective This study investigated Emergency Medical Service (EMS) utilization among Syrian refugees residing in Ankara. This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional database analysis using data obtained from the Department of EMS of the Ankara Provincial Health Directorate. Five stations in the Altındağ region of Ankara responded to 42% of all calls from Syrian refugees. Prehospital EMS in Ankara have been used mostly by Syrian refugees younger than 18-years-old. Study findings also suggest that medical staff in regions where Syrian refugees are likely to be treated should be supported and provided with the ability to overcome language barriers and cultural differences. Altıner AO , Tekeli Yeşil S . Emergency Medical Service (EMS) utilization by Syrian refugees residing in Ankara, Turkey. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(2):160-164.

Video game addiction and psychological distress among expatriate adolescents in Saudi Arabia

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Nazmus Saquib

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Few studies have estimated screen time among Arab adolescents, and no studies, to date, have published data on addiction to video games or Internet games among Arab adolescents. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of addiction to video games and its correlation with mental health in a sample of expatriate high school students from the Al-Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: The survey was conducted in 2016 among 276 students enrolled in ninth through twelfth grades in the International Schools in Buraidah, Al-Qassim. Students who returned signed consent forms from their parents filled out a self-administered questionnaire that included validated scales on addiction to video games, general health, and lifestyle. Results: The proportion between the sexes and the schools were roughly equal. Around 32% were overweight or obese, 75% had screen time≥2h/day, and 20% slept<5h/night. Sixteen per cent (16% were addicted to video games and 54% had psychological distress. Addiction to video games was strongly associated with psychological distress (OR=4.1, 95% CI=1.80, 9.47. Other significant correlates were female gender, higher screen time, and shorter sleep hours. Conclusions: The proportion of students with psychological distress was high. Future studies should investigate other potential correlates of distress such personal traits, family relations, and academic performance. Keywords: Video games, Addiction, Adolescent, Psychological distress, Screen time, Saudi Arabia

Vitamin D Deficiency and Cardiometabolic Risks: A Juxtaposition of Arab Adolescents and Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Daghri, Nasser M; Al-Saleh, Yousef; Aljohani, Naji; Alokail, Majed; Al-Attas, Omar; Alnaami, Abdullah M; Sabico, Shaun; Alsulaimani, Maha; Al-Harbi, Mohammed; Alfawaz, Hanan; Chrousos, George P

2015-01-01

The recent exponential surge in vitamin D research reflects the global epidemic of vitamin D deficiency and its potential impact on several chronic diseases in both children and adults. Several subpopulations, including Arab adolescent boys and girls, remain understudied. This study aims to fill this gap. A total of 2225 apparently healthy Saudi adolescents (1187 boys and 1038 girls, aged 13-17 years old) and 830 adults (368 men and 462 women, aged 18-50 years old) were respectively recruited from different public schools and medical practices within Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Anthropometrics were taken and fasting blood samples withdrawn to examine serum glucose and lipid profile by routine analysis and 25-hydroxyvitamin D by ELISA. Almost half of the girls (47.0%) had vitamin D deficiency as compared to only 19.4% of the boys (pArab adolescents. Vitamin D deficiency is mostly associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescent Arab boys. This indicates a sex- and age-related disadvantage for boys with low vitamin D status and challenges the extra-skeletal protection of vitamin D correction in adolescent females.

NORM remediation project of Der Ezzor Petroleum Company (DEZPC) oil fields in Der Ezzor area, Syrian Arab Republic: Determination of NORM contaminated soil volumes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Masri, M. S.; Aba, A.; Hamwi, A.; Hassan, M.

2002-04-01

DEZP Company has used to collect product water, scale and sludge in artificial pits. Run-off channel had been created to allow water to run-off into the desert. A radioactive contamination by NORM in DEZP oil fields (JAFRA) has occurred and quite significant area of land has been affected. As a part of the remediation project the volume of contaminated soil with NORM according to the Syrian criteria for clean up and disposal has been determined. Surface and core soil samples were collected from the contaminated areas and analyzed for 226 Ra. The results have shown that contamination has reached a depth of more than one meter in the surface water pit. The estimated contaminated soil that needs disposal according to the Syrian criteria was calculated and found to be about 3161 m 3 . Most of the contaminated soil was found to be in the surface water pit. In addition, the contamination in the mud pit and the run-off channel was rather small and could be treated on site. However, the obtained results can be used for preparation of the remediation plan where size of the disposal pit and on site treatment is defined. The plan should be submitted to the Syrian Regulatory Office for review and approval to initiation of the remediation work (author)

The Role of Social Media in the ‘Syrian Uprising’

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Araz Ramazan Ahmad

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper, which is entitled ‘The Role of Social Media in the ‘Syrian Uprising’ aimed to report on survey research conducted  which identify the role of played by social media  in the ‘Syrian Uprising’ Currently social media tools were good mediums of electronic communication among protesters in Syria. Further, it was a vital medium for spreading information such as photos, videos and documents about the revolution for national, regional and international spheres. This paper looked at the impact and relationship between protesters and Syrian people who used social media ,technology and the nature of its role in the ‘Syrian Uprising ‘ as well as the study has made a controversial argument between different views of scholars about the subject and its case. This paper has interviewed 30 protesters inside Syria through a survey. This study, demonstrate the appeal that social media can have both positive and negative points in the ‘Syrian uprising’.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (V.2016) in Arabic: Translation and Validation

OpenAIRE

Alhaiti, Ali Hassan; Alotaibi, Alanod Raffa; Jones, Linda Katherine; DaCosta, Cliff; Lenon, George Binh

2016-01-01

Objective. To translate the revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test into the Arabic language and examine its psychometric properties. Setting. Of the 139 participants recruited through King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 34 agreed to the second-round sample for retesting purposes. Methods. The translation process followed the World Health Organization’s guidelines for the translation and adaptation of instruments. All translations were examined for their validity and reliability...

Education in Emergencies: Case of a Community School for Syrian Refugees

Science.gov (United States)

Hos, Rabia

2016-01-01

With the break of the civil war in Syria, many Syrians have been displaced either internally or as refugees. Turkey, one of the leading host of Syrian refugees, has made changes to the policies to accommodate the needs of Syrians. Education is one of the most prominent needs of displaced refugee children. While 80 percent of refugee children…

How to support the Syrian uprising?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohns, Erik

2011-01-01

The events in Syria have led to mounting calls in the EU to impose an embargo on Syrian oil. This commentary discusses the possible impact of such sanctions on the balance of power between the regime and the protest movement in Syria.......The events in Syria have led to mounting calls in the EU to impose an embargo on Syrian oil. This commentary discusses the possible impact of such sanctions on the balance of power between the regime and the protest movement in Syria....

Prevalence of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alsuwat, Obaidallah Buraykan; Alzahrani, Abdulrahman Ahmad; Alzhrani, Mohammed Abdullah; Alkhathami, Ali Mesfer; Mahfouz, Mohammad Eid Mahmoud

2018-03-01

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common chronic gastrointestinal tract disease. The incidence is higher in Asian and Arab countries. In Saudi Arabia, there are few studies that have assessed the prevalence of GERD among some cities' communities. Hence, this study aims to study the prevalence of GERD among the general population of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was designed to determine the prevalence of GERD among the community of Saudi Arabia. The sample was randomly gathered through self-administered validated GERD questionnaire (GerdQ) to diagnose GERD, during the period from November to December 2016. The sociodemographic data was assessed for all participants. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0 (SPSS); the t -test was used to assess the association of GERD and sociodemographic data. The sample was comprised of 2,043 participants. Female and male were 51.8% and 48.2%, respectively. Mean age was 29.6 years with the standard deviation of 10.5 years. The GERD prevalence was 28.7%. It was found statistically significant among divorced/widow (34.9%, P = 0.003). In contrast, there was no association between GERD's prevalence and gender, age, residence status, education level, occupation, and blood group (P > 0.05). The prevalence of GERD among Saudi population is higher than that in Western countries and East Asia. It affects divorced/widow, obese and those with a sedentary lifestyle. It is advocated that national programs and educational campaigns for prevention of this disease and its complications should be established.

Violent and Nonviolent Changes in the Images of Cities in the Arab Spring Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Serag, Yehya

2017-10-01

The Arab Spring transformations have caused tangible impacts on the urban environment throughout the Middle East with varying levels. In some cities in countries like Libya, Yemen and Syria, deliberate and accidental destruction has taken place, resulting in severe transformations in the image of these cities that could be considered as lasting or difficult to amend. In some cities, the damage caused to urban built environment could be considered a co-lateral damage as a result of internal fighting between the people and their regimes, or the fighting between the different factions in the country or from external interference of regional or international powers. Urbicide, which is defined as a deliberate destruction of cities is also another form of damaging the built environment or the city image, in which parties in an internal conflict tend to destroy symbols or quarters of their rivals to inflict a tangible damage to their social and moral believes. The impacts on the built environment and the image of the city, can result as well from non-destructive measures, for example changes in land uses or decisions to demolish specific buildings that belong to the former era will also result in a clear change in the city image. This paper highlights the types of transformation of the city images that took place as a result of the Arab Spring revolutions. The cases discussed in this paper focus mainly on cities from both Syria and Egypt. This highlighting is done in regard to the nature of change, as mentioned above, the violent transformation in the case of Syrian cities and few cases in Egypt and the nonviolent transformation with the examples from Egypt. In case of the Syrian cities the transformation is caused and sparked by the civil conflict, however the course of reconstruction of these cities after the conflict ends is argued to take one of three paths; reconstruction, renovation or redevelopment. While in case of the nonviolent transformation that is taking

Communication to the Director General of 24 April 1996 received from the resident representative of Saudi Arabia to the International Atomic Energy Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

The document reproduces the text of a letter dated 24 April 1996 received by the Director General of the IAEA on 25 April 1996 from the Resident Representative of Saudi Arabia on behalf of Members of the Agency and Members of the Board of Governors from the Arab States, concerning the Israeli Dimona reactor

Nurses' Experiences in a Turkish Internal Medicine Clinic With Syrian Refugees.

Science.gov (United States)

Sevinç, Sibel

2018-05-01

The increasing flow of Syrian refugees to Turkey, coupled with their extended stay, highlights the need for culturally competent health care, which includes nursing interventions. The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of nurses who provide care for Syrian refugees in internal medicine clinics in a hospital located in Turkey. This descriptive study was based on qualitative content analysis using an inductive approach and involved discovery and description of the data. The study sample consisted of 10 nurses who work at the internal medicine clinic of a State Hospital in Turkey. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Three themes with related subthemes were derived from the data. Nurses who participated in the study experienced: (a) Nurses found communicating with Syrian refugees and their families difficult in the clinic. (b) Nurses observed and experienced differences and similarities in caring for Turkish and Syrian patients. (c) Nurses expressed and displayed compassion toward Syrian refugees during the caring process. In order for nurses to provide the best care for Syrian refugee patients, it is important to identify cultural caring behaviors observed by nurses in the promotion of culturally congruent nursing and health care.

Birth characteristics of Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens in Turkey in 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Demirci, Hakan; Yildirim Topak, Nevruz; Ocakoglu, Gokhan; Karakulak Gomleksiz, Mehtap; Ustunyurt, Emin; Ulku Turker, Ayse

2017-04-01

To compare the birth characteristics of Syrian refugees with those of Turkish citizens. In a retrospective study, data were obtained for singleton live births that occurred at a hospital in Bursa, Turkey, between June 1 and December 31, 2015. All Syrian refugees were eligible for inclusion; one Turkish citizen was included for each refugee. Overall, 545 Syrian refugees and 545 Turkish citizens were included. Cesarean delivery was undertaken for 176 (32.3%) Syrians and 235 (43.1%) Turks (PSyrian refugees (3110 g, range 540-4790; PSyrian refugees (PSyrians (P=0.014). Cesarean delivery is more common among pregnant Turkish citizens than among Syrian refugees. Other notable differences between the groups were recorded. © 2016 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Incorporating the Delphi Technique to investigate renewable energy technology transfer in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Otaibi, Nasir K.

Saudi Arabia is a major oil-producing nation facing a rapidly-growing population, high unemployment, climate change, and the depletion of its natural resources, potentially including its oil supply. Technology transfer is regarded as a means to diversify countries' economies beyond their natural resources. This dissertation examined the opportunities and barriers to utilizing technology transfer successfully to build renewable energy resources in Saudi Arabia to diversify the economy beyond oil production. Examples of other developing countries that have successfully used technology transfer to transform their economies are explored, including Japan, Malayasia, and the United Arab Emirates. Brazil is presented as a detailed case study to illustrate its transition to an economy based to a much greater degree than before on renewable energy. Following a pilot study, the Delphi Method was used in this research to gather the opinions of a panel of technology transfer experts consisting of 10 heterogeneous members of different institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including aviation, telecommunication, oil industry, education, health systems, and military and governmental organizations. In three rounds of questioning, the experts identified Education, Dependence on Oil, and Manpower as the 3 most significant factors influencing the potential for success of renewable energy technology transfer for Saudi Arabia. Political factors were also rated toward the "Very Important" end of a Likert scale and were discussed as they impact Education, Oil Dependence, and Manpower. The experts' opinions are presented and interpreted. They form the basis for recommended future research and discussion of how in light of its political system and its dependence on oil, Saudi Arabia can realistically move forward on renewable energy technology transfer and secure its economic future.

Neonatal outcomes of Syrian refugees delivered in a tertiary hospital in Ankara, Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Büyüktiryaki, Mehmet; Canpolat, Fuat Emre; Alyamaç Dizdar, Evrim; Okur, Nilüfer; Kadıoğlu Şimşek, Gülsüm

2015-01-01

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all Syrian immigrants from the TurkishSyrian border who delivered the Zekai Tahir Burak Maternity and Teaching Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Ankara, Turkey. Between January 2013 and December 2014 a total of 36,346 women gave birth at this center. Of these, 457 women were Syrian immigrants, comprising 1.2 % (457/36,346) of all deliveries. The number of births among Syrian refugees in Turkey appears to be increasing. Further research is needed to understand the relative morbidity of babies born to Syrian refugees compared to the local population, as well as the economic impact on facilities treating these cases.

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among visitors to faith healers in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alosaimi, Fahad D; Alshehri, Youssef; Alfraih, Ibrahim; Alghamdi, Ayedh; Aldahash, Saleh; Alkhuzayem, Haifa; Albeeeshi, Haneen

2014-09-01

We investigated the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among visitors to Faith Healers (FHs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We also studied the sociodemographic profiles for these visitors, in addition to their past psychiatric history, reason(s) for seeking FH help, and past and current treatment experience with FHs. We conducted a cross-sectional study among the visitors (n=321) to a number of faith healing settings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using a specially designed questionnaire and validated Arabic version of The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Most of the participants were young adults (35.1±10.8 years) and males with intermediate and secondary levels of education who had not sought medical help prior to their visits. A high proportion of the FH visitors have diagnosable mental illnesses. Depressive and anxiety disorders were the most prevalent among the study participants; few visitors were affected by psychotic or bipolar disorders. The present study provides insight for understanding the type of patients with psychiatric disorders who visit Faith Healers.(FHs). The study highlights the tendency of psychiatric patients in Saudi Arabia to visit FHs, which could reflect the importance of further studies to clarify the impact of FHs on the management of those patients.

Examining the Effect of Interference on Short-Term Memory Recall of Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Using Free, Cued, and Serial Recall Paradigms

Science.gov (United States)

Alduais, Ahmed Mohammed Saleh; Almukhaizeem, Yasir Saad

2015-01-01

Purpose: To see if there is a correlation between interference and short-term memory recall and to examine interference as a factor affecting memory recalling of Arabic and abstract words through free, cued, and serial recall tasks. Method: Four groups of undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia participated in this study. The first…

Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Saudi Arabia: A Community-Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhunizan, Muath; Alkhenizan, Abdullah; Basudan, Loay

2018-01-01

The age of the population in Saudi Arabia is shifting toward elderly, which can lead to an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment (MCI and dementia) among elderly patients in a community-based setting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this cross-sectional study, we included patients aged 60 years and above who were seen in the Family Medicine Clinics affiliated with King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre. Patients with delirium, active depression, and patients with a history of severe head trauma in the past 3 months were excluded. Patients were interviewed during their regular visit by a trained physician to collect demographic data and to administer the validated Arabic version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test. One hundred seventy-one Saudi patients were recruited based on a calculated sample size for the aim of this study. The mean age of included sample was 67 ± 6 years. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 45%. The prevalence of MCI was 38.6% and the prevalence of dementia was 6.4%. Age, low level of education, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease were risk factors for cognitive impairment. Prevalence of MCI and dementia in Saudi Arabia using MoCA were in the upper range compared to developed and developing countries. The high rate of risk factors for cognitive impairment in Saudi Arabia is contributing to this finding.

The use of environmental isotope techniques in hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qatan, Z.

1990-01-01

It is a very short report about the second coordinating meeting and workshop on the Regional Arab Middle-East Technical Cooperation Project, entitled 'use of environmental isotope techniques in hydrogeological investigations' was organized by the IAEA and the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission and was held in Damascus, Syria in the period 10-14 December 1989. About 27 participants, involved in the implementation of this cooperation project, from Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Syria together with 3 technical experts from IAEA and the Earth Science Institute of Hanover University (F.R.G) have attended this meeting. The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the overall review of hydrogeological activities and development in these four countries, after the first sampling results already obtained, and to give a new plan of the activities to be implemented in the future. The meeting had also included some lectures, given by the experts, on the evaluations and the interpretations of isotope results, obtained from arid and semi-arid zones in some Middle-East countries. (author)

Abandon or embrace: Functionalism perspective of photojournalists on Syrian refugees

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuroyya; Tandyonomanu, D.; Dharmawan, A.

2018-01-01

This research examines photojournalist’ perspectives of Syrian refugees in Europe, encoding, and dissemination processes. It employs a qualitative approach and functionalism perspective of mass media by sending questionnaires to voluntary respondents. The findings show sharing similar background and/or having experiences in the Middle Eastern countries highly influence the perspective of photojournalists on Syrian refugees. The encoding process covers through research of priority issues, target audience, trustworthiness of photos, and audience interpretation. The distribution method includes taking advantages of personal social media to promote the links of photos. As part of mass media industry, photojournalists play a crucial role to contribute to social integration, particularly, in creating a shared understanding between European community and Syrian refugees. The current research serves as a basis to future investigations on the perspective of European community towards Syrian refugees, whether or not their perspective is influenced by such photos.

Dermatological face of Syrian civil war

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Rahime İnci

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Design: The frequency and variety of dermatological diseases significantly changed after 2011 in the regions where the Syrian refugees migrated because of the civil war in Syria where is bordered by our country. To reveal these changing, the demographic and dermatological data of the Syrian refugees were retrospectively examined in faculty of medicine, department of dermatology of our city where a significant amount of Syrian refugees have been living. Materials and Methods: A total of 326 refugees immigrated to our city and have been living in tent cities, and applied to our department between September 2012-July 2014 were included to our study. Age, gender, dermatological and laboratory findings were retrospectively examined. Skin diseases were examined in 16 groups according to the their frequency. The patients were divided into 4 age groups as 0-20, 21-40, 41-60 and, 61 and over; three most common diseases for each age group were analyzed. Results: Of 326 patients, 126 (38.7% were males, 200 (61.3% were females and the difference was significant in term of gender. The age range of the patients was 0 to 77 years, and the mean age was 21.6±10.5. The majority of patients were in 0-20 age group. Dermatological infectious diseases were the most frequent diseases group and cutaneous leishmaniasis was the most diagnosed dermatological disease among patients. Conclusion: Preventive health care services should be performed to prevent dermatological infectious diseases which are commonly seen in Syrian refugees, especially cutaneous leishmaniasis which is already endemic in our country, and limitations to reach physicians of these patients should be amended.

The Syrian Crisis: What It Means for the World; Is There a Role for Canada?

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Ferry de Kerckhove

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The Harper government has shown itself to be fully engaged and willing to take a public leadership position when it comes to the world’s response to the Syrian crisis, but Canada has yet to commit to a military intervention. That may well be the most sensible approach. There are many reasons that western countries have resisted a Libyan-style intervention in Syria, though there are compelling arguments on both sides. But with al-Qaida operatives involved in the uprising, uncertainty over how favourable a new regime would be towards the West, and the potential dangers posed by the conflict to Israel, one of Canada’s staunchest allies, the Harper government’s primary objective must be to ensure that the outcome of the Syrian civil war is compatible with western values. One of Canada’s top priorities must be helping to ensure that Syria, after the likely defeat of dictator Bashar Assad, rapidly returns to as much stability as possible, and avoids breaking down further into competing divisions and conflicts. The Harper government must be prepared to lend legitimacy to a new government in Syria, work more systematically with the Arab League to foster security in the region, prepare to be of assistance in a post-Assad reconstruction, and engage with other countries considering imposing a no-fly zone over Syria that might help impede Assad’s brutality. There are no simple pathways to securing a peaceful, pro-Western Syria after Assad. But there are things Canada can do, besides military intervention, that can increase the likelihood of it.

Profile of illness in Syrian refugees: A GeoSentinel analysis, 2013 to 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Mockenhaupt, Frank P; Barbre, Kira A; Jensenius, Mogens; Larsen, Carsten S; Barnett, Elizabeth D; Stauffer, William; Rothe, Camilla; Asgeirsson, Hilmir; Hamer, Davidson H; Esposito, Douglas H; Gautret, Philippe; Schlagenhauf, Patricia

2016-01-01

Screening of 488 Syrian unaccompanied minor refugees (Syrian refugees examined at GeoSentinel clinics worldwide, cutaneous leishmaniasis affected one in three patients; other noteworthy infections were active tuberculosis (11%) and chronic hepatitis B or C (9%). These data can contribute to evidence-based guidelines for infectious disease screening of Syrian refugees.

The effect of trade liberalisation on Syrian agriculture

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Basel Abbas

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Syrian agricultural policy should be characterized by a high level of government intervention, including fixed prices, government monopoly in strategic crop marketing, government distribution of industrial fertilizers, significant barriers on food and agricultural commodities import and so on. Although there were certain changes and liberalization in this area during several last years, the Syrian agriculture remains as the most regulated sector of national economy in Near east and northern Africa.On the other hand, we may state the fact that Syrian governmental agriculture policy was successful considering so called strategic crops most of all in achieving self-sufficiency in wheat production, also an essential increase of cotton production volume which represents most important export crop of this near east country, took a part. Besides this progress there was restriction of disparity development in countryside and municipal household’s incomes, which is partial reason for slowing down of Syrian countryside poverty. These positive outcomes were reached at the expense of increasing go­vern­men­tal expenses and worsening of resources efficiency usage both in agriculture production and energy sectors. Considering forecasted spend of oil sources, the Syrian government will be ne­ce­s­sa­ri­ly forced to search for alternative resources of economic growth and government budget incomes in near future.The last five year country plan presumes consequental delimitation of grants and implication of value added tax. There is to be a quite large liberalisation in agriculture sector, which should lead to consequential down of wheat production, sugar beet and cotton and increase of barley, lentil and chickpea production.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (V.2016) in Arabic: Translation and Validation

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Alhaiti, Ali Hassan; Alotaibi, Alanod Raffa; Jones, Linda Katherine; DaCosta, Cliff

2016-01-01

Objective. To translate the revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test into the Arabic language and examine its psychometric properties. Setting. Of the 139 participants recruited through King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 34 agreed to the second-round sample for retesting purposes. Methods. The translation process followed the World Health Organization's guidelines for the translation and adaptation of instruments. All translations were examined for their validity and reliability. Results. The translation process revealed excellent results throughout all stages. The Arabic version received 0.75 for internal consistency via Cronbach's alpha test and excellent outcomes in terms of the test-retest reliability of the instrument with a mean of 0.90 infraclass correlation coefficient. It also received positive content validity index scores. The item-level content validity index for all instrument scales fell between 0.83 and 1 with a mean scale-level index of 0.96. Conclusion. The Arabic version is proven to be a reliable and valid measure of patient's knowledge that is ready to be used in clinical practices. PMID:27995149

Jordan’s migration diplomacy and the Syrian refugees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seeberg, Peter

2016-01-01

Taking its point of departure in the newly published World Bank Economic Outlook for Jordan (October 2016) the article discusses the recent political and economic realities in Jordan with a focus on the Syrian refugees and the so-called Jordan Compact programme, launched in connection with the co......Taking its point of departure in the newly published World Bank Economic Outlook for Jordan (October 2016) the article discusses the recent political and economic realities in Jordan with a focus on the Syrian refugees and the so-called Jordan Compact programme, launched in connection...... they launched the mentioned programme, according to which 200,000 job opportunities for Syrian refugees would be offered "while they remain in the country, contributing to the Jordanian economy without competing with Jordanians for jobs", as it said in the document. Taking this move Jordan is to some degree...

ANALISIS KONTRASTIF PENULISAN ARAB MELAYU RIAU DAN PENULISAN BAHASA ARAB SERTA IMPLIKASINYA TERHADAP PENGAJARAN BAHASA ARAB

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Aprijon Efendi, Alwizar

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Pada kaedah penulisan Arab Melayu klasik, semua kosa-kata yang berasal dari bahasa Arab mesti ditulis sesuai dengan tulisan bahasa asalnya yaitu bahasa Arab itu sendiri. Namun, pada kaedah penulisan Arab Melayu Riau saat ini, semua kosa-kata ditulis sesuai dengan konsonannya tanpa membedakan antara kosa-kata yang berasal dari bahasa Arab atau bukan bahasa Arab. Implikasi dari pergeseran kaedah penulisan ini, banyak kosa kata yang diadobsi dari bahasa Arab berbeda penulisannya dari bentuk asalnya. Perbedaan penulisan yang kontras ini menyebabkan banyak peserta didik, baik di tingkat sekolah menengah maupun perguruan tinggi salah dalam menulis nama sendiri, nama pahlawan, nama jalan, nama instansi, yayasan, dan kosa kata lainnya yang berasal dari bahasa Arab. Akibat dari kesalahan tersebut tidak hanya sekedar salah dilihat dari segi kaedah, bahkan juga dapat merubah makna kata dari makna asalnya dalam bahasa Arab. Jika hal ini tidak dikaji ulang, maka misi penulisan Arab Melayu tidak lagi untuk mendekatkan penggunanya agar mudah mempelajari bahasa Arab, akan tetapi keberadaannya akan mengganggu kesuksesan pengajaran bahasa Arab di bumi Lancang Kuning

If Israel accepted Syrian refugees and IDPs in the Golan Heights

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Crystal Plotner

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Could re-opening the Golan Heights to Syrians displaced by the conflict be a beneficial option both for those fleeing the Syrian conflict and for Israel’s relations with its north-eastern neighbour?

Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools: Escaping the Control of the Syrian Regime

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Walid Al-Saqaf

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Studies have shown that authoritarian regimes tend to censor the media to limit potential threats to the status quo. While such censorship practices were traditionally aimed at broadcast and print media, the emergence of the Internet and social media in particular, prompted some authoritarian regimes, such as the Assad regime in Syria, to try and exert a similar level of censorship on the Internet as well. During the Arab Spring, the Syrian regime blocked hundreds of websites that provided social networking, news, and other services. Taking Syria as a case study, this paper examines whether Internet censorship succeeded in preventing Internet users from reaching censored online content during 2010−2012. By analyzing the use of Alkasir, a censorship circumvention tool created by the author, the paper provides empirical evidence demonstrating that users were in fact able to bypass censorship and access blocked websites. The findings demonstrate that censorship circumvention tools constituted a threat to the information control systems of authoritarian regimes, highlighting the potential of such tools to promote online freedom of expression in countries where Internet censorship is prevalent.

Post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Kazour, Francois; Zahreddine, Nada R; Maragel, Michel G; Almustafa, Mustafa A; Soufia, Michel; Haddad, Ramzi; Richa, Sami

2017-01-01

Lebanon is the main hosting country for the Syrian crisis, with more than one million Syrian refugees. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and identify its possible predictors, in a sample of Syrian refugees living in camps in Lebanon. We conducted a household survey on Syrian refugees between 18 and 65years old in 6 camps of the Central Bekaa region, using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) as a diagnostic tool. Among the 452 respondents, we found a lifetime prevalence of PTSD of 35.4%, and a point prevalence of 27.2%. The lifetime prevalence of SUD was 1.99% and the point prevalence 0.66%. Multivariate logistic regression could not identify any predictor of current PTSD among a list of demographic variables, but identified the Syrian hometown as a significant predictor of lifetime PTSD (p=.013), with refugees from Aleppo having significantly more PTSD than those coming from Homs (adjusted OR 2.14, 95% CI [1.28, 3.56], p=.004). PTSD was a real mental health issue in our sample of adult Syrian refugees in Central Bekaa camps, unlike SUD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attitudes of Arabic- and Non-Arabic Speaking Parents Toward the Importance of Learning Arabic in the United States

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Sara Al Alili

2017-06-01

Full Text Available To promote Arabic teaching, researchers examined attitudes and expectations of parents regarding the importance of their children's Arabic study. In four states Researchers surveyed 238 Arabic-speaking and 128 non-Arabic speaking parents of children at urban and suburban schools offering Arabic as part of their mainstream programs. Most parents demonstrated positive attitudes toward language learning. They involved and encouraged their children's Arabic study and involved themselves in it. Arabic-speaking parents believed Arabic important for their children to maintain communication and affinity with family; preserve culture, religion, and traditions; maintain cultural heritage in the United States; and maintain moral and professional values. Non-Arabic speaking parents expressed similar reasons. However, Arabic-speaking parents recognized a wider variety of benefits to learning Arabic. Researchers concluded that parental attitudes toward language learning have great impact on children's learning process, but noted a discrepancy between the attitudes and expectations of Arabic- versus non-Arabic-speaking parents regarding learning Arabic.

Adversarial Framing: President Bashar al-Assad’s Depiction of the Armed Syrian Opposition

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Fabien Merz

2014-06-01

Full Text Available 'This paper evaluates how Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is framing his opponents in the context of the Syrian civil war. The question is addressed by conducting a qualitative thematic analysis of 13 interviews he gave to international television news networks and newspapers between March and November 2013. It is found that Al-Assad consequently labels the armed opposition as “terrorists” preponderantly composed of groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda. The “terrorists” are framed as posing a threat to the region as well as to international security on a global scale. Furthermore, Al-Assad denies the armed opposition its Syrian grassroots by portraying them as outside aggressors fighting for foreign interests. They are also depicted as “enemies of the Syrian people”, responsible for all the atrocities and human suffering committed during the Syrian civil war.' ' '

Psychiatric morbidity among physically injured Syrian refugees in Turkey.

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Al-Nuaimi, Saleem; Aldandashi, Samer; Easa, Abdul Kadir Saed; Saqqur, Maher

2018-01-01

To the best of our knowledge, the mental health status of physically injured Syrian refugees has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among physically injured Syrian refugees in Turkey receiving treatment at the main rehabilitation centre near the Syrian border. This is a cross sectional study. Information was collected from consenting injured Syrian refugees at Dar-el-Shefa'a Hospital in Reyhanlı (Turkey) during a one week period in December 2012 and another one week period in August 2013. A clinical psychiatric interview was conducted to determine a diagnosis according to the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV-TR. A total of 40 refugees consented and completed a clinical psychiatric interview. All refugees in this study did not have a significant past psychiatric history. The most prevalent current diagnosis was major depressive disorder (22.5%), adjustment disorder (20%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (15%). Five (12.5%) patients had no evidence of a psychiatric disorder. The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among injured Syrian refugees in our study was extremely high. This may help guide the treatment and management of this select population. This study had a low number of participants. The method of assessment was not standardized with a validated tool. This study may help guide the treatment and management of this select population, both in neighbouring countries and as resettled refugees in Western host countries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-06

23 Appendixes Appendix A. Syrian History and Demographics...the OPCW-UN JIM, and the Secretary General appointed Virginia Gamba of Argentina to head the independent three-member panel that leads the JIM...Syrian History and Demographics Background: Syria, its People, and the Conflict The Syrian Arab Republic emerged as an independent country during the

Periodontal disease awareness among pregnant women in the central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Asa'ad, Farah A; Rahman, Ghousia; Al Mahmoud, Noura; Al Shamasi, Ebtehaj; Al Khuwaileidi, Abrar

2015-02-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness regarding periodontal disease and its effects on pregnancy among pregnant women in the central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia. In this cross-sectional survey, self-administered, structured questionnaires were distributed to 300 pregnant women who were chosen randomly from attendees of maternity health care centers in the central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia. The questions were developed from literature reviews of articles. The questionnaire addressed personal and sociodemographic variables, periodontal health awareness, and knowledge of pregnant women. The questionnaire was translated into Arabic and was pretested during the pilot study on a random sample of 50 pregnant women. Data were analyzed by χ(2) -tests, with the level of significance set at P disease could be prevented through toothbrushing and flossing. Approximately 97% of the respondents knew the negative effect of smoking, while only 12% knew there was a possible relationship between periodontal disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The results of this cross-sectional study found that there is limited knowledge and awareness about periodontal disease and its possible effects on pregnancy among pregnant women attending maternal health care centers in the central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Coping Strategies Used by Syrian Refugees in Jordan.

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Alzoubi, Fatmeh Ahmad; Al-Smadi, Ahmed Mohammad; Gougazeh, Yazeed Mohammad

2017-12-01

This study examined the coping strategies used by Syrian refugees in Jordan in relation to their demographics. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted with a convenient sample of 550 Syrian refugees. Out of all the study participants, 88% reported seeking social support, 64.5% reported using avoidance, and 39.5% reported using problem solving. Participants who were male, single, and younger, and who had a higher education and a higher total income were satisfied with their income, were employed and free of chronic illnesses, and had higher problem-solving scores. Higher social support-seeking scores were associated with being female, older, and widowed; having a lower education and lower total income; being dissatisfied with their income; being nonemployed; and having chronic illnesses. A number of significant predictors were identified for each coping strategy. The results of this study could be used to formulate programs and develop services regarding the stressors encountered by Syrian refugees and their coping strategies.

The transferability of Western concepts to other cultures: validation of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire in a Saudi Arabic context.

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Mahmood, Syed Imran; Daim, Syed Abdul; Borleffs, Jan C C; Heijne-Penninga, Marjolein; Schönrock-Adema, Johanna

2015-04-01

The importance of medical education research in Saudi Arabia has been acknowledged increasingly and a lot of concepts used have been derived from the Western world. The question arises, however, whether Western concepts and questionnaires are transferable to societies with different cultures. The aim of this study was to investigate the instrument structure and the reliability of the Arabic version of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire-medium (ZKPQ-m). Three statistical methods with decreased amount of strictness were used to analyse our data: Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Procrustes rotation and Principal Component Analysis. Our outcomes did not confirm the original instrument structure. Instead, we found four interpretable components: Emotional Instability, Impulse-seeking, Activeness and Self-Control. However, the amount of explained variance was not very high and the internal consistencies ranged from unsatisfactory to only moderate. The data showed a high percentage of respondents agreeing with more than three items of the Infrequency scale, which may be attributable to the collectivistic culture in Saudi Arabia. We did not succeed in replicating the ZKPQ structure in the Arabic context. Social desirability, a common characteristic in collectivistic cultures, may have reduced the replicability of the internal structure of the ZKPQ-m. Different methods to measure concepts in collectivistic cultures may help to get round social desirability.

Early Marriage and Barriers to Contraception among Syrian Refugee Women in Lebanon: A Qualitative Study

OpenAIRE

Cherri, Zeinab; Gil Cuesta, Julita; Rodriguez-Llanes, Jose M.; Guha-Sapir, Debarati

2017-01-01

The Syrian conflict has displaced five million individuals outside their country with Lebanon hosting the largest numbers per capita. Around 24% of Syrian refugees fleeing to Lebanon are women of reproductive age (15-49). Yet, a better understanding of the sexual and reproductive health needs of Syrian refugee women in Lebanon is required to improve provided services. Eleven focus group discussions were conducted in four regions of Lebanon with 108 Syrian refugee women of reproductive age. Th...

Sensitization to Indigenous Pollen and Molds and Other Outdoor and Indoor Allergens in Allergic Patients From Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Sudan

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Airborne allergens vary from one climatic region to another. Therefore, it is important to analyze the environment of the region to select the most prevalent allergens for the diagnosis and treatment of allergic patients. Objective To evaluate the prevalence of positive skin tests to pollen and fungal allergens collected from local indigenous plants or isolated molds, as well as other outdoor and indoor allergens in allergic patients in 6 different geographical areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan. Materials and methods Four hundred ninety-two consecutive patients evaluated at different Allergy Clinics (276 women and 256 men; mean age, 30 years) participated in this study. The selection of indigenous allergens was based on research findings in different areas from Riyadh and adjoining areas. Indigenous raw material for pollen grains was collected from the desert near the capital city of Riyadh, KSA. The following plants were included: Chenopodium murale, Salsola imbricata, Rumex vesicarius, Ricinus communis, Artiplex nummularia, Amaranthus viridis, Artemisia monosperma, Plantago boissieri, and Prosopis juliflora. Indigenous molds were isolated from air sampling in Riyadh and grown to obtain the raw material. These included the following: Ulocladium spp., Penicillium spp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium spp., and Alternaria spp. The raw material was processed under Good Manufacturing Practices for skin testing. Other commercially available outdoor (grass and tree pollens) and indoor (mites, cockroach, and cat dander) allergens were also tested. Results The highest sensitization to indigenous pollens was detected to C. murale (32%) in Khartoum (Sudan) and S. imbricata (30%) and P. juliflora (24%) in the Riyadh region. The highest sensitization to molds was detected in Khartoum, especially to Cladosporium spp. (42%), Aspergillus (40%), and Alternaria spp. (38%). Sensitization to mites was also very prevalent

Frantic Waiting: NGO Anti-Politics and "Timepass" for Young Syrian Refugees in Jordan

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Ann-Christin Wagner

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Drawing on Sukarieh and Tannock's political economy of youth approach, this paper explores how Syrian refugee youth is constituted in protracted displacement in Jordan. It investigates a juvenile population often overlooked in Forced Migration Studies, disenfranchised rural Syrians, who fail to develop practices of youthfulness, yet in exile are subjected to alternative productions of youth by the aid sector. Depoliticized NGO youth programming overlooks Syrians' limited access to the labour market and higher education. While educational trainings aim to produce entrepreneurial and citizen refugees, they ultimately contribute to the creation of timepass and precarious lives. This research is grounded in fourteen months of ethnographic fieldwork with Syrian refugees in a border town in northern Jordan.

Does Teaching English in Saudi Primary Schools Affect Students’ Academic Achievement in Arabic Subjects?

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Othman Aljohani

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The global trend of introducing second language learning, namely, English, in primary schools is increasing. In Saudi Arabia, where English has never been taught in primary schools, the government to implement English as a second language at the primary level in 2005; however, this generated controversy. Opposition to the learning of English has been based on religious, cultural, and educational arguments. The latter argument consists of claims that learning English at a young age might influence children’s mother tongue development and influence their academic success. This paper investigates the impact of teaching English in Saudi primary schools on students’ achievement in Arabic-language subjects. This quantitative research aims to inform the debate on second language learning in primary schools by studying children’s examination results in the Arabic subject areas of grammar, reading, and writing. The sample consisted of primary school students from years 1 to 6 as well as year 6 students from the last year before (2004 and the first year after (2005 the introduction of English. Student results from four primary schools (two government schools and two private schools were collected and analysed. This study found no indication of a positive or negative impact of learning English on students’ achievement in Arabic subjects. However, private school students who studied English beginning in their first year of school had better results in the Arabic subjects that were the focus of this research. Keywords: second language acquisition, language impact, ESL

Emergency department visits of Syrian refugees and the cost of their healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Gulacti, Umut; Lok, Ugur; Polat, Haci

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of Emergency Department (ED) visits made by Syrian refugees and to assess the cost of their healthcare. This retrospective study was conducted in adult Syrians who visited the ED of Adiyaman University Training and Research Hospital, Adiyaman Province, Turkey, between 01 January and 31 December 2015. We evaluated 10,529 Syrian refugees who visited the ED, of whom 9,842 were included in the study. The number of ED visits significantly increased in 2015 compared with 2010; the increase in the proportion of total ED visits was 8% (n = 11,275, dif: 8%, CI 95%: 7.9- 8.2, p refugees and the remaining 1.5% accounted for the visits made by other individuals. Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) were the diseases most frequently presented (n = 4,656; 47.3%), and 68.5% of ED visits were inappropriate (n = 6,749). The median ED length of stay (LOS) of the Syrian refugees was significantly longer than that of the other individuals visiting the ED (p refugees who visited the ED was calculated as US$ 773,374.63. This study showed that Syrian refugees have increased the proportion of ED visits and the financial healthcare burden. The majority of ED visits made by Syrian refugees were inappropriate. In addition, their ED LOS was longer than that of other individuals making ED visits.

Implementation of a SenseMaker® research project among Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakhache, Nour; Michael, Saja; Roupetz, Sophie; Garbern, Stephanie; Bergquist, Harveen; Davison, Colleen; Bartels, Susan

2017-01-01

The Syrian conflict has displaced over 1.2 million Syrians into Lebanon. As a result of displacement, some Syrian families are turning to child marriage as a coping mechanism. The prevalence of early marriage has reportedly increased and the average age of marriage decreased during the crisis. The aim of the project was to understand the underlying factors contributing to child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon using Cognitive Edge's SenseMaker®. This manuscript explores the process of implementing this novel research tool in a humanitarian setting. Twelve interviewers conducted SenseMaker® interviews with married and unmarried Syrian girls, Syrian parents, as well as married and unmarried men. Participants were asked to share a story about the lives of Syrian girls in Lebanon and to self-interpret the narratives by answering follow-up questions in relation to the story provided. Data collection occurred across three locations: Beirut, Beqaa, and Tripoli. In total 1422 narratives from 1346 unique participants were collected over 7 weeks. Data collection using SenseMaker® was efficient, capable of electronically capturing a large volume of quantitative and qualitative data. SenseMaker® limitations from a research perspective include lack of skip logic and inability to adjust font size on the iOS app. SenseMaker® was an efficient mixed methods data collection tool that was well received by participants in a refugee setting in Lebanon. The utility of SenseMaker® for research could be improved by adding skip logic and by being able to adjust font size on the iOS app.

Heart Disease in Syrian Refugee Children: Experience at Jordan University Hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ammouri, Iyad; Ayoub, Fares

2016-01-01

Since March 2011, an estimated 600,000 Syrian refugees crossed into Jordan, of which 52% were children. Demand for health care is overwhelming. The burden of heart disease in Syrian refugee children is not known. The aim of this study WAS to describe heart disease in Syrian refugee children in terms of diagnoses, presentation, outcome, and funding sources for treatment. From April 1, 2012 to April 30, 2014, data on Syrian refugee children who were referred to the Pediatric Cardiology Department at Jordan University Hospital and were found to have heart disease was recorded. In this study, we describe diagnoses, presentations, complications, and mortality. We discuss therapeutic procedures and their funding sources. Patients were followed until July 31, 2014. In all, 119 children, median age 2 years (6 days to 16 years), were diagnosed with heart disease. At presentation, 37% had failure to thrive, 13% had severe complications, and 32% of cyanotic patients had severe hypoxia with oxygen saturation of Syrian refugee children constitutes a major problem for both patients and health systems of host countries. Late presentation and diagnosis, high rate of complications, suboptimal living conditions, lack of funding, shortage of specialized centers and personnel, and high mortality rates are among the major challenges facing this patient population. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kinetic model-based feed-forward controlled fed-batch fermentation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus for the production of lactic acid from Arabic date juice.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Minsung; Al-Zahrani, Saeed M; Lee, Sang Yup

2014-06-01

Arabic date is overproduced in Arabic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq and is mostly composed of sugars (70-80 wt%). Here we developed a fed-batch fermentation process by using a kinetic model for the efficient production of lactic acid to a high concentration from Arabic date juice. First, a kinetic model of Lactobacillus rhamnosus grown on date juice in batch fermentation was constructed in EXCEL so that the estimation of parameters and simulation of the model can be easily performed. Then, several fed-batch fermentations were conducted by employing different feeding strategies including pulsed feeding, exponential feeding, and modified exponential feeding. Based on the results of fed-batch fermentations, the kinetic model for fed-batch fermentation was also developed. This new model was used to perform feed-forward controlled fed-batch fermentation, which resulted in the production of 171.79 g l(-1) of lactic acid with the productivity and yield of 1.58 and 0.87 g l(-1) h(-1), respectively.

Marshak Lectureship Talk: Women in Physics in Egypt and the Arab World

Science.gov (United States)

El Sayed, Karimat

2009-03-01

Until the end of the 19th Century Science was not classified into different disciplines. The first woman named in the history of science was Merit Ptah (2700 BC) in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. In the new Egypt the first girl's school started in Cairo in 1873 and the first University in 1908. Only a few girls attended the University at that time, mainly studying the humanities. The first Egyptian woman physicist graduated in 1940 and received her PhD in nuclear physics in the USA. Nowadays the number of women in physics is increasing in all branches of physics, some of them are senior managers and others have been decorated with various prizes. In this talk some statistics will be given to show the percentage of women in physics in relation to other fields of science in Egypt. In Saudi Arabia the first girls' school started in 1964 and the first college for women, which was a section of King Abdul-Aziz University (where education is not mixed), started in 1975. I was the founder of the Physics Department of this women's section. Egyptians have played significant roles in teaching schoolchildren and university students of both sexes in all the Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Kuwait, Yemen, the Gulf States, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. But with respect to Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, our role was limited, since classes are taught in French. Arab women living in the countries located east of Egypt still have many difficulties facing them, needing to overcome many technical, academic, and social problems, while women in the countries located west of Egypt have fewer problems. There were many problems in the early days of education in Egypt but the women of Egypt worked hard to gain the same rights as men and were able to pave the way for all Arab women. I myself met many difficulties in my early days. This talk will also describe the impact of the regional conference on Women in Physics in Africa and Middle East, which was held in Cairo in 2007.

Early Marriage and Barriers to Contraception among Syrian Refugee Women in Lebanon: A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherri, Zeinab; Gil Cuesta, Julita; Rodriguez-Llanes, Jose M; Guha-Sapir, Debarati

2017-07-25

The Syrian conflict has displaced five million individuals outside their country with Lebanon hosting the largest numbers per capita. Around 24% of Syrian refugees fleeing to Lebanon are women of reproductive age (15-49). Yet, a better understanding of the sexual and reproductive health needs of Syrian refugee women in Lebanon is required to improve provided services. Eleven focus group discussions were conducted in four regions of Lebanon with 108 Syrian refugee women of reproductive age. Thematic analysis was used to examine the data. Interviewed women were mainly adults. They believed that, in Lebanon, they were subjected to early marriage compared to the norm in Syria due to their financial situation and uncertainty. Cost was reported as the main barrier to use contraception in Lebanon but some Syrian refugee women were not aware of free services covering sexual and reproductive health. In general, marriage, pregnancy, and family planning behavior of Syrian refugee women in Lebanon slightly differed from those in Syria pre-conflict in terms of age of marriage, conception subsequent to marriage, and contraception method. Hence, interventions to increase awareness of subsidized sexual and reproductive health services, including free contraceptives at primary health care centers, and those targeting protection from early marriage of Syrian refugee women in Lebanon are strongly recommended.

Research on psychosocial aspects of asthma in the Arab world: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Khateeb, Anas J; Al Khateeb, Jamal M

2015-01-01

The importance of psychosocial factors in the management of bronchial asthma has long been recognized. This paper offers a review of research published in the English language related to psychosocial aspects of bronchial asthma in Arab countries. Several databases (PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Link, ERIC, and PsychInfo) were searched using the following keywords: bronchial asthma, Arab countries, Algiers, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine (West Bank, Gaza), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Sudan, Somalia; United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Thirty-two studies were conducted in 9 Arab countries. Almost all studies found were published in the last fourteen years with an apparent increasing rate in the last five years. In descending order, these studies addressed: knowledge of and attitudes toward asthma, quality of life, behavioral and emotional problems and factors related to academic achievement. The main results of the studies reviewed were: (a) physicians', school staff's, and parents' knowledge of and attitudes toward asthma were generally unsatisfactory, (b) in-service asthma education programs significantly impacted parent and staff knowledge and attitudes, and asthma management practices, (c) quality of life in children and adolescents was significantly adversely affected by asthma, (d) asthma was a common cause of school absenteeism, and had a significant negative impact on academic achievement of students, and (e) students with asthma had significantly higher rates of behavioral and emotional difficulties compared to students without asthma. The paper concludes with a discussion about the implications of these results and a call for further research in this area.

War, memories and Little Waterfall; a Syrian village that is no more

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wessels, Josepha Ivanka

2015-01-01

states have pledged to resettle a further 33,000 Syrians. Between 1999 and 2004, the author has conducted long-term anthropological fieldwork in a village called “Little Waterfall” at the edge of the Syrian desert in Aleppo province. In 2014, she travelled back to Aleppo to reconnect with her key......This paper describes the impact of the Syrian war through accounts of conflict, social memories and reconstructed village identities. It looks at the question how memories of home and place are transformed by conflictual mobilities. Since the outbreak of civil war in Syria in March 2011, nine...... and deserted during the Syrian war. This paper reflects on trans-nationalism, social memories and village identities that are influenced by conflictual mobilities. Based on data and video footage collected between 1999 and 2004, complemented by recent filming and interviews with the community members of Little...

‘Close enough’ – The link between the Syrian Electronic Army and the Bashar al-Assad regime, and implications for the future development of nation-state cyber counter-insurgency strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stewart Kenton Bertram

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The case of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA offers the chance to study a counter response to the cyber activism of the Arab Spring. Research methods featured an adapted method of snowball sampling. The main technical finding of the study placed the SEA within two degrees of separation from a senior politician within the Assad regime. The core conclusion of the paper is the definition of a ‘close enough’ relationship between the SEA and the Assad regime, defined as distant enough to preserve plausible deniability but close enough to ensure the strategic alignment of the SEA to state policy goals.

Opinions of Instructors about Reading Skills of Syrian Students Learning Turkish

Science.gov (United States)

Gün, Mesut

2015-01-01

The outbreak of domestic turmoil in Syria in 2011 forced Syrian people to seek refuge in the neighbouring countries, one of which was Turkey. This situation brought many problems, the primary of which was language. In this sense, teaching Turkish to Syrian students became a necessity. Therefore, conducting research on language skills was seriously…

Substance use disorders in Arab countries: research activity and bibliometric analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Substance use disorders, which include substance abuse and substance dependence, are present in all regions of the world including Middle Eastern Arab countries. Bibliometric analysis is an increasingly used tool for research assessment. The main objective of this study was to assess research productivity in the field of substance use disorders in Arab countries using bibliometric indicators. Methodology Original or review research articles authored or co-authored by investigators from Arab countries about substance use disorders during the period 1900 – 2013 were retrieved using the ISI Web of Science database. Research activity was assessed by analyzing the annual research productivity, contribution of each Arab country, names of journals, citations, and types of abused substances. Results Four hundred and thirteen documents in substance use disorders were retrieved. Annual research productivity was low but showed a significant increase in the last few years. In terms of quantity, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (83 documents) ranked first in research about substance use disorders while Lebanon (17.4 documents per million) ranked first in terms of number of documents published per million inhabitants. Retrieved documents were found in different journal titles and categories, mostly in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Journal. Authors from USA appeared in 117 documents published by investigators from Arab countries. Citation analysis of retrieved documents showed that the average citation per document was 10.76 and the h - index was 35. The majority of retrieved documents were about tobacco and smoking (175 documents) field while alcohol consumption and abuse research was the least with 69 documents. Conclusion The results obtained suggest that research in this field was largely neglected in the past. However, recent research interest was observed. Research output on tobacco and smoking was relatively high compared to other substances of abuse like illicit drugs

Psychological Impact of Life as Refugees: A Pilot Study on a Syrian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To investigate types and prevalence of psychological distresses endured by Syrian refugees at Alzatary Camp in Jordan. Methods: This observational study was conducted over a period of 2 months (November and December, 2012) at Alzatary Camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan. A validated questionnaire was ...

Société du savoir arabe - qui représente le monde arabe en ligne ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Visionnement du film Little Gandhi —The Lost Truth of the Syrian Uprising à New York. La mission du Canada auprès des Nations Unies projettera des extraits du film Little Gandhi, un documentaire sur la Syrie subventionné par le CDRI. Voir davantageVisionnement du film Little Gandhi —The Lost Truth of the Syrian ...

NORM waste management in the oil and gas industry. The Syrian experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Masri, M.S.; Suman, H.

2003-01-01

Syrian experience with respect to naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) waste produced by the Syrian oil industry is described. Three main categories of NORM waste were identified. First, hard scales from decontamination of contaminated equipment and tubings which are considered to contain the highest levels of radium isotopes ( 226 Ra, 228 Ra, 224 Ra); this type of waste being currently stored in standard barrels in a controlled area. Second, sludge wastes containing low levels of radium isotopes were found in large amounts in each Syrian oilfield; plastic lined disposal pits were constructed in each area for temporary storage. However, disposal criteria for the above two categories of NORM waste are still under discussions. Third, soil contaminated with NORM as a result of uncontrolled disposal of production water was also considered as NORM waste. The Syrian criteria for disposal and clean up of this type of waste has been defined and approved by the Regulatory Office. (author)

Sharing sensitive health information through social media in the Arab world.

Science.gov (United States)

Asiri, Eman; Khalifa, Mohamed; Shabir, Syed-Abdul; Hossain, Md Nassif; Iqbal, Usman; Househ, Mowafa

2017-02-01

Sharing daily activities on social media has become a part of our lifestyle, but little is known about sharing sensitive health information in the Arab world. The objective of this study is to explore how social media users in the Arab world share sensitive health information through Facebook. A retrospective qualitative analysis was used in the study. A total of 110 Facebook groups, related to HIV, sickle cell and depression were screened between 5 June and 1 December 2014. Forty four Facebook groups met the inclusion criteria. 28 471 posts were extracted, of which 649 met inclusion criteria. Forty two percent of health information exchanged were related to HIV, 34% to depression and 24% to sickle cell diseases. The majority of postings were from Egypt 21.1%, Saudi Arabia 20%, Algeria 10% and Libya 9.2%. Male posts were 54.2% while 45.8% were posted by females. Individuals utilized Facebook groups to share personal experiences of their disease 31%, in addition to being used for seeking queries 13.6%, offering explicit advice 8.3%, reporting signs and symptoms of the disease 7.3% and posting their communication with the health-care provider 6.6%. Users in the Arab world use social media to exchange sensitive health information, which could have serious implications regarding the privacy of the information shared with other members of the group. On the other hand, sharing health information could have positive effects for patients, such as sharing disease experiences and peer support. However, more work is needed to ensure that Facebook users in the Arab world are aware of the potential consequences of sharing sensitive health information through social media. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

The Perspective of Trabzon Public on the Syrians in the Scope of Temporary Protection

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Mine GÖZÜBÜYÜK TAMER

2016-12-01

Full Text Available As a result of the crisis environment that started in Syria in March 2011 and the conflicts that have been going on until today, millions of Syrians have had to leave their countries in order to provide life and property security and to find better life opportunities. They have migrated towards foremost Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and European Union (EU countries. This movement of the Syrians towards other countries deeply affects many countries. Due to the fact that Turkey is a neighboring country, it is one of the countries most affected by this process. Besides its geographical proximity, the presence of religious, historical and cultural ties has also been instrumental in making this effect more noticeable. The aim of this study is to determine the issues about Syrians who fled from the ongoing civil war in Syria and took refuge in Turkey from the point of view of the public in Trabzon. For this purpose, firstly, Trabzon public opinion has been established on the basis of acceptance of the Syrians within the temporary protection to Turkey and the perspective on how to manage and what to do about the policies envisaged for the Syrians. Then the predictions about the permanence of the Syrians in Turkey were put forward and the view of the people of Trabzon on the long term was evaluated. However, in the case of Trabzon, it was tried to reveal the thoughts and expectatitions of the Syrian people under temporary protection of the Turkish society.

Visas and qualifications: Syrian refugees in Brazil

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Gilberto M A Rodrigues

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Brazil’s humanitarian visa programme for Syrian refugees and its efforts to recognise their qualifications could offer lessons for refugee protection and integration across the region.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale Arabic Version for Saudi Nursing Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Alquwez, Nahed; Alqubeilat, Hikmet; Colet, Paolo C

2016-05-22

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale Arabic version (SCS-A) in a sample of nursing students in Saudi Arabia. This study had a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 100 nursing students in Saudi Arabia. Using the SCS-A and the Muslim Religiosity Scale for data collection, data were analyzed to establish the reliability and validity of the SCS-A. Good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α > .70) and stability reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient > .80) were observed. Two dominant factors were extracted from the scale items, the nonreligious coping strategies and religious coping strategies, which accounted for 35.5% and 32.7% of the variance, respectively. The religious coping subscale exhibited a strong positive correlation with the religious practices subscale of the Muslim Religious Involvement Scale (r = .45, p well as a weak positive correlation with the intrinsic religious beliefs subscale (r = .25, p Scale. The SCS-A exhibited an acceptable validity and reliability, supporting its sound psychometric properties with respect to the responses from Saudi nursing students. © The Author(s) 2016.

KURDOVÉ V SÝRII

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Michael Murad

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on Syrian Kurds, who compared to Kurds in Iraq and Turkey were out of the spotlight of academic community of researchers. Introduced are Syrian Kurds and their relationship to various regimes that ruled Syria. Complicated relation of Kurds in Syria towards consequences of the Arab Spring is also explained. Relations to the Arab Spring are affected by the historical experience. Kurdish traditional political parties were careful to join the Syrian opposition, but young activists and the diaspora (also diaspora in the Czech Republic was less hesitant to join the opposition movement. Fight with the so called Islamic State has united Kurds in Syria, (and the same happened in Iraq as well however some differences among them remain.

Contribution of Arab countries to pharmaceutical wastewater literature: a bibliometric and comparative analysis of research output.

Science.gov (United States)

Zyoud, Sa'ed H; Zyoud, Shaher H; Al-Jabi, Samah W; Sweileh, Waleed M; Awang, Rahmat

2016-01-01

Recently, the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has been growing rapidly in many countries in the world, including in Arab countries. Pharmaceuticals reach aquatic environments and are prevalent at small concentrations in wastewater from the drug manufacturing industry and hospitals. Such presence also occurs in domestic wastewater and results from the disposal of unused and expired medicines. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze and compare the quantity and quality of publications made by researchers in Arab countries on pharmaceutical wastewater. To retrieve documents related to pharmaceutical wastewater, we used the Scopus database on November 21, 2015. All documents with terms related to pharmaceutical wastewater in the title or abstract were analysed. Results obtained from Arab countries were compared with those obtained from Turkey, Iran and Israel. Globally, a total of 6360 publications were retrieved while those from Arab countries, Iran, Turkey and Israel, were 179, 113, 96 and 54 publications respectively. The highest share of publications belonged to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with a total of 47 (26.2 %) publications, followed by Egypt (38; 21.2 %), Tunisia (17; 9.5 %) and Morocco (16; 8.9 %). The total number of citations was 1635, with a mean of 9.13 and a median (inter quartile range) of 3 (1.0-10.0). The study identified 87 (48.6 %) documents with 32 countries of international collaboration with Arab countries. It was noted that Arab researchers collaborated mainly with authors in Western Europe (54; 30.2 %), followed by authors from the Asiatic region (29; 16.2 %) and Northern America (15; 8.4 %). The most productive institution was King Saud University, KSA (13; 7.3 %), followed by the National Research Centre, Egypt (10; 7.3 %). This study showed that KSA has the largest share of productivity on pharmaceutical wastewater research. Bibliometric analysis demonstrated that research productivity, mainly from Arab

[Seroprevalance Differences of Toxoplasma Between Syrian Refugees Pregnants and Indigenous Turkish Pregnants in Kahramanmaraş].

Science.gov (United States)

Bakacak, Murat; Serin, Salih; Aral, Murat; Ercan, Önder; Köstü, Bülent; Kireçci, Ahmet; Bostancı, Mehmet Sühha; Bakacak, Zeyneb

2015-06-01

In this study, we aimed to compare the Syrian refugees and resident Turkish pregnant population in terms of Toxoplasma seroprevalence. Data acquired from Kahramanmaraş Necip Fazıl City Hospital Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology between 2012 and 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. Results of 7201 Toxoplasma IgM tests and 4113 Toxoplasma IgG tests were evaluated. For 2012 and 2013 Toxoplasma IgM seropositivity was found in Syrian refugees 4.76% and 4.84% respectively in our study. In the same population Toxoplasma IgG seropositivity rates were 80% and 62.6%, respectively. Toxoplasma IgM seropositivity rates for the native peoples in Turkey in 2012 and 2013 was 1.96% and 2.34%, while in the same population Toxoplasma IgG seropositivity was detected 49.7% and 45.7% respectively. Toxoplasma IgM seropositivity was statistically higher in Syrian refugees for each year (p Syrian refugees was statistically higher (p Syrian refugees living in the region of Kahramanmaraş were statistically higher than the rates of local inhabitants, we consider that this condition should be taken into account in the follow-ups of Syrian pregnant refugees outnumbering in Kahramanmaraş and its vicinity.

Violence Against Displaced Syrian Women in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Usta, Jinan; Masterson, Amelia Reese; Farver, JoAnn M

2016-10-01

This study used focus group discussions to explore 29 Syrian women's experiences of being displaced refugees in Lebanon. Women reported intimate partner violence (IPV), harassment, and community violence. They experienced difficult living conditions characterized by crowding and lack of privacy, adult unemployment, and overall feelings of helplessness. Most frequently, they used negative coping strategies, including justification and acceptance of IPV and often physically harmed their own children due to heightened stress. Some sought support from other Syrian refugee women. Although the study did not address the root causes of IPV, the results shed light on women's experiences and indicate that training them in positive coping strategies and establishing support groups would help them face IPV that occurs in refugee settings.

An Investigation of Forcibly Migrated Syrian Refugee Students at Turkish Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Tösten, Rasim; Toprak, Mustafa; Kayan, M. Selman

2017-01-01

This study is a descriptive phenomenological research that aims to reveal Syrian refugee children' experiences within formal public schools in Turkey. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews from 28 teachers who teach these refugee Syrian students. Results show that the students are under the effect of post-traumatic stress…

Crisis in Lebanon: camps for Syrian refugees?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeremy Loveless

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Lebanon has absorbed the enormous Syrian influx but at a high costto both refugees and Lebanese populations. Current humanitarianprogrammes can no longer cope and new approaches are needed.

An assessment of antenatal care among Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Benage, Matthew; Greenough, P Gregg; Vinck, Patrick; Omeira, Nada; Pham, Phuong

2015-01-01

After more than three years of violence in Syria, Lebanon hosts over one million Syrian refugees creating significant public health concerns. Antenatal care delivery to tens of thousands of pregnant Syrian refugee women is critical to preventing maternal and fetal mortality but is not well characterized given the multiple factors obtaining health data in a displaced population. This study describes antenatal care access, the scope of existing antenatal care, and antenatal and family planning behaviors and practice among pregnant Syrian refugees in various living conditions and multiple geographic areas of Lebanon. A field-based survey was conducted between July and October 2013 in 14 main geographic sites of refugee concentration. The assessment evaluated antenatal services among a non-randomized sample of 420 self-identified pregnant Syrian refugee women that included demographics, gestational age, living accommodation, antenatal care coverage, antenatal care content, antenatal health behaviors, antenatal health literacy, and family planning perception and practices. In total, 420 pregnant Syrian refugees living in Lebanon completed the survey. Of these, 82.9% (348) received some antenatal care. Of those with at least one antenatal visit, 222 (63.8%) received care attended by a skilled professional three or more times, 111 (31.9%) 1-2 times, and 15 (4.3%) had never received skilled antenatal care. We assessed antenatal care content defined by blood pressure measurement, and urine and blood sample analyses. Of those who had received any antenatal care, only 31.2% received all three interventions, 18.2% received two out of three, 32.1% received one out of three, and 18.5% received no interventions. Only (41.2%) had an adequate diet of vitamins, minerals, and folic acid. Access, content and health behaviors varied by gestational age, type of accommodation and location in Lebanon. Standards of antenatal care are not being met for pregnant Syrian refugee women in

The intrarenal distribution of 125I-albumin in the syrian hamster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moeller, P.

1977-01-01

The intrarenal distribution of radioiodinated human serum albumin ( 125 RISA) after intravenous injection was studied in Syrian hamsters by scintillation counting and frozen section autoradiogrpahy. After 15, 30, and 60 min the virtual plasma albumin space in the renal cortex of the hamster represented 6.49, 7.13, and 8.06% respectively of the kidney tissue volume. From the cortex to the renal papilla the albumin space increased to about 30% of the tissue volume. In comparison to this the albumin space in the renal cortex of the rat was about 20%, and in the renal papilla about 33% (11). Frozen section autoradiography indicated that the distribution of radioalbumin in the renal cortex if the Syrian hamster is limited mainly to the kidney vessels, being especially noticeable in the glomerular capillaries. Toward the papilla increasingly greater (mainly extratubular) activity could be observed not only intravascularly but also interstitially. In the cortex of the rat kidney, on the other hand, radioactive albumin was accumulated (probably by filtration and reabsorption) predominantly in the proximal tubular epithelium. Within 30 min the kidneys of the rat excreted more than 10 times as much 125 I than the hamster kidneys. These results (substantially less cortical accumulation and urinary excretion of radioalbumin in the Syrian hamster) indicate that, in contrast to the rat, obviously much less albumin is filtered (and then accumulated by proximal reabsorption) by the Syrian hamster glomeruli. This suggests that the Syrian hamster kidney is more suitable than the rat kidney for determining the interstitial, cortical, albumin space. (orig./AJ) [de

"We are Arabs:" The Embodiment of Virginity Through Arab and Arab American Women's Lived Experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Abboud, Sarah; Jemmott, Loretta Sweet; Sommers, Marilyn S

2015-12-01

Virginity is part of our existence in the world as embodied sexual subjects. While many meanings are associated with virginity, in most of the Arab world virginity relates to the presence of a hymen and extends to encompass the honor of the Arab community, and virginity loss commonly relate to first vaginal intercourse. This study explored the meanings of virginity from the perspectives of Arab and Arab American women. A qualitative phenomenological approach, informed by the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, was used to conduct in-depth interviews with ten women. We identified one over-arching theme Virginity as Identity , and two major themes Embodiment of Virginity and "We are Arabs." To reach an embodied virginity, participants went through a disembodied virginity process, reflecting society's perceptions and values of virginity related to anatomical presence of a hymen and society's honor. "We are Arabs" describes the ways women identified with the Arab ethnic identity as a shared overall identification, but differed from one lived experience to another, and influenced how participants embodied virginity. Our participants provided a better understanding of the diverse meanings of virginity that move beyond the binary of virginity and virginity loss, and into a spectrum of embodied meanings. Findings suggest the need for future research around sexuality in Arab Americans with attention to socio-political contexts in order to understand the nature and context of sexual initiation and its impact on sexual behaviors and well-being.

Nuclear security education and training at Naif Arab University for Security Sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amjad Fataftah

2009-01-01

Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS) was established in 1978 as an Arab institution specialized in security sciences to fulfill the needs of the Arab law enforcement agencies for an academic institution that promotes research in security sciences, offers graduate education programs and conduct short-term training courses, which should contribute to the prevention and control of crimes in the Arab world. NAUSS and the IAEA organized the first workshop on nuclear security on November, 2006, which aimed to explore and improve the nuclear security culture awareness through the definitions of the nuclear security main pillars, Prevention, Detection and Response. In addition, NAUSS and IAEA organized a very important training course on April, 2008 on combating nuclear terrorism titled P rotection against nuclear terrorism: Protection of radioactive sources . In the past two years, IAEA has put tremendous efforts to develop an education program in nuclear security, which may lead into Master's degree in nuclear security, where NAUSS helped in this project through the participation in the IAEA organized consultancy and technical meetings for the development of this program along with many other academic, security and law enfacement experts and lawyers from many different institution in the world. NAUSS and IAEA drafted a work plan for the next coming two years which should lead into the gradual implementation of these educational programs at NAUSS. NAUSS also continues to participate in several local conferences and symposiums related to the peaceful application of nuclear power in the gulf region, and the need for a human resources development programs to fulfill the scientific and security needs which will arise from building nuclear power plants. NAUSS participated in the International Symposium on the Peaceful Application of Nuclear Technology in the GCC countries, organized by King Abdulaziz University in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Also NAUSS

Syrian Refugees: Are They a Non Traditional Threat to Water Supplies in Lebanon and Jordan

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

effects of Syrian refugees on the water supplies of each country as a non-traditional security threat. Political stability is the ultimate goal of each...security.html. 11 against Syrians sets the stage for political instability because the Syrians represent an increasing portion of the population, if...of political instability could send shockwaves through the region and drastically alter U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Though the stakes

Knowledge of hepatitis B and vaccination status of some expatriate ethnic groups of blue collar workers in Northern Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Sattar Khan

2008-01-01

Background: Hepatitis B (HBV infection is relatively common throughout the world, but more prevalent in low socioeconomic and underprivileged classes. The chronic infection may lead to severe consequences including Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC. Method: A cross-sectional, community-based survey of some ethnic expatriate groups of blue color workers (n=665 living in four main areas along the Northern Borders of Saudi Arabia was completed in 2005. We examined knowledge of HBV and vaccination status and compared them with some socio-demographic factors. Results: The mean age of the participants was 45.61 years (±8.44, 53% of whom were Non-Arabs (Non Arabic speaking. Of the total, 41.6% gave seven or more correct answers out of 12 questions addressing knowledge about the transmission and sequelae of HBV. Almost 40% of the respondents had not been vaccinated while the remaining respondents had had three full doses of vaccination. A high level of knowledge (≥ 7 correct answers was significantly associated (p0.05 with level of knowledge. However, vaccination status was associated (p<0.05 with almost all socio-demographic factors. Conclusion: Hepatitis screening programs for expatriates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia started 10 years ago and are expected to have a great impact on the combat against HBV infections and their complications. However, beyond screening, health promotion, vaccination campaigns, and access to vaccine for the underprivileged classes are some necessary measures towards achieving success.

The Politics of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: A Question of Inclusion and Exclusion through Citizenship

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Sebnem Koser Akcapar

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Turkey began to receive refugees from Syria in 2011 and has since become the country hosting the highest number of refugees, with more than 3.5 million Syrians and half a million people of other nationalities, mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. An important turning point regarding the legal status of Syrian refugees has come with recent amendments to the Turkish citizenship law. Based on ongoing academic debates on integration and citizenship, this article will explore these two concepts in the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey. We will argue that the shift in the Turkish citizenship law is a direct outcome of recent migration flows. We further argue that the citizenship option is used both as a reward for skilled migrants with economic and cultural capital and as a tool to integrate the rest of the Syrians. It also reflects other social, political and demographic concerns of the Turkish government. Using our recent ethnographic study with Syrians and local populations in two main refugee hosting cities in Turkey, Istanbul and Gaziantep, we will locate the successes and weaknesses of this strategy by exemplifying the views of Syrian refugees on gaining Turkish citizenship and the reactions of Turkish nationals.

[Manpower migrations in the Arab world: the reverse of the New Economic Order].

Science.gov (United States)

Halliday, F

1985-01-01

Population and petroleum, 2 essential factors in the development of the Arab world, are unequally distributed in the 18 Arab countries. The abstract possibility of mutually beneficial cooperation between the countries with large populations and no oil and those with oil but small populations is far from being realized; on the contrary, growing inequality and deterioration of human and productive resources can be observed in the Arab world. The apparent economic progress of the oil producing states is illusory, because it has permitted them to defer development of their own internal resources such as agriculture, industry, professional training and education in favor of greater dependence on the temporary palliative of petroleum revenues. In 1980, over 3 million Arabs had emigrated toward other Arab countries, where they were joined by approximately 1.8 million non-Arabs. 4 types of Arab migration have been important: movement from the countryside to cities within countries, movement of Arab migrants to non-Arab countries, movement from 1 Arab state to another because of political factors and especially to earn high wages in the oil producing states, and immigration of non-Arabs and especially Asians to Arab countries. 6 of the principal manpower importing countries, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar, had total labor forces of about 5.2 million in 1985, of which only 41% were nationals. There have been 4 main consequences for the states importing manpower: 1) petroleum production is very capital intensive and creates few jobs; the jobs filled by migrants are mostly in construction and services funded by oil revenues 2) the expansion is temporary because petroleum is a nonrenewable resource; the manpower transfers will therefore not be permanent 3) the migrants represent a large proportion of the labor force and populations of the Gulf oil-producing states, and 4) the migrants are systematically excluded from the political and

Disrupting Syrian Economic Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2015-10-28

Prior to the civil 2 war, the Syrian economy benefited from tourism 4 , as well as a growing consumer economy driven by a large influx of Iraqi...during civil war in a commodities based economy such as Syria, socio -economic motivations (“loot-seeking”) may be just as or more important than...eliminate non-government registered cell phones. 85 Yet, cell phone use, while impacted in North Korea, has not been 18 stopped, particularly

Bone mineral density in healthy Syrian women measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

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Bakir Mohamed Adel

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Assessment of bone mineral density (BMD using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA technique is considered as a standard technique for diagnosing osteopenia and osteoporosis and evaluating the severity of such diseases. Numerous studies have demonstrated the necessity to establish an ethnic-specific reference data for Bone mineral density measurements. Such data are lacking for the Syrian population. The objectives of this study are (1 to establish BMD reference values in a group of healthy Syrian women using DXA technique, (2 to compare with values from other populations, (3 to study the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in Syrian women using the manufacturer reference values. A total of 951 healthy Syrian women aged 20-79 years participated in this study. Weight, height, and BMI have been determined. BMD measurements were performed using Lunar Prodigy Advance System (GE. The data were compared with those from other populations. The results have demonstrated the expected decline in BMD with age after peaking at 30-39 years old group. The peak values of the lumbar spine and femur neck were 1.16 (0.12, and 0.95 (0.13 g/cm2, respectively. The results of the Syrian women were compared with those from other populations and the differences were presented. Osteopenia was diagnosed in 35.80% and 60.31% and osteoporosis in 6.23% and 2.72% in lumbar spine and femur neck, respectively, of women 50-59 years of age. These ratios increased to 36.84%, 68.42% and 23.68%, 13.10%, respectively, in the age group more than 59 years. BMD values of the Syrian women were determined for the first time. The results demonstrate the importance of establishing population-specific reference range for BMD values for an accurate assessment of Osteoporosis. High prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis was demonstrated in Syrian using the manufacturer reference values.

ARABIC TRANSLATION AND ADAPTATION OF THE HOSPITAL CONSUMER ASSESSMENT OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND SYSTEMS (HCAHPS) PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY INSTRUMENT.

Science.gov (United States)

Dockins, James; Abuzahrieh, Ramzi; Stack, Martin

2015-01-01

To translate and adapt an effective, validated, benchmarked, and widely used patient satisfaction measurement tool for use with an Arabic-speaking population. Translation of survey's items, survey administration process development, evaluation of reliability, and international benchmarking Three hundred-bed tertiary care hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 645 patients discharged during 2011 from the hospital's inpatient care units. INTERVENTIONS; The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) instrument was translated into Arabic, a randomized weekly sample of patients was selected, and the survey was administered via telephone during 2011 to patients or their relatives. Scores were compiled for each of the HCAHPS questions and then for each of the six HCAHPS clinical composites, two non-clinical items, and two global items. Clinical composite scores, as well as the two non-clinical and two global items were analyzed for the 645 respondents. Clinical composites were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient and Cronbach's alpha to demonstrate acceptable internal consistency for these items and scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency for the clinical composites. (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.327 - 0.750, P quarterly to US national averages with results that closely paralleled the US benchmarks. . The Arabic translation and adaptation of the HCAHPS is a valid, reliable, and feasible tool for evaluation and benchmarking of inpatient satisfaction in Arabic speaking populations.

Representing Migration: Analysis of Media Portrayals of Syrian Migrant Women in Turkey

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Ruhdan Uzun

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The media coverage of women migrations has played an important role in shaping public opinion and governmental policies. This article aims at exploring the media portrayals of Syrian Migrant Women in Turkey. For this purpose, the research data were collected from the three Turkish online newspaper websites, Hürriyet, Birgün and Sabah, each of which has different editorial policy in representing migration, during one year period. The findings of quantitative content analysis of the news stories regarding Syrian migrant women would provide an understanding of the gender dimension of migration in Turkey. It concludes that Syrian Migrant Women in Turkey generally are reported on crime news and are framed as victims or perpetrators. However, the newspapers rarely report their hard living conditions.

Video game addiction and psychological distress among expatriate adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Saquib, Nazmus; Saquib, Juliann; Wahid, AbdulWaris; Ahmed, Abdulrahman Akmal; Dhuhayr, Hamad Emad; Zaghloul, Mohamed Saddik; Ewid, Mohammed; Al-Mazrou, Abdulrahman

2017-12-01

Few studies have estimated screen time among Arab adolescents, and no studies, to date, have published data on addiction to video games or Internet games among Arab adolescents. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of addiction to video games and its correlation with mental health in a sample of expatriate high school students from the Al-Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. The survey was conducted in 2016 among 276 students enrolled in ninth through twelfth grades in the International Schools in Buraidah, Al-Qassim. Students who returned signed consent forms from their parents filled out a self-administered questionnaire that included validated scales on addiction to video games, general health, and lifestyle. The proportion between the sexes and the schools were roughly equal. Around 32% were overweight or obese, 75% had screen time ≥ 2 h/day, and 20% slept addicted to video games and 54% had psychological distress. Addiction to video games was strongly associated with psychological distress (OR = 4.1, 95% CI = 1.80, 9.47). Other significant correlates were female gender, higher screen time, and shorter sleep hours. The proportion of students with psychological distress was high. Future studies should investigate other potential correlates of distress such personal traits, family relations, and academic performance.

Social Representations of Social Media Users toward Syrian Refugees in Turkey

OpenAIRE

Fatih Ozdemir; Bengi Oner Ozkan

2017-01-01

While the Syrian refugees crisis has increasingly continued its effect in both Turkey and other neighboring countries and European countries for more than five years, refugees do not adapt themselves to society in country of asylum, and are exposed to social exclusion. The purpose of the study is to explore social representations of social media users toward Syrian refugees in Turkey with a qualitative approach; because social representations may indicate the problems in the in...

Health service access and utilization among Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Doocy, Shannon; Lyles, Emily; Akhu-Zaheya, Laila; Burton, Ann; Burnham, Gilbert

2016-07-14

The influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan presents an immense burden to the Jordanian health system. Changing lifestyles and aging populations are shifting the global disease burden towards increased non-infectious diseases including chronic conditions, co-morbidities, and injuries which are more complicated and costly to manage. The strain placed on health systems threatens the ability to ensure the health needs of both refugees and host country populations are adequately addressed. In light of the increasing challenges facing host governments and humanitarian actors to meet health needs of Syrian refugees and affected host communities, this study was undertaken to assess utilization of health services among Syrian refugees in non-camp settings. A survey of Syrian refugees in Jordan was undertaken in June 2014 to characterize health seeking behaviors and issues related to accessing care. A cluster design with probability proportional to size sampling was used to attain a nationally representative sample of 1550 non-camp Syrian refugee households. Differences in household characteristics by geographic region, facility type, and sector utilized were examined using chi-square and t-test methods. Care-seeking was high with 86.1 % of households reporting an adult sought medical care the last time it was needed. Approximately half (51.5 %) of services were sought from public sector facilities, 38.7 % in private facilities, and 9.8 % in charity/NGO facilities. Among adult care seekers, 87.4 % were prescribed medication during the most recent visit, 89.8 % of which obtained the medication. Overall, 51.8 % of households reported out-of-pocket expenditures for the consultation or medications at the most recent visit (mean US$39.9, median US$4.2). Despite high levels of care-seeking, cost was an important barrier to health service access for Syrian refugees in Jordan. The cessation of free access to health care since the time of the survey is likely to have worsened

Leadership Styles at Syrian Higher Education

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Khalifa, Bayan; Ayoubi, Rami M.

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the two major types of leadership, i.e transactional and transformational, and organizational learning at public and private universities in Syria. It further aims at exploring the role of transactional and transformational leadership in enhancing organizational learning at Syrian universities.…

Debating fabrication: 'Syrian Hero Boy' in the virtual public sphere

OpenAIRE

Storaas, Ingrid Hovda

2016-01-01

In November 2014, the film “Syrian hero boy” went viral. It depicted a young boy targeted by snipers. He dodges the bullets, and manages to save another child from the scene. After the story was published in newspapers worldwide, however, it became clear that it was a fabrication, shot and directed at a set in Malta. This thesis explores the media coverage of “Syrian hero boy” through a content analysis of 93 articles written about the film in online newspapers, asking how this coverage fit w...

Maternal Health Care Utilization Among Syrian Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Tappis, Hannah; Lyles, Emily; Burton, Ann; Doocy, Shannon

2017-09-01

Purpose The influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan and Lebanon over the last 5 years presents an immense burden to national health systems. This study was undertaken to assess utilization of maternal health services among Syrian refugees in both countries. Description A cross-sectional survey of Syrian refugees living in urban and rural (non-camp) settings was conducted using a two-stage cluster survey design with probability proportional to size sampling in 2014-2015. Eighty-six percent of surveyed households in Lebanon and 88% of surveyed households in Jordan included women with a live birth in the last year. Information from women in this sub-set of households was analyzed to understand antenatal and intrapartum health service utilization. Assessment A majority of respondents reported seeking antenatal care, 82% and 89% in Jordan and Lebanon, respectively. Women had an average of at least six antenatal care visits. Nearly all births (98% in Jordan and 94% in Lebanon) took place in a health facility. Cesarean rates were similar in both countries; approximately one-third of all births were cesarean deliveries. A substantial proportion of women incurred costs for intrapartum care; 33% of Syrian women in Jordan and 94% of Syrian women in Lebanon reported paying out of pocket for their deliveries. The proportion of women incurring costs for intrapartum care was higher in Jordan both countries for women with cesarean deliveries compared to those with vaginal deliveries; however, this difference was not statistically significant in either country (Jordan p-value = 0.203; Lebanon p-value = 0.099). Conclusion Syrian refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon had similar levels of utilization of maternal health services, despite different health systems and humanitarian assistance provisions. As expected, a substantial proportion of households incurred out-of-pocket costs for essential maternal and newborn health services, making cost a major factor in care

Health Service Utilization among Syrian Refugees with Chronic Health Conditions in Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Doocy, Shannon; Lyles, Emily; Akhu-Zaheya, Laila; Oweis, Arwa; Al Ward, Nada; Burton, Ann

2016-01-01

The influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan presents an immense burden to the Jordanian health system, particularly in treating chronic health conditions. This study was undertaken to assess utilization of health services for chronic health conditions among Syrian refugees in non-camp settings. A survey of Syrian refugees in Jordan was undertaken in June 2014 to characterize health seeking behaviors and issues related to accessing care for hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and arthritis. A cluster design with probability proportional to size sampling was used to attain a nationally representative sample of 1550 non-camp Syrian refugee households. Of 1363 cases with a chronic health condition diagnosis, 84.7% had received care in Jordan. Public facilities faced a heavy burden serving over half (53.9%) of care-seekers; the remainder received care in the private (29.6%) and NGO/charity (16.6%) sectors. Individuals with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the central region of Jordan and with arthritis had the lowest rates of care-seeking when compared to other regions and conditions. Overall, 31.6% of care-seekers had an out-of-pocket payment for the most recent care-seeking event which averaged 18.8 USD (median = 0 USD), excluding cost of medications. Forced displacement presents major challenges to those with NCDs, which have the potential to seriously impact both the quality of life and life expectancy amongst refugees. NCD patterns among Syrian refugees indicate the importance of continuing support to public sector services in Jordan to adequately meet expanding needs and ensure appropriate prevention and control of priority NCDs.

Perceived stress among male medical students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia:effects of sociodemographic factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Ghilany, A.; Amr, M.; Hammad, S.

2008-01-01

In Arab countries, epidemiological data about psychological morbidityamong medical undergraduate students are scarce. This study sought todetermine whether there was a difference in perceived stress levels of malemedical students at Mansoura University, Egypt, compared with male medicalstudents at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. The sample consisted of 304male medical students in Egypt and 284 male medical students in Saudi Arabia.The self-reported questionnaire covered four categories, including 15 items,on sources of stress (stressors). The perceived stress scale and hospitalanxiety and depression scale were used to measure stress, anxiety anddepression. There was no significant difference between two groups in numberof stressors. However, Egyptian students were more likely to citerelationship, academic and environmental problems than Saudis. The prevalenceof high stress was nearly equal in both groups. However, anxiety anddepression were significantly higher among Egyptian than Saudi students. Alogistic regression analysis of independent predictors of severe stress amongboth groups combined revealed that a satisfactory family income anduniversity-graduated father were independent protective factors. Theindependent risk predictors were anxiety and number stressors. Stress,anxiety and depression are frequent among medical students. Counseling andpreventive metal heath services should be an integral part of the routinefacilities caring for medical students. (author)

Syrian Refugees, Health and Migration Legislation in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekmekci, Perihan Elif

2017-12-01

This paper discusses the crucial effects of Turkish health and migration laws on Syrian refugees' access to public health services and social determinants of health. Key aspects of current Turkish laws affect the health of both refugees and Turkish citizens in many ways. The huge influx of refugees is increasing communicable disease risks, overcrowding hospitals, and more generally straining financial and health resources. Turkey's United Nations membership and its candidacy for European Union (EU) have led to increased alignment of Turkey's refugee and migration policies with international law. Major differences remain, however, and Turkey's remaining noncompliance with international refugee laws is a major force driving Syrian refugee's flight to EU countries, as refugees desperately seek the right to better health and social services.

One Common Future, Two Education Systems: The Case of Syrian Children of Istanbul

Science.gov (United States)

Ozer, Y. Yesim; Komsuoglu, Aysegul; Atesok, Z. Ozde

2017-01-01

The unexpected and vast Syrian refugee crisis with an ever-growing number of young Syrians appears to be one of the greatest challenges for the Turkish education system. While low enrollment rates are alarming, the dual system that emerged in the urban settings creates a main challenge to a comprehensive and supportive education system and…

A Content Analysis on the Representation of Syrian Asylum Seekers in the Turkish Press

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Müzeyyen Pandır

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This article is a content analysis of the representation of Syrian asylum seekers in the Turkish press. The research sample includes news reports, columns and visuals published in 2014 in five national newspapers with the highest circulation figures (“Hürriyet”, “Sabah”, “Posta”, “Sözcü”, “Zaman”. The article is part of a larger research project, which is funded by TÜBİTAK, investigating the representation of Syrian asylum seekers between 2011 and 2015 in Turkish newspapers. Analysing news texts and columns is widely held in research projects. However, conducting a visual analysis on news photographs is usually overlooked. This study investigates news texts and news photographs together. The study shows that the coverage of Syrian asylum seekers has usually a positive or neutral content. However, the results also point out the ambivalence in the representations of asylum seekers. The representations of Syrian asylum seekers portray these individuals mostly as “poor” people “in need of help” as well as “threats” for social security. These frequently repeated representations and ambivalence show that the representation of Syrian asylum seekers in Turkish newspapers reproduces the stereotypical representation of asylum seekers as defined in international studies.

Impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on land use and transboundary freshwater resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Marc François; Yoon, Jim; Gorelick, Steven M; Avisse, Nicolas; Tilmant, Amaury

2016-12-27

Since 2013, hundreds of thousands of refugees have migrated southward to Jordan to escape the Syrian civil war that began in mid-2011. Evaluating impacts of conflict and migration on land use and transboundary water resources in an active war zone remains a challenge. However, spatial and statistical analyses of satellite imagery for the recent period of Syrian refugee mass migration provide evidence of rapid changes in land use, water use, and water management in the Yarmouk-Jordan river watershed shared by Syria, Jordan, and Israel. Conflict and consequent migration caused ∼50% decreases in both irrigated agriculture in Syria and retention of winter rainfall in Syrian dams, which gave rise to unexpected additional stream flow to downstream Jordan during the refugee migration period. Comparing premigration and postmigration periods, Syrian abandonment of irrigated agriculture accounts for half of the stream flow increase, with the other half attributable to recovery from a severe drought. Despite this increase, the Yarmouk River flow into Jordan is still substantially below the volume that was expected by Jordan under the 1953, 1987, and 2001 bilateral agreements with Syria.

“We are Arabs:” The Embodiment of Virginity Through Arab and Arab American Women’s Lived Experiences

OpenAIRE

Abboud, Sarah; Jemmott, Loretta Sweet; Sommers, Marilyn S.

2015-01-01

Virginity is part of our existence in the world as embodied sexual subjects. While many meanings are associated with virginity, in most of the Arab world virginity relates to the presence of a hymen and extends to encompass the honor of the Arab community, and virginity loss commonly relate to first vaginal intercourse. This study explored the meanings of virginity from the perspectives of Arab and Arab American women. A qualitative phenomenological approach, informed by the philosophy of Mau...

Well-Being and Posttraumatic Growth Among Syrian Refugees in Jordan.

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Rizkalla, Niveen; Segal, Steven P

2018-04-01

The Syrian War has created a mass exodus of Syrian citizens to neighboring countries and exposed them to many atrocities. We explored factors affecting well-being and posttraumatic growth (PTG) of refugees residing in Jordan. Participants (N = 250) were surveyed via nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Outcome criteria included a global well-being rating and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Trauma exposure assessment included The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) and The War Events Questionnaire. Ordinary least squares regression examined associations between potential contributors to refugee well-being and PTG, including work, age, sex, income, education, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity, physical pain, health, NGO assistance, psychotic/affective mental disorder, and length of residence in Jordan. Mean participant score on the PTSD-HTQ scale was 2.37 (SD = 0.63; range: 1 [no symptoms] to 3.88 [extremely severe symptoms]). Additionally, 74.6% of participants received NGO assistance and 92.7% experienced war events. Univariate and multivariate results indicated enhancement of well-being was associated with income, r = .34, β = .26, p Syrian refugees' mental health. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Trafficking and Syrian Refugee Smuggling: Evidence from the Balkan Route

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Danilo Mandic

2017-06-01

Full Text Available As of March 2016, 4.8 million Syrian refugees were scattered in two dozen countries by the civil war. Refugee smuggling has been a major catalyst of human trafficking in the Middle East and Europe migrant crises. Data on the extent to which smuggling devolved into trafficking in this refugee wave is, however, scarce. This article investigates how Syrian refugees interact with smugglers, shedding light on how human smuggling and human trafficking interrelated on the Balkan Route. I rely on original evidence from in-depth interviews (n = 123 and surveys (n = 100 with Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, and Germany; as well as ethnographic observations in thirty-five refugee camps or other sites in these countries. I argue that most smugglers functioned as guides, informants, and allies in understudied ways—thus refugee perceptions diverge dramatically from government policy assumptions. I conclude with a recommendation for a targeted advice policy that would acknowledge the reality of migrant-smuggler relations, and more effectively curb trafficking instead of endangering refugees.

Arab American Journalism and Its Relation to Arab American Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Melki, Henry H.

Because of the influence which the Arab press in the U.S. had on Arab literature, it was thought advisable to record a history of its development and find the relation between the two. Ten different newspapers and magazines that directly relate to Arabic literature were examined: "Kawkab Amerika,""Al-Huda,""Mer'at…

Health Service Utilization among Syrian Refugees with Chronic Health Conditions in Jordan.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shannon Doocy

Full Text Available The influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan presents an immense burden to the Jordanian health system, particularly in treating chronic health conditions. This study was undertaken to assess utilization of health services for chronic health conditions among Syrian refugees in non-camp settings.A survey of Syrian refugees in Jordan was undertaken in June 2014 to characterize health seeking behaviors and issues related to accessing care for hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and arthritis. A cluster design with probability proportional to size sampling was used to attain a nationally representative sample of 1550 non-camp Syrian refugee households.Of 1363 cases with a chronic health condition diagnosis, 84.7% had received care in Jordan. Public facilities faced a heavy burden serving over half (53.9% of care-seekers; the remainder received care in the private (29.6% and NGO/charity (16.6% sectors. Individuals with non-communicable diseases (NCDs in the central region of Jordan and with arthritis had the lowest rates of care-seeking when compared to other regions and conditions. Overall, 31.6% of care-seekers had an out-of-pocket payment for the most recent care-seeking event which averaged 18.8 USD (median = 0 USD, excluding cost of medications.Forced displacement presents major challenges to those with NCDs, which have the potential to seriously impact both the quality of life and life expectancy amongst refugees. NCD patterns among Syrian refugees indicate the importance of continuing support to public sector services in Jordan to adequately meet expanding needs and ensure appropriate prevention and control of priority NCDs.

Saudi Arabia; Selected Issues

OpenAIRE

International Monetary Fund

2012-01-01

This Selected Issues paper on Saudi Arabia assesses Saudi Arabia’s role in the oil market and global economy. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil, has long played a systemically important role in the global oil market. Short-term fluctuations in Saudi Arabia’s oil production have partially reflected attempts to stabilize the global oil market. Saudi Arabia has on several occasions used its systemic role to raise production to fill global demand gaps created by large...

Religious Education in Syria: Unity and Difference

Science.gov (United States)

Cardinal, Monique C.

2009-01-01

This article discusses the almost identical syllabuses of the Christian and Muslim religious education programmes of the Syrian Arab Republic. Content analysis of the students' textbooks and teachers' guides (in Arabic) reveals common themes of citizenship education and national unity. Classroom observations in Damascus also highlight how…

The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Comparison of Responses by Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States

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Nicole Ostrand

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The conflict in Syria between the government of Bashar al-Assad and various other forces, which started in the spring of 2011, continues to cause displacement within the country and across the region. By the end of 2014, an estimated 7.6 million people were internally displaced and 3.7 million Syrians had fled the country since the conflict began (OCHA 2014; UNHCR 2015a. The refugee situation caused by the Syrian conflict is dire, and it has placed enormous strain on neighboring countries. Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey host massive numbers of Syrian refugees, and Syrians have been seeking protection beyond these countries in increasing numbers since 2011.This paper looks at the burdens and costs of the Syrian refugee crisis and considers how they have, or have not, been shared by the international community at large, and in particular by Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It also considers to what degree Syrians have been able to find protection in states outside the region. Germany and Sweden, by the end of 2014, had provided protection to the largest number of Syrian refugees outside the region. Although Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States differ in the level of protection provided to Syrians, all four states have increased protection to Syrians via resettlement and asylum (and in the case of the US temporary protected status since 2012. Despite this, the degree of protection provided by the four states is modest in relation to that provided by neighboring countries to Syria, and far more could be done. This paper also argues that the international community as a whole has not sufficiently contributed toward alleviating the burden caused by the Syrian refugee influx, in terms of both financial assistance and refugee resettlement.The paper puts forward two general recommendations to reduce the strain on neighboring countries: increase the level of burden sharing by the international

Psychiatric disorders among infertile men and women attending three infertility clinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alosaimi, Fahad Dakheel; Altuwirqi, Maram Hani; Bukhari, Mujahid; Abotalib, Zeinab; BinSaleh, Saleh

2015-01-01

No study has assessed psychiatric disorders among infertile men and women seeking fertility treatment in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, we sought to measure the rate of psychiatric disorders in this population. This was a cross-sectional observational study among patients attending infertility clinics at three referral hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between January 2013 and September 2014. 406 patients (206 women and 200 men) participated in the study. The approved Arabic version of the MINI tool was used to assess 18 common psychiatric illnesses. The response rate was 81%. Of the men surveyed, only 4.5% self-reported having a psychiatric disorder. Of the women surveyed, only 10.2% reported having a psychiatric disorder. However, using the MINI scale, psychiatric illness was documented in 30% of males and 36.9% of females. The most common diagnoses for both genders were depression (21.7%) and anxiety (21.2%). Significantly more females than males exhibited suicidality and depression. In contrast, significantly more males than females had bipolar disorders and substance-related disorders. A low monthly income among male and female participants and polygamy among female participants were significantly associated with psychiatric disorders. This study shows that a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders, particularly depression and anxiety, among infertile men and women in Saudi Arabia is associated with lower income and polygamy. This study highlights the importance of integrated care for alleviating the psychological burden of this unfortunate population and improving outcomes and quality of life. This study also encourages follow-up studies that aim to further understand the complex relationship between fertility and psychological well-being.

Insight into the Attitudes of Speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic towards their Dialect

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Sameeha D. Alahmadi

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The current study mainly aims to examine the attitudes of speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic (UMHA towards their dialect, which is spoken in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It also investigates whether the participants’ age, sex and educational level have any impact on their perception of their dialect. To this end, I designed a 5-point-Likert-scale questionnaire, requiring participants to rate their attitudes towards their dialect. I asked 80 participants, whose first language is UMHA, to fill out the questionnaire. On the basis of the three independent variables, namely, age, sex and educational level, the participants were divided into three groups: old and young speakers, male and female speakers and educated and uneducated speakers. The results reveal that in general, all the groups (young and old, male and female, and educated and uneducated participants have a sense of responsibility towards their dialect, making their attitudes towards their dialect positive. However, differences exist between the three groups. For instance, old speakers tend to express their pride of their dialect more than young speakers. The same pattern is observed in male and female groups. The results show that females may feel embarrassed to provide answers that may imply that they are not proud of their own dialect, since the majority of women in the Arab world, in general, are under more pressure to conform to the overt norms of the society than males. Therefore, I argue that most Arab women may not have the same freedom to express their opinions and feelings about various issues. Based on the results, the study concludes with some recommendations for further research.  Keywords: sociolinguistics, language attitudes, dialectology, social variables, Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic

Morphological and molecular genetic diversity of Syrian indigenous ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Tuoyo Aghomotsegin

2016-05-04

May 4, 2016 ... and population substructure of the Syrian goat populations. Commonly, three ... agriculture sector accounts for about 26% of Syria's. Gross Domestic ... goat breeds elsewhere in North Africa and West Asia (Iniguez, 2005a, b).

Impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on land use and transboundary freshwater resources

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Marc François; Yoon, Jim; Gorelick, Steven M.; Avisse, Nicolas; Tilmant, Amaury

2016-01-01

Since 2013, hundreds of thousands of refugees have migrated southward to Jordan to escape the Syrian civil war that began in mid-2011. Evaluating impacts of conflict and migration on land use and transboundary water resources in an active war zone remains a challenge. However, spatial and statistical analyses of satellite imagery for the recent period of Syrian refugee mass migration provide evidence of rapid changes in land use, water use, and water management in the Yarmouk–Jordan river watershed shared by Syria, Jordan, and Israel. Conflict and consequent migration caused ∼50% decreases in both irrigated agriculture in Syria and retention of winter rainfall in Syrian dams, which gave rise to unexpected additional stream flow to downstream Jordan during the refugee migration period. Comparing premigration and postmigration periods, Syrian abandonment of irrigated agriculture accounts for half of the stream flow increase, with the other half attributable to recovery from a severe drought. Despite this increase, the Yarmouk River flow into Jordan is still substantially below the volume that was expected by Jordan under the 1953, 1987, and 2001 bilateral agreements with Syria. PMID:27930317

Metabolic influences on circadian rhythmicity in Siberian and Syrian hamsters exposed to long photoperiods.

Science.gov (United States)

Challet, E; Kolker, D E; Turek, F W

2000-01-01

Calorie restriction and other situations of reduced glucose availability in rodents alter the entraining effects of light on the circadian pacemaker located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Siberian and Syrian hamsters are photoperiodic species that are sexually active when exposed to long summer-like photoperiods, while both species show opposite changes in body mass when transferred from long to short or short to long days. Because metabolic cues may fine tune the photoperiodic responses via the suprachiasmatic nuclei, we tested whether timed calorie restriction can alter the photic synchronization of the light-entrainable pacemaker in these two hamster species exposed to long photoperiods. Siberian and Syrian hamsters were exposed to 16 h:8 h light:dark cycles and received daily hypocaloric (75% of daily food intake) or normocaloric diet (100% of daily food intake) 4 h after light onset. Four weeks later, hamsters were transferred to constant darkness and fed ad libitum. The onset of the nocturnal pattern of locomotor activity was phase advanced by 1.5 h in calorie-restricted Siberian hamsters, but not in Syrian hamsters. The lack of phase change in calorie-restricted Syrian hamsters was also observed in individuals exposed to 14 h:10 h dim light:dark cycles and fed with lower hypocaloric food (i.e. 60% of daily food intake) 2 h after light onset. Moreover, in hamsters housed in constant darkness and fed ad lib., light-induced phase shifts of the locomotor activity in Siberian hamsters, but not in Syrian hamsters were significantly reduced when glucose utilization was blocked by pretreatment with 500 mg/kg i.p. 2-deoxy-D-glucose. Taken together, these results show that the photic synchronization of the light-entrainable pacemaker can be modulated by metabolic cues in Siberian hamsters, but not in Syrian hamsters maintained on long days.

Psychological Security and Self-Efficacy among Syrian Refugee Students inside and outside the Camps

Science.gov (United States)

ALharbi, Bassam H. M.

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to identify the degree of psychological security and self-efficacy among the Syrian refugee students inside and outside the camps. The sample consisted of 600 students from Syrian refugees inside and outside the camps in the second semester of the academic year 2014-2015. Scales for psychological security and self-efficacy…

Arabs in America

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

唐长贵

2004-01-01

In the eyes of many people in the United States, Arab-Americans are an invisible part of the population. Though Arab-Americans as a community have made great contributions to American society in the fields from literature to politics to medicine, many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab descent(血统).

The reciprocal constitutive features of a Middle Eastern partnership: The Russian–Syrian bilateral relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theodor Tudoroiu

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Using the concept of reciprocal socialization, this article argues that the Damascus–Moscow partnership has been since 1970 a reciprocal constitutive relation that has influenced considerably the actions, interests, and identities of the two partners. During the last two decades of the Cold War it represented an almost ideal-type example of a relationship between a super-power and its regional ally that, through its complex consequences, shaped significantly the two partners themselves, the Middle Eastern political and security environment, and the international system as a whole. Post-2003 developments and especially the present Syrian crisis also have influenced considerably the two states' identity-building processes. After the US invasion of Iraq, the patterns of renewed bilateral cooperation have mirrored, at least in part, the Cold War ones. The Arab Spring enforced this trend. Yet, today the International Relations identity of Russia is quite different from the Soviet era one. The main consequence is that Moscow's new identity prevents it from supporting the regime in Damascus at any cost. If military operations take a turn threatening seriously the survival of that regime, it is likely that the Kremlin will not escalate its pro-al-Asad involvement, thus accepting the possible fall of its Middle Eastern ally.

Phytogeography of Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

AlNafie, Abdulatif H

2008-01-01

This paper presents the phyto geography of Saudi Arabia and examines its phytogeographic location within the complex plant geographical regions of the Middle East. It reviews and discuses works have that been published so far by plant geographers and biogeographers on the phytogeographical regions of Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa, and determines the location of Saudi Arabia within it. The delimitation of the frontiers between plant-regions in Saudi Arabia, especially the south western part, which has always created some difficulties for biogeographers as well as phytogeographers who have studied the region. (author)

Psychosocial concerns reported by Syrian refugees living in Jordan: systematic review of unpublished needs assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Ruth; Steel, Zachary; Abo-Hilal, Mohammad; Hassan, Abdul Halim; Lawsin, Catalina

2016-08-01

Humanitarian organisations supporting Syrian refugees in Jordan have conducted needs assessments to direct resources appropriately. To present a model of psychosocial concerns reported by Syrian refugees and a peer review of research practices. Academic and grey literature databases, the United Nations Syria Regional Response website, key humanitarian organisation websites and Google were searched for needs assessments with Syrian refugees in Jordan between February 2011 and June 2015. Information directly reporting the views of Syrian refugees regarding psychosocial needs was extracted and a qualitative synthesis was conducted. Respondents reported that psychological distress was exacerbated by both environmental (financial, housing, employment) and psychosocial outcomes (loss of role and social support, inactivity), which are themselves stressors. Need for improvement in research methodology, participatory engagement and ethical reporting was evident. Participatory engagement strategies might help to address identified psychosocial outcomes. More rigorous qualitative methods are required to ensure accuracy of findings. © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016.

Inventories and fluxes of 137Cs in the Syrian land

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Masri, M. S.; Amin, Y.

2005-03-01

Cesium-137 inventories and atmospheric fluxes have been determined using radiocesium distributions in undistributed soil profiles, collected from 38 sites distributed all over the Syrian lands. Results have shown that 137 Cs inventories determination by Soil Layers Sum Method is more accurate than the Integration Method, where the best curve fitting of 137 Cs distribution with depth is difficult to establish. 137 Cs inventories ranged from 441 Bq.m - 2 and 13312 Bq.m - 2 using the Layers Sum Method with a mean value of 3679 Bq.m - 2; the highest values observed were in the coastal, middle and north east regions. This is due to the fact that most of Chernobyl accident atmospheric fall-out of cesium 137 had entered the Syrian land came from the west boarders (Mediterranean sea). While the lowest values were found to be in the samples collected from the east south region. In addition, 137 Cs flux ranged from 3.1 kBq m - 2y - 1 and 527.8 kBq m - 2 y - 1 with a mean value of 65.7 kBq m - 2y - 1. Moreover, there was a semi linear relationship found between 137 Cs flux and the height above sea level. While no linear relationship was found between 137 Cs flux and annual rainfall. On the other hand, the external radiation dose to Syrians that due to gamma-rays emitted from cesium 137 decay has been determined and reached a mean value of 166μ Sv.y - 1. This value is about 20% of the radiation dose received by the Syrian from naturally occurring radionuclides in soil. (Author)

[BACTERIA WITHOUT BORDERS: A HIGH CARRIAGE RATE OF ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA AMONG SYRIAN CHILDREN HOSPITALIZED IN GALILEE MEDICAL CENTER].

Science.gov (United States)

Faour Kassem, Diana; Shahar, Naama; Ocampo, Smadar; Bader, Tarif; Zonis, Zeev; Glikman, Daniel

2017-05-01

As the civil war in Syria enters its fifth year, the Israeli government continues to provide humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians in Israeli hospitals. Many wounded Syrian children are treated at the Galilee Medical Center (GMC). Due to the patients' incomplete medical history and increasing infection rates in Syria, contact isolation and screening cultures for multi-drug resistant bacteria (MDR's) are conducted upon admission for all Syrian children. To describe the rate of MDR carriage in Syrian children and compare it to hospitalized Israeli children. Prospective collection of screening culture data of Syrian patients admitted to GMC between 6/2013-11/2014 and comparison with Israeli children admitted between 1-3/2014. Extended-spectrum beta- lactamase-producing Enterobateriaceae (ESBL), Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were considered MDR's. Of 47 pediatric Syrian patients, 41 were severely wounded. MDR's were found in 37 (79%) children; most of the isolates were ESBL+ Escherichia coli. Over half of the ESBL's were resistant to additional antibiotics such as sulfa and quinolones; no resistance to amikacin was found. In comparison, in 6 of 40 (15%) Israeli children, MDR's (all ESBL's) were found (p<0.001). In hospitalized Syrian children, contact isolation and screening cultures for MDR's have an important role in the prevention of nosocomial transmission and establishment of empiric antimicrobial protocols. In suspected infections in Syrian children, amikacin and carbapenems are the antimicrobials of choice. MDR's are carried to a lesser extent in Israeli children but due to their importance, further largescale research is needed.

Arab Knowledge Society: Who Represents the Arab World Online ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Arab Knowledge Society: Who Represents the Arab World Online? ... Wikipedia's culture of openness, extensive reuse and near ubiquity makes it an ideal place to ... IWRA/IDRC webinar on climate change and adaptive water management.

Making sense of child, early and forced marriage among Syrian refugee girls: a mixed methods study in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartels, Susan Andrea; Michael, Saja; Roupetz, Sophie; Garbern, Stephanie; Kilzar, Lama; Bergquist, Harveen; Bakhache, Nour; Davison, Colleen; Bunting, Annie

2018-01-01

The Syrian conflict has resulted in over 2.3 million child refugees in the Middle East and the prevalence of early marriage has reportedly increased among displaced Syrian families. This study explores the underlying factors contributing to child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon with the goal of informing community-based strategies to address the issue. In July-August 2016, trained interviewers collected self-interpreted stories in Lebanon using Cognitive Edge's SenseMaker, a mixed-method data collection tool. Participants included married and unmarried Syrian girls, Syrian parents as well as married and unmarried men. Each participant shared a story about the experiences of Syrian girls and then interpreted the story by plotting their perspectives on a variety of questions. Patterns in the responses were analysed in SPSS and the accompanying qualitative narratives were reviewed to facilitate interpretation of the quantitative results. 1422 self-interpreted stories from 1346 unique participants were collected with 40% of shared stories focused on (n=332) or mentioning (n=245) child marriage. Quantitative data summarised the different perspectives of female and male participants. Syrian girls and mothers were more likely to share stories about protection/security and/or education and were more likely to report that girls were overprotected. Male participants were more likely to share stories about financial security as well as sexual exploitation of girls and more often reported that girls were not protected enough. Despite these gendered perspectives, many of the shared narratives highlighted similar themes of financial hardship, lack of educational opportunities and safety concerns around sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). A complex myriad of factors contribute to early marriage including poverty, lack of educational opportunities and concerns about SGBV. Sexual exploitation under the guise of marriage is a reality for some Syrian girls. Gender

In the Arab Bedroom: The Sex Life of Arabs.

Science.gov (United States)

Dupont, P

2016-12-01

The sex life of Arabs is terra incognita for scientists and policy makers. Shereen El Feki's book "Sex and the Citadel" is the first serious attempt to chart sexual intimacy in the rapidly changing Arab world.

Serological and molecular characterization of Syrian Tomato spotted wilt virus isolates

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Faiz ISMAEIL

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Thirty four Syrian isolates of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV collected from tomato and pepper were tested against five specific monoclonal antibodies using TAS-ELISA. The isolates were in two serogroups. Fourteen tomato and sixteen pepper isolates were similar in their reaction with MAb-2, MAb-4, MAb-5 and MAb-6, but did not react with MAb-7 (Serogroup 1. Meanwhile, four isolates collected from pepper reacted with all the MAbs used (Serogroup 2. The expected 620 bp DNA fragment was obtained by RT-PCR from six samples using a specific primer pair designed to amplify the nucleocapsid protein (NP gene of TSWV. The PCR products were sequenced and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Sequence analysis revealed that the Syrian TSWV isolates were very similar at the nucleotide (97.74 to 99.84% identity and amino acid (96.17 to 99.03% identity sequences levels. The phylogenetic tree showed high similarity of Syrian TSWV isolates with many other representative isolates from different countries.

Environmental Determinants of Bronchial Asthma among Saudi School Children in Southwestern Saudi Arabia

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Jobran M. Alqahtani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim here was to study the possible environmental and dietary determinants of asthma among school-aged children in Southwestern Saudi Arabia. In a cross-sectional study on a representative sample in Najran in Southwestern Saudi Arabia using an Arabic version of the modified ISAAC Phase III, parent-administered questionnaire data were collected. Skin prick tests (SPTs were performed. The study included 1700 school children, out of them 468 (27.5% were diagnosed with, cases of bronchial asthma and 20.8% (353 reported a 12-month nocturnal cough (as a proxy of severe asthma. In multivariable analysis, the study identified the following risk factors for having asthma or severe asthma: having dogs in the house, being male, being exposed to dense truck traffic on the street, using wood as a cooking fuel, conducting vigorous exercise, consuming eggs, consuming vegetables, having an allergic sensitization to dog hair, and being exposed to Cladosporium, pigweed, and Bermuda grass. On the other hand, the following food stuffs were found to be protective: seafood, fruit, and dairy products. Comprehensive school educational programs for both children and their parents should be adopted to prevent the use of wood in cooking and heating, to ensure that house pets are properly cared for, and to encourage proper dietary habits. Physicians should be informed of the patterns of allergens in order to improve asthma diagnosis and management.

Nazism in Syria and Lebanon. The ambivalence of the German option, 1933-1945

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordbruch, Götz

2009-01-01

to take root in Arab societies as well. In the first publication to reconstruct Lebanese and Syrian encounters with Nazism in the context of an evolving local political culture and to base its analysis on a comprehensive review of Arab, French and German sources, Götz Nordbruch examines the reactions...

In the Arab Bedroom: The Sex Life of Arabs

OpenAIRE

Dupont, P

2017-01-01

Abstract The sex life of Arabs is terra incognita for scientists and policy makers. Shereen El Feki?s book ?Sex and the Citadel? is the first serious attempt to chart sexual intimacy in the rapidly changing Arab world.

Geopolitical hotspots : Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, J.

2004-01-01

This presentation reviewed the geopolitics of energy in the Middle East, with particular reference to Saudi Arabia as a potential hotspot. The author examined the question of who actually governs Saudi Arabia and the core relationship between Crown Prince Abdullah and the interior Minister, Prince Nayef. Issues regarding the country's social stability were discussed with reference to the high unemployment rate. The financial security of Saudi Arabia was also discussed with reference to the need for economic and political reform. Expectations for Saudi petroleum output were outlined along with regional spurs for energy competition and OPEC participation

Characteristics of dental fear among Arabic-speaking children: a descriptive study.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Housseiny, Azza A; Alamoudi, Najlaa M; Farsi, Najat M; El Derwi, Douaa A

2014-09-22

Dental fear has not only been linked to poor dental health in children but also persists across the lifespan, if unaddressed, and can continue to affect oral, systemic, and psychological health. The aim of this study was to assess the factor structure of the Arabic version of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS), and to assess the difference in factor structure between boys and girls. Participants were 220 consecutive paediatric dental patients 6-12 years old seeking dental care at the Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Participants completed the 15-item Arabic version of the CFSS-DS questionnaire at the end of the visit. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Factor analysis (principal components, varimax rotation) was employed to assess the factor structure of the scale. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.86. Four factors with eigenvalues above 1.00 were identified, which collectively explained 64.45% of the variance. These factors were as follows: Factor 1, 'fear of usual dental procedures' consisted of 8 items such as 'drilling' and 'having to open the mouth', Factor 2, 'fear of health care personnel and injections' consisted of three items, Factor 3, 'fear of strangers', consisted of 2 items. Factor 4, 'fear of general medical aspects of treatment', consisted of 2 items. Notably, four factors of dental fear were found in girls, while five were found in boys. Four factors of different strength pertaining to dental fear were identified in Arabic-speaking children, indicating a simple structure. Most items loaded high on the factor related to fear of usual dental procedures. The fear-provoking aspects of dental procedures differed in boys and girls. Use of the scale may enable dentists to determine the item/s of dental treatment that a given child finds most fear-provoking and guide the child's behaviour accordingly.

Reading anxiety, classroom anxiety, language motivation, reader self-perception, and arabic achievement of Arab-American students learning arabic as a second language.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhateeb, Haitham M

2014-12-01

The present study assessed the relations between reading anxiety, classroom anxiety, language motivation, and readers' self-perception for a sample of Arab-American students in Arabic classes. The effects of sex, grade, and years studying Arabic on academic achievement were examined as well. Measures were administered to 118 middle school students (56 boys, 62 girls; M age = 13.0 yr., SD = 0.8), and teachers reported academic grades in Arabic. Reading anxiety was significantly correlated with classroom anxiety and reader self-perception. Classroom anxiety scores were significantly correlated with motivation and reader self-perception. Significant positive correlations were found between language motivation and reader self-perception scores, and between years studying Arabic and reader self-perception scores. Boys in the second year of Arabic had significantly lower classroom anxiety than girls, and students in Grade 7 had higher reader self-perception than those in Grade 8. Classroom anxiety, language motivation, and reader self-perception significantly predicted Arabic achievement. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

The extent of use of online pharmacies in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Abanmy, Norah

2017-09-01

Online pharmacies sell medicine over the Internet and deliver them by mail. The main objective of this study is to explore the extent of use of online pharmacies in Saudi Arabia which will be useful for the scientific community and regulators. An Arabic survey questionnaire was developed for this study. The questionnaire was distributed via email and social media. Four sections were created to cover the objectives: experience with online shopping in general, demographics, awareness of the existence and customer experiences of buying medicine online, and reasons for buying/not buying medicine online. A total of 633 responses were collected. Around 69% (437) of them were female and the majority (256, 40.4%) was in the age range 26-40. Only 23.1% (146) were aware of the existence of online pharmacies where 2.7% (17) of them had bought a medicine over the Internet and 15 (88.2%) respondents out of the 17 was satisfied with the process. Lack of awareness of the availability of such services was the main reason for not buying medicines online. Many respondents (263, 42.7%) were willing to try an online pharmacy, although majorities (243, 45.9%) were unable to differentiate between legal and illegal online pharmacies. The largest categories of products respondents were willing to buy them online were nonprescription medicines and cosmetics. The popularity of purchasing medicines over the Internet is still low in Saudi Arabia. However, because the majority of respondents are willing to purchase medicines online, efforts should be made by the Saudi FDA to set regulations and monitor this activity.

“We are Arabs:” The Embodiment of Virginity Through Arab and Arab American Women’s Lived Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Abboud, Sarah; Jemmott, Loretta Sweet; Sommers, Marilyn S.

2015-01-01

Virginity is part of our existence in the world as embodied sexual subjects. While many meanings are associated with virginity, in most of the Arab world virginity relates to the presence of a hymen and extends to encompass the honor of the Arab community, and virginity loss commonly relate to first vaginal intercourse. This study explored the meanings of virginity from the perspectives of Arab and Arab American women. A qualitative phenomenological approach, informed by the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, was used to conduct in-depth interviews with ten women. We identified one over-arching theme Virginity as Identity, and two major themes Embodiment of Virginity and “We are Arabs.” To reach an embodied virginity, participants went through a disembodied virginity process, reflecting society’s perceptions and values of virginity related to anatomical presence of a hymen and society’s honor. “We are Arabs” describes the ways women identified with the Arab ethnic identity as a shared overall identification, but differed from one lived experience to another, and influenced how participants embodied virginity. Our participants provided a better understanding of the diverse meanings of virginity that move beyond the binary of virginity and virginity loss, and into a spectrum of embodied meanings. Findings suggest the need for future research around sexuality in Arab Americans with attention to socio-political contexts in order to understand the nature and context of sexual initiation and its impact on sexual behaviors and well-being. PMID:26865811

Social intervention with syrian refugees from a resilient perspective through Social Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Fernández-López

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The current globalization system interconnects conflicts, problems and social policies in such a way that they do not only concern their countries of origin, but all the nations in the world. This paper is a bibliographic review with two main lines. The first one is focused on the root causes of the Syrian War and, as a consequence, the thousands of Syrian refugees it created. They were forced to flee from their country, and had to face several difficulties and overcome all kind of obstacles, which has been the source of many tragedies. The contribution of resilience as a social intervention approach with Syrian refugees from the point of view of Social Work is the second line of this paper. This social intervention approach is aimed at strengthening and empowering people against adversity in order to cope with trauma. This objective and the purpose of Social Work are one and the same: to guarantee and promote Human Rights all over the world.  

Arab Media Discourse: Breaking Taboos

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El Mustapha Lahlali

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the development and change of Arab media discourse since mid-1990s. The paper looks at how the production and consumption of media discourse have changed dramatically in the Arab world over the last decade or so, notably in relation to taboos such as religion, governance and gender. The paper argues that transnational Arab media, particularly al-Jazeera, have contributed to this change by adopting a liberal and critical approach when dealing with Arab taboos. This change is clearly reflected in the new discourse adopted by both the Arab public and Arab media. Such a discourse practice shapes and is shaped by a new Arab social, cultural and political practice.

PERANAN PEMBELAJARAN MATA KULIAH BAHASA ARAB PADA KEMAMPUAN MENULIS BERBAHASA ARAB BAGI MAHASISWA PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN BAHASA ARAB (PBA ANGKATAN 2009 JURUSAN TARBIYAH STAIN PEKALONGAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Burhan

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study focused on the role of Arabic teaching in increasing academic writing skill of the students of 2009 who were studying at Arabic Teaching Program of STAIN Pekalongan. The result showed that most of them (60% declared not ready to write their minithesis in Arabic. They were not enough well-prepared in Arabic academic writing. Their grades in overall Arabic subject were 68 in range 0 - 100: starting at General Arabic (Arabic I, II, and III; structure (nahwu and Sharf, pronounciation (Qirâ-ah, listening (Istimâ’, speaking (Kalâm, up to writing skill (kitâbah. It verified that student who had a good grade in a lingual subject, like Arabics, is not equal with his language skill, especially in writing skill.

Cystolithiasis in a Syrian hamster: a different outcome

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D. Petrini

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A 14-month-old intact male Syrian hamster was admitted for lethargy and hematuria. A total body radiographic image and abdominal ultrasonography showed the presence of a vesical calculus. During cystotomy, a sterile urine sample was obtained and sent to the diagnostic laboratory along with the urolith for analysis. Urine culture was found negative for bacterial growth, and the urolith was identified as a calcium-oxalate stone. Diet supplementation with palmitoylethanolamide, glucosamine and hesperidin was adopted the day after discharge. One year follow up revealed no presence of vesical calculi. Although this is the report of a single clinical case, this outcome differs from the results reported in the literature characterized by recurrences after few months. Considering the positive outcome and the beneficial properties of palmitoylethanolamide, glucosamine, and hesperidin, these nutritional elements in Syrian hamsters, are recommended to reduce recurrence after surgical treatment of urolithiasis.

Potential for the international spread of middle East respiratory syndrome in association with mass gatherings in saudi arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Kamran; Sears, Jennifer; Hu, Vivian Wei; Brownstein, John S; Hay, Simon; Kossowsky, David; Eckhardt, Rose; Chim, Tina; Berry, Isha; Bogoch, Isaac; Cetron, Martin

2013-07-17

A novel coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causing severe, life-threatening respiratory disease has emerged in the Middle East at a time when two international mass gatherings in Saudi Arabia are imminent. While MERS-CoV has already spread to and within other countries, these mass gatherings could further amplify and/or accelerate its international dissemination, especially since the origins and geographic source of the virus remain poorly understood. We analyzed 2012 worldwide flight itinerary data and historic Hajj pilgrim data to predict population movements out of Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East to help cities and countries assess their potential for MERS-CoV importation. We compared the magnitude of travel to countries with their World Bank economic status and per capita healthcare expenditures as surrogate markers of their capacity for timely detection of imported MERS-CoV and their ability to mount an effective public health response. 16.8 million travelers flew on commercial flights out of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates between June and November 2012, of which 51.6% were destined for India (16.3%), Egypt (10.4%), Pakistan (7.8%), the United Kingdom (4.3%), Kuwait (3.6%), Bangladesh (3.1%), Iran (3.1%) and Bahrain (2.9%). Among the 1.74 million foreign pilgrims who performed the Hajj last year, an estimated 65.1% originated from low and lower-middle income countries. MERS-CoV is an emerging pathogen with pandemic potential with its apparent epicenter in Saudi Arabia, where millions of pilgrims will imminently congregate for two international mass gatherings. Understanding global population movements out of the Middle East through the end of this year's Hajj could help direct anticipatory MERS-CoV surveillance and public health preparedness to mitigate its potential global health and economic impacts.

Quality of life of Syrian refugees living in camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Izaddin A; Hutchinson, Claire V; Maltby, John

2014-01-01

The current study explores the perceived quality of life of Syrian refugees who have entered the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Two hundred and seventy participants residing in refugee camps in the Erbil region in Kurdistan completed the WHOQOL-BREF, which measures Quality of Life (QOL) within four domains; physical, psychological, social relationships and environment. Syrian refugees in Kurdistan scored significantly lower for general population norms on physical health, psychological and environment QOL, and score significantly lower for physical health and psychological QOL for refugees in the Gaza strip. However, respondents in the current sample scored significantly higher on environment QOL compared to refugees in the Gaza strip, and significantly higher on all the QOL domains than those reported for refugees in West Africa. Finally, Syrian refugees in Kurdistan scored significantly higher than general population norms for social relationships QOL. The current findings provide the first report of QOL domain scores among Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan camps and suggest that social relationships and environmental QOL circumstances are relatively satisfactory, and that further investigation might be focused on physical and psychological QOL.

Design and Realization of an Arabic Morphological Automaton-New Approach for Arabic Morphological Analysis and Generation

OpenAIRE

Mourad Gridach; Noureddine Chenfour

2011-01-01

Arabic morphological analysis is one of the essential stages in Arabic Natural Language Processing. In this paper we present an approach for Arabic morphological analysis. This approach is based on Arabic morphological automaton (AMAUT). The proposed technique uses a morphological database realized using XMODEL language. Arabic morphology represents a special type of morphological systems because it is based on the concept of scheme to represent Arabic words. We use this concept to develop th...

Smoking behavior in pregnant Arab Americans.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulwicki, Anahid; Smiley, Karen; Devine, Susan

2007-01-01

To determine the smoking behavior in pregnant Arab American women who attended a Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program at a local county public health clinic and compare the incidence of smoking behaviors of pregnant Arab American women with pregnant women who were not Arab Americans. Data were extracted from a computer database that contained information from health history charts of pregnant Arab and non-Arab American women. The study sample was 830 women, 823 of whom were Arab American participants enrolled in the WIC program in Michigan. Approximately 6% of pregnant Arab Americans smoked during pregnancy. The prevalence of smoking behavior among pregnant Arab American women was similar to that of smoking behaviors of Hispanics and Asian Americans in the United States. Although smoking behavior is a serious problem among Arab American immigrants in general and in the Arab world in particular, cultural factors that support healthy behavior during pregnancy in the Arab culture seem to limit the use of tobacco in pregnant women. Nurses who care for Arab American pregnant women can use this information to better inform their care of these patients.

The Rise of the Arab Youth Paradigm: A Critical Analysis of the Arab Human Development Report 2016

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Mayssoun Sukarieh

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article offers a critical analysis of the Arab Human Development Report (AHDR 2016, that was released by the United Nations Development Programme in November 2016. AHDR 2016 represents the return of the Arab Human Development project, that had been interrupted by the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. It also epitomizes the Arab youth paradigm that has increasingly come to frame development and security discourse in the region. While there is much that is familiar in AHDR 2016, there are also concerning developments: a historical revisionism that holds Arab youth responsible for the Arab Spring, and the Arab Spring responsible for the Arab Winter that followed; and a new trend that views not just Arab youth deficits as a dangerous threat to regional and global security, but Arab youth abilities and surfeits as well.

Do Syrian refugees have increased risk for worser pregnancy outcomes? Results of a tertiary center in İstanbul.

Science.gov (United States)

Güngör, Emre Sinan; Seval, Olcay; İlhan, Gülşah; Verit, Fatma Ferda

2018-03-01

To compare obstetric and perinatal outcomes of Syrian refugee pregnants and Turkish counterparts who gave birth at a tertiary center in İstanbul. A retrospective study including the birth records of 704 Syrian refugees and 744 Turkish pregnant women between January 2016 and May 2017 were analyzed. Demographic data, obstetric and neonatal outcomes were compared. The primary aims of this study were to evaluate the pregnancy outcomes and cesarean rates between the groups. The secondary outcomes were the use of antenatal vitamin supplementation, hemoglobin-hematocrit values, and maternal complications. Our results showed that the use of folic acid and iron supplementation rates during pregnancy were similar between the groups (folic acid supplementation 8.1% vs 6.5%, p=0.264; iron supplementation 20.7% vs 19.6%, p=0.125; respectively for Turkish women and Syrian refugees). Cesarean rates were significantly higher for Turkish patients than in Syrian refugees (42.7% vs 32.7%; pyrian refugees (37.7±2.3 vs 36.4±2.3 weeks, pyrian refugees, respectively, p=0.105). Although obstetric complications were seen more often in Syrian refugees, it did not reach statistical difference (9.7% vs 8.1%, respectively, p=0.285). Syrian refugees use antenatal vitamin supplementations at similar rates to Turkish citizens and obstetric and perinatal outcomes are similar between the groups.

Cystolithiasis in a Syrian hamster: a different outcome | Petrini ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Considering the positive outcome and the beneficial properties of palmitoylethanolamide, glucosamine, and hesperidin, these nutritional elements in Syrian hamsters, are recommended to reduce recurrence after surgical treatment of urolithiasis. Keywords: Glucosamine, Hamster, Hesperidin, PEA, Urolithiasis ...

Syrian refugees: Shifting from crisis response to opportunity | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-10-25

Oct 25, 2016 ... ... and communities, businesses and governments across this country. ... Now that Syrian newcomers have arrived safely in Canada, they can start building ... Designed to be flexible and easy to deploy, these digital education ...

ARABIC LIGHT STEMMER (ARS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ASMA AL-OMARI

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Stemming is a main step used to process textual data. It is usually used in several types of applications such as: text mining, information retrieval (IR, and natural language processing (NLP. A major task in stemming is to standardize words; which can be achieved by reducing each word to its base (root or stem. Arabic stemming is not an easy task. Unlike other languages, Arabic language is a highly inflected language, since it uses many inflectional forms. Researchers are divided on the benefit of using stemming in fields of IR, NLP...etc., since in Arabic the morphological variants of a certain word are not always semantically related. The aim of this paper is to design and implement a new Arabic light stemmer (ARS which is not based on Arabic root patterns. Instead, it depends on well defined mathematical rules and several relations between letters. A series of tests were conducted on ARS stemmer to compare its effectiveness with the effectiveness of two other Arabic stemmers. Test shows clearly the effectiveness superiority of ARS compared to effectiveness of these two Arabic stemmers.

Making sense of child, early and forced marriage among Syrian refugee girls: a mixed methods study in Lebanon

Science.gov (United States)

Bartels, Susan Andrea; Michael, Saja; Roupetz, Sophie; Garbern, Stephanie; Kilzar, Lama; Bergquist, Harveen; Bakhache, Nour; Davison, Colleen; Bunting, Annie

2018-01-01

Introduction The Syrian conflict has resulted in over 2.3 million child refugees in the Middle East and the prevalence of early marriage has reportedly increased among displaced Syrian families. This study explores the underlying factors contributing to child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon with the goal of informing community-based strategies to address the issue. Methods In July–August 2016, trained interviewers collected self-interpreted stories in Lebanon using Cognitive Edge’s SenseMaker, a mixed-method data collection tool. Participants included married and unmarried Syrian girls, Syrian parents as well as married and unmarried men. Each participant shared a story about the experiences of Syrian girls and then interpreted the story by plotting their perspectives on a variety of questions. Patterns in the responses were analysed in SPSS and the accompanying qualitative narratives were reviewed to facilitate interpretation of the quantitative results. Results 1422 self-interpreted stories from 1346 unique participants were collected with 40% of shared stories focused on (n=332) or mentioning (n=245) child marriage. Quantitative data summarised the different perspectives of female and male participants. Syrian girls and mothers were more likely to share stories about protection/security and/or education and were more likely to report that girls were overprotected. Male participants were more likely to share stories about financial security as well as sexual exploitation of girls and more often reported that girls were not protected enough. Despite these gendered perspectives, many of the shared narratives highlighted similar themes of financial hardship, lack of educational opportunities and safety concerns around sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Conclusions A complex myriad of factors contribute to early marriage including poverty, lack of educational opportunities and concerns about SGBV. Sexual exploitation under the guise of marriage

Arabic realia as objects of study of Arabic language and culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Юлия Евгеньевна Власова

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article deals with specific Arabic realia. The author provides a definition of Arabic realia and classifies them according to their social, political and cultural characteristics.

Validation of an Arab name algorithm in the determination of Arab ancestry for use in health research.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Sayed, Abdulrahman M; Lauderdale, Diane S; Galea, Sandro

2010-12-01

Data about Arab-Americans, a growing ethnic minority, are not routinely collected in vital statistics, registry, or administrative data in the USA. The difficulty in identifying Arab-Americans using publicly available data sources is a barrier to health research about this group. Here, we validate an empirically based probabilistic Arab name algorithm (ANA) for identifying Arab-Americans in health research. We used data from all Michigan birth certificates between 2000 and 2005. Fathers' surnames and mothers' maiden names were coded as Arab or non-Arab according to the ANA. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, and positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of Arab ethnicity inferred using the ANA as compared to self-reported Arab ancestry. Statewide, the ANA had a specificity of 98.9%, a sensitivity of 50.3%, a PPV of 57.0%, and an NPV of 98.6%. Both the false-positive and false-negative rates were higher among men than among women. As the concentration of Arab-Americans in a study locality increased, the ANA false-positive rate increased and false-negative rate decreased. The ANA is highly specific but only moderately sensitive as a means of detecting Arab ancestry. Future research should compare health characteristics among Arab-American populations defined by Arab ancestry and those defined by the ANA.

75 FR 25202 - Action Affecting Export Privileges; Orion Air, S.L. and Syrian Pearl Airlines; Order Renewing...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-07

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Industry and Security Action Affecting Export Privileges; Orion Air, S.L. and Syrian Pearl Airlines; Order Renewing Order Temporarily Denying Export Privileges Orion... Denying the Export Privileges of Respondents Orion Air, S.L. (``Orion Air'') and Syrian Pearl Airlines...

Morphological and molecular genetic diversity of Syrian indigenous ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Domestic goats in Syria may provide an interesting source of genetic variability due to its proximity to the centers of domestication. This study aimed to assess the morphological variation, genetic diversity and population substructure of the Syrian goat populations. Commonly, three goat genotypes are distinguished in Syria, ...

"Impact of and response to increased tuberculosis prevalence among Syrian refugees compared with Jordanian tuberculosis prevalence: case study of a tuberculosis public health strategy".

Science.gov (United States)

Cookson, Susan T; Abaza, Hiba; Clarke, Kevin R; Burton, Ann; Sabrah, Nadia A; Rumman, Khaled A; Odeh, Nedal; Naoum, Marwan

2015-01-01

By the summer of 2014, the Syrian crisis resulted in a regional humanitarian emergency with 2.9 million refugees, including 608,000 in Jordan. These refugees access United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-sponsored clinics or Jordan Ministry of Health clinics, including tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment. Tuberculosis care in Syria has deteriorated with destroyed health infrastructure and drug supply chain. Syrian refugees may have undiagnosed tuberculosis; therefore, the UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Public Health Strategy for Tuberculosis among Syrian Refugees in Jordan. This case study presents that strategy, its impact, and recommendations for other neighboring countries. UNHCR determined that World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for implementing a tuberculosis program in an emergency were met for the Syrian refugees in Jordan. Jordan NTP assessed their tuberculosis program and found that access to Syrian refugees was the one component of their program missing. Therefore, a strategy for tuberculosis control among Syrian refugees was developed. Since that development through work with IOM, UNHCR, and NTP, tuberculosis case detection among Syrian refugees is almost 40 % greater (74 cases/12 months or 1.01/100,000 monthly through June 2014 vs. 56 cases/16 months or 0.73/100,000 monthly through June 2013) using estimated population figures; more than two fold the 2012 Jordan tuberculosis incidence. Additionally, the WHO objective of curing ≥85 % of newly identified infectious tuberculosis cases was met among Syrian refugees. Tuberculosis (TB) rates among displaced persons are high, but increased detection is possible. High TB rates were found among Syrian refugees through active screening and will probably persist as the Syrian crisis continues. Active screening can detect tuberculosis early and reduce risk

Quality of life of Syrian refugees living in camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Izaddin A. Aziz

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The current study explores the perceived quality of life of Syrian refugees who have entered the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Two hundred and seventy participants residing in refugee camps in the Erbil region in Kurdistan completed the WHOQOL-BREF, which measures Quality of Life (QOL within four domains; physical, psychological, social relationships and environment. Syrian refugees in Kurdistan scored significantly lower for general population norms on physical health, psychological and environment QOL, and score significantly lower for physical health and psychological QOL for refugees in the Gaza strip. However, respondents in the current sample scored significantly higher on environment QOL compared to refugees in the Gaza strip, and significantly higher on all the QOL domains than those reported for refugees in West Africa. Finally, Syrian refugees in Kurdistan scored significantly higher than general population norms for social relationships QOL. The current findings provide the first report of QOL domain scores among Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan camps and suggest that social relationships and environmental QOL circumstances are relatively satisfactory, and that further investigation might be focused on physical and psychological QOL.

Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sambart, A.

1998-01-01

Saudi Arabia is a country of the first importance because of its oil reserves (26% of the known world reserves) and its oil production: the third of the whole Opec production. This energetic gold mine finances up to 75% of the budget and assures 90% of its exports. The capacity of Saudi Arabia to refine crude oil is now comparable to that of France. Nevertheless the inflexibility of government expenditures makes foreign investors necessary to a balanced industrial development. It is expected that the Board of Trade soon presents some dispositions in order to promote and ease the opening to foreign investors. (A.C.)

Arab drama series content analysis from a transnational Arab identity perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joelle Chamieh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The scientific contribution in deciphering drama series falls under the discipline of understanding the narratology of distinctive cultures and traditions within specific contexts of certain societies. This article spells out the interferences deployed by the provocations that are induced through the functions of values in modeling societies which are projected through the transmission of media. The proposed operational model consists of providing an à priori design of common Arab values assimilated into an innovative grid analysis code book that has enabled the execution of a systematic and reliable approach to the quantitative content analysis performance. Additionally, a more thorough qualitative content analysis has been implemented in terms of narratolgy where actions have been evaluated based on the grid analysis code book for a clearer perception of Arab values depicted in terms of their context within the Arab drama milieu. This approach has been deployed on four Arab drama series covering the transnational/national and non-divisive/divisive media aspects in the intention of extracting the transmitted values from a common identity perspective for cause of divulging Arab people’s expectancies.

Validation of an Arab names algorithm in the determination of Arab ancestry for use in health research

Science.gov (United States)

El-Sayed, Abdulrahman M.; Lauderdale, Diane S.; Galea, Sandro

2010-01-01

Objective Data about Arab-Americans, a growing ethnic minority, is not routinely collected in vital statistics, registry, or administrative data in the US. The difficulty in identifying Arab-Americans using publicly available data sources is a barrier to health research about this group. Here, we validate an empirically-based, probabilistic Arab name algorithm (ANA) for identifying Arab-Americans in health research. Design We used data from all Michigan birth certificates between 2000-2005. Fathers’ surnames and mothers’ maiden names were coded as Arab or non-Arab according to the ANA. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, and positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of Arab ethnicity inferred using the ANA as compared to self-reported Arab ancestry. Results State-wide, the ANA had a specificity of 98.9%, a sensitivity of 50.3%, a PPV of 57.0%, and a NPV of 98.6%. Both the false positive and false negative rates were higher among men than among women. As the concentration of Arab-Americans in a study locality increased, the ANA false positive rate increased and false-negative rate decreased. Conclusion The ANA is highly specific but only moderately sensitive as a means of detecting Arab ancestry. Future research should compare health characteristics among Arab-American populations defined by Arab ancestry and those defined by the ANA. PMID:20845117

Prevalence of depression in Syrian refugees and the influence of religiosity.

Science.gov (United States)

Naja, Wadih J; Aoun, Michaelangelo P; El Khoury, Eliane L; Abdallah, Fabiola J Bou; Haddad, Ramzi S

2016-07-01

Many surveys have underlined the high levels of distress Syrian refugees have endured since the conflict aroused in their country, yet few have used reliable diagnostic tools for the clinical assessment of resulting mental disorders. The aim of our study is to assess for the onset of new depressive disorders following the Syrian war, and to investigate the correlation of religiosity with depression. Single individual interviews were used, in a sample of 310 Syrian forced migrants, retrospectively assessing for depressive disorders with onset at different timelines of the conflict outbreak. Religiosity was assessed in a cross-sectional design using a reliable, recently developed and tested tool. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression analysis were used with a level of significance at 0.05. The prevalence of current depression was 43.9% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 38.5-49.4%) with no difference across all socio-demographic factors, including gender. The overall mean for religiosity for the current sample was moderate (mean=9.76; standard deviation SD=2.34). No substantial correlation was found with religiosity. The prevalence rate for pre-war depression was 6.5% (95% CI: 4.2-9.8%) following the global pattern of socio-demographic epidemiological characteristics. Prevalence for past depression was 27.1% (95% CI: 22.5-32.3%); for current dysthymia: 4.5% (95% CI: 2.7-7.4%); for prewar and past dysthymia: 1% (95% CI: 0.3-2.8%), all with no significant differences detected across all demographic variables. In this retrospective study on a sample of Syrian refugees who fled their country after the war, we found a substantial emergence of depressive disorders with no meaningful correlation with the level of religiosity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Saudi Arabia : emerging with influence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Qudsi, S.

2006-01-01

Energy and the Saudi economy were discussed with reference to reserves, oil prices, gross domestic product co-movements, and gas resources and development. In particular, this presentation reviewed the emergence and prospects of the petrochemical industry of Saudi Arabia using statistical, institutional and economic analyses relying on a wide range of data sources. Saudi Arabia has the world's largest oil reserves, at 263 billion barrels. In the 1990s, more than 54 Tcf of non-associated gas reserves were added to Saudi Arabia's resource base, more than doubling its proven non-associated gas reserves to approximately 97 Tcf. With 138 Tcf of associated gas reserves, Saudi Arabia holds the fourth largest gas reserves in the world at nearly 235 Tcf. First, this presentation identified and evaluated the endowments as well as the institutional and strategic forces that are driving the growth of the petrochemical industry in Saudi Arabia. Some of the economic, technical and geopolitical factors that influenced the increase in oil prices between 2003 and 2005 were also identified. The dual relationship between the Saudi petrochemical industry and long term economic performance of the Saudi economy were illustrated within a broad domestic economic diversification policy objective. The future growth prospects and challenges facing the Saudi petrochemical industry were also evaluated with respect to the evolving economic reform policies and Saudi international commitments. Potential implications for the petrochemical industry in North America were also identified, in terms of technology transfer and having Saudi Arabia secure the markets in order to meet its commitment to the World Trade Organization. tabs., figs

Female university students' physical activity levels and associated factors--a cross-sectional study in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

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Khalaf, Atika; Ekblom, Örjan; Kowalski, Jan; Berggren, Vanja; Westergren, Albert; Al-Hazzaa, Hazzaa

2013-08-09

The high prevalence of physical inactivity in Saudi Arabia is a growing challenge to public health. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of physical activity (PA) and associated factors among female university students. This cross-sectional study involved 663 randomly selected female university students who completed the Arab Teens Life Style questionnaire. Data included measurements of anthropometric, socioeconomic and environmental factors, as well as self-reported PA. Ordinal regression was used to identify associated factors with low, moderate and high PA levels. The mean age of participants was 20.4 years (SD 1.5). Mean BMI of the students in relation to PA were 23.0, 22.9, 22.1 for high, moderate and low levels of activity, respectively. The analysis revealed significantly higher PA levels among married students, those with high educated mothers, and those who lived far from parks, and lower activity levels among underweight students. This study raises four important determinants for female university students' PA levels. These factors could be of great importance in the endeavor to prevent the health-threatening increase in physical inactivity patterns and thus non-communicable diseases and obesity where the focus should be on the specific situation and needs of women in Saudi Arabia.

Female University Students’ Physical Activity Levels and Associated Factors—A Cross-Sectional Study in Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Khalaf, Atika; Ekblom, Örjan; Kowalski, Jan; Berggren, Vanja; Westergren, Albert; Al-Hazzaa, Hazzaa

2013-01-01

Background: The high prevalence of physical inactivity in Saudi Arabia is a growing challenge to public health. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of physical activity (PA) and associated factors among female university students. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 663 randomly selected female university students who completed the Arab Teens Life Style questionnaire. Data included measurements of anthropometric, socioeconomic and environmental factors, as well as self-reported PA. Ordinal regression was used to identify associated factors with low, moderate and high PA levels. Results: The mean age of participants was 20.4 years (SD 1.5). Mean BMI of the students in relation to PA were 23.0, 22.9, 22.1 for high, moderate and low levels of activity, respectively. The analysis revealed significantly higher PA levels among married students, those with high educated mothers, and those who lived far from parks, and lower activity levels among underweight students. Conclusions: This study raises four important determinants for female university students’ PA levels. These factors could be of great importance in the endeavor to prevent the health-threatening increase in physical inactivity patterns and thus non-communicable diseases and obesity where the focus should be on the specific situation and needs of women in Saudi Arabia. PMID:23939387

Female University Students’ Physical Activity Levels and Associated Factors—A Cross-Sectional Study in Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atika Khalaf

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Background: The high prevalence of physical inactivity in Saudi Arabia is a growing challenge to public health. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of physical activity (PA and associated factors among female university students. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 663 randomly selected female university students who completed the Arab Teens Life Style questionnaire. Data included measurements of anthropometric, socioeconomic and environmental factors, as well as self-reported PA. Ordinal regression was used to identify associated factors with low, moderate and high PA levels. Results: The mean age of participants was 20.4 years (SD 1.5. Mean BMI of the students in relation to PA were 23.0, 22.9, 22.1 for high, moderate and low levels of activity, respectively. The analysis revealed significantly higher PA levels among married students, those with high educated mothers, and those who lived far from parks, and lower activity levels among underweight students. Conclusions: This study raises four important determinants for female university students’ PA levels. These factors could be of great importance in the endeavor to prevent the health-threatening increase in physical inactivity patterns and thus non-communicable diseases and obesity where the focus should be on the specific situation and needs of women in Saudi Arabia.

Ottawa shows support at screenings of documentary about Syrian ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2017-03-22

Mar 22, 2017 ... Recent Ottawa screenings of the award-winning film Little Gandhi: The lost truth of the Syrian uprising, were warmly received by ... “It is a treasure that needs to be protected.” ... Innovation sows seeds of hope in dry areas.

Depression Among Arab American and Arab Immigrant Women in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Abuelezam, Nadia N; Fontenot, Holly B

The difficult and tense political climate Arab populations are currently facing may be exacerbating mental health issues, reducing forms of social support in friend circles, and decreasing the desire to seek health care. There is room to better understand the mental health needs of Arab women residing in the United States and to develop policies and interventions that keep these women safe and in care. This column reviews two recent studies; the first examines barriers to reporting intimate partner violence and depression among Arab American women and the second highlights stressors and social support for Arab women immigrants throughout their immigration experience. © 2017 AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

Investigation of chromosomal aberrations in human lymphocytes of syrian phosphate miners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alachkar, W; Othman, M [Radio - Biology and Health Dept. Syrian Atomic Energy Commission, (Syrian Arab Republic)

1995-10-01

The aim of thus study is to investigate the risk of exposure to Uranium and its radioactive products in Syrian phosphate miners (Khneefees and Al-sharkia). Chromosomal aberrations have been estimated in peripheral blood lymphocytes of miners using whole blood cultures `in vitro` for 48 hrs. The control group has been the normal population in damascus 180 km far from khneefees and 210 km from Al-sharkia. Our results have shown a significant difference between the miners and our control group; however there was no significant difference between the two miners groups. These results show an accumulative biological effect induced by environmental contamination in the Syrian phosphate mines. 3 figs., 3 tabs.

A qualitative study exploring child marriage practices among Syrian conflict-affected populations in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Mourtada, Rima; Schlecht, Jennifer; DeJong, Jocelyn

2017-01-01

Recent reports have suggested that child marriage among Syrians may be increasing as a result of displacement and conflict. This study sought to gather qualitative data about the factors that promote child marriage practices among Syrian refugees in Al Marj area in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon, where the majority of Syrian refugees have settled in Lebanon. The second aim of this study was to generate recommendations on how to mitigate the drivers and consequences of child marriage practices based on the findings. Eight focus group discussions were conducted separately with married and unmarried young women and mothers and fathers of married and unmarried women. Furthermore, researchers conducted 11 key informant interviews with service providers and stakeholders to understand how conflict and displacement influenced marriage practices of Syrian refugees in Al Marj community. Although child marriage was a common practice in pre-conflict Syria, new factors seem to contribute to a higher risk of child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Respondents cited conflict- and displacement-related safety issues and feeling of insecurity, the worsening of economic conditions, and disrupted education for adolescent women as driving factors. Service providers, young women, and parents also reported changes in some marriage practices, including a shorter engagement period, lower bride price, change in cousin marriage practices, and a reduced age at marriage. Recommendations for interventions to mitigate the drivers of child marriage and its negative consequences should be built on a clear understanding of the local refugee context and the drivers of child marriage in refugee settings. Interventions should involve multiple stakeholders, they should be adjusted to target each specific context, age group and marital status. For these interventions to be effective, they should be addressed concurrently, and they should be delivered in a culturally sensitive and practical manner.

Perceived stress among male medical students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia : Effect of sociodemographic factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel-Hady El-Gilany; Mostafa Amr; Sabry Hammad

2010-01-01

In Arab countries, epidemiological data about psychological morbidity among medical undergraduate students are scarce. This study sought to determine whether there was a difference in perceived stress levels of male medical students at Mansoura University, Egypt, compared with male medical students at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.The sample consisted of 304 male medical students in Egypt and and 284 male medical students in Saudi Arabia. The self-reported questionnaire covered four categories, including 15 items, on sources of stress (stressors). The perceived stress scale and hospital anxiety and depression scale were used to measure stress, anxiety and depression.There was no significant difference between the two groups in number of stressors. However, Egyptian students were more likely to cite relationship, academic and environmental problems than Saudis. The prevalence of high stress was nearly equal in both groups. However, anxiety and depression were significantly higher among Egyptian than Saudi students. A logistic regression analysis of independent predictors of severe stress among both groups combined revealed that a satisfactory family income and university-graduated father were independent protective factors. The independent risk predictors were anxiety and number of stressors.Stress, anxiety and depression are frequent among medical students. Counseling and preventive mental health services should be an integral part of the routine clinical facilities caring for medical students (Author).

Developing a comprehensive and sustainable integration strategy for Syrian refugee children in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pace, Michelle

2016-01-01

A 2013 United Nations Refugee Agency report entitled The Future of Syria stated that two million Syrian children have been forced into exile as a result of the persistent civil war: “The world must act to save a generation of traumatized, isolated and suffering Syrian children from catastrophe...... abduction of 10,000 unaccompanied refugee children by organised trafficking syndicates has confirmed that children are indeed the most vulnerable when in exile. In view of this critical problematique a workshop was organized by International Alert, Copenhagen University and Roskilde University and hosted...

Norm waste in oil and gas industry: The Syrian experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Masri, M.S.; Suman, H.

2001-01-01

This paper describes the Syrian experience in respect to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) waste in Syrian oil and gas industry. NORM can be concentrated and accumulated in tubing and surface equipment of oil and gas production lines in the form of scale and sludge. NORM waste (scale, sludge, production water) is therefore generated during cleaning, physical or chemical treatment of streams. Uncontrolled disposal of this type of waste could lead to environmental pollution, and thus eventually to exposure of members of the public. The presence of NORM in Syrian oil fields has been recognized since 1987 and AECS has initiated several studies, in cooperation with oil companies, to manage such type of waste. Three categories of NORM waste in Syrian oil fields were identified. Firstly, hard scales from either decontamination of contaminated equipment and tubular using high-pressure water systems or mechanical cleaning at site are considered to contain the highest levels of radium isotopes ( 226 Ra, 228 Ra, 224 Ra). Secondly, sludge wastes are generated with large amount but low levels of radium isotopes were found. Thirdly, contaminated soil with 226 Ra as a result of uncontrolled disposal of production water was also considered as NORM waste. The first waste type (scale) is stored in Standard storage barrels in a controlled area; the number of barrels is increasing with time. High levels of radium isotopes were found in these scales. The options for disposal of these wastes are still under investigations; one of the most predominant thinking is the re-injection into abundant wells. For sludge waste, plastic lined disposal pits were constructed in each area for temporary storage. Moreover, big gas power stations have been built and operated since the last ten years. Maintenance operations for these stations produce tens of tones of scales containing radon daughters, 210 Pb and 210 Po with relatively high concentrations. The common practice used to dispose

Natural radionuclides in Syrian diet and their daily intake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Masri, M.S.; Mukallati, H.; Al-Hamwi, A.; Khalili, H.; Hassan, M.; Assaf, H.; Amin, Y.; Nashawati, A.

2004-01-01

More than one hundred different food stuffs (meat, vegetables cereals, seafood,..) have been collected during 1998, 1999 and 2000 and analyzed for radioactivity as part of the National Food Monitoring Program in Syria. Results have shown that most of the observed concentrations were within the range of the worldwide values with the exception of relatively high levels of 210 Po being observed in fish, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and flowers. The daily intakes of the radionuclides studied have been evaluated. Relatively high values, in comparison with some countries, were found for 210 Po (1.9 Bq/day). This is due to high content of 210 Po in wheat (2.3 Bq/kg) consumed by Syrians, the daily consumption of wheat by Syrians is about 526 g. In addition, natural and artificial radionuclides in some manufactured food of Syrian infant and their intake rates have been determined. Seventeen manufactured food and eleven types of canned milk were collected from the local market and their radioactivity analyzed. 210 Po activity concentration varied between 0.38 and 2.89 Bq/kg dry wt. in canned milk while the highest concentration in infant food was found to be 1.69 Bq/kg dry wt. Other radionuclide concentrations were below the limit of detection of 3 Bq/kg dry wt. and 4 Bq/kg dry wt. for 22' 6Ra and 228 Ra, respectively, while uranium concentration varied between 2.2 and 10.5 μg/kg dry wt. in milk samples and 0.78-6.0 μg/kg dry wt. in other food samples. (author)

Motivational Issues of Faculty in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul-Cader, Akram; Anthony, Peter John

2014-01-01

This study focused on the factors that affect motivation of faculty in Saudi Arabia. It included two surveys and open-ended queries to a focus group of five academic managers and 25 faculty members of varying nationalities, rank, and institutes in Saudi Arabia. The research showed that the faculties in Saudi Arabia's highest education industry…

Experimental evaluation of Arabic OCR systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mansoor Alghamdi

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The aim of this paper is to experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of the state-of-the-art printed Arabic text recognition systems to determine open areas for future improvements. In addition, this paper proposes a standard protocol with a set of metrics for measuring the effectiveness of Arabic optical character recognition (OCR systems to assist researchers in comparing different Arabic OCR approaches. Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes an experiment to automatically evaluate four well-known Arabic OCR systems using a set of performance metrics. The evaluation experiment is conducted on a publicly available printed Arabic dataset comprising 240 text images with a variety of resolution levels, font types, font styles and font sizes. Findings – The experimental results show that the field of character recognition for printed Arabic still requires further research to reach an efficient text recognition method for Arabic script. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work that provides a comprehensive automated evaluation of Arabic OCR systems with respect to the characteristics of Arabic script and, in addition, proposes an evaluation methodology that can be used as a benchmark by researchers and therefore will contribute significantly to the enhancement of the field of Arabic script recognition.

ARABIC PROGRAM ON COT KALA LANGSA STREAMING RADIO SEBAGAI STRATEGI BARU PEMBELAJARAN BAHASA ARAB

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dhiauddin Dhiauddin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Learning a language means learn to communicate. The goal of learning Arabic by using communicative approach is to stimulate the student to be able to master both receptive and productive skill. Receptive skills includes listening and reading skill, while productive skills includes speaking and writing skills. The objective of this study is to describe the streaming radio as a strategy in Arabic learning for the student of Arabic Department at Cot Kala Langsa State Islamic Institute. The result at the study shows that the streaming radio strategy gives a good response in conducting the Arabic class. Means that streaming radio can enhance the quality of teaching and learning Arabic at this institute.DOI: 10.15408/a.v2i1.1480

DATABASES FOR RECOGNITION OF HANDWRITTEN ARABIC CHEQUES

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alohali, Y.; Cheriet, M.; Suen, C.Y.

2004-01-01

This paper describes an effort toward building Arabic cheque databases for research in recognition of handwritten Arabic cheques. Databases of Arabic legal amounts, Arabic sub­ words, courtesy amounts, Indian digits, and Arabic cheques are provided. This paper highlights the characteristics of the

FONOLOGI DAN MORFOLOGI BAHASA ARAB 'AMIYAH MESIR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mufrodi Mufrodi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The use of Arabic language, it is divided into two, namely Arabic fuṣhâ and ‘âmiyah. Arabic fuṣhâ  used as a written language, and Arabic ‘âmiyah used as a spoken language. In daily activities, Arab people used Arabic ‘âmiyah more frequently. This is due to a fairly high level of formality that is owned by Arabic fuṣhâ, that should be in the spoken language is communicative, consultative, relaxed and intimate, both in term of morphological and syntactical. In the Egyptian Arabic occur in phonological and morphological differences were deemed difficult for students who only learn Arabic fuṣhâ. The difficulty that arises due to the ignorance of students to the differences that occur between Arabic fuṣhâ  and Egyptian dialect. With an understanding of phonological and morphological of Arabic ‘âmiyah expected that the students of Arabic language or people who have learned fuṣhâ can understand-at least a few understanding-spoken language so that communication will run smoothly.DOI: 10.15408/a.v2i2.2184

The Educational Needs of and Barriers Faced by Syrian Refugee Students in Turkey: A Qualitative Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Aydin, Hasan; Kaya, Yeliz

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore the educational status of Syrian refugees in Turkish schools, and the perspectives of teachers and school principals regarding the needs of Syrian refugee students in two inner-city elementary schools in Istanbul, Turkey. A qualitative interpretive case study method was employed. Eight participants (seven…

Syrians' Acceptance of Digital Lectures: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Reem

2016-01-01

Technology-based learning modules are mostly challenged by their acceptance. A single-case study and mixed research method are used to explore a unique situation of applying digital lectures at the postgraduate Programmes at the Faculty of Tourism at Damascus University as a solution for brain drain in the Syrian higher education system. Results…

Health and health care access for Syrian refugees living in İstanbul.

Science.gov (United States)

Torun, Perihan; Mücaz Karaaslan, Meltem; Sandıklı, Büşra; Acar, Ceyda; Shurtleff, Ellyn; Dhrolia, Sophia; Herek, Bülent

2018-04-09

The study was conducted to assess the health needs of urban refugees living in İstanbul. A mixed methods approach was adopted to interview Syrian women from households, doctors, decision makers and NGO representatives. The data were collected between June and October 2015. The main challenges were the cost of living in İstanbul, increased rent and language barrier. Almost half (49.6%) of the interviewed women did not know about free health care rights for Syrians. In the last 30 days preceding the interview, 58.6% of the participants sought health care primarily through state hospitals, primary health care centres and pharmacies. The participants had difficulty in accessing health care due to the language barrier and a lack of knowledge of the Turkish health care system. Waiting time at hospitals and negative attitudes of health care staff reduced satisfaction in these services. In relation to life in Turkey, the main issues for Syrian refugees were not directly related to health. They have been given the right to access health care, although had many difficulties in understanding and accessing services in a crowded city.

The Syrian public health and humanitarian crisis: A 'displacement' in global governance?

Science.gov (United States)

Akbarzada, Sumaira; Mackey, Tim K

2018-07-01

Ongoing failure by the international community to resolve the Syrian conflict has led to destruction of critical infrastructure. This includes the collapse of the Syrian health system, leaving millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in urgent need of healthcare services. As the conflict intensifies, IDP populations are suffering from infectious and non-communicable disease risks, poor maternal and child health outcomes, trauma, and mental health issues, while healthcare workers continually exit the country. Healthcare workers who remain face significant challenges, including systematic attacks on healthcare facilities and conditions that severely inhibit healthcare delivery and assistance. Within this conflict-driven public health crisis, the most susceptible population is arguably the IDP. Though the fundamental 'right to health' is a recognised international legal principle, its application is inadequate due to limited recognition by the UN Security Council and stymied global governance by the broader international community. These factors have also negatively impacted other vulnerable groups other than IDPs, such as refugees and ethnic minorities, who may or may not be displaced. Hence, this article reviews the current Syrian conflict, assesses challenges with local and global governance for IDPs, and explores potential governance solutions needed to address this health and humanitarian crisis.

Clinical characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of Syrian refugees: a case-control study in a tertiary care hospital in Istanbul, Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Erenel, Hakan; Aydogan Mathyk, Begum; Sal, Veysel; Ayhan, Isil; Karatas, Suat; Koc Bebek, Arzu

2017-01-01

We aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and pregnancy outcomes in women who are Syrian refugees and Turkish women who are non-refugees at a maternity center in Istanbul, Turkey. A total of 600 singleton pregnancies who delivered at Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital were included in the study. Demographic data, obstetrical history, clinical findings, obstetrical and neonatal outcomes were compared between 300 Syrian refugees and 300 control patients. The Syrian refugee patients were significantly younger than Turkish patients. The percentage of adolescents aged 12-19 years were significantly higher in the Syrian patients (14.3 vs. 5.3 %, p refugee patients had no antenatal care. However, this ratio was only 7.7 % for the control group (p refugee control patients, refugee women in our study had poor antenatal care but no adverse perinatal outcomes were observed. Further larger multicenter studies may provide more convincing data about obstetric outcomes in the Syrian refugee population as well as adolescent pregnancies in this population.

Novel Techniques for Dialectal Arabic Speech Recognition

CERN Document Server

Elmahdy, Mohamed; Minker, Wolfgang

2012-01-01

Novel Techniques for Dialectal Arabic Speech describes approaches to improve automatic speech recognition for dialectal Arabic. Since speech resources for dialectal Arabic speech recognition are very sparse, the authors describe how existing Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) speech data can be applied to dialectal Arabic speech recognition, while assuming that MSA is always a second language for all Arabic speakers. In this book, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) has been chosen as a typical Arabic dialect. ECA is the first ranked Arabic dialect in terms of number of speakers, and a high quality ECA speech corpus with accurate phonetic transcription has been collected. MSA acoustic models were trained using news broadcast speech. In order to cross-lingually use MSA in dialectal Arabic speech recognition, the authors have normalized the phoneme sets for MSA and ECA. After this normalization, they have applied state-of-the-art acoustic model adaptation techniques like Maximum Likelihood Linear Regression (MLLR) and M...

Report of the Regional Intensive Training Course on Education and Human Resources Planning (Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, November 17 to December 12, 1979).

Science.gov (United States)

Caillods, Francoise; Hajjar, Habib

To train 19 participants from nine Arab governments in educational and human resources planning, an intensive four-week course was offered covering the use of population census data, assessment of economies' demands for education and training, and techniques of evaluation and of manpower forecasting. This report describes the organizing and…

Contribution of Arab countries to breast cancer research: comparison with non-Arab Middle Eastern countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Sweileh, Waleed M; Zyoud, Sa'ed H; Al-Jabi, Samah W; Sawalha, Ansam F

2015-01-01

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancers affecting women worldwide. The main objective of this study was to assess and compare research activity in breast cancer in Arab countries with non-Arab Middle Eastern countries. Publications about "breast cancer" as a research topic were retrieved using the ISI Web of Science database. Analysis was confined to original research and review articles. Research productivity was assessed by assessing number of publications and time trend of these publications, names of journals, citation analysis, top 10 active institutions as well as country contribution to breast cancer research. The quantity and quality of publications from Arab countries in addition to 3 other Middle East countries (Turkey, Iran and Israel) were assessed and compared using the h-index tool. A total of 1658 original research and review articles about "breast cancer" were published from Arab countries. Annual research productivity from Arab countries in the field of "breast cancer" was negligible but showed a significant increase in the last decade. Retrieved documents had relatively high citation parameters as measured by h-index of 61 and average citations of 17.46 per document. The highest research productivity was from Egypt with a total publication of 582 (35.10%). Cairo University with a total of 149 (8.99%) publications had the highest research productivity among institutions in Arab world. Forty four documents (2.65%) of breast cancer documents were published in Saudi Medical Journal. Arab researchers collaborated mostly with researchers from the United States of America (305; 18.40%) in breast cancer research. Compared with other non-Arab Middle Eastern countries, Arab countries had higher research productivity than some countries and lower than others, particularly Israel. The present data reveals a good contribution of some Arab countries to the field of "breast cancer" research. There is a gap between Arab countries and Israel in

self-criticism to Arab and Muslim intellectuals

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Fachrizal Halim

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Contemporary Arab Thought: Studies in Post-1967 Arab Intellectual Historyis written as a self-criticism addressed to Arab and Muslim intellectuals, especially those who reside in the West. The Arab intellectuals or Muslims alike, who have received Western education and have decided to live in Western countries in the first half of twentieth century, have actually benefited from their modern secular education. The liberalization of U.S. immigration laws in 1965 for non-European immigrants has even enlarged the number of Arabs and Muslims who have trained in the best institutions in the U.S. By the dawn of the twentieth century, the number of Arab intellectuals who reside in the West is estimated to double, as the result of the emergence of a second generation. However, the large number of educated Arab people does not always fulfill the promise of transformation of the social conditions of the Arab World. Far from being ‘organic intellectuals’, to use Gramsci’s favorite term, who would transform Arab societies from imperialism and Western hegemony, and the impact of dependency on the so called ‘globalization,’ most Arab thinkers in the West as well as the elite in the Arab world have been party to Western capitalist interests which aim to control the Arab World. By no means denigrating the works of Isma‘il Raji al-Faruqi, Edward Said, Ghada Hashem Talhami, Halim Barakat, or the feminist Leila Ahmad, to mention some brilliant Arab intellectuals, most Arab thinkers in the West seem to have forgotten the social conditions of the Arab world that have been in acute crisis since the mid nineteenth century or from the time colonialism stepped into the Arab world. Pseudo modernization—to say that there has never been any modernization as it emerged from the middle class as in Europe, but was initiated mainly by the elites—has kept Arab intellectuals in the West completely in the dark and unable to offer radical solution to the crises of

The Brotherhood Medical Center: Collaborative Foundation of Maternity and Children’s Healthcare Facility for Displaced Syrians

Science.gov (United States)

Aburas, Rahma; Najeeb, Amina; Baageel, Laila; Mackey, Tim K.

2018-01-01

The United Nations has declared the Syrian conflict, with more than 50% of Syria’s population currently displaced, as the worst humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century. The Syrian conflict has led to a collapse of infrastructure, including access to critical and lifesaving healthcare services. Women and children account for approximately 75% of internally displaced Syrians and refugees. This population is also particularly vulnerable to poor health outcomes, a condition worsened by lack of access to maternal and child health services. In response to this crisis, a partnership of Saudi and Syrian physicians established a non-profit healthcare facility named the Brotherhood Medical Center (BMC) to serve women and children within a safe area near the Syrian–Turkish border. The project began in September 2014 and was implemented in three phases of establishment, phased construction and formal launch and operation. Currently, the BMC is working at about 70% of its capacity and is run in partnership with the Syrian Expatriate Medical Association. Although there was strong initial support from donors, the BMC continues to face many financial and operational challenges, including difficulties in transferring money to Syria, shortage of medical supplies, and lack of qualified medical personnel. Despite these challenges, the BMC represents a critical model and an important case study of the challenges of delivering healthcare services to underserved populations during an ongoing conflict. However, more robust support from the international community is needed to ensure it continues its important health and humanitarian mission. PMID:29721489

The Brotherhood Medical Center: Collaborative Foundation of Maternity and Children’s Healthcare Facility for Displaced Syrians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahma Aburas

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The United Nations has declared the Syrian conflict, with more than 50% of Syria’s population currently displaced, as the worst humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century. The Syrian conflict has led to a collapse of infrastructure, including access to critical and lifesaving healthcare services. Women and children account for approximately 75% of internally displaced Syrians and refugees. This population is also particularly vulnerable to poor health outcomes, a condition worsened by lack of access to maternal and child health services. In response to this crisis, a partnership of Saudi and Syrian physicians established a non-profit healthcare facility named the Brotherhood Medical Center (BMC to serve women and children within a safe area near the Syrian–Turkish border. The project began in September 2014 and was implemented in three phases of establishment, phased construction and formal launch and operation. Currently, the BMC is working at about 70% of its capacity and is run in partnership with the Syrian Expatriate Medical Association. Although there was strong initial support from donors, the BMC continues to face many financial and operational challenges, including difficulties in transferring money to Syria, shortage of medical supplies, and lack of qualified medical personnel. Despite these challenges, the BMC represents a critical model and an important case study of the challenges of delivering healthcare services to underserved populations during an ongoing conflict. However, more robust support from the international community is needed to ensure it continues its important health and humanitarian mission.

Teaching Islam and Arabic over the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Nissim, Chaim

2004-01-01

Arabic is the language of the Arab minority in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the neighbors of Israel (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon). Hence, learning Arabic and Arab culture is very important to promoting understanding between Arabs and Jews. The concept of using the internet to promote learning and communication between students in…

Diversity of Medicinal Plants in the Flora of Saudi Arabia 3: An inventory of 15 Plant Families and their Conservation Management

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Mohammed Yusuf

2014-09-01

Full Text Available An inventory of medicinal species diversity in the flora of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been made for 15 angiosperm families, viz., Boraginaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Molluginaceae, Papavaraceae, Portulacaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rutaceae, Tamaricaceae, Tiliaceae, Urticaceae, Verbenaceae and Vitaceae, and 61 species of medicinal plants are recognized. These families are represented in the flora by a total of 393 species of which 15.52% are medicinal. Among the families, the Fabaceae is found to be represented by 23 medicinal species which is highest and 37.70% of the total species. Of these 61 medicinal species, 72.13% exhibits herbaceous life form while remaining 13.11% and 14.75% exhibit shrubs and trees respectively. An enumeration of these medicinal species is presented, each with current nomenclature, Arabic name, English name, medicinal uses, pharmacological properties and status of occurrence in the flora. The communication is aimed at emphasizing the planning and implementation of national conservation strategies for sustainable management of the medicinal plants of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i3.11091 International Journal of Environment Vol.3(3 2014: 312-320

From the Field: “Teach Syrians how to live here, to communicate, how to exchange information and knowledge”

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Christine Horz

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Refugees do heavily rely on (social media before and during migration, as the article by Anke Fiedler in this GMJ special issue impressively demonstrates. But what happens after refugees have reached their country of destination? Some become media producers like our interviewee, media and social media activist Monis Bukhari from Syria. He is the founder of Syrisches Haus (Syrian House in Germany, an information platform from and for fellow Syrians who arrived here as refugees. This Facebook group currently has over 132.000 members – a huge part of the Syrian community in Germany. We asked him about his motivation and the goals of Syrisches Haus.

Commonly asked questions by critically ill patients relatives in Arabic countries

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Tayseer Zaytoun

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Relatives often lack important information about intensive care unit patients. Research on ways to improve family satisfaction in the ICU has become a crucial point in ICU quality improvement research. Objective: The aim of this study is to develop and analyze a list of commonly asked questions from relatives of patients in the intensive care unit in Arabic countries. This list might help families to determine which questions they want to ask and help them in decision-making process in emergency situations of their critically ill relatives. Methods: This study was a prospective double center study. It took place in the ICUs of two hospitals in Arabic countries: Egypt and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alexandria University Main Hospital in Egypt and the ICU of King Fahad specialist Hospital in Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Data collection was done by reporting of Questions asked by the relatives of ICU patients during daily interview. The list of questions generated was checked to identify questions that could be eliminated. The remaining questions were categorized into 9 different groups: diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, comfort, patient interaction, family, mortality, post-ICU management and other questions. WE ranked the questions in the preliminary list through ICU staff, patients families and the patient themselves. Results: 115 Health care professional (34 physicians and 81 nurses participated in the data collection, the questions recorded were 2240 questions. It was found that about 1750 questions (78.12% were duplicated or not clear. The remaining 490 questions were classified into different categories. The same 115 Health care professional (34 physicians and 81 nurses who shared in the collection of data also shared in the ranking of the questions. 128 first degree relatives shared in the evaluation of the relevance of questions as well as 62 patients after they have been cured and before their discharge from ICU.A list was created

Syria in the Arab Spring: The integration of Syria’s conflict with the Arab uprisings, 2011–2013

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Marc Lynch

2014-10-01

Full Text Available How did Syria’s conflict interact with the broader wave of regional protest known as the Arab Spring? This article uses a unique, complete Twitter dataset of tweets including the word “Syria” in English or Arabic to empirically test how Syria’s conflict was discussed online. The analysis shows a high level of interaction between Syria and other Arab countries through 2011. Other Arab countries experiencing popular protests (“Arab Spring countries” were referenced far more often in 2011 than were Syria’s immediate neighbors, while keyword analysis shows the framing of the conflict in terms of Syria’s “regime” aligned the conflict with other Arab uprisings. In 2012–2013 this changed sharply, with significantly fewer mentions of other Arab countries, particularly Arab Spring countries, more fundraising and political appeals across the Gulf, and growing Islamization. These findings offer one of the first empirical demonstrations of the integration and disintegration of a unified Arab discourse from 2011 to 2013, with significant implications for theories of the diffusion of protest and ideas.

Arab American Women Negotiating Identities

Science.gov (United States)

Mango, Oraib

2012-01-01

Compared to the literature available on other ethnic groups in the United States, there is very little information about school experiences of Arab Americans (Nieto, 2003). This study examines the ways that Arab American women reported positioning themselves when faced with difficult situations related to stereotypical images of Arabs and Arab…

ADAM: Analyzer for Dialectal Arabic Morphology

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Wael Salloum

2014-12-01

Full Text Available While Modern Standard Arabic (MSA has many resources, Arabic Dialects, the primarily spoken local varieties of Arabic, are quite impoverished in this regard. In this article, we present ADAM (Analyzer for Dialectal Arabic Morphology. ADAM is a poor man’s solution to quickly develop morphological analyzers for dialectal Arabic. ADAM has roughly half the out-of-vocabulary rate of a state-of-the-art MSA analyzer and is comparable in its recall performance to an Egyptian dialectal morphological analyzer that took years and expensive resources to build.

Downloading Deterrence: The Logic and Logistics of Coercive Deployment on U.S. Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

have me work for Dr. Dan Patt on both the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) and Strategic Mobility Architectures (SMA) Programs...worth in the Arab-Israeli wars. Initially, Egyptian and Syrian surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) proved deadly to the Israeli Air Force; however, advances...Heights in the northeast and the Sinai Peninsula to the West.”2 Israeli forces reeled under the weight of the combined Egyptian and Syrian attack

THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS IN EUROPE

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Rossen Koroutchev

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The manuscript analyzes the current refugee’s crisis in Europe and the situation of the Syrian refugees in Syria’s neighboring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The presented comparative analysis between the first instance decisions in asylum policies of several European countries is accompanied by additional statistics of the refugee’s influx. Several suggestions related to the necessary measures to be taken in short and long term in order to ensure more sustainable migration patterns are discussed in detail.

Arabic text classification using Polynomial Networks

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Mayy M. Al-Tahrawi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an Arabic statistical learning-based text classification system has been developed using Polynomial Neural Networks. Polynomial Networks have been recently applied to English text classification, but they were never used for Arabic text classification. In this research, we investigate the performance of Polynomial Networks in classifying Arabic texts. Experiments are conducted on a widely used Arabic dataset in text classification: Al-Jazeera News dataset. We chose this dataset to enable direct comparisons of the performance of Polynomial Networks classifier versus other well-known classifiers on this dataset in the literature of Arabic text classification. Results of experiments show that Polynomial Networks classifier is a competitive algorithm to the state-of-the-art ones in the field of Arabic text classification.

Prevalence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels in Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates.

Science.gov (United States)

Yusof, Mohammed F; Eltahir, Yassir M; Serhan, Wissam S; Hashem, Farouk M; Elsayed, Elsaeid A; Marzoug, Bahaaeldin A; Abdelazim, Assem Si; Bensalah, Oum Keltoum A; Al Muhairi, Salama S

2015-06-01

High seroprevalence of Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels has been previously reported in United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, the molecular detection of the virus has never been reported before in UAE. Of the 7,803 nasal swabs tested in the epidemiological survey, MERS-CoV nucleic acid was detected by real-time PCR in a total of 126 (1.6 %) camels. Positive camels were detected at the borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman and in camels' slaughter houses. MERS-CoV partial sequences obtained from UAE camels were clustering with human- and camel-derived MERS-CoV sequences in the same geographic area. Results provide further evidence of MERS-CoV zoonosis.

Hepatitis C Virus in Arab World: A State of Concern

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Mohamed A. Daw

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Hepatitis C virus has been considered to be one of the most important devastating causes of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatic cellular carcinoma. The prevalence of such virus varies greatly over the world. Arab world has a unique geography and consists over nineteen countries who share the same heritage and customs and do speak the same language. In this area, the epidemiology of hepatitis C is not well understandable. Hepatitis C virus was found to be endemic in Arabia. The serostatus of such virus was found to be variable among these countries with uniform patterns of genotypes. Such prevalence varies tremendously according to the risk factors involved. Blood and blood products, haemodialysis, intravenous, and percutaneous drug users, and occupational, habitual, and social behavior were found to be the important factors involved. Hepatitis C will have major social, economic, and even political burdens on such young and dynamic societies. Thus, strategies and clear policy of intervention are urgently needed to combat the consequences of HCV both regionally and at state level of each country.

The Role of L+ Turkish and English Learning in Resilience: A Case of Syrian Students at Gaziantep University

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Cinkara, Emrah

2017-01-01

The study investigated Syrian students' resilience, the ability to bounce back from some form of disaster, disruption, stress, or change. The situation in Syria caused thousands of deaths and millions of refugees, which is the main source of disaster and Syrian students need to recover from this. According to UNHCR, Turkey welcomed around…

Radioactivity and concentration of some trace elements in sponges distributed along the Syrian coast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Masri, M. S.; Mamish, S.; Haleem, M. A.; Ammar, I.

2009-07-01

natural and artificial radionuclides ( 210 Po, 210 Pb, 40 K, 137 Cs, 234 U, 238 U) and concentration of some trace elements (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd) in several types of sponges distributed along the Syrian coast have been studied. The samples were collected from four stations distributed at the Syrian coast (Al-Basset, Lattakia, Banise, Tartous). Concentration factors (CF) for the studied radionuclides and trace elements have been calculated in order to determine the sponges types to be used as biomonitors for the radionuclides and trace elements. (authors)

Enhanced longevity in tau mutant Syrian hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oklejewicz, Malgorzata; Daan, Serge

The single-gene mutation tau in the Syrian hamster shortens the circadian period by about 20% in the homozygous mutant and simultaneously increases the mass-specific metabolic rate by about 20%. Both effects might be expected to lead to a change in longevity. To test such expectations, the life span

Investigation of chromosomal aberrations in human lymphocytes of Syrian phosphate mine workers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Achkar, W.; Osman, M.

1994-04-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the exposure risk to Uranium and its radioactive products in Syrian phosphate miners (Khneefees and Al-Sharkia). Chromosomal aberrations have been estimated in peripheral blood lymphocytes of miners using whole blood cultures 'in vitro' for 48 hrs. The control group has been the normal population in Damascus 180 km far from Khneefees and 210 Km from Al-Sharkia. Our results have shown a significant difference between the miners and our control group. However there was no significant difference between the two miners groups. These results show an accumulative biological effect induced by environmental contamination in the Syrian phosphate mines. (author). 21 refs., 8 figs., 5 tabs

Teaching the Arabic Alphabet to Kindergarteners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Papadopoulos, Pantelis M.; Ibrahim, Zeinab; Karatsolis, Andreas

2014-01-01

This paper presents initial results regarding writing activities in the context of the ALADDIN project. The goal of the project is to teach Modern Standard Arabic in 5-year-old kindergarten students in Qatar. A total of 18 students, enrolled in the ‘Arabic Class’, participated for 9 weeks in the ...... computers affected students’ performance and attitude towards the Arabic class and, consequently, the Arabic language....

Dimensions of gender-based violence against Syrian refugees in Lebanon

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Ghida Anani

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Assessments of the impact of the Syrian crisis indicate high levels of sexual and gender-based violence, with rape, assault, intimate partner violence and survival sex appearing increasingly common. Humanitarian agencies urgently need to work together to address this trend.

Antecedents of job search self-efficacy of Syrian refugees in Greece and the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Pajic, Sofija; Ulceluse, Magdalena; Kismihók, Gábor; Mol, Stefan T; den Hartog, Deanne N

2018-04-01

The goal of the current study was to investigate the relationships among psychological resources, career barriers, and job search self-efficacy in a sample of post-2014 Syrian refugees. Participants included 330 refugees in Greece and the Netherlands. Data were obtained using paper-based surveys, with all measures translated into Arabic. Drawing from career construction theory (Savickas, 2005), we hypothesized that adaptive readiness, operationalized in terms of psychological capital, would be positively related to job search self-efficacy through career adaptability. In addition, social and administrative career barriers were hypothesized to moderate the first stage of the indirect effect between psychological capital and job search self-efficacy, such that this relationship is weaker when refugees experience higher career barriers. Results indicated that individuals with higher psychological capital more confidently engaged in job search behavior in the destination country, mostly due to their enhanced career adaptability. However, this relationship weakened when participants experienced higher social barriers and strengthened when they experienced higher administrative barriers. The findings provide further support for the career construction model of adaptation (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) and pinpoint career adapt-ability resources as critical self-regulatory strengths that help individuals in this particularly vulnerable group adapt to occupational transitions. Moreover, the results highlight the potentially detrimental role of social barriers in this process. Based on the results, we offer implications for formulating training and career construction theory-based career counseling focused on enhancing career adaptability and psychological capital.

Validation of an Arabic version of the Oswestry index in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Algarni, A S; Ghorbel, S; Jones, J G; Guermazi, M

2014-12-01

The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Tunisian version of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) within a Saudi Arabian population. The translation of items 8 and 10 taken out of the Tunisian version was conducted according to Beaton's method. Adaptations were made after a pilot study on 100 patients. The validation study included 100 patients suffering from chronic low back pain aged 18 to 65 years old. Intra-observer reliability was assessed using the intra-class coefficient (ICC). Spearman rank correlation coefficient, the Kruskall-Wallis test and factor analysis were used to evaluate construct validity (convergent and divergent validity). Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. One hundred Saudi patients were included in the study. Intra-observer reliability was excellent (ICC: 0.99). The correlations of the index with the VAS pain scale (r=0.708), the Roland-Morris Low Back Pain Disability (r=0.656), and the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (r=0.792) suggest good construct validity. Factor analysis unveiled two main factors explaining a cumulative percentage variance of 63.5%. The first factor represents static activities and the second factor represents dynamic activities. The Arabic version of the ODI adapted to the Saudi population has high metrological qualities. Further studies assessing its responsiveness to change should be conducted. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Population Health Management and the Second Golden Age of Arab Medicine: Promoting Health, Localizing Knowledge Industries, and Diversifying Economies in the GCC Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattke, Soeren; Hunter, Lauren E; Magnuson, Madeline; Arifkhanova, Aziza

2015-07-15

Over the past half-century, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries-Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates-have experienced rapid economic growth and, with it, dramatic lifestyle changes. Low levels of physical activity and calorie-dense diets have led to an increase in the prevalence of chronic disease, most prominently diabetes. After having successfully controlled communicable diseases and made advanced acute care accessible locally, the GCC countries now face the challenge of orienting their health care systems toward prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. In this study, Dr. Mattke and his colleagues argue that this challenge presents GCC countries with a historic opportunity to reestablish the thought leadership role that Arab medicine had in the Islamic Golden Age. They propose that GCC countries could apply their considerable wealth to design and implement innovative health care systems based on population health management principles and sophisticated health information technology. Taking this path would not only improve prevention and management of chronic disease in the GCC countries but also contribute to the diversification of their economies and localization of knowledge industries.

Arab countries are waking up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pauron, M.

2008-01-01

Year after year, the Arab world is confirming its interest for the gas industry. In front of an increasing local consumption, a growth of export demand and a rise of rates, the Arab countries are multiplying the projects and partnerships in a sector for which the intervention of foreign expert companies and investment are often necessary. This paper presents an overview of the past year of the gas industry in Arab countries: the projects in progress, the penetration of occidental markets by Arab companies, and the difficulties encountered by the GTL (Gas to Liquid) industry. (J.S.)

Three Writers of Arabic Texts in Yogyakarta

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Muhamad Murtadlo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This study examines the use of the Arabic alphabet in religious literature in Yogyakarta. This study uses a case study on three figure writers of religious texts that using the Arabic alphabet in southern part of Central Java (Yogyakarta, namely Asrori Ahmad (Magelang, Ali Maksum (Yogyakarta, and Ahmad Mujab Mahalli (Bantul. This study concluded that the writing of religious texts in Arabic alphabet in the southern Java area had been carried out by means of using Arabic Pegon, and only a few people who wrote in the Arabic language. The transmission of Arabic Pegon in Yogyakarta is allegedly from north coast of Java, especially from Lasem / East Java. The tradition of Arabic language teaching in the pesantrens still focuses mostly on the reading effort, communication, and understanding and it is not oriented to the writing skill. The presence of international journals initiated by the College of Islamic religious institutions and the effort of translation business into Arabic from certain institutions gives an opportunity to strengthen the use of the Arabic alphabet in Indonesia.

Systemic violence against Syrian refugee women and the myth of effective intrapersonal interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yasmine, Rola; Moughalian, Catherine

2016-05-01

Since the uprising in Syria in March 2011, over 4.3 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries. Over a million have sought refuge in Lebanon, constituting almost a quarter of the Lebanese population and becoming the largest refugee population per capita in the world. With inequitable health coverage being a longstanding problem in Lebanon, Syrian refugee women's health, and specifically their sexual and reproductive health, is disproportionately affected. An increase in gender-based violence and early marriage, a lack of access to emergency obstetric care, limited access to contraception, forced cesarean sections, and high cost of healthcare services, all contribute to poor sexual and reproductive health. In this commentary, we conceptualize violence against Syrian refugee women using the ecological model, exploring the intersections of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, while critiquing interventions that focus solely on the intrapersonal level and ignore the role of microsystemic, exosystemic, and macrosystemic factors of negative influence. These social determinants of health supersede the individual realm of health behavior, and hinder women in taking decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

75 FR 66728 - Action Affecting Export Privileges; Orion Air, S.L. and Syrian Pearl Airlines: Orion Air, S.L...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-29

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Industry and Security Action Affecting Export Privileges; Orion Air, S.L. and Syrian Pearl Airlines: Orion Air, S.L., Canada Real de Merinas, 7 Edificio 5, 3'A... Denying the Export Privileges of Respondents Orion Air, S.L. (``Orion Air'') and Syrian Pearl Airlines...

Arab women employment in the United Arab Emirates: exploring opportunities, motivations and challenges

OpenAIRE

Miller, Karen; Kyriazi, Tenia; Paris, Cody Morris

2017-01-01

This research paper identifies and explores the challenges and barriers that Arab women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) face in their careers. Primary data was collected via an interview process involving 12 Arab women who reside and work in senior decision making positions in the UAE. Taking into account an overview of the global and UAE-specific challenges faced by women in the workplace and considering the significant efforts of the UAE government to promote women in leadership, as repor...

Radiation-induced anorexia in Syrian hamsters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kindt, A.; Sattler, E.L.; Schraub, A.

1980-10-01

The recovery of Syrian hamsters after split dose application (interval 11 days) was studied on the basis of the weight response and of food uptake. Two periods of weight loss and anorexia can be distinguished, an early one immediately after irradiation and a secondary one 6-10 days later. The secondary response is a function of the radiation dose and allows to distinguish survivors from non-survivors, since it is much more pronounced and longerlasting in the latter than in the former. The first response appears not to be influenced by a previous conditioning irradiation.

The cost of domestic energy prices to Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alyousef, Yousef; Stevens, Paul

2011-01-01

The issue of subsidies on domestic energy prices has moved up the policy agenda, most recently as a result of the G20 commitment in September 2009 to phase out such subsidies. However, what constitutes a 'subsidy' is complex and controversial. The IEA in its last World Energy Outlook claimed that Saudi Arabia was second in the world in terms of its levels of subsidy on domestic energy prices. However, because Saudi Arabia is a price maker in the international oil market, the methodology used by the IEA is seriously flawed. This paper explains the problems with the methodology for computing subsidies and explains the correct method in the case of Saudi Arabia. It then attempts to measure the levels of subsidy in Saudi Arabia using this methodology. However, while it converts the IEA's 'subsidy' of $23 billion into a net 'profit' of $5.7 billion, it goes on to point out that the current low price regime is causing problems for Saudi Arabia. - Highlights: → How to define energy subsidies in the context of Saudi Arabia as the price maker for international oil prices? → How far do the low domestic energy price in Saudi Arabia represent subsidized prices? → What are the costs and benefits of low/subsidized domestic energy prices in Saudi Arabia? → What policy options are available to offset the very poor record of energy efficiency in Saudi Arabia?

The Kefaya Movement: A Case Study of a Grassroots Reform Initiative

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Oweidat, Nadia; Benard, Cheryl; Stahl, Dale; Kildani, Walid; O'Connell, Edward; Grant, Audra K

2008-01-01

The United States has professed an interest in greater democratization in the Arab world, particularly since the September 2001 attacks by terrorists from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon...

How are health equity aspects articulated in the public health policy documents in Saudi Arabia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eklund Karlsson, Leena; Saleh, Faten; Azam, Shadi

2015-01-01

was not explicitly used in these documents but the idea of equity was implicitly communicated by addressing objectives for tackling poverty and guaranteeing that all social groups share the benefits of growth and improvement of quality of life. Conclusions: The state’s role to protect health and provide health care......Background: Inequities in health exist all over the world showing systematic differences in health between different socioeconomic groups. Healthy public policies (i.e. integrating health perspectives in all sector policies) address inequities in health and are means by which governments show...... their will to promote equity. Saudi Arabia (KSA) is one of the Arab countries that report health equity as part of its mission statement. However, analyses of the equity aspects of public health and social policies are lacking from KSA. The aims of the study were to identify policy documents in KSA relevant to public...

Childhood casualties during civil war: Syrian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Çelikel, Adnan; Karbeyaz, Kenan; Kararslan, Bekir; Arslan, M Mustafa; Zeren, Cem

2015-08-01

In war areas a lot of children die as well as adults. According to UNICEF, almost 2 million children have died in the wars took place in the last 10 years. In this study, we aimed to evaluate demographical data and injury characteristics of Syrian children who were wounded in Syria Civil War and died while being treated in Turkey. Postmortem examination and autopsy reports of 985 forensic deaths from Hatay -a Syrian neighborhood city of Turkey-between January 2012 and August 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. Among 763 Syrian people who were wounded in the war and died while being treated in Turkey, 140 cases (18.3%) who were younger than 18 years of age were taken into the scope of this study. Among those cases 77.9% (n = 109) were male and 22.1% were female. Median ages of female cases are 14 (min-max: 2-18) and median age of female cases are 9 (min-max: 1-18). Frequency distribution is highest between 13 and 18 years of age (n: 71, 50.7%). In 70% (n: 98) of cases, cause of death is bombing and shrapnel injuries, 13.6% (19) of them were killed by gunshot wounds. According to injury sites most of the injuries were reported to be on multiple body parts (54.3%, n: 76) and only head and neck injuries (%30). Cause of death was intracranial bleeding and cerebral parenchymal injury in most of the cases (n: 66, %47.1) followed by vascular damage with external bleeding (n: 15, %10.7) and internal organ damage with internal bleeding (n: 15, %10.7). The cases had very high level Abbreviated Injury Scales and Injury Severity Sores. In conclusion, a lot of children have died in the Civil War of Syria. Their average abbreviated injury scale and injury severity score values reported very high. Children that we evaluated were mostly died of head and neck injuries predominantly caused by bombing attacks and Autopsies of them revealed fatal intracranial hemorrhages and parenchymal injuries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights

A Teacher's Retrospective View of the Syrian Educational System

Science.gov (United States)

Zarad, Rami Abu

2014-01-01

This is a descriptive, as much as an interpretive, article about the Syrian educational system and the first-hand experience of an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) practitioner describing the system from within, as much as from without. "From within" because it is based on observations derived from his own teaching experience at a…

Establishing capabilities for combating illicit trafficking: the Syrian experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Othman, I.; Suman, H.

2008-01-01

Since the late 80's, Syria has been taking steps towards combating illicit trafficking or inadvertent movement involving radioactive or nuclear material within the country or across its border. By applying the proper combination of technical and procedural measures, an acceptable level of performance has been achieved. The measures undertaken by AECS include anticipative measures, which aim at identifying potential loss of control over radioactive sources and potential illicit trafficking within the country, as well as defensive measures which aim at detection of and response to events of illicit trafficking. In addition, a tight follow up of radiation source along their entire lifetime in the Syrian territory, supported by proper data analysis is one of the most efficient tools for identifying potential loss of control over sources. AECS has established Border Monitoring Centers (BMC) in almost all border crossings. They work in close cooperation with the customs and other relevant authorities at the Syrian borders. AECS has been also providing the necessary training for the frontline officers. (author)

Establishing capabilities for combating illicit trafficking: the Syrian experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Othman, I.; Suman, H.

2008-01-01

Since the late 80 's, Syria has been taking steps towards combating illicit trafficking or inadvertent movement involving radioactive or nuclear material within the country or across its border. By applying the proper combination of technical and procedural measures, an acceptable level of performance has been achieved. The measures undertaken by AECS include anticipative measures, which aim at identifying potential loss of control over radioactive sources and potential illicit trafficking within the country, as well as defensive measures which aim at detection of and response to events of illicit trafficking. In addition, a tight follow up of radiation source along their entire lifetime in the Syrian territory, supported by proper data analysis is one of the most efficient tools for identifying potential loss of control over sources. AECS has established Border Monitoring Centers (BMC) in almost all border crossings. They work in close cooperation with the customs and other relevant authorities at the Syrian borders. AECS has been also providing the necessary training for the front-line officers. (author)

The New Arab Left and 1967

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haugbølle, Sune

2017-01-01

In Arab political culture, the Naksa of 1967 had a number of watershed effects. Scholars have paid a lot of attention to the decline of secular Arab nationalism and the concurrent rise of Islamism. Much less research has been done on the way 1967 spurred radical left organizations, also known as ...... moment that followed. This moment has had a lasting impact on Arab political culture and is being re-interpreted in interesting ways today by Arab revolutionaries post-2011....

Egyptian Arab Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

In this work are given the principal news concerning petroleum and natural gas in Egyptian Arab Republic. An important discovery of natural gas has been made in Khalda (Egyptian Arab Republic). The discovery well will be temporarily abandoned until it is connected to the egyptian pipeline system. In 1996 the south Khalda will be explored with at least two well drilling. The transit duties by the Suez canal for liquefied natural gas exports have decreased of 35%. The Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company studies a connection project of the trans saudi pipeline with the Suez mediterranean pipeline. The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation will furnish 2,5 milliards of m 3 per year of natural gas to Israel during 20 years. (O.L.). 2 figs

Causes and consequences of Canada’s resettlement of Syrian refugees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne-Marie Bélanger McMurdo

2016-05-01

Full Text Available By the end of February 2016, Canada had fulfilled its promise to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees. However, this initiative has put a considerable strain on the settlement services that refugees receive after arrival, and raises questions about fair treatment for other refugees.

The neglected health needs of older Syrian refugees in Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sigrid Lupieri

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Older refugees are often a neglected population, particularly when it comes to health. In Jordan, the specific health needs of older Syrian refugees tend to be overlooked, due in part to a lack of data, institutional biases and the nature of the humanitarian response.

From Negative to Positive Stability: How the Syrian Refugee Crisis Can Improve Jordan’s Outlook

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

transit hub. Some Syrian refugees are working in the tourism industry in Aqaba, although the exact number of Syrians in the far south is unknown.6 5...2014; Alqadi and Kumar, 2014; and Greenwood, 2014. 26 See UNHCR, 2014b. 27 Altz-Stamm, 2012, and others point out that tourism also places significant...the same page, they also state that dark -skinned refugees reported more security inci- dents and greater fear of Jordanians than light-skinned

PENGARUH BAHASA ARAB TERHADAP PERKEMBANGAN BAHASA INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayuba Pantu

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims to discover and describe how the Arabic influence on the development of the Indonesian language,  which focused on the influence of the vocabulary,  the influence of the Arabic alphabet and its influences on Indonesian syntax,  as well as to discover how changes are absorbed Arabic vocabulary into Indonesian. The method used in this study is a literature review using the technique of content analysis,  which is a research technique for making inferences that can be replicable,  and valid the data by looking at the context. Sources of data in this study are the books relating to the object of research,  among Indonesian Dictionary and other books. The results showed that the effect of Indonesian Arabic is big enough. This can be seen in the uptake of the Arabic word which ranks third after Dutch and English 1, 495 words. In addition,  the use of Arabic script in Indonesian,  which until now still many books,  both Islamic religious books,  Arabic books,  tales,  literature,  written in Arabic alphabet Malay. Arabic influence on Indonesian syntax can be seen in books or Qur’an translations. The words of the absorption Arabic generally undergo changes in shape,  as adapted to the Indonesian grammar or phonemes. It also changes the meaning,  although the numbers are limited.

Studying Arabic as a foreign second language together with Arab heritage language learners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dhahir, Omar

2015-01-01

questionnaire and qualitative (interviews). The major findings of the study was that the group follows the general patterns of SCISs, to ask, cooperate and communicate, and that AHLLs’ presence only partially increases and promotes the opportunities of sociocultural interaction in the learning environment.......Abstract This article reports on my study of the sociocultural-interactive Strategies (SCISs) used by a mixed group of learners of Arabic at University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The group consists of learners of Arabic as a foreign language (FLLs) and Arab Heritage Language Learners (AHLLs). FLLs...

Unravelling Facebook: A Pedagogical Tool during the Syrian Crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Reem

2017-01-01

This paper aims to analyse the role of Facebook in academia during the Syrian crisis. Data were collected by means of an online survey from 726 students at Damascus University (Males = 446, Females = 280). Results indicated that Facebook facilitated communication and resource sharing in times of war and crisis where safe commuting posed a…

Ongoing epidemic of cutaneous leishmaniasis among Syrian refugees, Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Saroufim, Maya; Charafeddine, Khalil; Issa, Grace; Khalifeh, Haifaa; Habib, Robert H; Berry, Atika; Ghosn, Nada; Rady, Alissar; Khalifeh, Ibrahim

2014-10-01

In September 2012, a cutaneous leishmaniasis outbreak began among Syrian refugees in Lebanon. For 948 patients in whom leishmaniasis was not confirmed, we obtained samples for microscopic confirmation and molecular speciation. We identified Leishmania tropica in 85% and L. major in 15% of patients. After 3 months of megulamine antimonite therapy, patients initial cure rate was 82%.

Health service utilization and access to medicines among Syrian refugee children in Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Doocy, Shannon; Lyles, Emily; Akhu-Zaheya, Laila; Burton, Ann; Weiss, William

2016-01-01

With over one million Syrian refugee children in the region, we undertook this study to characterize care-seeking behaviors and health service utilization for child refugees with the aim of informing humanitarian programming for non-camp settings in Jordan. A survey of Syrian refugees living outside of camps in Jordan was conducted using a 125 × 12 cluster design with probability proportional to size sampling to obtain a representative sample. The questionnaire focused on access to health services, including a module on care seeking for children. Care seeking was high with 90.9% of households with a child less than 18 years seeking medical care the last time it was needed. Households most often sought care for children in the public sector (54.6%), followed by private (36.5%) and charity sectors (8.9%). Among child care seekers, 88.6% were prescribed medication during the most recent visit, 90.6% of which obtained the medication. Overall, 49.4% of households reported out-of-pocket expenditures for either the consultation or prescribed medications at the most recent visit (mean $US21.1 and median $US0). Syrian refugees had good access to care for their sick children at the time of the survey; however, this has likely deteriorated since the survey because of the withdrawal of free access for refugees. The number of refugees in Jordan and relative accessibility of care has resulted in a large burden on the health system; the Jordanian government will require additional support if current levels of health access are to be maintained for Syrian refugees. © 2016 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Guiding Digital and Media Literacy Development in Arab Curricula through Understanding Media Uses of Arab Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Melki, Jad P.

2015-01-01

The role of new media in the Arab uprisings and the news of widespread surveillance of digital and mobile media have triggered a renewed interest in Arab audiences research, particularly as it pertains to these audiences' critical abilities and digital media literacy competencies. Taken for granted have been Arab youth's widespread use of social…

Investigating the Effect of Syrian Refugees on the Pharmaceutical Sector in Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Daher, Amirah; Alabbadi, Ibrahim

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Syrian refugees on the pharmaceutical sector in Jordan. Based on a standardized methodology developed by the WHO, Level II Facility (2009) structured questionnaires (including: medicine access [availability, affordability and geographical accessibility], quality, and rational use of medicines) were used to investigate the effect of Syrian refugees influx on the pharmaceutical sector in Jordan. Lists of essential medicines (N = 50) were included in the survey forms. The results showed more progress in all indicators for the public sector compared with the previous results in the 2009 survey and in comparison to the private sector. For example, access to medicines improved in the public sector while it decreased (if it did not remain the same) in the private sector. Also, average stock out duration time decreased dramatically in both public and private sectors. As indicated by the median price ratio (MPR), brand prices increased much in the public health facilities while they decreased by 23%-30% in the private sector. In northern areas where most Syrian refugees stay, a significant decrease in availability was noticed, in addition to the dramatic decrease in days of average stock out and adequate inventory record percentage of those medicines. In conclusion, despite the international help received to support health care provision and medications procurement for the refugees, more support is needed immediately.

Polarity: The theology of anti-Judaism in Ephrem the Syrian's hymns ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

century Syrian theologian Ephrem is investigated. This polarity is found to be polemical against the Jews. But since polarity is a constant feature in the work of Ephrem which serves to communicate his theological frame of mind, the question is ...

Meningococcal Meningitis

Science.gov (United States)

... Iraq Nigeria Somalia South Sudan Syrian Arab Republic Yemen All emergencies » Latest » By country By disease Disease ... conditions in Africa in areas with limited health infrastructure and resources, ceftriaxone is the drug of choice. \\ ...

Genetic Characterization Of Syrian Erwinia Amylovora Strains By Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ammouneh, H.; Arabi, M.; Shoaib, A.

2011-01-01

Thirty Erwinia amylovora strains, collected from the main rosaceous crop-growing regions in Syria, were chosen as representatives of all major pathogenicity groups and were genetically studied by AFLP. Eight primer combinations were utilized and approximately 300 scorable bands in total were generated. Based on similarity coefficient, E. amylovora strains were placed into a main cluster containing two sub clusters, indicating very low genetic variations among the studied pathogen. The existence of two plasmids, pEA29 (present in nearly all E. amylovora isolates) and pEL60 (present mainly in Lebanese strains), was confirmed using multiplex PCR in all tested Syrian E. amylovora strains, indicating that Lebanese and Syrian isolates may share a common origin.(author)

The evolution of Arabic(s): Making the Idiom speak for the Deme ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Despite its rather shallow origin, Arabic forms the largest group of extant Semitic languages and one of the most geographically widespread languages of the world. The current distribution of its linguistic variants is the product of a phylogeography of the populations that spoke them, and Arabic dialects have captured in their ...

Detecting overweight and obesity among young Syrian boys based on skinfold thickness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Al-Bachir Mahfouz

2016-03-01

Full Text Available There is no data on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in young Syrian boys. Therefore, the present study aimed to provide baseline and reference data on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among young Syrian boys using skin-fold thickness measurements and deuterium dilution (DD as a reference method. The sample of 2470 healthy Syrian 18- to 19-year-old boys were enrolled in this study. SFTs were measured at the biceps (B, triceps (T, subscapular (SI and suprailiac locations (SS were done and validated using the DD technique as a reference method. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC curve was drawn to determine appropriate cut-off points of the Σ2 limb SFT (T+B, Σ2 trunk SFT (SI+SS, Σ4 SFT (T+B+SI+SS and Log Σ4 SFT for defining overweight and obesity. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in young Syrian boys, based on biceps SFT, triceps SFT, subscapular SFT, suprailiac SFT, Σ2 limb SFT, Σ2 trunk SFT, Σ4 SFT, logarithm Σ4 SFT, and DDT were 35.3%, 32%, 31.6%, 14.8%, 32.9%, 26.6%, 28.1%, 24.1%, 46.5%, respectively. Strongly positive correlation was found between SFT and total body fat in adolescents. For diagnosing overweight on the basis of Σ2 limb SFT, Σ2 trunk SFT, Σ4 SFT and logarithm Σ4 SFT, we propose the following cut-off points: 17.25 mm, 23.50 mm, 39.25 mm and 1.60, respectively. To predict obesity, Σ2 limb SFT, Σ2 trunk SFT, Σ4 SFT and logarithm Σ4 SFT threshold were increased to 23.25 mm, 32.50 mm, 55.25 and 1.75, respectively. Basing on SFT clearly leads to underestimates of the prevalence of weight problems among young boys. SFT measurement screen missed 11.2 to 31.7% of overall overweight and obesity cases.

Saudi Arabia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvidt, Martin

2017-01-01

In April 2016 Saudi Arabia took the world by surprise with the launch of its Vision 2030 plan. The surprise was not the plan in itself, as the kingdom has since 1970 guided its development through a series of 5-year plans, but rather the radical approach to development contained in the plan. Priv...... silver. Later in 2016 the Vision 2030 plan was followed by the National Transformation Plan 2020 which is a far more detailed plan or operational plan, posting specific benchmarks and targets for the economy in order to fulfill the aims of the Vision 2030.......In April 2016 Saudi Arabia took the world by surprise with the launch of its Vision 2030 plan. The surprise was not the plan in itself, as the kingdom has since 1970 guided its development through a series of 5-year plans, but rather the radical approach to development contained in the plan...

Radiation-induced anorexia in Syrian hamsters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kindt, A.; Sattler, E.L.; Schraub, A.

1980-01-01

The recovery of Syrian hamsters after split dose application (interval 11 days) was studied on the basis of the weight response and of food uptake. Two periods of weight loss and anorexia can be distinguished, an early one immediately after irradiation and a secondary one 6-10 days later. The secondary response is a function of the radiation dose and allows to distinguish survivors from non-survivors, since it is much more pronounced and longerlasting in the latter than in the former. The first response appears not to be influenced by a previous conditioning irradiation. (orig.) [de

The Rise of the Arab Youth Paradigm: A Critical Analysis of the Arab Human Development Report 2016

OpenAIRE

Mayssoun Sukarieh

2017-01-01

This article offers a critical analysis of the Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) 2016, that was released by the United Nations Development Programme in November 2016. AHDR 2016 represents the return of the Arab Human Development project, that had been interrupted by the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. It also epitomizes the Arab youth paradigm that has increasingly come to frame development and security discourse in the region. While there is much that is familiar in AHDR 2016, there are al...

Mortality rates among Arab Americans in Michigan.

Science.gov (United States)

Dallo, Florence J; Schwartz, Kendra; Ruterbusch, Julie J; Booza, Jason; Williams, David R

2012-04-01

The objectives of this study were to: (1) calculate age-specific and age-adjusted cause-specific mortality rates for Arab Americans; and (2) compare these rates with those for blacks and whites. Mortality rates were estimated using Michigan death certificate data, an Arab surname and first name list, and 2000 U.S. Census data. Age-specific rates, age-adjusted all-cause and cause-specific rates were calculated. Arab Americans (75+) had higher mortality rates than whites and blacks. Among men, all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates for Arab Americans were in the range of whites and blacks. However, Arab American men had lower mortality rates from cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease compared to both whites and blacks. Among women, Arab Americans had lower mortality rates from heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes than whites and blacks. Arab Americans are growing in number. Future study should focus on designing rigorous separate analyses for this population.

Efficiency of Syrian and Indian rock phosphates for maize in two soils amended with sulphur

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanacri, S.

1995-01-01

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the fertilizer use efficiency of three Syrian rock phosphates in comparison to Mussoorie rock phosphate from India for maize grown in a laterite (ultisol) and an alluvial (entisol) soil amended with sulphur, and using sup 3 sup 2 P-labelled triple superphosphate (TSP). Results showed that application of rock phosphates (RPs) to laterite soil significantly increased the dry matter yields of maize shoots, whereas, in alluvial soil, RPs were not found effective in increasing the yields. Data further indicated that all the three Syrian RPs were equally efficient in increasing dry matter yields in laterite soil and were superior to Mussoorie rock phosphate (MRP). Sulphur added in combination with RPs significantly enhanced the dry matter production as well as 'A' value of alluvial soil. Application of sulphur in conjunction with RPs significantly increased the 'A' value of laterite soil however, sulphur did not contribute to any significant increase in the yields. Syrian RPs were more reactive in soils than Mussoorie RP. (author). 7 refs., 6 tabs

Efficiency of Syrian and Indian rock phosphates for maize in two soils amended with sulphur

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanacri, Saloi; Bhujbal, B.M.

1993-01-01

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the fertilizer use efficiency of three Syrian rock phosphates in comparison to Mussoorie rock phosphate from India for maize grown in a laterite (ultisol) and an alluvial (entisol) soil amended with sulphur, and using 32 P-labelled triple superphosphate (TSP). Results showed that application of rock phosphates (RPs) to laterite soil significantly increased the dry matter yields of maize shoots, whereas, in alluvial soil, RPs were not found effective in increasing the yields. Data further indicated that all the three Syrian RPs were equally efficient in increasing dry matter yields in laterite soil and were superior to Mussoorie rock phosphate (MRP). Sulphur added in combination with RPs significantly enhanced the dry matter production as well as 'A'value of alluvial soil. Application of sulphur in conjunction with RPs significantly increased the 'A' value of laterite soil, however, sulphur did not contribute to any significant increase in the yields. Syrian RPs were more reactive in soils than Mussoorie RP. (author). 7 refs., 6 tabs

Yemen Arab Republic.

Science.gov (United States)

1985-07-01

The government of the Yemen Arab Republic does not have a population policy, but promotes family planning for health reasons since one of its goals is to reduce maternal and child mortality and morbidity. The 2nd 5-Year Plan (1982-86) aims for increased gross domestic product and per capita income, regional development, infrastructure development, job creation, and human resources mobilization. The population increased from 4.8 million in 1970 to 5.8 million in 1980 and is projected to reach 6.5 million by 1985 (indicating a 2.4% growth rate from 1980-1985). Life expectancy is 44 years for both sexes; infant mortality now stands at a high 156/1000 due largely to early marriage and little maternal care. The government concentrates on improving health care, mainly through its national health plans, by emphasizing immunization, education, and training doctors abroad. Current total fertility is 6.7, the birth rate is 48.5/1000, and the average age at marriage for girls is 13. Contraceptives and sterilization are available; abortion for contraceptive purposes is illegal. Up to 30% of Yemen's labor force may have emigrated to neighboring Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. The shortage in labor is partially made up by immigrants from the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, but the government still considers emigration too high since many of those who leave are the most skilled. There is no policy on international migration, due to the great value of remittances, but the government would like to encourage return migration. Yemen's urban population increased from 1.9% in 1950 to 15.3% in 1980. 4/5 of the population live in 5 of Yemen's 10 governorates. The government's policy seeks to strengthen the agricultural sector, improve living quality in rural areas, build up a balanced regional infrastructure, and establish more educational opportunities in small cities and villages.

The precision of circadian clocks : Assessment and analysis in Syrian hamsters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Daan, S; Oklejewicz, M

2003-01-01

Locomotor activity recordings of Syrian hamsters were systematically analyzed to estimate the precision of the overt circadian activity rhythm in constant darkness. Phase variation, i.e., the standard deviation of phase markers around the regression line, varied with the definition of phase.

Social context modulates food hoarding in Syrian hamsters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bibiana Montoya

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The effect of the presence of a con-specific in the temporal organization of food hoarding was studied in two varieties of Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus: golden and long-haired. Four male hamsters of each variety were used. Their foraging behavior was observed during four individual and four shared trials in which animals were not competing for the same food source or territory. During individual trials, long-haired hamsters consumed food items directly from the food source, transporting and hoarding only remaining pieces. During shared trials, the long-haired variety hoarded food items before consumption, and increased the duration of hoarding trips, food handling in the storage, and cache size. Golden hamsters maintained the same temporal organization of hoarding behavior (i.e., hoarding food items before consumption throughout both individual and shared trials. However, the golden variety increased handling time at the food source and decreased the duration of hoarding trips, the latency of hoarding and storing size throughout the shared trials. In Syrian hamsters, the presence of a con-specific may signal high probability of food source depletion suggesting that social pressures over food availability might facilitate hoarding behavior. Further studies are required to evaluate cost-benefit balance of food hoarding and the role of cache pilferage in this species.

DCU 250 Arabic dependency bank: an LFG gold standard resource for the Arabic Penn treebank

OpenAIRE

Al-Raheb, Yafa; Akrout, Amine; van Genabith, Josef; Dichy, J.

2006-01-01

This paper describes the construction of a dependency bank gold standard for Arabic, DCU 250 Arabic Dependency Bank (DCU 250), based on the Arabic Penn Treebank Corpus (ATB) (Bies and Maamouri, 2003; Maamouri and Bies, 2004) within the theoretical framework of Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG). For parsing and automatically extracting grammatical and lexical resources from treebanks, it is necessary to evaluate against established gold standard resources. Gold standards for various languages h...

Social identity continuity and mental health among Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeekes, Anouk; Verkuyten, Maykel; Çelebi, Elif; Acartürk, Ceren; Onkun, Samed

2017-10-01

Building upon social psychological work on social identity and mental health, this study among Syrian refugees in Turkey examined the importance of multiple group memberships and identity continuity for mental health and well-being. A survey study was conducted among the very difficult to reach population of Syrian refugees (N = 361). With path analysis in AMOS the associations were examined between multiple group memberships, social identity continuity and mental health and psychological well-being. Indicate that belonging to multiple groups before migration was related to a higher likelihood of having preserved group memberships after migration (i.e., sense of social identity continuity), which, in turn, predicted greater life satisfaction and lower levels of depression. Multiple group membership, however, was also directly related to higher depression. Findings are discussed in relation to the importance of multiple group membership and feelings of identity continuity for refugees.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Cardiometabolic Risks: A Juxtaposition of Arab Adolescents and Adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasser M Al-Daghri

Full Text Available The recent exponential surge in vitamin D research reflects the global epidemic of vitamin D deficiency and its potential impact on several chronic diseases in both children and adults. Several subpopulations, including Arab adolescent boys and girls, remain understudied. This study aims to fill this gap. A total of 2225 apparently healthy Saudi adolescents (1187 boys and 1038 girls, aged 13-17 years old and 830 adults (368 men and 462 women, aged 18-50 years old were respectively recruited from different public schools and medical practices within Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Anthropometrics were taken and fasting blood samples withdrawn to examine serum glucose and lipid profile by routine analysis and 25-hydroxyvitamin D by ELISA. Almost half of the girls (47.0% had vitamin D deficiency as compared to only 19.4% of the boys (p<0.001, 36.8% of the adult women and 17.7% of the adult men (p<0.001. Furthermore, in boys there were more significant inverse associations between serum 25(OHvitamin D levels and cardiometabolic indices than girls, while in contrast women had more significant associations than men. Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2 [OR 3.47 (CI1.26-5.55; p<0.05] and pre-DM [OR 2.47 (CI 1.48-4.12; p<0.01] in boys. Furthermore, vitamin D insufficiency was significantly associated with abdominal obesity in boys [OR 2.75 (CI 1.1-7.1; p<0.05]. These associations for DMT2 and abdominal obesity were not observed in adult males, girls and adult women. Vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency and hyperglycemia is high among Arab adolescents. Vitamin D deficiency is mostly associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescent Arab boys. This indicates a sex- and age-related disadvantage for boys with low vitamin D status and challenges the extra-skeletal protection of vitamin D correction in adolescent females.

A Study on the use of Facebook, RSS, Blogs and Twitter (Web2.0) among selected academic libraries from 6 Gulf countries namely: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.

2014-04-01

This paper aims to explore and study the current usage trends of Web2.0 namely Facebook, RSS, Blogs and Twitter among selected higher education institutions’ libraries in 6 gulf countries namely: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. Websites of the selected libraries would be compared on the extent of the usage of these tools, the participation level and their purpose. The author would also share his opinion and suggestions on improving the current trends pertaining to the area of Web2.0 and libraries. The impact and importance of Web2.0 on libraries cannot be disputed. Since gaining popularity in mid-2000, libraries around the globe have jumped onto the Web2.0 bandwagon. Among the common examples of Web2.0 used by libraries today are namely: social networking sites, blogs, wikis, folksonomies and video sharing sites. Libraries are using Web2.0 to (among others): • market their services / resources to their community, • announce latest library news, • provide their online guides / notes for their resources among others. Though such tools have been implemented by most libraries around the world, some of the challenges faced by libraries are: •participation level – casting the net to a wider audience •selection of web2.0 tools •effectiveness of present web2.0 tools used by the libraries

Laboratory testing & measurement on optical imaging systems

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Theron, B

2013-04-01

Full Text Available on Optical Imaging Systems Bertus Theron 27 April 2013 presented at SIECPC 2013, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Overview of Workshop Part 1. Introduction & Context  Some history of Arabic Optics  Context: Global vs Local optical testing... of Arabic Optics 1 See [4]  Arabic records of study of geometrical optics  Traced to Hellenistic (Greek) optics  Translated to Arabic  9th century  Arabic contribution to geometric optics  Not just translation to Arabic  Innovative research...

Teaching the Arab World: Evaluating Textbooks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Deborah

1981-01-01

Discusses a study of 19 junior and senior high school textbooks used in the Washington D.C. area to introduce students to the Arab World and Islam. Findings indicated that Middle Eastern culture and history were frequently measured by western standards, information was often inaccurate, the Arab-Israeli conflict often portrayed Arabs as being at…

A rule-based stemmer for Arabic Gulf dialect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belal Abuata

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Arabic dialects arewidely used from many years ago instead of Modern Standard Arabic language in many fields. The presence of dialects in any language is a big challenge. Dialects add a new set of variational dimensions in some fields like natural language processing, information retrieval and even in Arabic chatting between different Arab nationals. Spoken dialects have no standard morphological, phonological and lexical like Modern Standard Arabic. Hence, the objective of this paper is to describe a procedure or algorithm by which a stem for the Arabian Gulf dialect can be defined. The algorithm is rule based. Special rules are created to remove the suffixes and prefixes of the dialect words. Also, the algorithm applies rules related to the word size and the relation between adjacent letters. The algorithm was tested for a number of words and given a good correct stem ratio. The algorithm is also compared with two Modern Standard Arabic algorithms. The results showed that Modern Standard Arabic stemmers performed poorly with Arabic Gulf dialect and our algorithm performed poorly when applied for Modern Standard Arabic words.

Toward Understanding Arab Women's Cultural Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akram Shalghin

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The cultural representation of women in the Arab world is a complex issue due to the sensitivity surrounding their status in the region. We are confronted with many ways in which women are misrepresented and distorted.  There are false claims used by male dominated culture(s in the Arab world about women and their intellectual and physical capabilities. Indeed, Arab women are often prevented from representing themselves.  When they are present, they are conceptualized as serving a decorative purpose. When women are given platforms from which they may speak, they are expected to reiterate male discourses.The paper focuses on the cultural and political marginalization and misrepresentation of Arab women and describes a number of cultural biases against women in Arabic-speaking societies. Based on culturally constructed misconceptions, Arab women are effaced and excluded from decision-making processes both politically, where they are subjugated and denied a social voice in the public sphere in favour of male-dominated discourses, and within the private sphere of the family where they are subordinate to male relatives.

Hizbollah–Syrian Intelligence Affairs: A Marriage of Convenience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carl Anthony Wege

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Since the 1980s, Hizbollah has emerged as the guardian of Lebanon's Shi'a and a stalking horse for Iran. Syria, though allied with Tehran, seeks to manage Hizbollah's freedom of action in Lebanon and is eyed cautiously in Damascus. Hizbollah has managed to maintain independence from these Syrian efforts because of both Lebanese Shi'a religious élan and the protection given Hizbollah by its Shi'a allies in Iran.

Detection and identification of cutaneous leishmaniasis isolates by culture, Polymerase chain reaction and sequence analyses in Syrian and Central Anatolia patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Beyhan, Yunus E; Karakus, Mehmet; Karagoz, Alper; Mungan, Mesut; Ozkan, Aysegul T; Hokelek, Murat

2017-09-01

To characterize the cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) isolates of Syrian and Central Anatolia patients at species levels. Methods: Skin scrapings of 3 patients (2 Syrian, 1 Turkish) were taken and examined by direct examination, culture in Novy-MacNeal-Nicole (NNN) medium, internal transcribed spacer polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis (PCR). Results:According to microscopic examination, culture and PCR methods, 3 samples were detected positive. The sequencing results of all isolates in the study were identified as Leishmania tropica. The same genotypes were detected in the 3 isolates and nucleotide sequence submitted into GenBank with the accession number: KP689599. Conclusion: This finding could give information about the transmission of CL between Turkey and Syria. Because of the Syrian civil war, most of the Syrian citizens circulating in Turkey and different part of Europe, this can be increase the risk of spreading the disease. So, prevention measurements must be taken urgently.

Detection and identification of cutaneous leishmaniasis isolates by culture, Polymerase chain reaction and sequence analyses in Syrian and Central Anatolia patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunus E. Beyhan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Objectives: To characterize the cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL isolates of Syrian and Central Anatolia patients at species levels. Methods: Skin scrapings of 3 patients (2 Syrian, 1 Turkish were taken and examined by direct examination, culture in Novy-MacNeal-Nicole (NNN medium, internal transcribed spacer polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis (PCR. Results:According to microscopic examination, culture and PCR methods, 3 samples were detected positive. The sequencing results of all isolates in the study were identified as Leishmania tropica. The same genotypes were detected in the 3 isolates and nucleotide sequence submitted into GenBank with the accession number: KP689599. Conclusion: This finding could give information about the transmission of CL between Turkey and Syria. Because of the Syrian civil war, most of the Syrian citizens circulating in Turkey and different part of Europe, this can be increase the risk of spreading the disease. So, prevention measurements must be taken urgently.

Measurements of essential oil extract and antioxidant in Syrian Myrtus communis L. leaves using photo chemiluminescence assay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zayzafoon, G.; Odeh, A.; Mahzia, Y.

2012-01-01

The essential oil extracts and antioxidant measurements of Syrian Myrtus communis L. leaves as hydrophilic and hydrophobic existence species have been carried out. The plant leaves as a source of antioxidants was tested by the influence of its aqueous and essential oil extracts on the yield of photo chemiluminescence, PCL solution applying very sensitive and reliable method. By means of a photo chemiluminescence assay, it was possible to assess the total antioxidants capacity of hydrophilic and hydrophobic species existence in Syrian Myrtus communis L. leaves. It has been found that, the integral antioxidant capacity measurements value of Syrian Myrtus communis L. leaves was found in Kurdaha site which has a value of 465.67 1.18 nmol TE/g DM (total Trolox equivalent /gram of Dry material) . The following three mainly chemical species were found in the essential oil extracts: -Pinene, Cineole and Limonene. (author)

Climate Change and Health

Science.gov (United States)

... Iraq Nigeria Somalia South Sudan Syrian Arab Republic Yemen All emergencies » Latest » By country By disease Disease ... billion/year by 2030. Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least ...

Arabic Natural Language Processing System Code Library

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

Adelphi, MD 20783-1197 This technical note provides a brief description of a Java library for Arabic natural language processing ( NLP ) containing code...for training and applying the Arabic NLP system described in the paper "A Cross-Task Flexible Transition Model for Arabic Tokenization, Affix...and also English) natural language processing ( NLP ), containing code for training and applying the Arabic NLP system described in Stephen Tratz’s

Social identity continuity and mental health among Syrian refugees in Turkey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smeekes, Anouk; Verkuyten, Maykel; Çelebi, Elif; Acartürk, Ceren; Onkun, Samed

2017-01-01

Purpose: Building upon social psychological work on social identity and mental health, this study among Syrian refugees in Turkey examined the importance of multiple group memberships and identity continuity for mental health and well-being. Method: A survey study was conducted among the very

Hebrew-Arabic bilingual schooling in Israel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvid, Carmit Romano

2010-01-01

This paper deals with the policies and practices employed in the teaching of Arabic and Hebrew at a school belonging to the “Hand In Hand Centre for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel”. Its focus is on strategies that the school has developed in order to support the acquisition of biliteracy....... The “Hand In Hand Centre for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel” is a grass-root movement of bilingual, bi-national primary schools in which Jewish and Arab children study together. The first school was open in Jerusalem in 1998. Currently there are 4 schools throughout the country The schools’ rational is...

Some Silurian (Llandovery) monograptids from Saudi Arabia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

El-Khayal, A.A.

1985-01-01

Three species of Monograptus are recognized from Qusayba, Al-Qasim Province, Saudi Arabia. The Qusayba Shales Member of the Tabuk Formation in central Saudi Arabia contains M. decipiens decipiens, M. ex gr. barrandei and M. elongatus, associated with other graptolites. This assemblage is indicative

A novel root based Arabic stemmer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed N. Al-Kabi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Stemming algorithms are used in information retrieval systems, indexers, text mining, text classifiers etc., to extract stems or roots of different words, so that words derived from the same stem or root are grouped together. Many stemming algorithms were built in different natural languages. Khoja stemmer is one of the known and widely used Arabic stemmers. In this paper, we introduced a new light and heavy Arabic stemmer. This new stemmer is presented in this study and compared with two well-known Arabic stemmers. Results showed that accuracy of our stemmer is slightly better than the accuracy yielded by each one of those two well-known Arabic stemmers used for evaluation and comparison. Evaluation tests on our novel stemmer yield 75.03% accuracy, while the other two Arabic stemmers yield slightly lower accuracy.

Challenges to web-based learning in pharmacy education in Arabic language speaking countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramez M Alkoudmani

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Web-based learning and web 2.0 tools which include new online educational technologies (EdTech and social media websites like Facebook® are playing crucial roles nowadays in pharmacy and medical education among millennial learners. Podcasting, webinars, and online learning management systems like Moodle® and other web 2.0 tools have been used in pharmacy and medical education to interactively share knowledge with peers and students. Learners can use laptops, iPads, iPhones, or tablet devices with a stable and good Internet connection to enroll in many online courses. Implementation of novel online EdTech in pharmacy and medical curricula has been noticed in developed countries such as European countries, the US, Canada, and Australia. However, these trends are scarce in the majority of Arabic language speaking countries (ALSC, where traditional and didactic educational methods are still being used with some exceptions seen in Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Qatar. Although these new trends are promising to push pharmacy and medical education forward, major barriers regarding adaptation of E-learning and new online EdTech in Arab states have been reported such as higher connectivity costs, information communication technology (ICT problems, language barriers, wars and political conflicts, poor education, financial problems, and lack of qualified ICT-savvy educators. More research efforts are encouraged to study the effectiveness and proper use of web-based learning and emerging online EdTech in pharmacy education not only in ALSC but also in developing and developed countries.

Personality Traits of Minority Arab Teachers in the Arab Educational System in Israel

Science.gov (United States)

Abu Hussain, Jamal; Abu Hussain, Nadia

2017-01-01

The present research examined the personality traits prevalent among Arab teachers as a minority in the Arab educational system in Israel. Personality traits has much significance in the prediction of human behavior in various situations. Personality traits affect a person's behavior. Usually personality traits do not change, and they are…

Preference for Democracy in the Arab World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamad Al-Ississ

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We take a new look at the question of the Arab democratic exception by looking at the preference for democracy among individuals in the Arab world in a comparative context. We use the new sixth wave of the World Value Survey, which was collected between 2012 and 2013, and which included for the first time 12 Arab countries (up from only four in wave 5 and 68 non-Arab countries. We innovate empirically by measuring the preference for democracy over strong rule in a way that, we argue, is more adapted to an understanding of the Arab world than other measures used in past studies. Our statistical analysis reveals a democratic gap in the Arab region compared to global experience, which is especially marked among the more educated individuals, and to a lesser extent among the youth and the middle class. We conclude by discussing the reasons that may explain the Arab exceptionalism, and argue that it is unlikely to be related to culture alone.

Epidemiology of road traffic injuries in qassim region, saudi arabia: consistency of police and health data.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrimah, Issam; Midhet, Farid; Sharaf, Fawzi

2012-01-01

for non-fatal RTI is higher in the 10-19 years age group (17.3%). Males had twice or more incidence rate for RTI requiring recovery period of ≤ 7 days as compared with females, however, RTI incidence for recovery period of >7 days is more than twice in females.. Also a total of 12 deaths due to RTI were reported in 5-49 years age group in the last 3 years, representing an estimated annual RTI mortality rate of 35.4/100,000 (95% CI 16.6 - 57.8). A total of 11 participants reported RTI related disability in the last 3 years representing an estimated annual RTI disability rate of 34.1/100,000 population (95% CI 11.4 - 55.7). Reports of the Traffic Police Department showed that 18623 accidents occurred throughout the year 2010. These accidents involved 23178 persons, and resulted in the injury of 2025 people and the deaths of 369. In contrast, the health system reports showed that 4232 people had been injured and 1054 had died. Comparison with local & Arab Rates showed that Qassim is among the highest 5 regions in the kingdom regarding the number of RTA Saudi Arabia is also having a very high level of road traffic accidents and fatalities compared to other Arab countries. RTI are responsible for significant loss of life, disability and injury in Qassim population and in Saudi Arabia. The inconsistency between police-reported data and health system data strongly suggests that active efforts to audit and monitor data quality are clearly necessary.

Remediation plan for contaminated areas by naturally occurring radioactivity materials in Syrian petroleum company oil fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shwekani, R.; Al-Masri, M.S.; Awad, I.

2005-08-01

The present report contains a detailed plan for remediation of areas contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive materials in the Syrian petroleum company oil fields. This plan includes a description of the contaminated areas and the procedures that will be followed before and during the execution of the project in addition to the final radiation surveys according to the Syrian regulations. In addition, responsibilities of the main personnel who will carry out the work have been defined and the future monitoring program of the remediated areas was determined. (author)

Remediation plan for contaminated areas by naturally occurring radioactivity materials in Syrian Petroleum Company oil fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shweikani, R.; Al-Masri, M. S.; Awad, I.

2006-01-01

The present report contains a detailed plan for remediation of areas contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive materials in the syrian Petroleum Company Oil fields. This plan includes a description of the contaminated areas and the procedures that will be followed before and during the execution of the project in addition to the final radiation surveys according to the Syrian regulations. In addition, responsibilities of the main personnel who will carry out the work have been defined and the future monitoring program of the remediated areas was determined. (author)

Some comments about the situation of the Steel Industry in the Arab Countries (Arab Steel Summit)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haidar, Y.; Astier, J.

2009-01-01

The Arab Steel Summit, that convened in Abu Dhabi in April, gave us another opportunity to review the situation of the Arab Iron and Steel Industry, with regard to the present World economic context. We will address: - the World situation of steel production, focusing on the Arab Countries; - the related situation of steel consumption; - the steel trade, including imports, exports and prices; - the consequences for technology and economy. (authors)

The Effects of War on Syrian Refugees' Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Ulum, Ömer Gökhan; Kara, Ömer Tugrul

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the effects of war on Syrian students' academic success. No one can deny the fact that wars have direct and indirect effects on children. Besides, no one can deny the fact that not only soldiers are targets in wars, but also children, women, and even old people are, who altogether make a society.…

Leaching of uranium from Syrian phosphorite (sodium carbonate-bicarbonate)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abou-Jamous, J.Kh.

1991-01-01

The leaching of uranium from Syrian phosphorite by sodium carbonate-bicarbonate solution has been studied, using a batch technique. Parameters influencing percentage extraction of uranium that are considered and studies in this work are: Leachant concentration, particle size, heat treatment, leachant renewal, phosphorite renewal and contact time. All measurements of uranium from aqueous solutions were carried out by fluorometry. (author). 12 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Correlations and forecast of death tolls in the Syrian conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujita, Kazuki; Shinomoto, Shigeru; Rocha, Luis E C

2017-11-16

The Syrian armed conflict has been ongoing since 2011 and has already caused thousands of deaths. The analysis of death tolls helps to understand the dynamics of the conflict and to better allocate resources and aid to the affected areas. In this article, we use information on the daily number of deaths to study temporal and spatial correlations in the data, and exploit this information to forecast events of deaths. We found that the number of violent deaths per day in Syria varies more widely than that in England in which non-violent deaths dominate. We have identified strong positive auto-correlations in Syrian cities and non-trivial cross-correlations across some of them. The results indicate synchronization in the number of deaths at different times and locations, suggesting respectively that local attacks are followed by more attacks at subsequent days and that coordinated attacks may also take place across different locations. Thus the analysis of high temporal resolution data across multiple cities makes it possible to infer attack strategies, warn potential occurrence of future events, and hopefully avoid further deaths.

Influencing factors of the 6-min walk distance in adult Arab populations: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Joobeur, Samah; Rouatbi, Sonia; Latiri, Imed; Sfaxi, Raoudha; Ben Saad, Helmi

2016-05-01

Background Walk tests, especially the 6-min walk-test (6MWT), are commonly used in order to evaluate submaximal exercise capacity. The primary outcome of the 6MWT is the 6-min walk-distance (6MWD). Numerous demographic, physiological and anthropometric factors can influence the 6MWD in healthy adults. Objective The purpose of the present review is to highlight and discuss the 6MWD influencing factors in healthy of the healthy adult Arab populations. Methods It is a review including a literature search, from 1970 to September 31th 2015 using the PubMed, the Science Direct databases and the World Wide Web on Google search engine. Reference lists of retrieved English/French articles were searched for any additional references. Results Six studies, conducted in Tunisia (n=2), Saudi Arabia (n=3) and Algeria (n=1) were included. All studies were conducted according to the 2002-American-thoracic-society guidelines for the 6MWT. In addition to anthropometric data (sex, age, height, weight, body mass index, lean mass), the following data were recognized as 6MWD influencing factors: schooling and socioeconomic levels, urban origin, parity, physical activity score or status, metabolic equivalent task for moderate activity, spirometric data, end-walk heart-rate, resting diastolic blood pressure, dyspnoea Borg value and niqab-wearing. Conclusion The 6MWD influencing factors in adult Arab populations are numerous and include some specific predictors such as parity, physical activity level and niqab-wearing.

Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability and validity of the Arabic version of the reduced Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Alghadir, Ahmad; Anwer, Shahnawaz; Iqbal, Zaheen Ahmed; Alsanawi, Hisham Abdulaziz

2016-01-01

to measure lower limb functional disability in patients with knee OA. The ArWOMAC index could be suitable in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries where the language, culture and the life style are similar.

Genetic effectiveness of gamma-irradiation with different emissive power in Syrian hamsters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vyglenov, A.

1990-01-01

The effectiveness of gamma-irradiation with dose rate8 X 10 -2 and 7 X 10 -3 Gy/min was determined. The translocation yield in Syrian hamster spermatogonia was used as index of genetic injury. The results obtained allowed to determine the RBE of the tested dose rate of photon radiation ti 0.8 and 0.4, respectively for 8 x 10 -2 and 7 x 10 -3 Gy/min. In contrast to mice and rats, under the same exposure conditions the mutation rate in Syrian hamsters showed a gradual decline with reducing the emissive power, without sharp changes. The reduction of the extent of genetic injury was also less abrupt. These results once more point to the importance of the mammalian species being used, regarding the manifestation of the effect of the dose rate. 1 fig., 2 tabs., 25 refs

Health Beliefs Related to Diabetes Mellitus Prevention among Adolescents in Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reem L. Al-Mutairi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM is growing rapidly in the Saudi population. The purpose of this study was to assess the constructs of the health belief model (HBM as they relate to T2DM lifestyle and prevention behaviours among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and October 2013 among 426 non-diabetic secondary school students from randomly selected schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An Arabic version of an adapted English language questionnaire was used to assess knowledge and attitudes related to the severity and prevention of T2DM. A preventative behaviour assessment was also conducted to assess physical activity and dietary habits. Results: The majority of the students (63.4% had at least one diabetic family member. Obesity was more frequent in males compared to females (P = 0.013. Awareness about the importance of maintaining a healthy body weight to prevent T2DM was lower in males than females (P = 0.037, although males engaged in routine exercise more often (P = 0.001. Males were less likely than females to recognise the risks for T2DM, including obesity (P = 0.030, heredity (P = 0.013 and high fat intake (P = 0.001. Conclusion: An alarmingly high number of Saudi students were unaware of T2DM severity and associated risk factors. Female students were more aware of the benefits of T2DM preventative lifestyle behaviours than males, although males engaged in routine exercise more often. Raising adolescents’ awareness about the primary prevention strategies for T2DM should be a public health priority in Saudi Arabia. The HBM could inform further research on diabetes prevention among Saudi adolescents.

Cultural competence among nursing students in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, J P; Alquwez, N; Cruz, C P; Felicilda-Reynaldo, R F D; Vitorino, L M; Islam, S M S

2017-06-01

This study assessed the cultural competence of nursing students in a Saudi University. With the current situation of immigration in Saudi Arabia, the cultural diversity in healthcare facilities is anticipated to grow. This presents a great challenge to the members of the healthcare team. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 272 nursing students in a Saudi university using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of two parts, namely the respondents' demographics and cultural background information sheet and the Cultural Capacity Scale Arabic version. The respondents showed the highest competence in their ability to demonstrate communication skills with culturally diverse patients and lowest in the familiarity with health- or illness-related cultural knowledge or theory. Gender, academic level, clinical exposure, prior diversity training, the experience of taking care of culturally diverse patients and patients belonging to special population groups were significant factors that could likely to influence cultural competence. The findings suggest that the Saudi nursing students possess the ability to provide culturally appropriate nursing care to patients with a diverse cultural background. Despite the good cultural competence reflected in this study, some aspects in ensuring a culturally competent care rendered by Saudi nursing students need to be improved. With the country's Saudization policy in health care (replacing foreign nurses with Saudi nurses), the findings can be used in designing training and interventions to meet the needs of Saudi nursing students regarding cultural competence development, which is integral in their preparation to assume their future roles as nurses. Policy guidelines, such as including cultural competency training and foreign languages training as mandatory continuing education for nurses, as well as integrating cultural competency and foreign languages in the prelicensure curriculum, should be developed and implemented in

Examining the Effect of Interference on Short-term Memory Recall of Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Using Free, Cued, and Serial Recall Paradigms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Mohammed Saleh Alduais

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To see if there is a correlation between interference and short-term memory recall and to examine interference as a factor affecting memory recalling of Arabic and abstract words through free, cued, and serial recall tasks. Method: Four groups of undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia participated in this study. The first group consisted of 9 undergraduates who were trained to perform three types of recall for 20 Arabic abstract and concrete words. The second, third and fourth groups consisted of 27 undergraduates where each group was trained only to perform one recall type: free recall, cued recall and serial recall respectively. Interference (short-term memory interruption was the independent variable and a number of recalled abstract and concrete words was the dependent variable. The used materials in this study were: abstract and concrete words classification form based on four factors was distributed to the participants (concreteness, imageability, meaningfulness, and age of acquisition, three oral recall forms, three written recall forms, and observation sheets for each type of recall. Also, three methods were used: auditory, visual, and written methods. Results: Findings indicated that interference effect on short-term memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words was not significant especially in the case of free and serial recall paradigms. The difference between the total number of recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words was also very slight. One other the hand, we came to the conclusion that Pearson’s correlation between interference at these memory recall paradigms (M: 1.66, SD= .47 and the short-term memory recall (M: 1.75, SD= .43 supported the research hypothesis that those participants with oral interruptions tended to recall slightly less Arabic abstract and concrete words, whereas those participants with no oral interruptions would tend to recall slightly more Arabic abstract and concrete

First dinosaurs from Saudi Arabia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin P Kear

Full Text Available Dinosaur remains from the Arabian subcontinent are exceedingly rare, and those that have been documented manifest indeterminate affinities. Consequently the discovery of a small, but diagnostic, accumulation of elements from Campanian-Maastrichtian (~ 75 Ma deposits in northwestern Saudi Arabia is significant because it constitutes the first taxonomically identifiable dinosaur material described from the Arabian Peninsula. The fossils include a series of possible lithostrotian titanosaur caudal vertebrae, and some isolated theropod marginal teeth that share unique character states and metric parameters (analyzed using multivariate statistical methods with derived abelisaurids - this is the first justifiable example of a non-avian carnivorous dinosaur clade from Arabia. The recognition of titanosaurians and abelisaurids from Saudi Arabia extends the palaeogeographical range of these groups along the entire northern Gondwanan margin during the latest Cretaceous. Moreover, given the extreme paucity of coeval occurrences elsewhere, the Saudi Arabian fossils provide a tantalizing glimpse into dinosaurian assemblage diversity within the region.

Climate change and the Syrian civil war revisited

OpenAIRE

Selby, Jan; Dahi, Omar S; Fröhlich, Christiane; Hulme, Mike

2017-01-01

For proponents of the view that anthropogenic climate change will become a ‘threat multiplier’ for instability in the decades ahead, the Syrian civil war has become a recurring reference point, providing apparently compelling evidence that such conflict effects are already upon us. According to proponents of this thesis, human-induced climatic change was a contributory factor in the extreme drought experienced by Syria prior to its civil war; this drought in turn led to large-scale migration;...

Early Childhood Education in Saudi Arabia: Report

Science.gov (United States)

Rabaah, Alqassem; Doaa, Dashash; Asma, Alzahrani

2016-01-01

This paper reviewed the development of early childhood education (ECE) in Saudi Arabia and its strengths and weaknesses. The paper discusses the contextual background of Saudi Arabia, including its geography, demographics, social system, economy, political system and religion. In addition, the paper investigated the education system at large in…

Energy planning in the Arab world

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elshafei, A.N.

1979-09-01

Efficient use of energy is of interest to the energy-surplus regions as well as the energy-deficit regions. Similarly, concern about energy conservation is not confined to the industrially developed regions of the world. This article discusses energy planning from the Arab point of view. A framework for Arab energy modeling is first described. Then the application of a computer model - that of Mesarovic and Pestel - to Arab energy-planning needs is discussed and some of the results are presented. Finally, current priorities in Arab energy-modeling studies are outlined. The Appendix surveys some existing models which address regional and international energy problems.

Medical education research in GCC countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Meo, Sultan Ayoub; Hassan, Asim; Aqil, Mansoor; Usmani, Adnan Mahmood

2015-02-01

Medical education is an essential domain to produce physicians with high standards of medical knowledge, skills and professionalism in medical practice. This study aimed to investigate the research progress and prospects of GCC countries in medical education during the period 1996-2013. In this study, the research papers published in various global scientific journals during the period 1996-2013 were accessed. We recorded the total number of research documents having an affiliation with GCC Countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman. The main source for information was Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science, Thomson Reuters. In ISI-Web of Science, Saudi Arabia contributed 40797 research papers, Kuwait 1666, United Arab Emirates 3045, Qatar 4265, Bahrain 1666 and Oman 4848 research papers. However, in Medical Education only Saudi Arabia contributed 323 (0.79%) research papers, Kuwait 52 (0.03%), United Arab Emirates 41(0.01%), Qatar 37(0.008%), Bahrain 28 (0.06%) and Oman 22 (0.45%) research papers in in ISI indexed journals. In medical education the Hirsch index (h-index) of Saudi Arabia is 14, United Arab Emirates 14, Kuwait 11, Qatar 8, Bahrain 8 and Oman 5. GCC countries produced very little research in medical education during the period 1996-2013. They must improve their research outcomes in medical education to produce better physicians to enhance the standards in medical practice in the region.

Ongoing Epidemic of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis among Syrian Refugees, Lebanon1

Science.gov (United States)

Saroufim, Maya; Charafeddine, Khalil; Issa, Grace; Khalifeh, Haifaa; Habib, Robert H.; Berry, Atika; Ghosn, Nada; Rady, Alissar

2014-01-01

In September 2012, a cutaneous leishmaniasis outbreak began among Syrian refugees in Lebanon. For 948 patients in whom leishmaniasis was not confirmed, we obtained samples for microscopic confirmation and molecular speciation. We identified Leishmania tropica in 85% and L. major in 15% of patients. After 3 months of megulamine antimonite therapy, patients initial cure rate was 82%. PMID:25279543

Avicenna’s Role in Arabic Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

حمید احمدیان

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Avicenna’s Role in Arabic Literature     Nasrollah Shameli *   Hamid Ahmadian **     Abstract     The master and doyen, Avicenna, is one of the prominent savants of the fourth century A.H. Besides medicine and philosophy, he was a master in sciences of his time, and was proficient in Arabic literature. He has peerless anthologies in poetry and prose, in both Arabic and Persian literature. In mysticism, he was tending to the symbolic and allusive style. Hence we find ourselves mystics when we float in “Resalat Altair” (the message of the birds and “Hai ebn Yagdan” (Alive son of the Yagdan, and when we look at his Arabic poems and quatrains we find ourselves at a hospital with the poetry as a cure, and when we enter “Al-Esharat” of Avicenna we find ourselves in a wisdom court, as we are kids obsessed by thousand fictions stalking gravely after wisdom and logic. In this article, an attempt has been made to pick bouquets of colorful flowers, ornated with rhetoric, eloquence, language, inflection, derivation and poetic meters, as we pick from symbolic prose that is full of mystic symbols.     Key words: Avicenna, Arabic literature, poetry, prose   * Associate Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Isfahan .   E-mail: Dr-Nasrolla Shameli@y ahoo.com. ** Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Isfahan.   E-mail: ahmadian1776@yahoo.com.

Difficulties encountered by hospitalized Syrian refugees and their expectations from nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Sevinç, S; Kılıç, S P; Ajghif, M; Öztürk, M H; Karadağ, E

2016-09-01

Treating patients with care and respecting their cultural values are key factors necessary to enhance the quality of nursing care. The objective of this study was to explore and describe the difficulties experienced by hospitalized Syrian refugees and their expectations from nurses and hospital administration. We used a descriptive qualitative research approach to engage 30 Syrian refugees undergoing treatment in internal medicine who met the study criteria. Data were collected using a descriptive questionnaire and a semi-structured interview with open-ended interview questions. Interview transcripts were analysed using an inductive coding approach. Descriptive questions were analysed and presented via number and percentage. Other data were assessed using content analysis methods. Three major themes were developed following the analysis of the interviews. We determined that the refugees who participated in the study experienced difficulties in communicating, meeting their personal needs and correctly following treatment instructions. They also had certain expectations from the hospital administration and nurses, and they felt gratitude for both nurses and the nation of Turkey. The results of this study, shared with the executive administration of the hospital, may result in new policies which will help new Syrian refugee patients and patients with similar needs to have better experience related to patient care, communications and meeting personal needs. It is important that nurses and other healthcare provider consider the difficulties and expectations of refugees regarding healthcare services and include same in the development of provider training programmes. Development of public health welfare and employment law and policies help to lay the groundwork for successful integration of refugees in new cultures and countries. © 2016 International Council of Nurses.

Stool screening of Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in Germany, 2013/2014: Identification of Sabin like polioviruses.

Science.gov (United States)

Böttcher, Sindy; Neubauer, Katrin; Baillot, Armin; Rieder, Gabriele; Adam, Maja; Diedrich, Sabine

2015-10-01

Germany is a partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Assurance of polio free status is based on enterovirus surveillance, which focuses on patients with signs of acute flaccid paralysis or aseptic meningitis/encephalitis, representing the key symptoms of poliovirus infection. In response to the wild poliovirus outbreak in Syria 2013 and high number of refugees coming from Syria to Germany, stool samples from 629 Syrian refugees/asylum seekers aged Syrian refugees and asylum seekers at that time. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Health Information in Modern Standard Arabic (al-ʻArabīyat ul-fuṣḥá)

Science.gov (United States)

... Your Recovery After Cesarean Birth (Part 1) - English MP3 Your Recovery After Cesarean Birth (Part 1) - al-ʻArabīyat ul-fuṣḥá (Modern Standard Arabic) MP3 Your Recovery After Cesarean Birth (Part 1) - English ...

MOOC in the Arab world: a case study

KAUST Repository

Alshahrani, Khalid

2016-12-19

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been spreading and receiving attention worldwide in the last few years. Universities mainly in the USA led the trend in distributing online courses to interested students across the globe. The Middle East is no exception. Recently, the MOOC movement started to gain some popularity in this region. The end of year 2013 witnessed the beginning of the fi rst Arabic MOOC in the Arab World, namely Rwaq. What makes this initiative unique is that the course content is in Arabic, and presented by Arab lecturers to Arabic-speaking students.

MOOC in the Arab world: a case study

KAUST Repository

Alshahrani, Khalid; Ally, Mohamed

2016-01-01

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been spreading and receiving attention worldwide in the last few years. Universities mainly in the USA led the trend in distributing online courses to interested students across the globe. The Middle East is no exception. Recently, the MOOC movement started to gain some popularity in this region. The end of year 2013 witnessed the beginning of the fi rst Arabic MOOC in the Arab World, namely Rwaq. What makes this initiative unique is that the course content is in Arabic, and presented by Arab lecturers to Arabic-speaking students.

Physical therapy education in Saudi Arabia

OpenAIRE

Alghadir, Ahmad; Zafar, Hamayun; Iqbal, Zaheen Ahmed; Anwer, Shahnawaz

2015-01-01

[Purpose] To review the physical therapy educational program model, professional curriculum, and gender representation at major universities, as well as the quality and scope of physical therapy practice in Saudi Arabia. [Methods] Information regarding course curriculum, gender representation, and the quality and scope of physical therapy practice was collected from six universities in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Physical Therapy Association, and the Saudi Health Commission. [Results] The first b...

Health care needs and use of health care services among newly arrived Syrian refugees: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Oda, Anna; Tuck, Andrew; Agic, Branka; Hynie, Michaela; Roche, Brenda; McKenzie, Kwame

2017-05-03

Canada welcomed 33 723 Syrian refugees between November 2015 and November 2016. This paper reports the results of a rapid assessment of health care needs and use of health care services among newly arrived Syrian refugees in Toronto. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Toronto among Syrian refugees aged 18 years or more who had been in Canada for 12 months or less. Participants were recruited initially through distribution of flyers in hotels and through direct referrals and communication with community and settlement agency partners, and then through snowball sampling. We collected sociodemographic information and data on self-perceived physical health and mental health, unmet health care needs and use of health care services. A total of 400 Syrian refugees (221 women [55.2%] and 179 men [44.8%]) were enrolled. Of the 400, 209 (52.2%) were privately sponsored refugees, 177 (44.2%) were government-assisted refugees, and 12 (3.0%) were refugees under the Blended Visa Office-Referred Program. They reported high levels of self-perceived physical and mental health. Over 90% of the sample saw a doctor in their first year in Canada, and 79.8% had a family doctor they saw regularly. However, almost half (49.0%) of the respondents reported unmet health care needs, with the 3 most common reasons reported being long wait times, costs associated with services and lack of time to seek health care services. Many factors may explain our respondents' high levels of self-perceived physical and mental health during the first year of resettlement, including initial resettlement support and eligibility for health care under the Interim Federal Health Program. However, newly arrived Syrian refugees report unmet health care needs, which necessitates more comprehensive care and management beyond the initial resettlement support. Copyright 2017, Joule Inc. or its licensors.

Towards Verbalizing SPARQL Queries in Arabic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Al Agha

2016-04-01

Full Text Available With the wide spread of Open Linked Data and Semantic Web technologies, a larger amount of data has been published on the Web in the RDF and OWL formats. This data can be queried using SPARQL, the Semantic Web Query Language. SPARQL cannot be understood by ordinary users and is not directly accessible to humans, and thus they will not be able to check whether the retrieved answers truly correspond to the intended information need. Driven by this challenge, natural language generation from SPARQL data has recently attracted a considerable attention. However, most existing solutions to verbalize SPARQL in natural language focused on English and Latin-based languages. Little effort has been made on the Arabic language which has different characteristics and morphology. This work aims to particularly help Arab users to perceive SPARQL queries on the Semantic Web by translating SPARQL to Arabic. It proposes an approach that gets a SPARQL query as an input and generates a query expressed in Arabic as an output. The translation process combines both morpho-syntactic analysis and language dependencies to generate a legible and understandable Arabic query. The approach was preliminary assessed with a sample query set, and results indicated that 75% of the queries were correctly translated into Arabic.

Monte Carlo simulation of core physics parameters of the Syrian MNSR reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khattab, K.; Sulieman, I.

2011-01-01

A 3-D neutronic model for the Syrian Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) was developed earlier to conduct the reactor neutronic analysis using the MCNP-4C code. The continuous energy neutron cross sections were evaluated from the ENDF/B-VI library. This model is used in this paper to calculate the following reactor core physics parameters: the clean cold core excess reactivity, calibration of the control rod and calculation its shut down margin, calibration of the top beryllium shim plate reflector, the axial neutron flux distributions in the inner and outer irradiation positions and calculations of the prompt neutron life time (ι p ) and the effective delayed neutron fraction ( β e ff). Good agreements are noticed between the calculated and the measured results. These agreements indicate that the established model is an accurate representation of Syrian MNSR core and will be used for other calculations in the future. (author)

Reference in English-Arabic Translation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ehrensvärd, Martin Gustaf

2007-01-01

have an indefinite NP (less explicit) where the other has a definite NP (more explicit). But are these differences in any way systematic? In an article in Babel, Yowell Y. Aziz shows that remarkable differences obtain in the explicitness of various referring expressions when an Arabic text is compared...... with the culture. As a preliminary test of this option, the article compares the explicitness of the referring expressions in an American novel, Sula by Toni Morrison, and its Arabic translation, and in this way the article applies Aziz’ method, but instead of going from Arabic to English like Aziz, it goes...

Hanna David`s Book: The Gifted Arab Child In Israel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emre KOMEK

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In this article, it was examined Hanna David’s Book: The Gifted Arab Child in Israel. The book focuses on Arab gifted children living in Israel. In Israel three Arab groups are living: Muslim, Christian and Druze. This book contains 7 sections. First Section: A Brief History of Education of Arabs In The State of Israel, Second Section: Characteristics of the Arab Gifted Child in Israel, Third Section: Education of the Arab Gifted Child, Fourth Section: Enrichment Programs for the Gifted in the Arab Sector, Fifth section: Description of Various Kinds of Enrichment Program for the Arab Sector, Sixth section: A Minority within a Minority: Gifted Students in the Christian, Druze and Bedouin Sectors, Seventh Section: The talented Arab Girl: Between Tradition and Modernism. In this book, author gives some suggestions to reveal potential of Arab girls. Some of them are; family support, financial aid etc.

Vitamin-D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms (Taq-I & Apa-I) in Syrian healthy population.

Science.gov (United States)

Haddad, Shaden

2014-12-01

The vitamin D endocrine system regulates bone metabolism and calcium homeostasis as well as cellular proliferation and differentiation. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) mediates Vit-D activity, thus VDR gene polymorphisms may correlate with different diseases. This study aimed to determine the distribution of VDR gene (Taq-I and Apa-I) polymorphisms using a RFLP in unrelated normal healthy individuals of Syrian population. Allelic frequencies were 65% vs 35% and 66% vs 34% for T vs t and A vs a alleles, respectively. Genotype distribution was 36%, 58% and 6% for TT, Tt and tt and 42%, 47% and 10% for AA, Aa and aa, respectively. These results demonstrate that the frequency and distribution of the VDR polymorphisms in Syrian population are different from other populations worldwide.

Antithesis and argument in the hymns of Ephrem the Syrian | Botha ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper reflects research on the semantic structure of antitheses. The thesis being proposed is that the defining quality of antitheses was implemented by the Syrian church father Ephrem as a rhetoric technique to enhance the power of arguments in his hymns. Examples are being investigated to explain the function of ...

The new situation of cutaneous leishmaniasis after Syrian civil war in Gaziantep city, Southeastern region of Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Özkeklikçi, Ahmet; Karakuş, Mehmet; Özbel, Yusuf; Töz, Seray

2017-02-01

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an important public health problem with around 2.000 autochthonous reported cases each year in Turkey. Due to the civil war in Syria, Turkey received around three million refugees and they are mainly located at either camps or homes in south/southeastern part of Turkey. In the present study, we aimed to collect samples from CL suspected patients admitting to State Hospital in Gaziantep City and perform parasitological and DNA-based techniques for diagnosis as well as species identification of the parasite for better understanding the prevalence of each species among Turkish and Syrian patients in the region. The collection of samples was carried out between January 2009 and July 2015. The lesion aspiration samples were taken and stained with Giemsa stain followed by microscopical examination for parasitological diagnosis. After the DNA extraction from Giemsa stained slides, real time and semi-nested PCRs both targeting ITS1 region were performed for molecular diagnosis and species identification. A total of 567 people were admitted to the hospital with the suspicion of CL and 263 (46.4%) of them were found to be positive by parasitological examination. One hundred seventy-four (66.15%), 88 (33.46%) and 1 (0.38%) of them were Turkish, Syrians and Afghan, respectively. Slide samples obtained from 34 CL suspected patients were analyzed by PCR and 20 of them were found positive. Eighteen (13 Turkish and 13 Syrians) of the positive samples were identified as L. tropica, while two (1 Turkish and 1 Syrian) of them were L. infantum. In conclusion, the effects of Syrian civil war on the epidemiology of CL in Gaziantep city is demonstrated in the present study. The use of molecular tool in the diagnosis of leishmaniasis is effective, sensitive and time saving which will enable the species typing. Species typing of the causative agent in endemic areas will bring valuable data to epidemiological knowledge. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All

Arab Americans in Literature and the Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mita Banerjee

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Hollywood has a long history of stereotyping the Arab. From The Cafe in Cairo to The Siege, this Arab – invariably male – figures as the religious fundamentalist who sees in terrorism the only way to spread Islam over the entire globe. Having said this, this is not to argue either that Hollywood is ideologically corrupt, or that Arab (Americans are the only ethnic group stereotyped in Hollywood's cultural imagination. Yet while Hollywood’s Orientalism, which is actually based on a fascination with ancient Middle Eastern heritage, reflects a stereotypical depiction of everything Arab, Arab American literature can be seen as the other side of this projection or stereotype. Where Hollywood dramatizes, through the busting of ancient statues for the cause of terrorism, the Arab's disregard for his own culture, novels such as Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Nada Awar Jarrar's Somewhere, Home set out to preserve precisely a distinct cultural heritage, and go on to celebrate the contemporaneity and complexity of diasporic Afghan and Lebanese experience.

Joint Arab project for building of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosbah, D.S.

2010-01-01

Recently many Arab countries have expressed their interest in adopting nuclear power for electricity generation and seawater desalination in their energy strategies and hence sought assistance from IAEA and Arab Atomic Energy Agency. The Council of the League of Arab States at the summit level encouraged member states to develop peaceful use of atomic energy in different aspects of development, especially in energy generation and to establish a cooperative Arab program in this field. The burden of infrastructure can be reduced significantly if an Arab country forms a sharing partnership with other Arab countries. The sharing can be between two or more Arab states. It can include physical facilities, common programmes and knowledge, which will reflect in economic benefits. The sharing can also contribute in a significant manner to harmonization of codes and standards in general and regulatory framework in particular. This article outlines the major direct benefits of joint nuclear Arab programme to build a Nuclear Power Plants. (author)

Neuropsychiatric disorders among Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Jordan: a retrospective cohort study 2012-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

McKenzie, Erica D; Spiegel, Paul; Khalifa, Adam; Mateen, Farrah J

2015-01-01

The burden of neuropsychiatric disorders in refugees is likely high, but little has been reported on the neuropsychiatric disorders that affect Syrian and Iraqi refugees in a country of first asylum. This analysis aimed to study the cost and burden of neuropsychiatric disorders among refugees from Syria and Iraq requiring exceptional, United Nations-funded care in a country of first asylum. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees works with multi-disciplinary, in-country exceptional care committees to review refugees' applications for emergency or exceptional medical care. Neuropsychiatric diagnoses among refugee applicants were identified through a retrospective review of applications to the Jordanian Exceptional Care Committee (2012-2013). Diagnoses were made using International Classification of Disease-10(th) edition codes rendered by treating physicians. Neuropsychiatric applications accounted for 11% (264/2526) of all Exceptional Care Committee applications, representing 223 refugees (40% female; median age 35 years; 57% Syrian, 36% Iraqi, 7% other countries of origin). Two-thirds of neuropsychiatric cases were for emergency care. The total amount requested for neuropsychiatric disorders was 925,674 USD. Syrian refugees were significantly more likely to request neurotrauma care than Iraqis (18/128 vs. 3/80, p = 0.03). The most expensive care per person was for brain tumor (7,905 USD), multiple sclerosis (7,502 USD), and nervous system trauma (6,466 USD), although stroke was the most frequent diagnosis. Schizophrenia was the most costly and frequent diagnosis among the psychiatric disorders (2,269 USD per person, 27,226 USD total). Neuropsychiatric disorders, including those traditionally considered outside the purview of refugee health, are an important burden to health among Iraqi and Syrian refugees. Possible interventions could include stroke risk factor reduction and targeted medication donations for multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and

Between international donors and local faith communities: Intermediaries in humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraft, Kathryn; Smith, Jonathan D

2018-06-12

This paper explores the crucial part that faith-based organisations (FBOs) play in acting as intermediaries between international donors and local faith communities (LFCs) implementing humanitarian relief projects for Syrian refugees. Humanitarian responses to the mounting Syrian refugee crisis have coincided with greater collaboration between international donors and LFCs. This cooperation often is facilitated by a complex web of non-state intermediaries at the international, national, and local level. This study probes the breadth of roles of these intermediaries, drawing on primary data from case studies of two Christian intermediaries supporting Christian LFCs as they deliver aid primarily to Muslim Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The results of the study are connected to the wider literature on LFCs in humanitarian response, revealing how intermediaries address issues of accountability, capacity-building, impartiality, neutrality, and professionalism. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for further research on intermediaries as key actors in the localisation of humanitarian assistance. © 2018 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2018.

Outpatient admissions and hospital costs of Syrian refugees in a Turkish university hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Tahirbegolli, Bernard; Çavdar, Sabanur; Çetinkaya Sümer, Esin; Akdeniz, Sıdıka I; Vehid, Suphi

2016-07-01

To examine the most frequent admitted polyclinics, diagnoses, and the costs of Syrian refugee patient in a Turkish university hospital in the metropolitan city of Istanbul, Western part of Turkey.  Research methodology consist of analyzing outpatient admissions to the Hospital Polyclinics of Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey from January-June 2014. We carried out diagnosis groups as classified in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification, and analyzed the hospital cost of first admission through records based in the hospital information system.  Median age of 251 Syrian refugee patients is 19 years, inter quartile rate 7-34 years. Patients aged 65 and older compared with those until 18 years and 19 to 64 years aged groups have made statistically significant (p less than 0.001) less hospital admissions. The Most frequented clinic was the emergency clinic. On June there have been significantly (p less than 0.001) more admissions compared with other months. The most common diagnoses were diseases of the respiratory system. The costs of per admission was estimated nearly 48 US Dollar/per patient and the total amount of hospital admissions was 12,031.93 US Dollar.  On the specified dates, the clinics were mostly frequented from Syrian refugees until 18 years group. The most common presenting symptoms are respiratory diseases and most frequented clinic is emergency.

Libya: A Future Arab Democracy

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-21

with the Berber tribes of North Africa. The eastern region of Cyrenaica is more closely associated with the Arab states of the Middle East...Springborg’s analysis is nationalism. Libya has a strong sense of national identity as well as a very homogeneous population that is 97% Berber /Arab

A grammar of Darfur Arabic

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roset, C.J.

2018-01-01

This thesis provides grammatical details on the phonology, morphology and syntax of the Arabic as it is spoken in Darfur (West Sudan). All three of these linguistic fields give evidence that this variety of Arabic is heavily influenced by the other, particularly Nilo-Saharan languages which are also

Spring in the Arab Spring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Borg, G.J.A.

2011-01-01

Column Gert Borg | Spring in the Arab Spring door dr. Gert Borg, onderzoeker bij Islam en Arabisch aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen en voormalig directeur van het Nederlands-Vlaams Instituut Caïro Spring If, in Google, you type "Arab Spring" and hit the button, you get more than

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES AMONG A COHORT OF MULTIETHNIC HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IN SAUDI ARABIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Alnaqeb, Dhekra; Hamamy, Hanan; Youssef, Amira M; Al-Rubeaan, Khalid

2018-01-01

This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practice related to consanguinity among multiethnic health care providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Using a cross-sectional study design, a validated, self-administered close-ended questionnaire was randomly distributed to health care providers in different health institutions in the country between 1st August 2012 and 31st July 2013. A total of 1235 health care providers completed the study questionnaire. Of the 892 married participants (72.23% of total), 11.43% were married to a first cousin, and were predominantly Arabs, younger than 40 years and male. Only 17.80% of the patients seen by the health care providers requested consanguinity related counselling. A knowledge barrier was expressed by 27.49% of the participants, and 85.67% indicated their willingness to have more training in basic genetic counselling. A language barrier was expressed as a limiting factor to counselling for consanguinity among non-Arabs. The health care providers had a major dearth of knowledge that was reflected in their attitude and practice towards consanguinity counselling. This finding indicates the need for more undergraduate and postgraduate medical and nursing education and training in the counselling of consanguineous couples. It is recommended that consanguinity counselling is included in the current premarital screening and counselling programmes in the Kingdom.

Domestic Violence in Arab Society: A Comparison of Arab and Jewish Women in Shelters in Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-Porat, Anat; Levy, Drorit; Kattoura, Ola; Dekel, Rachel; Itzhaky, Haya

2017-09-01

The aim of the current study was to address a gap in the literature by determining prevalence, specific types of violence, and risk factors of intimate partner violence (IPV) among Israeli born Arab women compared with Israeli born Jewish women. The following measures were compared: demographic and socioeconomic measures; measures relating to the characteristics of the violence, that is, the three types of violence (physical, emotional, and verbally threatening), sense of danger, and history of violence in childhood; family support levels; and perpetrator characteristics. The sample consisted of 154 Israeli born Arab women and 149 Israeli born Jewish women who were staying in shelters for victims of domestic violence in Israel. A comparison of the two groups revealed that the Arab women were exposed to more physical violence and received less family support than did their Jewish counterparts. The proportion of Arab perpetrators with access to weapons was higher than that of Jewish perpetrators, whereas the proportion of police complaints against Jewish perpetrators was higher than that against Arab perpetrators. Arab women were also younger, less educated, and less a part of the workforce than Jewish women. The contribution of the woman's age to the variance in levels of physical violence was negative and significant. In contrast, the contribution of her sense of danger, and various perpetrator characteristics, was positive. Moreover, the interaction between sense of danger × ethnicity contributed significantly to levels of violence. This study extends the existing knowledge about the contribution of ethnicity as one of many variables that play a role in the lives of women who are victims of domestic violence and highlights the need to develop, in particular, unique individual, community, and social interventions for Arab women in Israeli society.

The state of health in the Arab world, 1990-2010: an analysis of the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Mokdad, Ali H; Jaber, Sara; Aziz, Muna I Abdel; AlBuhairan, Fadia; AlGhaithi, Abduljabbar; AlHamad, Nawal M; Al-Hooti, Suad N; Al-Jasari, Adel; AlMazroa, Mohammad A; AlQasmi, Ahmed Mohamed; Alsowaidi, Shirina; Asad, Majed; Atkinson, Charles; Badawi, Alaa; Bakfalouni, Talal; Barkia, AbdelAziz; Biryukov, Stan; El Bcheraoui, Charbel; Daoud, Farah; Forouzanfar, Mohammad Hossein; Gonzalez-Medina, Diego; Hamadeh, Randah R; Hsairi, Mohamed; Hussein, Seifeddin Saleh; Karam, Nadim; Khalifa, Shams Eldin Ali Hassan; Khoja, Tawfik A M; Lami, Faris; Leach-Kemon, Katherine; Memish, Ziad A; Mokdad, Ali A; Naghavi, Mohsen; Nasher, Jamal; Qasem, M Bassam Hijawi; Shuaib, Mohammad; Al Thani, Al Anoud M; Al Thani, Mohamed H; Zamakhshary, Mohammed; Lopez, Alan D; Murray, Christopher J L

2014-01-25

The Arab world has a set of historical, geopolitical, social, cultural, and economic characteristics and has been involved in several wars that have affected the burden of disease. Moreover, financial and human resources vary widely across the region. We aimed to examine the burden of diseases and injuries in the Arab world for 1990, 2005, and 2010 using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD 2010). We divided the 22 countries of the Arab League into three categories according to their gross national income: low-income countries (LICs; Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Yemen, and Somalia), middle-income countries (MICs; Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan, Syria, and Tunisia), and high-income countries (HICs; Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). For the whole Arab world, each income group, and each individual country, we estimated causes of death, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), DALY-attributable risk factors, years of life lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs), and life expectancy by age and sex for 1990, 2005, and 2010. Ischaemic heart disease was the top cause of death in the Arab world in 2010 (contributing to 14·3% of deaths), replacing lower respiratory infections, which were the leading cause of death in 1990 (11·0%). Lower respiratory infections contributed to the highest proportion of DALYs overall (6·0%), and in female indivduals (6·1%), but ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of DALYs in male individuals (6·0%). DALYs from non-communicable diseases--especially ischaemic heart disease, mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, musculoskeletal disorders including low back pain and neck pain, diabetes, and cirrhosis--increased since 1990. Major depressive disorder was ranked first as a cause of YLDs in 1990, 2005, and 2010, and lower respiratory

Developing a New Approach for Arabic Morphological Analysis and Generation

OpenAIRE

Gridach, Mourad; Chenfour, Noureddine

2011-01-01

Arabic morphological analysis is one of the essential stages in Arabic Natural Language Processing. In this paper we present an approach for Arabic morphological analysis. This approach is based on Arabic morphological automaton (AMAUT). The proposed technique uses a morphological database realized using XMODEL language. Arabic morphology represents a special type of morphological systems because it is based on the concept of scheme to represent Arabic words. We use this concept to develop th...

Evaluation of outpatient service quality in Eastern Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Fraihi, Khalid J. Al; FAMCO, Dip; FAMCO, Fellow; Latif, Shahid A.

2016-01-01

Objectives: To investigate perceptions and expectations of patients regarding hospital outpatient services by using a service quality gap model and factors influencing such gaps. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study conducted between October and November 2014 in the outpatient waiting areas of a hospital in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, a sample of 306 patients was selected by convenience sampling technique. The data was collected through an Arabic version of the service quality (SERVQUAL) questionnaire consisting of 2 parts: patients’ demographic characteristics, and 22 items scales of patients’ expectations and perceptions of SERVQUAL. The data was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis, independent, and paired t samples tests and one way analysis of variance test. Results: The results showed that the proposed model for service quality dimensions had a good fit by satisfying the recommended values. The patients’ expectations exceeded perceptions in all service quality dimensions indicating statistically significant service quality gaps (t=26.3, pservices showed highest service quality gap, while observation of privacy showed the smallest service quality gap in the statements. The study showed a significant association between gender, age, education, multiple visits, and service quality dimensions. Conclusion: The proposed model is valid and reliable and significant service quality gaps of all 5 dimensions need to be prioritized and addressed by focused improvement efforts of hospital management. PMID:27052285

Metabolic rate changes proportionally to circadian frequency in tau mutant Syrian hamsters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oklejewicz, M; Hut, RA; Daan, S; Loudon, ASI; Stirland, AJ; Loudon, Andrew S.I.; Stirland, Anne J.

1997-01-01

The tau mutation in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) is phenotypically expressed in a period of the circadian rhythm of about 20 h in homozygotes (SS) and about 22 h in heterozygotes (S+). The authors investigate whether this well-defined model for variation in circadian period exhibits

Sustainable Energy Development in Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mounir Belloumi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this research is to study the role of energy consumption in economic growth in Saudi Arabia over the period of 1971–2012 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL cointegration procedure, and based on neoclassical growth, endogenous growth, and ecological-economics viewpoints. Our empirical results show the existence of a cointegrating relationship between the different variables investigated. In addition, all the inputs (conventional and non-conventional Granger cause economic growth in both the short and long runs. Our findings confirm the energy-led growth hypothesis in the case of Saudi Arabia. Hence, energy conservation policies may deteriorate economic growth in Saudi Arabia if they are not followed by measures that improve energy efficiency, energy saving technologies and encourage the investment and use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energies that can participate in the attenuation of climate changes.

Chronic diseases, lack of medications, and depression among Syrian refugees in Jordan, 2013-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Gammouh, Omar Salem; Al-Smadi, Ahmed Mohammad; Tawalbeh, Loai Issa; Khoury, Laurice Sami

2015-01-29

Studying mental and physical health problems in refugees facilitates providing suitable health care, thus improving their quality of life. We studied depression tendency in Syrian refugees in Jordan in the light of chronic diseases and medication availability. Also, depression prevalence and depression comorbidity with chronic diseases were identified. In this multicenter cross-sectional survey, data from Syrian refugees attending Caritas centers in 6 Jordanian cities from November 2013 through June 2014 were analyzed. Participants' demographics, depression, previously diagnosed chronic diseases, and newly diagnosed chronic diseases and the availability of medications were studied. Logistic regression was used to examine predictors for depression. Of 765 refugees who participated, about one-third demonstrated significant depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. Descriptive analyses showed that depression was comorbid in 35% of participants with previously diagnosed chronic diseases and in 40% of participants with newly diagnosed chronic diseases. Newly diagnosed chronic diseases and lack of medications significantly contributed to depression, but the regression model as a whole explained less than 5% of the variance. Because the regression model showed low effect size, we concluded that newly diagnosed chronic diseases and medication shortages could not predict depression in Syrian refugees residing in Jordan. Therefore, further studies of additional factors are recommended. Prompt measures have to be taken to prevent the spread of chronic diseases and improve mental health in this fragile population.

Saudi Arabia: petroleum industry review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shammas, Pierre

2000-01-01

A comprehensive review is provided of Saudi Arabia's petroleum industry covering oil and gas exploration and production, refining, oil and gas trade, marketing and Saudi overseas investments. Profiles of key Saudi decision makers are provided. A statistical appendix includes data from the start of oil production in Saudi Arabia in 1938. Part I Geological potential; Part II The Saudi energy economy; Part III Production capacity; Part IV The oil refining sector ; Part V Exports and logistics; Part VI Overseas petroleum industry investments; Part VII The decision makers; Part VIII Statistical Appendix; Reserves, Production, Exports, Prices 1950 to 1999. (Author)

Code-Switching in Judaeo-Arabic Documents from the Cairo Geniza

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Esther-Miriam; Connolly, Magdalen

2018-01-01

This paper investigates code-switching and script-switching in medieval documents from the Cairo Geniza, written in Judaeo-Arabic (Arabic in Hebrew script), Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic. Legal documents regularly show a macaronic style of Judaeo-Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew, while in letters code-switching from Judaeo-Arabic to Hebrew is tied in with…

Mini Nutritional Assessment for Hospitalized Patients in King Khalid Hospital at Hail city in Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafia Bano

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA has been developed to assess malnutrition in elderly  and to filter those who might get benefited from early diagnosis and treatment. The objective of the present study was to examine the nutritional profile of old age hospitalized individuals through the use of the MNA in King Khalid Hospital at Hail city of Saudi Arabia. Methods: Demographic data was gathered through a questionnaire and a modified version of MNA, which was translated into Arabic and applied to 100 elderly females aged ≥ 45 years to assess their nutritional status . The MNA version modified by  Nestle and translated into Arabic was used to evaluate the patients for this study. The descriptive analysis of variables is shown as the average ± one standard deviation. Results: Mean age of the participants was 61.12±12.4 years ranging from 45 to 92 years. The mean body mass index of total population was found to be 26.9±5.2 ranging from 18.3 to 46.5 kg/m2. The assessment scores and total malnutrition score was found to be decreasing with increasing age, showing a significant inverse correlation (P<0.01. Furthermore, the difference in the screening scores according to the age was found to be statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Because of the high prevalence of elderly patients that were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, a more detailed evaluation of nutritional status, along with a regular follow up and dietary intervention to reverse the situation, of these patients is recommended.

Health beliefs and practices among Arab women.

Science.gov (United States)

Kridli, Suha Al-Oballi

2002-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the healthcare beliefs and practices of Arab American women, specifically those regarding menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and family planning. The information in this paper is derived from the author's experience as a researcher, as an Arab healthcare provider, and from the literature. Guidelines for nurses who provide care to Arab American women are also presented.

Predictive value of body mass index to metabolic syndrome risk factors in Syrian adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Bachir, Mahfouz; Bakir, Mohamad Adel

2017-06-25

Obesity has become a serious epidemic health problem in both developing and developed countries. There is much evidence that obesity among adolescents contributed significantly to the development of type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease in adulthood. Very limited information exists on the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and associated metabolic risk factors among Syrian adolescents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between obesity determined by body mass index and the major metabolic risk factors among Syrian adolescents. A cross-sectional study of a randomly selected sample of 2064 apparently healthy Syrian adolescents aged 18 to 19 years from Damascus city, in Syria, was performed. Body mass index and blood pressure were measured. Serum concentrations of glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were determined. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the national criteria for each determined metabolic risk factor. Individuals with a body mass index 25 to 29.9 were classified as overweight, whereas individuals with a body mass index ≥30 were classified as obese. A receiver operating characteristics curve was drawn to determine appropriate cut-off points of the body mass index for defining overweight and obesity, and to indicate the performance of body mass index as a predictor of risk factors. The obtained data showed that blood pressure and the overall mean concentrations of fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were significantly higher in overweight and obese adolescent groups (p index and some metabolic risks, the data suggest the best body mass index cut-offs ranged between 23.25 and 24.35 kg/m 2 . A strong association between overweight and obesity as determined by body mass index and high concentrations of metabolic syndrome

America's Credibility at Stake: Arab Perceptions of US Foreign Policy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Meyer, Michael

2002-01-01

... and Arab governments as biased against the Arabs and in favor of Israel From the Arab view, two lesser factors that contribute to Arab feelings that US policies are unjust include the long-term American...

Health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological status among Arabs and Koreans in the United Arab Emirates.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hee Jun; Choi-Kwon, Smi; Kim, Hyungjin; Park, Yeon-Hwan; Koh, Chin-Kang

2015-04-01

Cultural variations among ethnic groups may differentially influence health and health behavior. We explored and compared health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological status, including depression, anxiety, and stress, among Korean migrants (n = 117) and Arab nationals (n = 103) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pender's Health Promotion Model guided this research. The Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile was used to measure health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and Lovibond and Lovibond's Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale to measure psychological status. The data were analyzed using bivariate procedures and multiple linear regression. No group differences were found in total scores for health-promoting lifestyle behaviors or psychological status. Both groups scored high on self-actualization and interpersonal support; Arabs scored low on exercise, and Koreans scored low on health responsibility. Across groups, psychological status (β = -.390, p Arab nationals in the UAE. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Saudi Arabia: persistent but tenable deficits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1996-01-01

In this article is described the economic situation of Saudi Arabia. In a first time, Saudi Arabia drew from external reserves to finance gulf war and covered its budget deficits, then the internal debts took over. The actual strategy in order to transfer from state to private national and foreign sector a great part of new projects financing is become a necessity to control the deficits in a country where state is strongly got in debt. (N.C.). 2 tabs

Frequency and spectrum of Wolcott–Rallison syndrome in Saudi Arabia: a systematic review

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Abdelhadi M. Habeb

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Wolcott–Rallison syndrome (WRS is caused by recessive EIF2AK3 gene mutations and characterized by permanent neonatal diabetes (PNDM, skeletal dysplasia, and recurrent hepatitis. The frequency of this rare syndrome is largely unknown. Objectives: To define the frequency and spectrum of WRS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA based on published data. Methods: The Medline database was searched for published articles on WRS. The number of reported cases from KSA was compared to the total number of WRS cases reported worldwide. The genotype and phenotype of WRS patients from KSA were reviewed. Results: Ten articles describing 23 WRS patients from 12 Saudi families from 1995 to 2012 were identified. This figure accounts for 27.7% (23/83 of the patients and 22.2% (12/54 of the families with WRS reported worldwide until January 2013. All Saudi patients with WRS presented with PNDM, and they represent 59% of all PNDM cases from WRS. At reporting, 73% of patients experienced recurrent hepatitis, 56.5% had skeletal abnormalities, and 39.1% of them were dead. There was a variation in the phenotype even between affected siblings. Genetic diagnosis was confirmed in all 12 families with no correlation between the genotype and phenotype. Eight of the nine EIF2AK3 mutations were only reported in these families, and one was shared with a patient from Qatar, a neighboring Arab state. Conclusions: No study on the frequency of WRS has been published. However, the available data indicate that KSA has the largest collection of patients with WRS worldwide, and nine of the identifiable EIF2AK3 mutations appear to be confined to Arabs. Establishing a national or international registry for WRS would provide more reliable data on this rare condition.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of patients attending primary care ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bassam A. Al Bathi

2012-03-18

Mar 18, 2012 ... negative attitude toward vitamin D problems. Planning health ... Studies from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Iran reveal that .... Table 1 General characteristics of participants. Variables. Number. %. Gender. Male. 67. 33.5 .... and vitamin D status in Arab women of childbearing age. East.

76 FR 23830 - Removing Designated Countries From the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS)

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-28

..., Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Over the past six years, the Department of Homeland... Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. See, e.g., 67 FR 67766 (Nov. 6... establishment in 2003, DHS has developed substantial infrastructure and adopted more universally applicable...

Solid waste composition analysis and recycling evaluation: Zaatari Syrian Refugees Camp, Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Saidan, Motasem N; Drais, Ammar Abu; Al-Manaseer, Ehab

2017-03-01

There is a need for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) stream characterization and composition analysis to allow for an accurate estimation of its recycling potential and for effective management of the entire system. Recycling provides employment and a livelihood for vulnerable social groups such as refugees. The aim of this paper is to determine the composition of MSW in Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp, where approximately 430,000 Syrian refugees have passed through the camp. The representative waste samples and analysis included household waste and commercial waste produced by the refugees in the selected districts in Zaatari. The waste sampling was performed in 2015 over two seasons to ensure that the seasonal fluctuations in the composition of the waste stream are taken into consideration. Hand sorting was used for classifying the collected wastes into the categories and subcategories. The organic waste represents the main waste category with 53% of the total MSW, while plastics, textile, and paper and cardboard are 12.85%, 10.22% and 9%, respectively. Moreover, the MSW composition percentage in Zaatari Camp is similar to that in municipalities in Jordan with slight disparity. The potential recyclable materials market has been investigated in this study. Plastics and paper and cardboard have significant potential to be separated and collected for recycling purposes. Financial revenues of potential recyclables have been analyzed based on local prices. Recycling model in the camp is also proposed based on the present study findings. Consequently, these results should be taken as a baseline for all Syrian refugees camps in the Middle East, as well as, in Europe. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Economic Models of OPEC Behaviour and the Role of Saudi Arabia

OpenAIRE

Nourah A. Al-Yousef

1998-01-01

Previous studies of OPEC have suggested ways of explaining the behaviour of OPEC as a group. The specific role of Saudi Arabia in the market and within OPEC has received attention from some authors. This study analyses the role of Saudi Arabia in these models and tries to find how much they explain the role of Saudi Arabia in the period from 1973 to the present. Models of OPEC behaviour are divided into four sets. The first set of models does not address the role of Saudi Arabia; they include...

Phenomenon of displacement in Arabic language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Displacement is one of the characteristics of language and common phenomena in the Arabic language. Not only is this phenomenon limited to Arabic poetry and prose, but it is also broadened, so we can see examples of this in the Qur'an. Because of this phenomenon extensively in Arabic literature and also because of its essence that leads to the transmission of the elements for the first visibility to the other visibility in the sentence and sometimes had to change the grammatical role of the words, its identify helps us in a better understanding of text and the correct translation of it and protects the reader from mistakes. This paper in the descriptive analytical approach tries studying of the phenomenon of the displacement in the Arabic language and bringing its instances in Arabic poetry and prose as well as verses contained in the Holy Quran, to show that through the types and characteristics in the Arabic language and to response to several questions, including: how important is the displacement and what is its types in rhetoric, and the reasons of the displacement, and etc... Of the most important results of this study may refer to the undeniable role of the displacement as a rhetorical method to better understanding of the texts including: one of the most important reasons of the displacement in the use of language is to improve speech verbally and morally, and violation of the standard language and create a poetic atmosphere, and the recognition of the occurrence of the phenomenon of displacement in the Arabic language that uphold different interpretations remote and estimates when faced with the displacement in the text and help us to understand it and etc...

Saudi Arabia and CERN sign protocol

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

On 9 May 2008, Mohammed I. Al Suwaiyel, President of the King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology, representing the Government of Saudi Arabia, and CERN Director-General, Robert Aymar, signed a protocol to the 2006 cooperation agreement between CERN and Saudi Arabia. Members of the Saudi Arabian Government visit ATLAS.The purpose of the protocol is to define the operational framework needed to carry out various specific tasks provided for in the cooperation agreement in order to promote the development of a high energy particle physics community in Saudi Arabia and its ultimate visible participation as a member of the global CERN community. Signing the protocol, Mohammed I. Al-Suwaiyel said: "The Saudi Arabian Government has taken a number of initiatives to promote R&D in the interests of our country’s development and the advancement of science. Thanks to this protocol, Saudi scientists will be able to work towards this go...

Health technology assessment in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Aqeel, Sinaa

2018-05-16

The Saudi government, similar to any other government, is committed to making public spending more efficient, using resources more effectively, and limiting waste. Health technology assessment (HTA) is a tool that informs policy and decision makers regarding the formulation of safe and effective policies that are patient-focused and help to achieve efficiency when allocating limited health-care resources. Areas covered: After a brief description of HTA in the international context, this review provides a brief introduction to Saudi Arabia's health-care system, followed by a delineation of the decision maker(s) and influencers and the decision-making process for pricing and reimbursement. The article then discusses the current status of HTA in Saudi Arabia and proposes four strategic objectives that can form the first step in the development of a formal HTA process. Expert commentary: In Saudi Arabia, facilitators for incorporating HTA into the decision-making process exist. Future local research is needed to guide the implementation of full HTA.

Growth and development in Syrian Awassi ewes during patterns of ovarian follicular different reproductive stages monitored by laparoscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarkawi, M.; Soukouti, A.

2009-06-01

An in situ study was conducted on Syrian Awassi ewes, inside and outside the breeding season, untreated or treated with vaginal sponges together with or without equine chorionic gonadotropin aiming at monitoring the ovaries' diameters, number of different follicular categories, number, diameters and lifespan of corpora lutea in each ovary using a laparoscope and finding out the relationship among these parameters and progesterone concentration. For the first time, it has been possible to characterise the Syrian Awassi sheep at the ovarian follicles level during different reproductive stages using a laparoscope. (author)

Performing Transnational Arab American Womanhood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koegeler-Abdi, Martina

2016-01-01

The first Miss Lebanon-America, Rosemary Hakim, landed at Beirut Airport in July 1955 to start a public diplomacy tour. As an American beauty queen from Detroit visiting Lebanon, her parents' homeland, she was greeted enthusiastically by the local press and closely monitored by US government...... a transnational sense of Arab Americanness to negotiate her own gender and ethnic identity. This is significant because we currently lack a broader historical understanding of Arab American women’s public agency, particularly during the mid-twentieth century. Hakim’s memoir requires us to rethink the history...... of Arab American women’s strategies of self-representation in ways that acknowledge but are not confined within the terms of conventional orientalist discourses....

Are posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex-PTSD distinguishable within a treatment-seeking sample of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon?

Science.gov (United States)

Hyland, P; Ceannt, R; Daccache, F; Abou Daher, R; Sleiman, J; Gilmore, B; Byrne, S; Shevlin, M; Murphy, J; Vallières, F

2018-01-01

The World Health Organization will publish its 11 th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2018. The ICD-11 will include a refined model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a new diagnosis of complex PTSD (CPTSD). Whereas emerging data supports the validity of these proposals, the discriminant validity of PTSD and CPTSD have yet to be tested amongst a sample of refugees. Treatment-seeking Syrian refugees ( N  = 110) living in Lebanon completed an Arabic version of the International Trauma Questionnaire ; a measure specifically designed to capture the symptom content of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD. In total, 62.6% of the sample met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD or CPTSD. More refugees met the criteria for CPTSD (36.1%) than PTSD (25.2%) and no gender differences were observed. Latent class analysis results identified three distinct groups: (1) a PTSD class, (2) a CPTSD class and (3) a low symptom class. Class membership was significantly predicted by levels of functional impairment. Support for the discriminant validity of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD was observed for the first time within a sample of refugees. In support of the cross-cultural validity of the ICD-11 proposals, the prevalence of PTSD and CPTSD were similar to those observed in culturally distinct contexts.

Temporal organization of feeding in Syrian hamsters with a genetically altered circadian period

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oklejewicz, M; Overkamp, GJF; Stirland, JA; Daan, S

2001-01-01

The variation in spontaneous meal patterning was studied in three genotypes (tau +/+, tau +/- and tau -/-) of the Syrian hamster with an altered circadian period. Feeding activity was monitored continuously in 13 individuals from each genotype in constant dim light conditions. All three genotypes

Factors unflinching e-commerce adoption by retailers in Saudi Arabia: Qual Analysis

OpenAIRE

AlGhamdi, Rayed; Drew, Steve; Al-Ghaith, Waleed

2012-01-01

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study researching the diffusion and the adoption of online retailing in Saudi Arabia. It reports new research that identifies and explores the key issues that positively and negatively influence retailers in Saudi Arabia regarding the adoption of electronic commerce. Retailers in Saudi Arabia have been reserved in their adoption of electronically delivered aspects of their business. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia has the largest and fastes...

Pharmacy education in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Wazaify, Mayyada; Matowe, Lloyd; Albsoul-Younes, Abla; Al-Omran, Ola A

2006-02-15

The practice of pharmacy, as well as pharmacy education, varies significantly throughout the world. In Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, the profession of pharmacy appears to be on the ascendance. This is demonstrated by an increase in the number of pharmacy schools and the number of pharmacy graduates from pharmacy programs. One of the reasons pharmacy is on the ascendance in these countries is government commitment to fund and support competitive, well-run pharmacy programs. In this report we describe pharmacy education in 3 Middle East countries: Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. All 3 countries offer bachelor of pharmacy (BPharm) degrees. In addition, 2 universities in Jordan and 1 in Saudi Arabia offer PharmD degree programs. The teaching methods in all 3 countries combine traditional didactic lecturing and problem-based learning. Faculties of pharmacy in all 3 countries are well staffed and offer competitive remuneration. All 3 countries have a policy of providing scholarships to local students for postgraduate training abroad. The majority of students in Jordan and Kuwait are female, while the ratio of male to female students in Saudi Arabia is even. Students' attitudes towards learning are generally positive in all 3 countries. In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, most pharmacy graduates work in the public sector, while in Jordan, the majority work in the private sector.

Assessment of physical inactivity and perceived barriers to physical activity among health college students, south-western Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Awadalla, N J; Aboelyazed, A E; Hassanein, M A; Khalil, S N; Aftab, R; Gaballa, I I; Mahfouz, A A

2014-10-20

Physical inactivity is a public health problem in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the pattern of physical activity, predictors of physical inactivity and perceived barriers to physical activity among health college students in King Khalid University. A total of 1257 students (426 males and 831 females) were recruited. The Arabic short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used. Overall, 58.0% of the students were physically inactive. Only 13.4% of the students performed vigorous physical activity, 14.8% moderate-intensity physical activity and 29.9% walking activities which met World Health Organization criteria of health-enhancing physical activities. The prevalence of inactive leisure time was 47.5%. The independent predictors of physical inactivity were non-membership of sports clubs and being a medical student. The top reported barrier to physical activity among inactive students was time limitations (51.3%). Overcoming perceived barriers may increase physical activity among students.

Labour migration in the Arab Gulf states: patterns, trends and prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Birks, J S; Seccombe, I J; Sinclair, C A

1988-09-01

This paper presents an analysis of recent changes in the scale and characteristics of non-national migration to, and employment in, the 6 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. In 1985, the size of the workforce in the Gulf States was 7.1 million. Non-nationals comprised 68% (in Saudi Arabia) to almost 91% (in United Arab Emirates) of the workforce. 63% of the non-nationals were from Asia. Non-national Arab workers represented 30% of the total. In 1985, 36% of all migrant workers came from India and Pakistan. Almost 30% of the non-nationals were employed in services (financial, personal, and community), and almost 29% were in construction. Non-nationals dominate 3 sectors: construction, manufacturing, and utilities. Non-nationals account for a relatively low 55% of the oil sector. The phenomenal rate of growth in non-national workforces during the mid 1970s began to slow in the 1980s. Labor permit issues peaked in the late 1970s and again in 1983-84. The timing and scale of the decline varies by sending country and by destination, reflecting variations in the rate and extent of the economic slowdown in different GCC states, as well as relative wage rates, occupational composition, and organization of the various labor flows. For example, Indian case worker placements fell by 49% between 1983 and 1986, while the number of Filipinos placed fell by 15%. During the 1980s, most Gulf states have increased efforts to enforce labor and residence regulations, but the number of illegal workers has continued to grow. During the 1st half of the 1980s, demand for non-national labor increasingly turned towards new supplies in South and Southeast Asia, notably Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Meanwhile, an increasing share of Arab and South Asian workers were renewing their work permits, often on less favorable terms. The construction sector has had the greatest decline in new labor inflows; however, the service sector is still growing. Wage

Cesarean Sections Among Syrian Refugees in Lebanon from December 2012/January 2013 to June 2013: Probable Causes and Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Huster, Karin M.J.; Patterson, Njogu; Schilperoord, Marian; Spiegel, Paul

2014-01-01

Introduction: There are nearly 3 million Syrian refugees, with more than 1 million in Lebanon. We combined quantitative and qualitative methods to determine cesarean section (CS) rates among Syrian refugees accessing care through United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-contracted hospitals in Lebanon and possible driving factors. Methods: We analyzed hospital admission data from UNHCR’s main partners from December 2012/January 1, 2013, to June 30, 2013. We collected qualitative data in a subset of hospitals through semi-structured informant interviews. Results: Deliveries accounted for almost 50 percent of hospitalizations. The average CS rate was 35 percent of 6,366 deliveries. Women expressed strong preference for female providers. Clinicians observed that refugees had high incidence of birth and health complications diagnosed at delivery time that often required emergent CS. Discussion: CS rates are high among Syrian refugee women in Lebanon. Limited access and utilization of antenatal care, privatized health care, and male obstetrical providers may be important drivers that need to be addressed. PMID:25191143

Cesarean sections among Syrian refugees in Lebanon from december 2012/january 2013 to june 2013: probable causes and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Huster, Karin M J; Patterson, Njogu; Schilperoord, Marian; Spiegel, Paul

2014-09-01

There are nearly 3 million Syrian refugees, with more than 1 million in Lebanon. We combined quantitative and qualitative methods to determine cesarean section (CS) rates among Syrian refugees accessing care through United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-contracted hospitals in Lebanon and possible driving factors. We analyzed hospital admission data from UNHCR's main partners from December 2012/January 1, 2013, to June 30, 2013. We collected qualitative data in a subset of hospitals through semi-structured informant interviews. Deliveries accounted for almost 50 percent of hospitalizations. The average CS rate was 35 percent of 6,366 deliveries. Women expressed strong preference for female providers. Clinicians observed that refugees had high incidence of birth and health complications diagnosed at delivery time that often required emergent CS. CS rates are high among Syrian refugee women in Lebanon. Limited access and utilization of antenatal care, privatized health care, and male obstetrical providers may be important drivers that need to be addressed.

Fundamental frequency characteristics of Jordanian Arabic speakers.

Science.gov (United States)

Natour, Yaser S; Wingate, Judith M

2009-09-01

This study is the first in a series of investigations designed to test the acoustic characteristics of the normal Arabic voice. The subjects were three hundred normal Jordanian Arabic speakers (100 adult males, 100 adult females, and 100 children). The subjects produced a sustained phonation of the vowel /a:/ and stated their complete names (i.e. first, second, third and surname) using a carrier phrase. The samples were analyzed using the Multi Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP). Fundamental frequency (F0) from the /a:/ and speaking fundamental frequency (SF0) from the sentence were analyzed. Results revealed a significant difference of both F0 and SF0 values among adult Jordanian Arabic-speaking males (F0=131.34Hz +/- 18.65, SF0=137.45 +/- 18.93), females (F0=231.13Hz +/- 20.86, SF0=230.84 +/- 16.50) and children (F0=270.93Hz +/- 20.01, SF0=278.04 +/- 32.07). Comparison with other ethnicities indicated that F0 values of adult Jordanian Arabic-speaking males and females are generally consistent with adult Caucasian and African-American values. However, for Jordanian Arabic-speaking children, a higher trend in F0 values was present than their Western counterparts. SF0 values for adult Jordanian Arabic-speaking males are generally consistent with the adult Caucasian male SF0 values. However, SF0 values of adult Jordanian-speaking females and children were relatively higher than the reported Western values. It is recommended that speech-language pathologists in Arabic-speaking countries, Jordan in specific, utilize the new data provided (F0 and SF0) when evaluating and/or treating Arabic-speaking patients. Due to its cross-linguistic variability, SF0 emerged as a preferred measurement when conducting cross-cultural comparisons of voice features.

Otroctví v Perském zálivu [Slavery in the Gulf region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Hanzlíčková

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Despite the long history of slavery in Arab and Muslim lands, little has been written about this human tragedy. To many Arabs, the issue of slavery is a source of discomfort. It is estimated that eleven million Africans have been deported from eastern Africa to serve in Arab households, harems, armies, agriculture and industry. Abolition of slavery in the Arab world was a consequence of internal political and economic forces- pressure from Western powers and the realization (in enlightened Muslim circles that maintaining slavery would forever bar Arab nations from economic progress. Slavery was sanctioned by the Islamic law and was an integral part of the Arab society. Zanzibar was one of the main channels through which slaves from Africa were transferred to supply the markets of eastern Arabia, Iraq, Persia and even parts of India. Some slaves remained in Zanzibar (famous for its clove plantations while others were transferred to Oman. Through Omani ports (Muscat, Batinah, Sur many slaves were kept for domestic use if they were not resold or shipped elsewhere. African slaves assimilated into the Arab Gulf societies as they lived intimately within the tribes. Slaves played a significant role in the pearl diving industry. Owning slaves increased one´s social status. Slaves married each other and bore children who were enslaved by the same families. British policy in the Trucial states was to grant freedom papers (manumission certificates to any slaves who presented themselves at their mission. Except in Bahrain where slavery was abolished in 1937, it continued to exist in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Trucial coast (UAE. Slavery was abolished in Kuwait in 1949, and three years later its legal status was outlawed in Qatar; in Saudi Arabia in 1962. Slavery in the UAE as an institution it was banned in 1963. The coup de grace was administered to slavery in Arabia in 1970 when Qabus ibn Sacíd became ruler of Oman. Thousands of former slaves

Maternal depression in Syrian refugee women recently moved to Canada: a preliminary study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Asma; Bowen, Angela; Feng, Cindy Xin

2017-07-24

Refugee women are almost five times more likely to develop postpartum depression than Canadian-born women. This can be attributed to various difficulties they faced before coming to Canada as well as during resettlement. Moreover, refugee women usually face many obstacles when accessing health services, including language and cultural barriers, as well as unique help-seeking behaviors that are influenced by various cultural and practical factors. There has been a recent, rapid influx of Syrian refugees to Canada, and many of them are childbearing women. However, little is known about the experiences that these women have encountered pre- and post-resettlement, and their perceptions of mental health issues. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand refugee women's experiences of having a baby in Canada from a mental health perspective. A mixed methods research design included 12 Syrian refugee women who migrated to Saskatoon in 2015-16 and who were either pregnant or 1 year postpartum. The data were collected during a single focus group discussion and a structured questionnaire. Our results showed that more than half of participants have depressive symptoms, half of them have anxiety symptoms, and one sixth have PTSD symptoms. Three major themes emerged from the qualitative data: 1) Understanding of maternal depression; 2) Protective factors for mental health; and 3) Barriers to mental health services. Maternal depression is an important feature in Syrian refugee women recently resettled in Canada. Reuniting these women with their families and engaging them in culturally appropriate support programs may improve their mental health outcomes.

Bread Wheat Quality: Some Physical, Chemical and Rheological Characteristics of Syrian and English Bread Wheat Samples

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Abboud Al-Saleh

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The relationships between breadmaking quality, kernel properties (physical and chemical, and dough rheology were investigated using flours from six genotypes of Syrian wheat lines, comprising both commercially grown cultivars and advanced breeding lines. Genotypes were grown in 2008/2009 season in irrigated plots in the Eastern part of Syria. Grain samples were evaluated for vitreousness, test weight, 1000-kernel weight and then milled and tested for protein content, ash, and water content. Dough rheology of the samples was studied by the determination of the mixing time, stability, weakness, resistance and the extensibility of the dough. Loaf baking quality was evaluated by the measurement of the specific weight, resilience and firmness in addition to the sensory analysis. A comparative study between the six Syrian wheat genotypes and two English flour samples was conducted. Significant differences were observed among Syrian genotypes in vitreousness (69.3%–95.0%, 1000-kernel weight (35.2–46.9 g and the test weight (82.2–88.0 kg/hL. All samples exhibited high falling numbers (346 to 417 s for the Syrian samples and 285 and 305 s for the English flours. A significant positive correlation was exhibited between the protein content of the flour and its absorption of water (r = 0.84 **, as well as with the vitreousness of the kernel (r = 0.54 *. Protein content was also correlated with dough stability (r = 0.86 **, extensibility (r = 0.8 **, and negatively correlated with dough weakness (r = −0.69 **. Bread firmness and dough weakness were positively correlated (r = 0.66 **. Sensory analysis indicated Doumah-2 was the best appreciated whilst Doumah 40765 and 46055 were the least appreciated which may suggest their suitability for biscuit preparation rather than bread making.

Bread Wheat Quality: Some Physical, Chemical and Rheological Characteristics of Syrian and English Bread Wheat Samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Saleh, Abboud; Brennan, Charles S

2012-11-22

The relationships between breadmaking quality, kernel properties (physical and chemical), and dough rheology were investigated using flours from six genotypes of Syrian wheat lines, comprising both commercially grown cultivars and advanced breeding lines. Genotypes were grown in 2008/2009 season in irrigated plots in the Eastern part of Syria. Grain samples were evaluated for vitreousness, test weight, 1000-kernel weight and then milled and tested for protein content, ash, and water content. Dough rheology of the samples was studied by the determination of the mixing time, stability, weakness, resistance and the extensibility of the dough. Loaf baking quality was evaluated by the measurement of the specific weight, resilience and firmness in addition to the sensory analysis. A comparative study between the six Syrian wheat genotypes and two English flour samples was conducted. Significant differences were observed among Syrian genotypes in vitreousness (69.3%-95.0%), 1000-kernel weight (35.2-46.9 g) and the test weight (82.2-88.0 kg/hL). All samples exhibited high falling numbers (346 to 417 s for the Syrian samples and 285 and 305 s for the English flours). A significant positive correlation was exhibited between the protein content of the flour and its absorption of water (r = 0.84 **), as well as with the vitreousness of the kernel (r = 0.54 *). Protein content was also correlated with dough stability (r = 0.86 **), extensibility (r = 0.8 **), and negatively correlated with dough weakness (r = -0.69 **). Bread firmness and dough weakness were positively correlated (r = 0.66 **). Sensory analysis indicated Doumah-2 was the best appreciated whilst Doumah 40765 and 46055 were the least appreciated which may suggest their suitability for biscuit preparation rather than bread making.

Temporal Analysis of Andes Virus and Sin Nombre Virus Infections of Syrian Hamsters

Science.gov (United States)

2007-05-01

Microbiology . All Rights Reserved. Temporal Analysis of Andes Virus and Sin Nombre Virus Infections of Syrian Hamsters Victoria Wahl-Jensen,1 Jennifer...Ye, C., J. Prescott , R. Nofchissey, D. Goade, and B. Hjelle. 2004. Neutralizing antibodies and Sin Nombre virus RNA after recovery from hantavirus

Forecasting the “Arab Spring” of 2011: Terrorist Incident Data from 2000-2010 Offered No Early Warning

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Richard J. Chasdi

2013-04-01

Full Text Available One of the single most predominant questions associated with the so-called “Arab Spring” is whether or not any social research indicators associated with terrorism data are available with predictive value for such profound structural political changes. The underlying aim of this “Research Note” is to take a first pass at the terrorism data and to compare certain terrorism data trends for four countries that experienced successful regime change in 2011, namely Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, to terrorism trends in nine countries where political strains and tensions did not result in full blown regime change. In this essay, those countries include Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. From the start, it should be clear that even though there was non-violent protest in many of these countries, this analysis places singular attention on what both Gurr and Ross and Miller call “oppositional” or “insurgent” terrorism where terrorist assaults are directed at state governments.

Working for change in the Arab world. Advocacy for reproductive health: Arab world.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamand, J

1996-01-01

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) revealed that within the Arab world there are special difficulties with regard to family planning (FP) and the status of women. There is general social opposition to women's empowerment and employment outside the home, which FP associations have to tackle. At the Cairo ICPD in 1994 the Vatican and Islamic fundamentalists formed a holy alliance against undesirable Western ideas. Eventually most Arab governments became convinced about the need for the program of action. A regional conference was also held in January 1996 on this agenda organized by the IPPF Arab World Region in Cairo to implement the program of action with the participation of 140 representatives. The question of population at the Cairo meeting was linked to economic and social development leading up to the women's conference in Beijing in 1995. At the 1996 implementation meeting the unmet need for reproductive health services was voiced along with the need for solid research in this area. FP has a vital role in social development and in combating poverty. The implementation of IPPF's Vision 2000 strategic plan also contributes to the implementation of the ICPD program of action, which deals with sex education, unsafe abortion, marginalized groups, and women's empowerment. Even Islam has come to support responsible FP for the sake of the well-being of the family. The Grand Mufti of Egypt pronounced his support for FP for health and socioeconomic reasons, for the education of girls, and for equality with men. In Arab countries the outstanding problems are early marriage, female genital mutilation, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and ignorance about reproduction. Listening to young people, funding restrictions hampering progress, and an advocacy group of prominent leaders, and the formation of an Arab parliamentarians group on FP were other high points.

[HIGH VELOCITY PENETRATING HEAD AND NECK INJURIES OF SYRIAN CIVIL WAR CASUALTIES TREATED IN THE GALILEE MEDICAL CENTER].

Science.gov (United States)

Ronen, Ohad; Assadi, Nidal; Sela, Eyal

2017-05-01

For two years the State of Israel has been treating casualties from the Syrian civil war. The Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya is the main hospital for this humanitarian mission. Objectives: To evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of the casualties that were treated in our department. Information from medical records of all Syrian casualties evacuated to the Galilee Medical Center were evaluated. Between March 2013 and December 2014, 450 casualties were evacuated to the Galilee Medical Center. Of those, 45 were treated in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. Of the 45 cases, 43 were male (95.5%) and the mean age was 30.4 years (range 1-79 years). There was a significant difference in terms of gender (p Syria, and 12 died. Of all Syrian injured treated in the ENT department, the vast majority were young men. The main cause of injury was gunshot wounds. It is likely that the lack of protective gear that exist in western armies is a factor in the complex injuries treated at the Galilee Medical Center.

ARABIC LIGHT STEMMER (ARS)

OpenAIRE

ASMA AL-OMARI; BELAL ABUATA

2014-01-01

Stemming is a main step used to process textual data. It is usually used in several types of applications such as: text mining, information retrieval (IR), and natural language processing (NLP). A major task in stemming is to standardize words; which can be achieved by reducing each word to its base (root or stem). Arabic stemming is not an easy task. Unlike other languages, Arabic language is a highly inflected language, since it uses many inflectional forms. Researchers are divided on the b...

An Analysis of Educational Policies for School-Aged Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Alpaydin, Yusuf

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyse the educational policies for Syrian school-aged refugees in Turkey. In this study, we identified the policy priorities for refugees by first examining the theoretical approaches to refugee education and the common problems observed for refugee education in different countries. Using this framework, we…

A study in the lexicographical treatment of Arabic synonyms | Heliel ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Recently three dictionaries of Arabic synonyms were published with the aim of helping Arabic learners, writers and translators. Though Classical Arabic lexicography distinguishes itself in the field of synonymy, Modern Standard Arabic lacks reliable dictionaries in the field and hence the importance of analysing these three ...

Career profile of dentists in Saudi Arabia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashri, Nahid Y; AlAjaji Norah; AlMozainy, Mayyadah; AlSourani, Rasha

2009-01-01

The aims of the present survey were to determine whether differences existed between male and female dentists in Saudi Arabia in career development, positions occupied within their employment, and to analyze the effect of different variables on their career development in some of the provinces in Saudi Arabia. A self-conducted questionnaire was distributed among male and female dentists, general practitioners as well as specialists, working at several governmental hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaires consisted of 40 questions in the format of multiple choices and yes/no answer. Data were analyzed by gender with the significant difference level set at (P < 0.05). The response rate was 40.8% of which 51.9% were females and 48.1% males with 70% of them below 45 years of age. No significant difference was found between males and females in having higher education or additional degrees. The specialty that was highly reported among females was pedodontics and in males, orthodontics. Males were more likely to hold authorized administrative positions (63%), while females held administrative positions which were internally arranged by their departments (57%). Eighty-three percent of female respondents thought that there was favouritism towards males in appointment to administrative positions, while only 5.5% of male respondents reported that there was favouritism to females in occupying the same positions. There was no significant difference between male and female dentists in Saudi Arabia with respect to job opportunities, working hours and relationships with their colleagues. In addition, there is evidence of an intensifying determination of female dentists in Saudi Arabia, to pursue their chosen career while coping with the diverse demands of being a professional, a wife and mother. (author)

Interethnic mating and risk for preterm birth among Arab-American mothers: evidence from the Arab-American Birth Outcomes Study.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Sayed, Abdulrahman M; Galea, Sandro

2011-06-01

Arab ethnicity (AE) mothers have lower preterm birth (PTB) risk than white mothers. Little is known about the determinants of PTB among AE women or the role of interethnic mating in shaping PTB risk among this group. We assessed the relationship between interethnic mating and risk for PTB, very PTB, and late PTB among AE mothers. Data was collected for all births (N = 21,621) to AE women in Michigan between 2000 and 2005. Self-reported ancestry was used to determine paternal AE as well as to identify AE mothers. We used bivariate chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression to assess the relationship between paternal non-AE and risk for PTB, very PTB, and late PTB among AE mothers. All analyses were also conducted among non-Arab white mothers as a control. Among AE mothers, paternal non-Arab ethnicity was associated with higher risk of PTB (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.06, 1.30) and late PTB (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.20, 1.38) compared to paternal Arab ethnicity. Paternal non-Arab ethnicity was not associated with risk for any outcome among non-Arab white mothers. Future studies could assess the causal mechanisms underlying the association between interethnic mating and risk for PTB.

Patient’s medicinal knowledge in Saudi Arabia:

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Thamir M. Alshammari

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Patient education is one of the main factors of patient therapeutic plan and without it, the patient may not benefit from his/her medications. Several studies showed the effectiveness of educating patients about their disease(s and their medication(s which ultimately enhance their quality of life especially in chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Concept of patient education is well known and understood in the Western countries while in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia it is not well established despite some efforts made by few big hospitals. In Saudi Arabia, different stakeholders such as hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals, health societies and association and governmental agencies do not do their job as patient education. Aim of this paper was to throw some light about the current situation in Saudi Arabia.

Exploiting social media for Army operations: Syrian crisis use case

Science.gov (United States)

Kase, Sue E.; Bowman, Elizabeth K.; Al Amin, Tanvir; Abdelzaher, Tarek

2014-05-01

Millions of people exchange user-generated information through online social media (SM) services. The prevalence of SM use globally and its growing significance to the evolution of events has attracted the attention of the Army and other agencies charged with protecting national security interests. The information exchanged in SM sites and the networks of people who interact with these online communities can provide value to Army intelligence efforts. SM could facilitate the Military Decision Making Process by providing ongoing assessment of military actions from a local citizen perspective. Despite potential value, there are significant technological barriers to leveraging SM. SM collection and analysis are difficult in the dynamic SM environment and deception is a real concern. This paper introduces a credibility analysis approach and prototype fact-finding technology called the "Apollo Fact-finder" that mitigates the problem of inaccurate or falsified SM data. Apollo groups data into sets (or claims), corroborating specific observations, then iteratively assesses both claim and source credibility resulting in a ranking of claims by likelihood of occurrence. These credibility analysis approaches are discussed in the context of a conflict event, the Syrian civil war, and applied to tweets collected in the aftermath of the Syrian chemical weapons crisis.

Morphology and Spelling in Arabic: Development and Interface

Science.gov (United States)

Taha, Haitham; Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor

2017-01-01

In the current study, two experiments were carried out: the first tested the development of derivational root and word-pattern morphological awareness in Arabic; the second tested morphological processing in Arabic spelling. 143 Arabic native speaking children with normal reading skills in 2nd, 4th and 6th grade participated in the study. The…

Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs

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Al Ali Mahmoud T

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Consanguineous marriages have been practiced since the early existence of modern humans. Until now consanguinity is widely practiced in several global communities with variable rates depending on religion, culture, and geography. Arab populations have a long tradition of consanguinity due to socio-cultural factors. Many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and specifically first cousin marriages which may reach 25-30% of all marriages. In some countries like Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as postnatal mortality and rates of congenital malformations. The association of consanguinity with other reproductive health parameters, such as fertility and fetal wastage, is controversial. The main impact of consanguinity, however, is an increase in the rate of homozygotes for autosomal recessive genetic disorders. Worldwide, known dominant disorders are more numerous than known recessive disorders. However, data on genetic disorders in Arab populations as extracted from the Catalogue of Transmission Genetics in Arabs (CTGA database indicate a relative abundance of recessive disorders in the region that is clearly associated with the practice of consanguinity.

Music in the Syrian city of Ebla in the late third millennium B.C.*

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krispijn, T.J.H.; Dumbrill, R.

2012-01-01

Musicians and musical instruments in the (bilingual Sumero-Akkadian) lexical and administrative texts from the Syrian city of Ebla (± 2300 B.C.) with occasional reference to the musical instruments of the city of Mari (±1750 B.C.)

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE SPIRITUAL COPING STRATEGIES SCALE ARABIC VERSION IN SAUDI PATIENTS UNDERGOING HAEMODIALYSIS.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Jonas P; Baldacchino, Donia R; Alquwez, Nahed

2016-06-01

Patients often resort to religious and spiritual activities to cope with physical and mental challenges. The effect of spiritual coping on overall health, adaptation and health-related quality of life among patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD) is well documented. Thus, it is essential to establish a valid and reliable instrument that can assess both the religious and non-religious coping methods in patients undergoing HD. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale Arabic version (SCS-A) in Saudi patients undergoing HD. A convenience sample of 60 Saudi patients undergoing HD was recruited for this descriptive, cross-sectional study. Data were collected between May and June 2015. Forward-backward translation was used to formulate the SCS-A. The SCS-A, Muslim Religiosity Scale and the Quality of Life Index Dialysis Version III were used to procure the data. Internal consistency reliability, stability reliability, factor analysis and construct validity tests were performed. Analyses were set at the 0.05 level of significance. The SCS-A showed an acceptable internal consistency and strong stability reliability over time. The EFA produced two factors (non-religious and religious coping). Satisfactory construct validity was established by the convergent and divergent validity and known-groups method. The SCS-A is a reliable and valid tool that can be used to measure the religious and non-religious coping strategies of patients undergoing HD in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim and Arabic-speaking countries. © 2016 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.

Cultural competence in working with the Arab Australian community: a conceptual review and the experience of the Arab Council Australia (ACA gambling help counselling service

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Randa Mazbouh-Moussa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Although Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (CALD communities participate less in gambling than the general population, those who gamble are more likely to show signs of disordered gambling (Moore and Ohtsuka International Gambling Studies, 1, 87–101, 2001; Raylu and Oei Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 1087–1114, 2004; Yamine and Thomas The impact of gaming on specific cultural groups, Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority, Melbourne, 2000. Research data on gambling problems and interventions in the Arab Australian community are extremely scarce. Therefore, this article will present an overview of the Arab Australian community and cultural issues regarding gambling within the Arab Australian community. Identifying these issues is important to work effectively with Arab Australians clients and those from other CALD backgrounds. The article also presents a conceptual review of peer-reviewed research articles on cultural competence in working with the Arab clients, the overview of Arab migration history to Australia and a summary of recent events that suggest a tension between Arab and non-Arab Australian communities. Observations and experiences that were encountered during the gambling counselling service operating in the Australian Arab community in New South Wales are also discussed. The research data to validate the effectiveness and positive impact of cultural competence are still in its early stages. However, a small number of community education resources have been available for working with the Arab community. From the data in annual reviews on the Arab Council Australia gambling counselling service, it was identified that cultural beliefs and expectations influence risk-taking decisions, identification of gambling issues, and preference of help seeking within the client’s social network. Further, culturally-specific sensitive issues related to political and global security events, which in turn influenced openness and

Motivation to Teach: The Case of Arab Teachers in Israel

Science.gov (United States)

Husny Arar, Khalid; Massry-Herzllah, Asmahan

2016-01-01

This paper describes an attempt to identify factors influencing teachers' motivation in the Arab education system. In-depth interviews with 10 school principals, 15 teachers and 3 counsellors, yielded three themes influencing Arab teachers' motivation: (1) Arab culture, (2) the school climate and (3) government policies. Arab teachers try to meet…

The Impact of Arab American Culture on Diabetes Self-management Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertran, Elizabeth A; Fritz, Heather; Abbas, Malak; Tarakji, Sandra; DiZazzo-Miller, Rosanne; Pociask, Fredrick D; Lysack, Catherine L; Arnetz, Judith; Jaber, Linda A

2015-12-01

The purpose of this study was to better understand barriers and facilitators of diabetes self-management education (DSME) among Arab American patients with diabetes. Little is known about the impact of Arab culture on DSME. Arab American adults (N = 23) with medically managed diabetes participated in 1 of 3 focus groups. An Arabic-speaking, trained moderator conducted video-recorded sessions. Verbatim Arabic transcripts were translated into English. Transcripts underwent a qualitative content analysis approach. Arab American cultural traditions such as food sharing, religious beliefs, and gender roles both facilitated and at times impeded DSME. Patients also held conflicting views about their interactions with their providers; some participants praised the authoritative patient-physician relationship style while others perceived the gaps in communication to be a product of Arab culture. Participants expressed that lack of available educational and supportive resources are key barriers to DSME. Arab American culture affects DSM activities, and culturally sensitive educational resources are lacking. Development of DSME programs tailored to address relevant aspects of Arab culture might improve DSME outcomes in Arab American population. © 2015 The Author(s).

DALILA: The Dialectal Arabic Linguistic Learning Assistant

OpenAIRE

Khalifa , Salam; Bouamor , Houda; Habash , Nizar

2016-01-01

International audience; Dialectal Arabic (DA) poses serious challenges for Natural Language Processing (NLP). The number and sophistication of tools and datasets in DA are very limited in comparison to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and other languages. MSA tools do not effectively model DA which makes the direct use of MSA NLP tools for handling dialects impractical. This is particularly a challenge for the creation of tools to support learning Arabic as a living language on the web, where aut...

Commitment among Arab Adolescents in Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-Ari, Adital Tirosh; Azaiza, Faisal

1998-01-01

Examines 662 Arab adolescents' commitments to their own self-development, family, Arab people, and village along with the order in which these commitments are structured. Reveals that the two prevalent patterns of adolescent commitment, individualistic and collectivistic, demonstrate the adolescents' struggle with these value systems and the…

Arab Journal of Nephrology and Transplantation

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Arab Journal of Nephrology and Transplantation is the official publication of the Arab Society of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation. It publishes original articles pertaining to various aspects of renal medicine, as well as editorials, reviews, case reports, short communications, guidelines and statistical data pertaining ...

United Arab Emirates.

Science.gov (United States)

1985-02-01

This discussion of the United Arab Emirates focuses on the following: the people; geography; history; government; political conditions; defense; the economy; foreign relations; and relations between the US and the United Arab Emirates. In 1983 the population was estimated at 1,194,000. In 1984 the annual growth rate was negative. Life expectancy is about 60 years. Fewer than 20% of the population are UAE citizens. Indigenous Emiris are Arab; the rest of the population includes significant numbers of other Arabs -- Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Yemenis, Omanis, as well as many Iranians, Pakistanis, Indians, and West Europeans, especially in Dubai. The UAE is in the eastern Arabian Peninsula, bounded on the north by the Persian Gulf. European and Arab pirates roamed the Trucial Coast area from the 17th century into the 19th century. Early British expeditions against the pirates led to further campaigns against their headquarters. Piracy continued intermittently until 1835, when the shaikhs agreed not to engage in hostilities at sea. Primarily in reaction to the ambitions of other European countries, the UK and the Trucial States established closer bonds in an 1892 treaty. In 1968 the British government announced its decision, reaffirmed in March 1971, to end the treaty relationship with the gulf shaikhdoms. When the British protective treaty with the Trucial Shaikhdoms ended on December 1, they became fully independent. On December 2, 1971, 6 of them entered into a union called the United Arab Emirates. The 7th, Ras al-Khaimah, joined in early 1972. Administratively, the UAE is a loose federation of 7 emirates, each with its own ruler. The pace at which local government in each emirate is evolving, from traditional to modern, is set primarily by the ruler. Under the provisional constitution of 1971, each emirate reserves considerable powers, including control over mineral rights, taxation, and police powers. In this milieu, the growth of federal powers has

Neurology Research in Saudi Arabia: Urgent call for action.

Science.gov (United States)

Algahtani, Hussein; Shirah, Bader; Boker, Faisal; Algamdi, Albaraa; Alkahtani, Abdulah

2017-08-01

Research activities in Saudi Arabia are promoted at the governmental and institutional levels. However, the output and quality of research conducted in the field of neurology has not yet been measured quantitatively. This study therefore aimed to analyse neurology-related publications from Saudi Arabia. This study was conducted in January 2016. A systematic search using the PubMed ® search engine (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) was conducted to identify all neurology-related articles published from Saudi Arabia between January 1996 and December 2015. A total of 1,292 neurology-related publications were identified. Neurology research increased linearly with time, with most publications originating from Riyadh (67%) and the university sector (≈47%). However, most neurology-related articles were published in journals which had an impact factor of Saudi Arabia has increased substantially over the last 20 years. However, as most articles were published in low-impact journals, the quality of research remains inadequate and should be improved. It is important that an official research culture be established in both governmental and private universities as well as colleges and health institutions in Saudi Arabia. The formation of clinical academic departments staffed by research experts is recommended to ensure the quality of neurology research output.

THE PROBLEM OF SYRIAN REFUGEES IN EUROPE AND JOHN RAWLS'S THEORY OF JUSTICE

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Érika Rigotti Furtado

2018-03-01

Full Text Available One of the painful problems of the current world reality is the situation of Syrian refugees, many of whom choose Europe as a destination. This migratory process is the result of a violent civil war, which devastates the population of Syria over the last six years. The Syrian conflict is part of an international scenario where geopolitical relations no longer behave as they were in the beginning of the process of globalization and human rights seek to survive as an essential instrument for maintaining civility. Thus, this study had as objective to analyze the questions around the migratory flow, in the light of the Theory of Justice of John Rawls, whose proposal alerts to the traps of the utilitarianism and preaches the cooperation between the human beings. As a response to the proposed comparison, it was observed the difficulty in extending the idea of justice, in the manner thought by Rawls, to the tension addressed, since the power of fraternity is precisely made.

Posttraumatic Stress Among Syrian Refugees: Trauma Exposure Characteristics, Trauma Centrality, and Emotional Suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Man Cheung; Shakra, Mudar; AlQarni, Nowf; AlMazrouei, Mariam; Al Mazrouei, Sara; Al Hashimi, Shurooq

2018-03-01

This study revisited the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and examined a hypothesized model describing the interrelationship between trauma exposure characteristics, trauma centrality, emotional suppression, PTSD, and psychiatric comorbidity among Syrian refugees. A total of 564 Syrian refugees participated in the study and completed the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), Centrality of Event Scale, and Courtauld Emotional Control Scale. Of the participants, 30% met the cutoff for PTSD. Trauma exposure characteristics (experiencing or witnessing horror and murder, kidnapping or disappearance of family members or friends) were associated with trauma centrality, which was associated with emotional suppression. Emotional suppression was associated with PTSD and psychiatric comorbid symptom severities. Suppression mediated the path between trauma centrality and distress outcomes. Almost one-third of refugees can develop PTSD and other psychiatric problems following exposure to traumatic events during war. A traumatized identity can develop, of which life-threatening experiences is a dominant feature, leading to suppression of depression with associated psychological distress.

Enamelin/ameloblastin gene polymorphisms in autosomal amelogenesis imperfecta among Syrian families.

Science.gov (United States)

Dashash, Mayssoon; Bazrafshani, Mohamed Riza; Poulton, Kay; Jaber, Saaed; Naeem, Emad; Blinkhorn, Anthony Stevenson

2011-02-01

  This study was undertaken to investigate whether a single G deletion within a series of seven G residues (codon 196) at the exon 9-intron 9 boundary of the enamelin gene ENAM and a tri-nucleotide deletion at codon 180 in exon 7 (GGA vs deletion) of ameloblastin gene AMBN could have a role in autosomal amelogenesis imperfecta among affected Syrian families.   A new technique - size-dependent, deletion screening - was developed to detect nucleotide deletion in ENAM and AMBN genes. Twelve Syrian families with autosomal-dominant or -recessive amelogenesis imperfecta were included.   A homozygous/heterozygous mutation in the ENAM gene (152/152, 152/153) was identified in affected members of three families with autosomal-dominant amelogenesis imperfecta and one family with autosomal-recessive amelogenesis imperfecta. A heterozygous mutation (222/225) in the AMBN gene was identified. However, no disease causing mutations was found. The present findings provide useful information for the implication of ENAM gene polymorphism in autosomal-dominant/-recessive amelogenesis imperfecta.   Further investigations are required to identify other genes responsible for the various clinical phenotypes. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

The Arab genome: Health and wealth.

Science.gov (United States)

Zayed, Hatem

2016-11-05

The 22 Arab nations have a unique genetic structure, which reflects both conserved and diverse gene pools due to the prevalent endogamous and consanguineous marriage culture and the long history of admixture among different ethnic subcultures descended from the Asian, European, and African continents. Human genome sequencing has enabled large-scale genomic studies of different populations and has become a powerful tool for studying disease predictions and diagnosis. Despite the importance of the Arab genome for better understanding the dynamics of the human genome, discovering rare genetic variations, and studying early human migration out of Africa, it is poorly represented in human genome databases, such as HapMap and the 1000 Genomes Project. In this review, I demonstrate the significance of sequencing the Arab genome and setting an Arab genome reference(s) for better understanding the molecular pathogenesis of genetic diseases, discovering novel/rare variants, and identifying a meaningful genotype-phenotype correlation for complex diseases. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Global Financial Crisis and the Arab World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brach, Juliane; Loewe, Markus

2010-01-01

Much has been written on the impact of the global financial crisis on Europe, Asia and the Americas but only little on the Arab states. This article makes an early attempt to take stock of recent developments in the Arab world and offers a systematic approach to disentangle the various inter......-linkages and effects of the crisis on the region. It argues that most Arab countries might be lucky and get off lightly, especially the energy-importing Arab countries which have proved not to be very vulnerable because they are only weakly integrated into global trade and capital markets. The energy exporters have...

Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of food hygiene among schools students' in Majmaah city, Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Almansour, Mohammed; Sami, Waqas; Al-Rashedy, Oliyan Shoqer; Alsaab, Rayan Saad; Alfayez, Abdulrahman Saad; Almarri, Nawaf Rashed

2016-04-01

To determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of food hygiene among primary, intermediate and high school students and explore association, if any, with socio-demographic differences. The observational cross-sectional study was conducted at boy's schools in Majmaah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from February to May 2014. Data was collected using stratified random sampling technique from students aged 8-25 year. Two schools from each level (primary, intermediate and high school) were randomly selected and data was collected from the selected schools using simple random sampling method. A self-administered modified Sharif and Al-Malki questionnaire for knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene was used with Arabic translation. The mean age of 377 male students in the study was 14.53±2.647 years. Knowledge levels was less in primary school students compared to high school students (p=0.026). Attitude level was high in primary school students compared to intermediate school students (pstudents exhibited good practice levels, despite fair knowledge and attitude levels.