WorldWideScience

Sample records for middle east water

  1. The Water Conflict in the Middle East

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    1997-01-01

    The water conflict in the Middle East is reaching a crisis peak. The region suffers from a shortage of water, a high rate of population growth and the absence of a clear criteria for sharing waters within the region...

  2. Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East ...

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

    Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East : Current Practices and Future Needs. Couverture du livre Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East : Current Practices. Directeur(s) : David B. Brooks, Eglal Rached et Maurice Saade. Maison(s) d'édition : CRDI. 1 janvier 1997. ISBN : Épuisé.

  3. Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East ...

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

    1997-01-01

    Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East : Current Practices and Future Needs. Couverture du livre Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East : Current Practices. Editor(s):. David B. Brooks, Eglal Rached et Maurice Saade. Publisher(s):. CRDI. January 1, 1997. ISBN: Épuisé. 78 pages.

  4. Water Management in Africa and the Middle East: Challenges and ...

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

    Book cover Water Management in Africa and the Middle East: Challenges and ... key issues and trends, and map out strategies for further research and action. ... and adaptive water management: Innovative solutions from the Global South”.

  5. Water in the Middle East, a Secondary and College Level Multi-Media Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manneberg, Eliezer

    The secondary and college level guide outlines a course of study on the Middle East, with emphasis on water problems of the area. Among the course objectives are the following: (1) make generalizations about particular Middle Eastern cultures and support them with evidence; (2) interpret environmental and social data from specific Middle Eastern…

  6. Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East ...

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

    Throughout Africa and the Middle East, supplies of fresh water for growing and ... As well, additional sources of supply are becoming scarce and more expensive to ... This publication documents WDM research activities in North Africa and the ... Adaptation strategies for two Colombian cities were discussed at ADAPTO's ...

  7. Water: The Hydraulic Parameter of Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kiser, Stephen D

    2000-01-01

    ...). Water is a primary concern of most governments in the Middle East and North Africa. A myriad of synergistic variables are exponentially increasing demands for water, while simultaneously decreasing the region's ability to supply...

  8. Water Management in Africa and the Middle East: Challenges and ...

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

    Book cover Water Management in Africa and the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities. Directeur(s) : Eglal Rached, Eva Rathgeber, and David B. ... HarassMap et Uber Égypte nouent un partenariat pour sensibiliser la population à la question du harcèlement sexuel. L'organisation HarassMap, soutenue par le CRDI, ...

  9. Water as a Human Right for the Middle East and North Africa | IDRC ...

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

    2008-07-11

    Jul 11, 2008 ... Water as a Human Right for the Middle East and North Africa ... Asit K. Biswas is President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Atizapan, Mexico. ... the International Centre for Water, Zaragoza, Spain and President, International Water Resources Association. ... Careers · Contact Us · Site map.

  10. Water resources trends in Middle East and North Africa towards 2050

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Droogers, P.; Immerzeel, W.W.; Terink, W.; Hoogeveen, J.; Bierkens, M.F.P.; Beek, L.P.H. van; Debele, B.

    Changes in water resources availability can be expected as consequences of climate change, population growth, economic development and environmental considerations. A two-stage modeling approach is used to explore the impact of these changes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. An

  11. Water and Land Limitations to Future Agricultural Production in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, J. A. M.; Wimmer, F.; Schaldach, R.

    2015-12-01

    Countries in the Middle East use a large fraction of their scarce water resources to produce cash crops, such as fruit and vegetables, for international markets. At the same time, these countries import large amounts of staple crops, such as cereals, required to meet the nutritional demand of their populations. This makes food security in the Middle East heavily dependent on world market prices for staple crops. Under these preconditions, increasing food demand due to population growth, urban expansion on fertile farmlands, and detrimental effects of a changing climate on the production of agricultural commodities present major challenges to countries in the Middle East that try to improve food security by increasing their self-sufficiency rate of staple crops.We applied the spatio-temporal land-use change model LandSHIFT.JR to simulate how an expansion of urban areas may affect the production of agricultural commodities in Jordan. We furthermore evaluated how climate change and changes in socio-economic conditions may influence crop production. The focus of our analysis was on potential future irrigated and rainfed production (crop yield and area demand) of fruit, vegetables, and cereals. Our simulation results show that the expansion of urban areas and the resulting displacement of agricultural areas does result in a slight decrease in crop yields. This leads to almost no additional irrigation water requirements due to the relocation of agricultural areas, i.e. there is the same amount of "crop per drop". However, taking into account projected changes in socio-economic conditions and climate conditions, a large volume of water would be required for cereal production in order to safeguard current self-sufficiency rates for staple crops. Irrigation water requirements are expected to double until 2025 and to triple until 2050. Irrigated crop yields are projected to decrease by about 25%, whereas there is no decrease in rainfed crop yields to be expected.

  12. Water Hyacinth in Africa and the Middle East: A Survey of Problems ...

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

    2001-01-01

    Jan 1, 2001 ... Freshwater infestation by the water hyacinth weed has reached crisis proportions in many areas of Africa and the Middle East. Accumulated environmental, economic, and social damages to date are estimated in the billions of dollars. Most severely affected are riparian communities and those people who ...

  13. The 21st Century Challenges and the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moradkhani, H.; Hameed, M.

    2017-12-01

    Developing countries have experienced crucial conditions in meeting the needs for food, energy, and water security. This paper presents a country-level quantitative assessment of the current issues associated with the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East region. In this study, sixteen countries in the Middle East region are chosen, namely, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Turkey. The most recent datasets are used to study and analyze the factors that have emerged the demand to understand and manage the linkage of FEW systems in the region. Water scarcity, extreme events, population growth, urbanization, economic growth, poverty, and political stability are found to be the key drivers of the current challenges in the Middle East region. Additionally, the results suggest that these factors have created a subsequent stress on FEW resources specifically on water sector in the region. Therefore, more attention is required to sustain the FEW resources and cope with the socio-economic development.

  14. Water and power for the desert -- Energy solutions for the Near and Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Siersdorfer, D.

    2007-07-01

    2007 will mark a unique milestone in human history: for the first time ever, more people on earth will live and work in cities than in rural areas. Moreover, only four of the twenty biggest megacities with populations over 10 million will be in industrial nations; the others will be in threshold and developing countries. Accelerating urbanization and economic growth will fuel a massive demand for adequate infrastructures - such as power and water supplies. Reliable and economical supply of power and water to populations in regions of harsh environments, e.g. in the Near and Middle East, ensures basic survival rather than merely providing for a pleasant life. Economical supply of power and water for desert regions requires a wide mix of reliable technologies already available today and new technologies under development for future needs. Siemens Power Generation's Energy Solution Division, having proven its responsiveness in the past by playing a vital role in the development of the Near and Middle East, will continue to provide answers in future for meeting power and water demand within the regionally specific environment. (auth)

  15. Middle East - future perspectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lior, Y.

    1997-01-01

    Facts concerning the basic features of Tlatelolco Treaty are discussed in comparison with the Middle East situation which is described as a special case. Countries in the Middle East should attain political, social and ideological maturity necessary for the adoption of negotiating strategies suitable for this particular region

  16. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    2014-07-07

    This podcast discusses Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, a viral respiratory illness caused by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus—MERS-CoV.  Created: 7/7/2014 by National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD).   Date Released: 7/7/2014.

  17. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; MERS-CoV; Novel coronavirus; nCoV ... for Disease Control and Prevention website. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS): Frequently asked questions and answers. www. ...

  18. Water as a Source of Cooperation or Conflict in the Middle East,

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-05-14

    supported Middle East study on "The Future of Islamic Fundementalism in the Arab World in the 1980’s," and find them very helpful. We will welcome...into an economic crisis that permitted no investment in industrial Infrastruc- ture. The austerity program and food rationing only ended in 1955. Jordan...agricultural facilities were installed in the 1970s, is already heavily invested in water-saving drip irrigation. Israel’s installation& installed earlier, are

  19. Water Availability in the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin and the Middle East from GRACE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voss, K.; Famiglietti, J. S.; Lo, M.; de Linage, C.; Swenson, S. C.; Rodell, M.

    2010-12-01

    As water security becomes more tenuous, conflicts and disputes over the appropriate management and allocation of transboundary water resources are sure to arise. In particular, the Middle East faces extreme scarcity as a result of both natural climate variations and the impacts of water management decisions and policies. A recent drought, which began in 2007, caused regional hardships as precious water resources dwindled and collaboration between nations failed to accommodate shared needs. In this work, the area surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates River Basin was selected as a case study to evaluate trends in fresh water availability. Because few complete datasets exist for precipitation, streamflow, evapotranspiration, groundwater or surface water in the area, remote sensing techniques, including GRACE and altimetry, as well as land-surface models were utilized to develop an understanding of the regional hydrology. These observations and model results were used to estimate trends in total water storage and its individual components - soil moisture, snow water equivalent, surface water and groundwater. GRACE data show a clear decrease in total water storage in the Middle East from January 2003 to December 2009, and indicate that the selected region experienced a total volume loss of 143 km3 of water. Supporting datasets suggest that approximately two-thirds of this was a loss of groundwater. These results highlight the impacts of drought conditions on groundwater consumption and of agricultural expansion on available water resources in the region. Furthermore, they raise important political issues regarding water use in transboundary river basins and aquifers, while amplifying the need for increased monitoring and datasets for the core components of the water budget.

  20. Funding problems threaten Middle East's synchrotron

    CERN Multimedia

    McCabe, H

    1999-01-01

    Scientists will tour the Middle East to try to raise support for the Synchrotron radiation for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East project. The plan is to dismantle and move a decommissioned synchrotron from Berlin to the Middle East where scientists of any nationality would be able to use it (3 paragraphs).

  1. Middle East and North African Oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Quazzaz, Ayad

    1981-01-01

    Traces the history of oil and natural gas in the Middle East and relates the importance of the Middle East's current stores of oil to economic development. Information is presented on the relationship of major oil companies and local governments, OPEC, rate of production, and the impact of oil on the societies of the Middle East and North Africa.…

  2. A nuclear-weapon-free Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jortner, Joshua

    1986-01-01

    The paper examines the issue of nuclear-weapon States involvement in regional conflicts, and whether such a conflict in the Middle East could trigger a nuclear war between the Super-Powers. Comments on the Middle Eastern situation are given, along with a discussion of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Middle East, Israel and the NPT, and the nuclear potential in Arab countries. The proposal, by Israel, of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East is outlined. (UK)

  3. Climatic changes and water resources in the Middle East and North Africa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zereini, Fathi [Frankfurt Univ. (Germany). Inst. for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences; Hoetzl, Heinz (eds.) [Karlsruhe Univ. (Germany). Inst. Geologie

    2008-07-01

    ''Climatic Change and Water Resources in the Middle East and North Africa'' is dedicated to high-priority topics related to the impact of climate change on water resources in a water scarce region. The subject is described and discussed in three main chapters and different case studies. The three main chapters are (1) Climatic changes - sources and effects on the water cycle, (2) Impact of climate change on water resources, (3) Water resources and water management. These chapters are split up into further 26 sections. A total of 64 individuals from many countries have made contributions to this book. All topics in this book are complimentary and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between global climate change, world water cycle and water resources. A valuable and meaningful interdisciplinary mixture of topics is combined in this book which will be of great interest to many scientists. (orig.)

  4. Greywater Use in the Middle East: Technical, Social, Economic and ...

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

    2011-03-15

    Mar 15, 2011 ... ... areas of the Middle East, greywater (household wastewater excluding toilet waste) is commonly used by poor communities to irrigate home gardens. ... in the fields of water supply, water reuse, livelihoods and agriculture.

  5. World review: Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2000-01-01

    The article gives information on contracts announced (and to whom) and recently completed in some parts of the Middle East in the petroleum, natural gas and petrochemicals industries. Areas specifically mentioned are Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. The prospects for the petrochemical industry in particular are good and continued growth is expected. Gas is likely to make an increasingly important contribution to the prosperity of the Middle East and is expected to carry a higher priority than expansion of crude oil production

  6. Soccer: Moulding the Middle East and North Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Dorsey, J.M.

    2016-01-01

    Nowhere in the world has sports in general and soccer in particular played such a key role in the development of a region than in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, the nexus of sports, politics and society is one area that Middle East studies with few exceptions have ignored. Similarly, sports studies have focused on all parts of the world with one exception: the Middle East and North Africa. Nonetheless, sports and particularly soccer has been in various parts of the Middle East key to ...

  7. Proceedings of the French Senate conference 'Going Nuclear in the Middle East - In search of an European Middle East policy'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larcher, G.; De Rohan, J.; Malley, R.; Francois-Poncet, J.; Boroumand, L.; Cordesman, A.H.; Alani, M.; Hourcade, B.; Cerisier-ben Guiga, M.; Shihabi, M.; Singh, M.; Siegman, H.; Aubin De La Messuziere, Y.; Boillon, B.; Yasseen, F.; Barzani, M.; Chouet, A.; Filiu, J.P.; Heisbourg, F.; Giuliani, J.D.; Asseburg, M.; Spencer, C.; Solana Madagaria, J.

    2010-01-01

    The Middle East today is quite clearly one of the global hotspots of the world. It is also a big challenge for the international community. The interests are due to geography, history, economics and also to the fact that what takes place in the Middle East is important for the security of rest of the world. These two days of conference organised by the French Senate took stock of the Middle East question through 6 round tables dealing with: 1 - General overview Nuclear Islam in the Middle East; 2 - How likely is a successful dialogue with Iran? 3 - What Future for the Palestinian People? 4 - 2010, A Renaissance for Iraq? 5 - The Latest on Al Qaeda? 6 - In search of a European Union Policy for the Middle East. This document gathers the talks of the different experts and the questions and answers from the participants. (J.S.)

  8. Middle East natural gas - getting it to markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skinner, R.

    1996-01-01

    Middle East gas reserves, production, and consumption were presented graphically, along with the demand for 'piped' or liquefied natural gas in the Middle East itself, in Asia and in Europe. The European gas market outlook was examined, taking into account economic growth, EEC restructuring, crude oil prices and their effects on net-backs, deregulation and competitive grid-based energy, upstream and midstream investments under conditions of price uncertainty, and environmental and social influences. Middle East pipeline proposals (17 projects) for a total of 34,943 kilometres of pipeline, were reviewed. The general conclusion was that (1) the Middle East has lots of gas, (2) both Asia and Europe will be substantial markets for Middle East LNG despite the 'tyranny of distance', and (3) pipelines to these markets will be built in the longer-term. tabs., figs

  9. Water resources trends in Middle East and North Africa towards 2050

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Droogers

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Changes in water resources availability can be expected as consequences of climate change, population growth, economic development and environmental considerations. A two-stage modeling approach is used to explore the impact of these changes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region. An advanced, physically based, distributed, hydrological model is applied to determine the internal and external renewable water resources for the current situation and under future changes. Subsequently, a water allocation model is used to combine the renewable water resources with sectoral water demands. Results show that total demand in the region will increase to 393 km3 yr−1 in 2050, while total water shortage will grow to 199 km3 yr−1 in 2050 for the average climate change projection, an increase of 157 km3 yr−1. This increase in shortage is the combined impact of an increase in water demand by 50% with a decrease in water supply by 12%. Uncertainty, based on the output of the nine GCMs applied, reveals that expected water shortage ranges from 85 km3 yr−1 to 283 km3 yr−1~in 2050. The analysis shows that 22% of the water shortage can be attributed to climate change and 78% to changes in socio-economic factors.

  10. The politics of assessment: water and sanitation MDGs in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zawahri, Neda; Sowers, Jeannie; Weinthal, Erika

    2011-01-01

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is generally considered to be making adequate progress towards meeting Target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which calls for halving the proportion of the population with inadequate access to drinking water and sanitation. Progress towards achieving Target 10 is evaluated by the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), run by UNICEF and WHO. This article shows that the assessment methodologies employed by the JMP significantly overstate coverage rates in the drinking water and sanitation sectors, by overlooking and ‘not counting’ problems of access, affordability, quality of service and pollution. The authors show that states in MENA often fail to provide safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services, particularly in densely populated informal settlements, and that many centralized water and sanitation infrastructures contribute to water pollution and contamination. Despite the glaring gap between the MDG statistics and the evidence available from national and local reports, exclusionary political regimes in the region have had few incentives to adopt more accurate assessments and improve the quality of service. While international organizations have proposed some reforms, they too lack incentives to employ adequate measures that gauge access, quality and affordability of drinking water and sanitation services.

  11. Aquifer storage and recovery of treated sewage effluent in the middle east

    KAUST Repository

    Maliva,, Robert G.

    2011-01-01

    Treated sewage effluent (TSE) is becoming a critical resource in arid parts of the world. The high costs of desalinated potablewater and the depletion of fresh groundwater resources necessitate increased use of TSE as an important component of water resource management throughout the Middle East. TSE can replace potable-quality water in irrigation, with the latter becoming too valuable a resource to use for irrigation purposes. In urban regions of theMiddle East and North Africa, excess TSE is often available because of seasonal variations in demand and supply or that the development of reuse infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth, concomitant water use and TSE generation. Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) technology provides an opportunity to store large volumes of TSE for later beneficial use. Natural attenuation processes that occur during underground storage in an ASR system can also act to improve the quality of stored water and thus provide an opportunity to \\'polish\\' already high-quality TSE. Aquifers containing brackish water or those depleted from over-pumping are present throughout much of the Middle East. These aquifers could potentially be used as storage zones for ASR systems. However, currently available hydrogeologic data are insufficient for assessment of potential system performance. Other key design issues are the selection of ASR system locations and storage zones so that TSE will not enter potable water supplies, and ensuring that the ASR systems will be readily integrated into existing or planned sewage treatment, TSE transmission and reuse infrastructure. © King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals 2010.

  12. Green chemistry education in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolopajlo, Larry

    2017-06-01

    The Middle East once dominated the age of alchemy, and today it is experiencing a resurgence by transforming the age of petroleum chemicals into a greener science through Estidama. This green conversion is taking place through green chemical research and education. This report examines and reviews the understudied subject of green chemical education in the Middle East through the lens of context and history.

  13. Middle East Regional Irrigation Management Information Systems project-Some science products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Similarities in the aridity of environments and water scarcity for irrigation allow common approaches to irrigation management problems and research methods in the Southern Great Plains of the United States and the Middle East. Measurement methods involving weighing lysimeters and eddy covariance sy...

  14. Gestione delle acque, pace nel Medio Oriente e un ruolo per la Banca Mondiale (Water Management, Middle East Peace and a Role for the World Bank

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein Askari

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The region comprising North Africa and the Middle East is the driest in the world. Thus conflicts over water have been a part of the landscape. These conflicts over water are invariably seen as a zero sum game; such a view does not incorporate the notion that water is an economic good and is therefore scarce. Given the limitation of competitive markets, optimal water allocation could only but help. However, even if one country allocates water efficiently within its own territory, its allocation could be sub-optimal if water interdependencies with other countries are not incorporated in a regional optimization model. The World Bank is in the best position to adopt a regional optimization model and thus ameliorate water conditions in the Middle East and in other regions around the world.       JEL Codes: Q25, Q28, Q15, Q13Keywords: Water

  15. Groundwater Depletion in the Middle East from GRACE with Implications for Transboundary Water Management in the Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voss, Katalyn A.; Famiglietti, James S.; Lo, MinHui; De Linage, Caroline; Rodell, Matthew; Swenson, Sean C.

    2013-01-01

    In this study, we use observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission to evaluate freshwater storage trends in the north-central Middle East, including portions of the Tigris and Euphrates River Basins and western Iran, from January 2003 to December 2009. GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total water storage of approximately -27.2 plus or minus 0.6 millimeters per year equivalent water height, equal to a volume of 143.6 cubic kimometers during the course of the study period. Additional remote-sensing information and output from land surface models were used to identify that groundwater losses are the major source of this trend. The approach used in this study provides an example of ''best current capabilities'' in regions like the Middle East, where data access can be severely limited. Results indicate that the region lost 17.3 plus or minus 2.1 millimeters per year equivalent water height of groundwater during the study period, or 91.3 plus or minus 10.9 cubic kilometers in volume. Furthermore, results raise important issues regarding water use in transboundary river basins and aquifers, including the necessity of international water use treaties and resolving discrepancies in international water law, while amplifying the need for increased monitoring for core components of the water budget.

  16. Soccer: Moulding the Middle East and North Africa

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dorsey, J.M.

    2016-01-01

    Nowhere in the world has sports in general and soccer in particular played such a key role in the development of a region than in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, the nexus of sports, politics and society is one area that Middle East studies with few exceptions have ignored. Similarly, sports

  17. The Middle East population puzzle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omran, A R; Roudi, F

    1993-07-01

    An overview is provided of Middle Eastern countries on the following topics; population change, epidemiological transition theory and 4 patterns of transition in the middle East, transition in causes of death, infant mortality declines, war mortality, fertility, family planning, age and sex composition, ethnicity, educational status, urbanization, labor force, international labor migration, refugees, Jewish immigration, families, marriage patterns, and future growth. The Middle East is geographically defined as Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Gaza and the West Bank, Iran, Turkey, and Israel. The Middle East's population grew very little until 1990 when the population was 43 million. Population was about doubled in the mid-1950s at 80 million. Rapid growth occurred after 1950 with declines in mortality due to widespread disease control and sanitation efforts. Countries are grouped in the following ways: persistent high fertility and declining mortality with low to medium socioeconomic conditions (Jordan, Oman, Syria, Yemen, and the West Bank and Gaza), declining fertility and mortality in intermediate socioeconomic development (Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran), high fertility and declining mortality in high socioeconomic conditions (Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), and low fertility and mortality in average socioeconomic conditions (Israel). As birth and death rates decline, there is an accompanying shift from communicable diseases to degenerative diseases and increases in life expectancy; this pattern is reflected in the available data from Egypt, Kuwait, and Israel. High infant and child mortality tends to remain a problem throughout the Middle East, with the exception of Israel and the Gulf States. War casualties are undetermined, yet have not impeded the fastest growing population growth rate in the world. The average fertility is 5 births

  18. Investment, stability and the politics of Middle-East embargoes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hollis, R.

    1996-01-01

    This paper reviews the political situation in the Middle East and considers the current level of energy investment in the region. The factors affecting the stability of countries in the Middle East are examined, and the politics of western embargoes is explored. (author)

  19. Research on energy strategy and Chinese energy investment in the middle east

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yiling

    2017-08-01

    The Middle East is a key node of “One Belt and One Road strategy”. Energy investment is an important part of Chinese investment in the Middle East. The political turmoil in the Middle East has brought the political risks to Chinese investors. In the future, with the globalization of Chinese resource distribution and the expansion of Chinese outward investment, it is significant for China to ensure its energy security. Based on the analysis of the situation of Chinese energy strategy in the Middle East, this paper tries to put forward some suggestion about Chinese energy investment in the Middle East in order to protect Chinese energy security effectively.

  20. Middle East political stability

    OpenAIRE

    2008-01-01

    Henry Siegman asks whether the next US President can rescue a two-state solution to the Israel–Palestine conflict; Lakhdar Brahimi discusses Iran – war or peace in the Middle East?; Eric Rouleau assesses the Iranian nuclear threat; Walid Khadduri looks at concerns over the future of Iraq and regional implications.

  1. The Middle East, OPEC and oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, J.

    1996-01-01

    The importance of the Middle East to the oil industry, was discussed. The unresolved Arab-Israeli dispute and the ongoing conflicts in the Gulf are the two main reasons for political instability in the Middle East. This in turn, shapes the security of the region and its oil supplies. The factors which will shape the future of OPEC, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, the issue of the return of Iraqi crude to the market, and production decisions by Saudi Arabia were discussed in the context of their impact on OPEC's role as a coordinator of oil policies and of market stabilisation through price control

  2. Middle East gas utilization and export potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cornet-Gandolphe, S.

    1995-01-01

    There is huge gas supply potential in the Middle East, which possesses over one third of the world's natural gas reserves. However, marketed production represents only 6% of the world total, demonstrating that gas resources in the Middle East are under utilized. The value of these resources will be realized only if the gas finds a commercial outlet that guarantees proper return on investments for gas producers and the best possible use of this nonrenewable resource for governments. Apart from the chemical sector, which has provided a good outlet for natural gas, the development of natural gas resources in the region has been very limited historically, inhibited by many factors linked to the resource itself and to the characteristics of the region. However, natural gas in the Middle East is now at a crossroads, facing both major challenges and significant opportunities. The region, which currently plays only a marginal role on the world gas market, has the potential to become a leading world supplier, provided a number of political and economic conditions are fulfilled. This paper discusses some of the challenges that Middle Eastern countries face in trying to develop their natural gas resources. It reviews development potential for Middle Eastern gas reserves, whether for local use and/or exports, and it highlights future opportunities. (Author)

  3. The new great game : international oil markets; Middle East domination or regionalisation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Odell, P.R.

    1998-01-01

    The dynamics of international supply and demand for oil and its effect on world oil prices are discussed. The impact of stagnant prices over the past 15 years on the Middle East, Russia, China and OPEC members was described, together with an attempt to explain the reasons for: (1) Middle East domination or regionalisation, (2) the emergence of a regionalized oil industry, (3) the Middle East as the residual supplier, and (4) the future of Middle East oil and of traded markets. 3 tabs., 5 figs

  4. The Coming Environmental Crisis in the Middle East: A Historical Perspective, 1750-2000 CE

    OpenAIRE

    Burke, Edmund

    2005-01-01

    This essay argues that the Middle Eastern environment, with its legacy of squandered water resources, deforestation and pollution of all kinds, reveals a distilled essence of the coming environmental crisis of the planet. This is so because of the evident vulnerability of Middle Eastern semi-arid and arid landscapes. The essay examines the transformation of the regional environment over the period 1750-2000 CE. It considers modern human impacts in three broad ecological zones: the Middle East...

  5. The penetration of Middle east gas in Europe will be limited at middle term

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1995-01-01

    The European gas demand has progressed about 4% by year from 1985 to 1994. A growth of 3% is expected for future. So, it seems that Middle East could take a place on gas European market. But with competition of North Africa or ex-USSR, the price of transport or the investment for a gas pipeline, the contribution of Middle East gas to European supply will stay limited in a middle term. Perspectives could be very different if political stability of Algeria or ex-USSR was no more assured

  6. High-altitude wind resources in the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Yip, Chak Man Andrew; Gunturu, Udaya; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

    2017-01-01

    In the Middle East, near-surface wind resources are intermittent. However, high-altitude wind resources are abundant, persistent, and readily available and may provide alternative energy resources in this fossil-fuel-dependent region. Using wind field data from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), this study identifies areas favorable to the deployment of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems in the Middle East and computes the optimal heights at which such systems would best operate. AWE potential is estimated using realistic AWE system specifications and assumptions about deployment scenarios and is compared with the near-surface wind generation potential with respect to diurnal and seasonal variability. The results show the potential utility of AWE in areas in the Middle East where the energy demand is high. In particular, Oman and Saudi Arabia have a high level of the potential power generation with low annual variability.

  7. High-altitude wind resources in the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Yip, Chak Man Andrew

    2017-08-23

    In the Middle East, near-surface wind resources are intermittent. However, high-altitude wind resources are abundant, persistent, and readily available and may provide alternative energy resources in this fossil-fuel-dependent region. Using wind field data from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), this study identifies areas favorable to the deployment of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems in the Middle East and computes the optimal heights at which such systems would best operate. AWE potential is estimated using realistic AWE system specifications and assumptions about deployment scenarios and is compared with the near-surface wind generation potential with respect to diurnal and seasonal variability. The results show the potential utility of AWE in areas in the Middle East where the energy demand is high. In particular, Oman and Saudi Arabia have a high level of the potential power generation with low annual variability.

  8. African Muslim Youth and the Middle East

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ihle, Annette Haaber

    this African tradition of religious scholarship in the Middle East. The paper will, with the help of Pierre Bourdieu's notion of forms of capital related to various fields, analyse the challenges which Muslim students encounter during their stay in the Middle East and the forms of capital they bring back......, marked by economic decline and political instability. In Africa a weak or even failed state often means that young people have in reality no access to political, educational or economic positions and resources. In some countries like Nigeria, Ghana and the Ivory Coast the marginalisation of the youth...

  9. Steps toward a Middle East free of nuclear weapons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leonard, J.

    1991-01-01

    In the aftermath of the Gulf War, all eyes are focused on the dangers of proliferation in the Middle East. President Bush, in his postwar address to Congress, called for immediate action to control the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles used to deliver them, warning that it would be tragic if the nations of the Middle East and Persian Gulf were now, in the wake of war, to embark on a new arms race. Secretary of State James Baker has recently returned from a tour of the region, and consultations on proliferation were reportedly high on his agenda. At the same time, the fierce political antagonisms and unbridled military competitions that have long characterized the Middle East leave many skeptical as to what can realistically be done. While all states in the region - including Israel - have publicly supported the idea of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East, doubt over the feasibility of the proposal runs high. Why on earth, it is asked, would Israelis give up the protection of their nuclear monopoly? What assurances from their Arab adversaries or from the US could possibly replace this ultimate deterrent?

  10. The post-war Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tempest, P.

    1992-01-01

    The Middle East remains today the global energy fulcrum. One year after the Persian Gulf war, the region is in greater turmoil and political uncertainty than it has known in modern times. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and subsequent external military intervention forced neighboring states to question the need for a foreign military presence in the future. The rift between the secular revolutionary states in the region led by Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Algeria, and Syria and the traditional monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the emirates of the gulf has widened. Egypt provides, at present, an uncomfortable bridge. The balance of political forces may be shifting. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: Where will we see the new leadership in the Middle East? Will it again play a role through the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and determination of the oil price in shaping the structure of global energy supply and demand?

  11. Environmental monitoring in the Middle East. Special evaluation review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-01-01

    After the Chernobyl accident some Middles East countries approached the IAEA with their concerns about contamination. Therefore, a regional project (RER/9/003, Environmental Monitoring in the Middle East) was established in 1987. The present document is a progress report of this project. It discusses project design, project management, its implementation and achievements. Certain conclusions and recommendations are given based on the evaluation of the findings

  12. Environmental monitoring in the Middle East. Special evaluation review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-01-19

    After the Chernobyl accident some Middles East countries approached the IAEA with their concerns about contamination. Therefore, a regional project (RER/9/003, Environmental Monitoring in the Middle East) was established in 1987. The present document is a progress report of this project. It discusses project design, project management, its implementation and achievements. Certain conclusions and recommendations are given based on the evaluation of the findings.

  13. Turkish Vector of German Policy in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A A Dvoryadkina

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The article considers the Middle East policy of modern Germany, taking Turkish vector as an example. The foreign EU policy in the Middle East, as a whole and cooperation of modern Germany with Turkey in attempt to join the European Union are examined. Attention is given to the modern crisis and difficulties that stand on the way of cooperation between the two states.

  14. Nuclear age in the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yiftah, S

    1976-01-01

    The book analyses, clarifies and summarises, from various aspects, some of the many questions concerning the motivation, the meaning, the economics, the dangers and the risks of introducing nuclear technology into the Middle East area following the recent agreements between some Mid Eastern countries and the United States, France, Germany and the U.S.S.R. about the supply of nuclear power reactors and nuclear fuel to the Middle East. The recent strong nuclear prgrams of countries such as India and Iran, who have wide-ranging ties with the Mid-Eastern countries, coupled with the huge revenues of petrodollars by the Arab countries of the area, together with the dangers of another 1973-type oil embargo are discussed and the triple crises of energy, ecology and nuclear weapons proliferation are considered.

  15. Atrial fibrillation in the Middle East: unmapped, underdiagnosed, undertreated.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Shamkhani, Warkaa; Ayetey, Harold; Lip, Gregory Y H

    2018-05-01

    Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the commonest persistent cardiac arrhythmia with an estimated incidence rate of between 1.5-2% and an important cause of strokes. Few epidemiological studies and clinical trials on the management of AF have been conducted outside Europe and North America. These gaps in our understanding of AF likely lead to sub-optimal management of patients with AF in the rest of the world. Areas covered: We discuss the epidemiology, treatment and clinical outcomes for AF in the Middle East after systematic review of published work for AF from the Middle East. We also discuss important clinical trials on AF conducted in the West in the same period to help contextualize our findings. Expert commentary: The few available Middle East studies suggest important epidemiological differences between Middle Eastern and Western AF populations. In particular, the Middle Eastern AF population is younger and have more co-morbidities than patients in the West. We find that significant numbers of moderate to high risk patients with AF are either undertreated or untreated placing them at increased risk of complications such as stroke. More studies in the Middle Eastern population are required to aid the development of region-specific clinical guidelines to improve patient care.

  16. Towards a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    Every year since 1974 the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the subject ''Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East''. By that resolution, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to undertake a study on effective and verifiable measures which would facilitate the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, taking into account the circumstances and characteristics of the Middle East, as well as the views and the suggestions of the parties of the region, and to submit this study to the General Assembly. The study was carried out between July 1989 and August 1990. The study discusses a number of steps and measures that could ease the process leading to the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. Those measures could be undertaken independently or in conjunction with each other, as well as by individual States or jointly by several, and also on a reciprocal basis; each of them would move the States concerned closer to their ultimate objective - the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons

  17. Petroleum and gas stakes in the Middle-East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mabro, R.

    1996-01-01

    In this article is explained the policy situation in the Middle-East and how it has an influence upon the petroleum market. The different situations of Israel and Arab countries, Iran, Iraq and Turkey are reviewed and some speculations are made to understand how things can evolve and their impact on the economic life of this area( for example: if Turkey wants to play a role in the Middle-East policy). If it is obvious that changes can arise the direction of these changes is not clearly established. (N.C.)

  18. Energy privatization in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tetreault, M.A.

    1997-01-01

    The issue of energy privatization in the Middle East was discussed with particular examples from Kuwait. The development of Kuwait's domestic political institutions is unique in the Arab Gulf which makes privatization more complicated than in other Middle Eastern countries. The major issue in Kuwait is whether foreign investors and domestic private investors will be allowed equity participation in oil and gas production projects. It was suggested that the answer depends on general assessments of national financial and state security interests and on individual case judgements respecting each potential partnership. Historically, one of the main reasons for nationalization of private investment in oil and gas in the Middle East was the desire of governments to increase state revenues. Nationalization permitted states to set prices and production levels themselves and to keep the difference between costs and prices instead of sharing it with corporate owners. However, nationalization is not without its problems as indicated by the difficulties encountered by governments in trying to make the the OPEC-managed hydrocarbon regime work. The three main reasons for the current willingness of Middle Eastern governments to consider re-admitting private companies as equity participants in their energy industries, namely market share and terms of access, interstate disputes, and desire to minimize corruption, were also discussed. It was suggested that these are strong arguments that support taking another look at privatization as a strategy that is in the long-term interest of Middle Eastern oil producing states. 19 refs

  19. Middle East respiratory syndrome in children. Dental considerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fares S. Al-Sehaibany

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available As of January 2016, 1,633 laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV infection and 587 MERS-related deaths have been reported by the World Health Organization globally. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus may occur sporadically in communities or may be transmitted within families or hospitals. The number of confirmed MERS-CoV cases among healthcare workers has been increasing. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus may also spread through aerosols generated during various dental treatments, resulting in transmission between patients and dentists. As MERS-CoV cases have also been reported among children, pediatric dentists are at risk of MERS-CoV infection. This review discusses MERS-CoV infection in children and healthcare workers, especially pediatric dentists, and considerations pertaining to pediatric dentistry. Although no cases of MERS-CoV transmission between a patient and a dentist have yet been reported, the risk of MERS-CoV transmission from an infected patient may be high due to the unique work environment of dentists (aerosol generation.

  20. Drought is a recurring challenge in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaniewski, David; Van Campo, Elise; Weiss, Harvey

    2012-03-06

    Climate change and water availability in the Middle East are important in understanding human adaptive capacities in the face of long-term environmental changes. The key role of water availability for sedentary and nomad populations in these arid to semiarid landscapes is understood, but the millennium-scale influence of hydrologic instability on vegetation dynamics, human occupation, and historic land use are unknown, which has led to a stochastic view of population responses and adaptive capacities to precipitation anomalies. Within the time-frame of the last two global climate events, the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age, we report hydrologic instability reconstructed from pollen-derived climate proxies recovered near Tell Leilan, at the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur Plains of northeastern Syria, at the heart of ancient northern Mesopotamia. By coupling climate proxies with archaeological-historical data and a pollen-based record of agriculture, this integrative study suggests that variability in precipitation is a key factor on crop yields, productivity, and economic systems. It may also have been one of the main parameters controlling human settlement and population migrations at the century to millennial timescales in the arid to semiarid areas of the Middle East. An abrupt shift to drier conditions at ca. AD 1400 is contemporaneous with a change from sedentary village life to regional desertion and nomadization (sheep/camel pastoralists) during the preindustrial era in formerly Ottoman realms, and thereby adds climate change to the multiple causes for Ottoman Empire "decline."

  1. The Middle East in the year 2000

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henderson, S.

    1996-02-01

    The Middle East in the year 2000 provides all insight into the political and economic changes taking place in the region and explains what they mean for the oil and gas industry. This comprehensive report combines published forecasts with expert comment and analysis, making it a highly practical business guide. With oil and gas at the heart of its discussion it looks in detail at: the likely shape of the Middle East into the next century, with a country-by-country review; the declared aspirations of Middle Eastern countries, with likely economic trends including oil production; the complete political and economic picture and what the future may hold; the long- and short-term future for oil; how oil prices will change over the coming years; the impact of non-Opec production on the region; the opportunities and competitive advantages for companies wanting to do business in the region; fundamentalism versus democracy; and various political scenarios. (author)

  2. The development of Middle-East natural gas markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bahgat, G.

    2001-01-01

    The economic, political and strategic environment under which plans to explore and develop gas fields in the Middle East have been drawn and implemented are reviewed. The topic is of particular importance in view of the fact that the Middle East holds more than one third of the world's proven reserves of natural gas, largely underdeveloped and under utilized as of the beginning of the second millennium. Particular attention is paid to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel, where despite serious challenges and political uncertainties, significant developments are underway to develop the region's natural gas potential. 27 refs., 1 tab

  3. Climate change projections of precipitation and reference evapotranspiration for the Middle East and Northern Africa until 2050

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Terink, W.; Immerzeel, W.W.; Droogers, P.

    2013-01-01

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can be considered as the most water-scarce region of the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects strong changes in climate across MENA, further exacerbating pressure on available water resources. The objective of this study is to

  4. Sesame Synchrotron Light for Experimental Sciences and Application in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Khalafawy, T.A.

    2003-01-01

    Anew international center for synchrotron radiation for research excellence for scientists from throughout the Middle East as well as other parts of the world could do for science what CERN has done for science in Europe. SESAME Project (Synchrotron Light for Experimental Sciences and Application in the Middle East ) under the umbrella for UNESCO establish the first major international research center as a cooperative venture by the scientists and governments of the Middle East, opened to all qualified scientists. It will be propeller for the regional economy while promoting the peaceful development of science and technology in the Middle East. SESAME will have as its centerpiece a synchrotron radiation based on a gift from Germany of the 0.8 GeV BESSYI storage ring and injector system which stopped operation at the end of November 1999

  5. Inexorable Conflict or Opportunity: The United States and the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-06

    effects on Palestine and the rest of the Arab-Muslim Middle East, has been a “misjudgment of gigantic proportions,” according to Amin Saikal in his book...2009, but al-Qaeda still enjoys considerable support in the Muslim world.38 Additionally, statistics show that Muslims in the Middle East want U.S

  6. Renewable Energies and Water Security: Thermo Solar Energy as an Alternative for Seawater Desalination in North Africa and the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Enrique Vieira de Souza

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Climate change-related events, added to estimations about economical and population growth – tend to aggravate water scarcity, which is already affecting almost every country in the North of Africa and the Middle East. Based on a critical analysis of the “ACQUA-CSP” report, we discuss the initiatives devoted to the mitigation of water stress in these regions, with an emphasis on the seawater desalination processes. Since existing desalination plants are currently powered by fossil fuels, the use of thermo solar energy will be introduced as a sustainable strategy for the increase of water supply. We conclude that, in order to achieve the successful management of water resources, engineering and infrastructure solutions must be oriented by democratic institutions able to mediate conflicts over the allocation of water resources.

  7. The nuclear age in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yiftah, Shimon.

    1976-01-01

    The book analyses, clarifies and summarises, from various aspects, some of the many questions concerning the motivation, the meaning, the economics, the dangers and the risks of introducing nuclear technology into the Middle East area following the recent agreements between some Mid Eastern countries and the United States, France, Germany and the U.S.S.R. about the supply of nuclear power reactors and nuclear fuel to the Middle East. The recent strong nuclear prgrams of countries such as India and Iran, who have wide-ranging ties with the Mid-Eastern countries, coupled with the huge revenues of petrodollars by the Arab countries of the area, together with the dangers of another 1973-type oil embargo are discussed and the triple crises of energy, ecology and nuclear weapons proliferation are considered. (B.G.)

  8. Teaching Media and Culture of the Middle East to American Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhtaseb, Ahlam; Algan, Ece; Bennett, Anne

    2014-01-01

    Americans know very little about the Middle East in general despite the fact that the region is at the heart of American foreign policy. While no one doubts the importance of teaching the history, culture, and politics of the Middle East in the United States, lack of basic knowledge coupled with the strong antipathy toward Arabs and Muslims make…

  9. Captagon: use and trade in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Imam, Ahmed; Santacroce, Rita; Roman-Urrestarazu, Andres; Chilcott, Robert; Bersani, Giuseppe; Martinotti, Giovanni; Corazza, Ornella

    2017-05-01

    Fenetheylline, a psychostimulant drug, often branded as Captagon, is a combination of amphetamine and theophylline. Since the cessation of its legal production in 1986, counterfeited products have been produced illicitly in south-east Europe and far-east Asia. Its profitable trade has been linked to terrorist organizations, including Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. This study aims to reach up-to-date data, concerning the Captagon e-commerce and use in the Middle East. A multi-staged and multi-lingual literature search was carried out. A list of prespecified keywords was applied across medical and paramedical databases, web and Dark web, search engines, social communication media, electronic commerce websites, media networks, and the Global Public Health Intelligence Network database. The use of Captagon as a stimulant in terrorist settings has been marginally covered in the literature. Data can widely be retrieved from Google and AOL search engines, YouTube, and Amazon e-commerce websites, and to a lesser extent from Alibaba and eBay. On the contrary, Middle Eastern e-commerce websites yielded almost no results. Interestingly, the Dark web generated original data for Captagon e-commerce in the Middle East. Further investigations are needed on the role that psychoactive drugs play in terrorist attacks and civil war zones. Unless a comprehensive methodological strategy, inclusive of unconventional methods of research, is implemented, it will not be feasible to face such a threat to humanity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Conflict, displacement and health in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mowafi, Hani

    2011-01-01

    Displacement is a hallmark of modern humanitarian emergencies. Displacement itself is a traumatic event that can result in illness or death. Survivors face challenges including lack of adequate shelter, decreased access to health services, food insecurity, loss of livelihoods, social marginalisation as well as economic and sexual exploitation. Displacement takes many forms in the Middle East and the Arab World. Historical conflicts have resulted in long-term displacement of Palestinians. Internal conflicts have driven millions of Somalis and Sudanese from their homes. Iraqis have been displaced throughout the region by invasion and civil strife. In addition, large numbers of migrants transit Middle Eastern countries or live there illegally and suffer similar conditions as forcibly displaced people. Displacement in the Middle East is an urban phenomenon. Many displaced people live hidden among host country populations in poor urban neighbourhoods - often without legal status. This represents a challenge for groups attempting to access displaced populations. Furthermore, health information systems in host countries often do not collect data on displaced people, making it difficult to gather data needed to target interventions towards these vulnerable populations. The following is a discussion of the health impacts of conflict and displacement in the Middle East. A review was conducted of published literature on migration and displacement in the region. Different cases are discussed with an emphasis on the recent, large-scale and urban displacement of Iraqis to illustrate aspects of displacement in this region.

  11. The Middle East and the Development of a Natural Gas World Market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Honore, Anouk

    2006-01-01

    Gas resources can easily meet the projected increase in global demand. However, international trade in energy will need to expand to accommodate the growing mismatch between the location of demand or production. The Middle East nations emerge among the leading countries, with a reserve to production ratios exceeding 100 years. Although some have significant domestic consumption, this mostly leaves ample potential for exports. Most of the incremental output in the Middle East will be exported to North America, Europe and Asia, where indigenous production will fall behind demand on the short to medium term. The key question is whether the Middle East can live up to the consuming countries' supply expectations

  12. ISLAM AND THE FAILURE OF MODERNIZATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Sahide

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper tries to see the encounter between Islam and modernity in the countries where the majority of the inhabitants are Muslims, particularly in the Middle East that is currently in the state of turmoil. In General, modernity failed to adapt to the Islamic states, for example the failure of democracy, which became the current joint attention in some Arab countries where the iron fist regimes are still a part of the political system. Furthermore, this paper attempts to see why modernity is difficult to adapt itself in the Middle East which began to build relations with Europe in the 18th century. Bernard Lewis, an expert who focuses on the Islamic world, argued that the failure of modernity in the Middle East and Islamic countries because of cultural factors and understanding of religion that hampered the pace of modernity. The understanding of religion is still centered on debating the democratic system and gender equality which come from the West; all of which is part of modernity. In addition, the young generations that learn a lot from the West, are not given broader space to apply their knowledge in developing and setting up a system of nationhood and statehood. These are the core issues that will be discussed further in this paper. Keywords: Modernity, Middle East tensions, and Islam

  13. Review and meta analysis of nontuberculous mycobacteria in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanaz Rahideh

    2015-01-01

    Conclusion: This is the first study reporting NTM species in the Middle East. In summary, this review demonstrates that the frequency of NTM has increased in this region. In addition to the limitations of the NTM study in some countries of the Middle East, there is an urgent need to develop laboratory methods for NTM identification to prepare a comprehensive report for this region.

  14. Transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... hand hygiene, and cough etiquette, would minimize the infection rate among HCPs. The required consumables for maintaining hand hygiene should be readily available to all HCPs. Keywords: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Systematic review, healthcareassociated infections, Coronaviruses ...

  15. The Middle East WMDFZ: hopes and fears

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hautecouverture, Benjamin

    2014-05-01

    The 3. Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference took place in New York between 28 April and 9 May 2014. Despite the failure to hold a conference in Helsinki in 2013 on a zone free of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems (WMDFZ) in the Middle East, due to a lack of consensus among States, the issue of the Middle East did not unduly disrupt this year's round of debates. This is in contrast to the Geneva PrepCom in the spring of 2013, where the Egyptian delegation's decision to leave the second session before the close first checked the momentum generated by the adoption of the 2010 Action Plan. The argument put forward by the Egyptian delegation was the lack of progress on the implementation of a commitment in the document to bring together all of the States in the region at a conference in 2012 on the Middle East WMDFZ project with the support of a facilitator. Although bilateral and multilateral (the Glion process) negotiations are in progress out of the spotlight under the auspices of Ambassador Laajava on both the agenda and outcome of a future conference, as well as on its procedural aspects, it is impossible to say with any certainty that a conference in Helsinki bringing together all of the States in the region will take place before the 2015 NPT Review Conference. One of the principal weaknesses of the Middle East WMDFZ project is its inscription almost twenty years ago in the framework of the NPT (with the resolution 'on the Middle East' of the 1995 Review and Extension Conference). The fact that Israel, a key State in the region, was absent at that time and is still absent today has naturally hindered the progress of this issue from review conference to review conference. The NPT forum is clearly inappropriate for dealing with the multiple regional security issues involved in the project. Yet, no alternative to the NPT currently exists, despite the fact that the real substance of

  16. Critically Ill Patients With the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arabi, Yaseen M; Al-Omari, Awad; Mandourah, Yasser; Al-Hameed, Fahad; Sindi, Anees A; Alraddadi, Basem; Shalhoub, Sarah; Almotairi, Abdullah; Al Khatib, Kasim; Abdulmomen, Ahmed; Qushmaq, Ismael; Mady, Ahmed; Solaiman, Othman; Al-Aithan, Abdulsalam M; Al-Raddadi, Rajaa; Ragab, Ahmed; Al Mekhlafi, Ghaleb A; Al Harthy, Abdulrahman; Kharaba, Ayman; Ahmadi, Mashael Al; Sadat, Musharaf; Mutairi, Hanan Al; Qasim, Eman Al; Jose, Jesna; Nasim, Maliha; Al-Dawood, Abdulaziz; Merson, Laura; Fowler, Robert; Hayden, Frederick G; Balkhy, Hanan H

    2017-10-01

    To describe patient characteristics, clinical manifestations, disease course including viral replication patterns, and outcomes of critically ill patients with severe acute respiratory infection from the Middle East respiratory syndrome and to compare these features with patients with severe acute respiratory infection due to other etiologies. Retrospective cohort study. Patients admitted to ICUs in 14 Saudi Arabian hospitals. Critically ill patients with laboratory-confirmed Middle East respiratory syndrome severe acute respiratory infection (n = 330) admitted between September 2012 and October 2015 were compared to consecutive critically ill patients with community-acquired severe acute respiratory infection of non-Middle East respiratory syndrome etiology (non-Middle East respiratory syndrome severe acute respiratory infection) (n = 222). None. Although Middle East respiratory syndrome severe acute respiratory infection patients were younger than those with non-Middle East respiratory syndrome severe acute respiratory infection (median [quartile 1, quartile 3] 58 yr [44, 69] vs 70 [52, 78]; p < 0.001), clinical presentations and comorbidities overlapped substantially. Patients with Middle East respiratory syndrome severe acute respiratory infection had more severe hypoxemic respiratory failure (PaO2/FIO2: 106 [66, 160] vs 176 [104, 252]; p < 0.001) and more frequent nonrespiratory organ failure (nonrespiratory Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score: 6 [4, 9] vs 5 [3, 7]; p = 0.002), thus required more frequently invasive mechanical ventilation (85.2% vs 73.0%; p < 0.001), oxygen rescue therapies (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation 5.8% vs 0.9%; p = 0.003), vasopressor support (79.4% vs 55.0%; p < 0.001), and renal replacement therapy (48.8% vs 22.1%; p < 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounding factors, Middle East respiratory syndrome was independently associated with death compared to non-Middle East respiratory syndrome severe acute respiratory

  17. Turkey’s Arabian Middle East Policy and Syrian Civil War

    OpenAIRE

    AKILLI, Erman

    2017-01-01

    TheMiddle East was remolded when the Ottoman Empire was divided through the SykesPicot Agreement, prepared by Great Britain and France on 19 May, 1916. Whilethe Arabs had expected to gain absolute freedom and from the empire, historyunfortunately has shown that this was merely a tale well suited to the ArabianNights. That agreement erased one region, replacing it with another; and theMiddle East has primarily been ruled since then under totalitarian regimes, atleast until the so-called Arab S...

  18. Potential for renewable energy jobs in the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van der Zwaan, B.; Cameron, L.; Kober, T. [Energy research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, Policy Studies, Radarweg 60, 1043 NT, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2013-09-15

    Based on employment factors derived from a recent review of publications investigating opportunities for work associated with the diffusion of renewable energy technology, we here present an analysis of the potential for renewable energy jobs in the Middle East. We use energy system optimisation results from the regionally disaggregated TIAM-ECN model as input to our study. This integrated assessment model is utilised to inspect the energy technology requirements for meeting a stringent global climate policy that achieves a stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere with a maximum additional radiative forcing of 2.9 W/m{sup 2}. This climate control target implies a massive deployment of renewable energy in the Middle East, with wind and solar power accounting for approximately 60% of total electricity supply in 2050: 900 TWh of an overall level of 1525 TWh would be generated from 210 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by the middle of the century. For this pervasive renewables diffusion scenario for the Middle East we estimate a total required local work force of ultimately about 155,000 direct and 115,000 indirect jobs, based on assumptions regarding which components of the respective wind and solar energy technologies can be manufactured in the region itself. All jobs generated through installation and O and M activities are assumed to be domestic.

  19. Nontuberculous mycobacteria in Middle East: Current situation and future challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velayati, Ali Akbar; Rahideh, Sanaz; Nezhad, Zahra Derakhshani; Farnia, Parissa; Mirsaeidi, Mehdi

    2015-03-01

    Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a diverse group of bacterial species that are distributed in the environment. Many of these environmental bacteria can cause disease in humans. The identification of NTM in environmental sources is important for both clinical and epidemiological purposes. In this study, the distribution of NTM species from environmental and clinical samples in the Middle East was reviewed. In order to provide an overview of NTM, as well as recent epidemiological trends, all studies addressing NTM in the Middle East from 1984 to 2014 were reviewed. A total of 96 articles were found, in which 1751 NTM strains were isolated and 1084 of which were obtained from clinical samples, 619 from environmental samples and 48 were cited by case reports. Mycobacterium fortuitum was the most common rapid growing mycobacteria (RGM) isolated from both clinical (269 out of 447 RGM; 60.1%) and environmental (135 out of 289 RGM; 46.7%) samples. Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) was the most common slow growing mycobacteria (SGM) isolated from clinical samples (140 out of 637 SGM; 21.9%). An increasing trend in NTM isolation from the Middle East was noted over the last 5years. This review demonstrates the increasing concern regarding NTM disease in the Middle East, emphasizing the need for regional collaboration and coordination in order to respond appropriately. Copyright © 2015 Asian African Society for Mycobacteriology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Characterizing the Effects of Irrigation in the Middle East and North Africa Using Remotely Sensed Vegetation and Water Cycle Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolten, John; Ozdogan, Mutlu; Beaudoing, Hiroko; Rodell, Matthew

    2012-01-01

    A majority of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region suffer from water scarcity due in part to widespread rainfall deficits, unprecedented levels of water demand, and the inefficient use of renewable freshwater resources. Since a majority of the water withdrawal in the MENA is used for irrigation, there is a desperate need for improved understanding of irrigation practices and agricultural water use in the region. Here, satellite-derived irrigation maps and crop-type agricultural data are applied to the Land Data Assimilation System for the MENA region (MENA LDAS), designed to provide regional, gridded fields of hydrological states and fluxes relevant for water resources assessments. Within MENA-LDAS, the Catchment Land Surface Model (CLSM) simulates the location, timing, and amount of water applied through agricultural irrigation practices over the region from 2002-2012. In addition to simulating the irrigation impact on evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and runoff, we also investigate regional changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) observed from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and simulated by CLSM.

  1. Measuring Entrepreneurial Activity in the Middle East and North Africa

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

    Total funding. CA$ 678,500. Country(s). Middle East, North of Sahara, South of Sahara, Central Asia, Far East Asia, South Asia. Project Leader. Dr. Mohamed Derrabi. Institution. Al Akhawayn University. Institution Country. Morocco. Institution Website. http://www.aui.ma. Project Leader. Abedou Abderrahamne. Institution.

  2. Soldiers and Civilians in Contemporary Middle East

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2017-01-01

    Despite the fact that the co-called Arab Spring has spread promising winds across the Middle East and the Northern Afria (MENA) region over the past decade, several countries in the region have nevertheless been caught up in devastating and destructive intra-state conflicts. A prevailing trend...

  3. Consented Autopsy and the Middle-East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kharoshah, Magdy A; Hussain, Syed Ather; Madadin, Mohammed; Menezes, Ritesh G

    2017-02-01

    Consented autopsy is almost non-existent in the Middle-East where established social and cultural beliefs regarding the procedure might discourage family members from requesting a consented autopsy. Evidence suggests that new information is obtained from consented autopsies. It would not be in the best interest of medicine if social and cultural misconceptions succeed in erasing the existence of consented autopsies entirely.

  4. Snowpack Variation and Hydrologic Impacts across the Middle East and North Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, D. A.; Ward, M. N.

    2017-12-01

    The Middle East is a region historically sensitive to climate variability and change, and contains snowpacks that have been shown to be important inputs to key regional water resources, including the Tigris-Euphrates river system. Focusing on the Middle East (and the smaller snowpacks of northwestern Africa), this presentation aims to (i) quantify each year's snowpack development and recession over recent decades, highlighting interannual to decadal variability, and (ii) advance understanding on the connection between the snowpack variations and aspects of regional hydrology. The presentation draws on satellite-based products, station data, and model reanalyses. Variation is summarized using space-time statistical techniques, as well as simpler regional indices: Northwestern Iran / Southern Caucasus (NWIC, includes Zagros Mountains); Eastern Turkey (ETKY, includes Taurus Mountains); and smaller scale indices for Lebanon and the Atlas Mountains. The Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System archives daily snow cover extent at 24 km resolution for 1999-present (primarily from visible satellite imagery). These data show that for both NWIC and ETKY, the mean snow extent peaks in late January with substantial coverage ( 300,000 km2 in each region), contracting to near zero by late June. A very large mid-winter interannual variance is also shown, implying substantial variation in hydrologic impacts during spring melt. Variability and decadal trends are compared with station snow depth reports (Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily). Strong agreement gives confidence in data quality, as well as, indicating high covariation of depth and extent. The connection with hydrologic impacts is investigated using reanalysis products, including the Global Land Data Assimilation System V2, which for the Middle East, shows broad agreement with observed maximum snow extent and spring retreat. The connections internal to the reanalysis between snow cover, melt and

  5. Potential for renewable energy jobs in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zwaan, Bob van der; Cameron, Lachlan; Kober, Tom

    2013-01-01

    Based on employment factors derived from a recent review of publications investigating opportunities for work associated with the diffusion of renewable energy technology, we here present an analysis of the potential for renewable energy jobs in the Middle East. We use energy system optimisation results from the regionally disaggregated TIAM-ECN model as input to our study. This integrated assessment model is utilised to inspect the energy technology requirements for meeting a stringent global climate policy that achieves a stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere with a maximum additional radiative forcing of 2.9 W/m 2 . This climate control target implies a massive deployment of renewable energy in the Middle East, with wind and solar power accounting for approximately 60% of total electricity supply in 2050: 900 TWh of an overall level of 1525 TWh would be generated from 210 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by the middle of the century. For this pervasive renewables diffusion scenario for the Middle East we estimate a total required local work force of ultimately about 155,000 direct and 115,000 indirect jobs, based on assumptions regarding which components of the respective wind and solar energy technologies can be manufactured in the region itself. All jobs generated through installation and O and M activities are assumed to be domestic. - Highlights: • An analysis of the potential for renewable energy jobs in the Middle East is presented. • With the TIAM-ECN model we inspect the technology requirements for meeting a radiative forcing of 2.9 W/m 2 . • Wind and solar power account for approximately 60% of total electricity supply in 2050. • We estimate a total required local work force of ultimately about 155,000 direct and 115,000 indirect jobs. • Manufacturing jobs are assumed to be partly local, while installation and O and M jobs are all domestic

  6. SPECIFICS OF GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Г А Ханнанова

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to an analysis of the main factors, determining German policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA. More active German military-technical engagement in the settlement of the crises in the region on the modern stage determines relevance of this article’s topic. Based on historical method, author considers the development of German foreign policy in the Arab world, examining the main aspects of the colonial policy of German empire on the threshold of the First and Second World Wars, as well as the prerequisites of the intensification of German-Arabic contacts in the period of Cold War. In accordance with the principals of system analysis Germany’s Middle East policy was investigated in complex, given geopolitical, economic and military aspects. Special emphasis is put on the problem of transformation of Middle East regional order as a factor of political instability. Notwithstanding the rea-sonableness of Germany’s standing for stable and predictable regional order, these goals were challenged owing to the fact that Germany benefits from the regional disorder in terms of increase of its influence. In reliance on the German goals in the Middle East and North Africa, mentioned in the Coalition Agreement of 2013, the author points out the priority of crisis management. At the same time the ethno-confessional conflict potential of the region meets the interests of German military-industrial complex. Increase of Germany’s export of weapons to the Arab states as well as neglecting the restrictions on export go to prove that Germany backs the armaments race in the Middle East. In this regard, German policy is characterized by “double standards” and inconsistency. These specifics can be explained by the ongoing process of Middle East policy shift and searching for new priorities on a long-term horizon. In the conclusion, the author analyzes the specifics and prospects of German policy in MENA region.

  7. Five bid to host Middle East synchroton

    CERN Multimedia

    McCabe, H

    1999-01-01

    Germany is willing to donate a synchrotron to a research centre to be built somewhere in the Middle East. Bids to host the centre were submitted by Turkey, Cyprus, Iran, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. Funding of at least 30 million US dollars still needs to be found (1 page).

  8. Environmental Economics Research Competition for the Middle East ...

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

    , to extend its work in environmental economics by supporting a series of small research projects in the Middle East and North Africa. Project proposals will be solicited through two competitions: one with and one without a specific theme.

  9. Nontuberculous mycobacteria in Middle East: Current situation and future challenges

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Akbar Velayati

    2015-01-01

    Mycobacterium fortuitum was the most common rapid growing mycobacteria (RGM isolated from both clinical (269 out of 447 RGM; 60.1% and environmental (135 out of 289 RGM; 46.7% samples. Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC was the most common slow growing mycobacteria (SGM isolated from clinical samples (140 out of 637 SGM; 21.9%. An increasing trend in NTM isolation from the Middle East was noted over the last 5 years. This review demonstrates the increasing concern regarding NTM disease in the Middle East, emphasizing the need for regional collaboration and coordination in order to respond appropriately.

  10. Middle East gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, V.

    2001-01-01

    Despite the significant contribution of the Middle East countries of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the Arabia Gulf to the world's oil output, they are placing increasing emphasis on natural gas as a source of exports and to fuel domestic economic growth. The region accounts for 35% of the world's proven gas resource base, with Iran and Qatar holding major reserves. The region is becoming increasingly important in global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade and details of key LNG projects and the major players in this area are given; a key advantage is the region's position between the two main markets - the Asia Pacific and the Atlantic Basin. Brief details are also given of gas pipeline projects and gas-to-liquid (GTL) projects in the region

  11. Aerosol optical depth trend over the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Klingmü ller, Klaus; Pozzer, Andrea; Metzger, Swen; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.; Lelieveld, Jos

    2016-01-01

    We use the combined Dark Target/Deep Blue aerosol optical depth (AOD) satellite product of the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) collection 6 to study trends over the Middle East between 2000 and 2015. Our analysis corroborates a

  12. Economic Reform, Firm Survival and Competitiveness (Middle East ...

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

    During the 1980s, it was thought that liberalizing trade and exposing industries ... of some firms but a more productive and competitive industrial sector as a whole. ... to stimulate higher firm-level productivity in the Middle East and North Africa.

  13. Supertall Asia/Middle East: Technological Responses and Contextual Impacts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyoung Sun Moon

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Supported by rapid economic growth, major cities in Asia and the Middle East have been rising as new centers for tall buildings. This article reviews the state of tall building developments in Asian and Middle Eastern countries with an emphasis on supertall buildings, with their greater urban and global impacts. Focusing primarily on physical construction, this article examines technological responses for building tall in Asian and Middle Eastern contexts. The architectural transformation and globalization of what was once called the “American Building Type” in Asian and Middle Eastern countries is studied. Sustainable design technology transfer and adjustment in Asian and Middle Eastern climates are presented. Further, future prospects on supertall design in Asian and Middle Eastern contexts are discussed.

  14. The U.S. Freedom Agenda in the Middle East

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Makepeace, Neil J

    2007-01-01

    .... The thesis of this paper is that the United States requires a more balanced and realistic policy agenda in the Middle East, one that discards the strident promotion of constitutional democracy...

  15. Middle East: New Balkans of the World?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr.Sc. Georgescu Stefan

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Middle East is a region whose geopolitical dynamics has many analogies with the role of the Balkans in the first half of the 19th century and up to the 3rd decade of the 20th century, namely a "Powder keg of Europe", defined in the same period as the "Eastern Issue".Moreover, Middle East is a region located at the junction of three continents: Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean Africa, and along with ancient Egypt is the cradle of Western civilization, providing for it political, economic, religious, scientific, military, intellectual and institutional models.Four millennia of civilization before Christian era did not pass without leaving a trace.Trade, currency, law, diplomacy, technology applied to works in time of war or peace, the profit based economy and the bureaucratized economy, popular and absolutist government, nationalist and universal spirit, tolerance and fanaticism – all these are not inventions of the modern world, but have their origins and methods of implementation, often even sophisticated methods, in this region.

  16. Multinational uranium enrichment in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, Ali; Salahieh, Sidra; Snyder, Ryan

    2017-01-01

    The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed to by Iran and the P5+1 in July 2015 placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program while other Middle Eastern countries– Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates–are planning to build their own nuclear power plants to meet increasing electricity demands. Although the JCPOA restricts Iran's uranium enrichment program for 10–15 years, Iran's neighbors may choose to develop their own national enrichment programs giving them a potential nuclear weapons capability. This paper argues that converting Iran's national enrichment program to a more proliferation-resistant multinational arrangement could offer significant economic benefits–reduced capital and operational costs–due to economies of scale and the utilization of more efficient enrichment technologies. In addition, the paper examines policy aspects related to financing, governance, and how multinational enrichment could fit into the political and security context of the Middle East. A multinational enrichment facility managed by regional and international partners would provide more assurance that it remains peaceful and could help build confidence between Iran and its neighbors to cooperate in managing other regional security challenges. - Highlights: • Freezing Iran's nuclear program is an opportunity to launch joint initiatives in ME. • A joint uranium enrichment program in the Middle East offers economic benefits. • Other benefits include improved nuclear security and transparency in the region.

  17. Analysing Security Subcomplexes in a Changing Middle East

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seeberg, Peter

    2016-01-01

    This article presents a theoretical framework for a collection of articles (“special issue”), which aims at discussing the role of non-Arab state actors and non-state actors in a changing Middle East. The articles in the collection offer perspectives that have been overlooked in recent research......, namely those focusing on the role of non-Arab state actors and non-state actors in connection with the changing security environment in the region. Furthermore, these articles discuss how changes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are appearing in different and shifting contexts...... in the creation of new local, sub-regional, or regional security subcomplexes in which Arab states, non-Arab states and non-state actors enter into new conflicts, alliances and other political relations with and against each other. The role of international actors interfering in the region is also analyzed...

  18. Middle East physics collaboration plans for the future

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN Bulletin

    2011-01-01

    The SESAME initiative, the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, is making progress. At a recent SESAME Council meeting at the end of May, Jordan, Iran and Israel confirmed their cash contributions to the project’s storage ring. The Palestinian Authority and Pakistan have confirmed their in-kind support and Egypt and Turkey are taking steps to allow their participation. Technically planned to start operation in 2015, SESAME has begun to show significant potential as a science for peace initiative in the Middle East.   The SESAME site in Allaan, Jordan.                   (© SESAME) Jordan has provided the land and an elegant building that will house the accelerator complex and associated infrastructure; a number of states, organizations and synchrotron light laboratories have donated the injector and booster, beam lines or components, support for infras...

  19. Identification of Tropical-Extratropical Interactions and Extreme Precipitation Events in the Middle East based on Potential Vorticity and Moisture Transport

    KAUST Repository

    de Vries, A. J.; Ouwersloot, H. G.; Feldstein, S. B.; Riemer, M.; El Kenawy, A. M.; McCabe, Matthew; Lelieveld, J.

    2017-01-01

    ) intrusion reaches deep into the subtropics and forces an incursion of high poleward vertically integrated water vapor transport (IVT) into the Middle East. This study presents an object-based identification method for extreme precipitation events based

  20. Reorientalizing the Middle East: The Power Agenda Setting Post-Arab Uprisings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karim Malak

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Claims to new or critical knowledge can often be non-performative. Building off of this assumption, this paper demonstrates the ways in which the 2010-2011 uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa have been analysed through approaches that claim to be critical and post-Orientalist and yet reproduce problematic assumptions about the region, revealing their connection to a longer genealogy dating back to Orientalism. This serves to sanitize the uprisings by virtue of a neoliberal agenda that reproduces the ‘Middle East’ straitjacket, in turn creating a typology not too different from realist analysis in the region that (reposits ‘Arab exceptionalism.’ Claims to being critical, or making a critical turn, are thus questioned in this paper through an analysis that shows how theory has been in the interest of power through the appropriation of native informants into the academic complex of think-tanks, Western donor institutions, and foreign media.Taking our cue from Edward Said, we explore how new approaches have presented themselves as critical and have disrobed themselves of their exotic and explicit racist discourse, despite the fact that the same assumptions continue to lurk in the background. Using Sara Ahmed’s notion of the non-performativity of claims to being critical, we survey how the Middle East is being reshaped through these ‘new’ and ‘critical’ approaches that in essence are apologetic to neoliberalism and liberal governmentality at large. We show how minorities continue to be an intervention mechanism under the so-called ‘freedom of belief’ agenda, how the ‘democracy paradigm’ advances electoralism as freedom, and how rights-based approaches with their underlying (neoliberal assumptions continue to determine gender politics and analysis despite postcolonial interventions.By creating a contemporary genealogy of Middle East area studies and surveying calls for proposals for journal articles, media

  1. Regional Effects of the Mount Pinatubo Eruption on the Middle East and the Red Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Osipov, Sergey; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

    2017-01-01

    variability in the Middle East's regional climate, we simulated the impact of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption using a regional coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling system set for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) domain. We used the Coupled Ocean

  2. Diabetes research in Middle East countries; a scientometrics study from 1990 to 2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niloofar Peykari

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Diabetes burden is a serious warning for urgent action plan across the world. Knowledge production in this context could provide evidences for more efficient interventions. Aimed to that, we quantify the trend of diabetes research outputs of Middle East countries focusing on the scientific publication numbers, citations, and international collaboration. Materials and Methods: This scientometrics study was performed based on the systematic analysis through three international databases; ISI, PubMed, and Scopus from 1990 to 2012. International collaboration of Middle East countries and citations was analyzed based on Scopus. Diabetes′ publications in Iran specifically were assessed, and frequent used terms were mapped by VOSviewer software. Results: Over 23-year period, the number of diabetes publications and related citations in Middle East countries had increasing trend. The number of articles on diabetes in ISI, PubMed, and Scopus were respectively; 13,994, 11,336, and 20,707. Turkey, Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have devoted the five top competition positions. In addition, Israel, Turkey, and Iran were leading countries in citation analysis. The most collaborative country with Middle East countries was USA and within the region, the most collaborative country was Saudi Arabia. Iran in all databases stands on third position and produced 12.7% of diabetes publications within region. Regarding diabetes researches, the frequent used terms in Iranian articles were "effect," "woman," and "metabolic syndrome." Conclusion: Ascending trend of diabetes research outputs in Middle East countries is appreciated but encouraging to strategic planning for maintaining this trend, and more collaboration between researchers is needed to regional health promotion.

  3. The Middle East in the Emerging Global Order

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hans Köchler

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The article analyzes the consequences of socio-political transformation in the Arab world for the wider region of the Middle East. After a review of the historical background, the author draws conclusions for world order in the context of a new balance of power.

  4. Regional conflict formations: is the Middle East next?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leenders, R.

    2007-01-01

    As Iraq is plunging into civil war, politics and violence in the Middle East are increasingly perceived to be highly interconnected and entwined. This article offers an attempt to understand the nature and scope of this regional interconnectedness involving three of the region's states—Iraq, Syria

  5. Regional Disease Vector Ecology Profile: The Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-10-01

    disturbances and blindness. The parasite is a filarial nematode worm, Onchocerca volvulus . A related species, O. fasciata, occurs in camels but does...which O. volvulus multiplies. Microfilariae in human skin are ingested by vector black flies when they suck blood. In the Middle East, vectors are

  6. Revised East-West Antarctic plate motions since the Middle Eocene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granot, R.; Cande, S. C.; Stock, J.; Damaske, D.

    2010-12-01

    The middle Cenozoic (43-26 Ma) rifting between East and West Antarctica is defined by an episode of ultraslow seafloor spreading in the Adare Basin, located off northwestern Ross Sea. The absence of fracture zones and the lack of sufficient well-located magnetic anomaly picks have resulted in a poorly constrained kinematic model (Cande et al., 2000). Here we utilize the results from a dense aeromagnetic survey (Damaske et al., 2007) collected as part of GANOVEX IX 2005/06 campaign to re-evaluate the kinematics of the West Antarctic rift system since the Middle Eocene. We identify marine magnetic anomalies (anomalies 12o, 13o, 16y, and 18o) along a total of 25,000 km of the GPS navigated magnetic profiles. The continuation of these anomalies into the Northern Basin has allowed us to use the entire N-S length of this dataset in our calculations. A distinct curvature in the orientation of the spreading axis provides a strong constraint on our calculated kinematic models. The results from two- (East-West Antarctica) and three- (Australia-East Antarctica-West Antarctica) plate solutions agree well and create a cluster of rotation axes located south of the rift system, near the South Pole. These solutions reveal that spreading rate and direction, and therefore motion between East and West Antarctica, were steady between the Middle Eocene and Early Oligocene. Our kinematic solutions confirm the results of Davey and De Santis (2005) that the Victoria Land Basin has accommodated ~95 km of extension since the Middle Eocene. This magnetic pattern also provides valuable constraints on the post-spreading deformation of the Adare Basin (Granot et al., 2010). The Adare Basin has accommodated very little extension since the Late Oligocene (<7 km), but motion has probably increased southward. The details of this younger phase of motion are still crudely constrained.

  7. Leishmaniasis in the middle East: incidence and epidemiology.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nasir Salam

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Leishmaniasis is a major health problem worldwide, with several countries reporting cases of leishmaniasis resulting in loss of human life or a lifelong stigma because of bodily scars. The Middle East is endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis, with countries like Syria reporting very high incidence of the disease. Despite several countries establishing national control programs for containing the sandfly vector and treatment of infection, the disease continues to spread. In addition to the endemicity of the region for leishmaniasis, the Middle East has seen a great deal of human migration either for earning of livelihood or due to political upheaval in the region. These factors contribute to the spread and proliferation of the causative species Leishmania and its sandfly host. This review discusses the current epidemiological scenario in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, emphasizing the number of cases reported, vector species, Leishmania species, and treatment available. The data is primarily from WHO reports for each country and current and old literature.

  8. Exploring crude oil production and export capacity of the OPEC Middle East countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsumoto, Ken'ichi; Voudouris, Vlasios; Stasinopoulos, Dimitrios; Rigby, Robert; Di Maio, Carlo

    2012-01-01

    As the world economy highly depends on crude oil, it is important to understand the dynamics of crude oil production and export capacity of major oil-exporting countries. Since crude oil resources are predominately located in the OPEC Middle East, these countries are expected to have significant leverage in the world crude oil markets by taking into account a range of uncertainties. In this study, we develop a scenario for crude oil export and production using the ACEGES model considering uncertainties in the resource limits, demand growth, production growth, and peak/decline point. The results indicate that the country-specific peak of both crude oil export and production comes in the early this century in the OPEC Middle East countries. On the other hand, they occupy most of the world export and production before and after the peak points. Consequently, these countries are expected to be the key group in the world crude oil markets. We also find that the gap between the world crude oil demand and production broadens over time, meaning that the acceleration of the development of ultra-deep-water oil, oil sands, and extra-heavy oil will be required if the world continuous to heavily rely on oil products. - Highlights: ► We simulate the future scenario of crude oil export and production using ACEGES. ► The simulated results are analyzed using the GAMLSS framework. ► The peak points of oil export and production will come early in this century. ► The OPCE Middle East will produce most of the world crude oil in the near future. ► These countries will continuously be the key players in the crude oil markets.

  9. Dromedary camels and the transmission of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemida, Maged G; Elmoslemany, Ahmed; Al-Hizab, Fahad; Alnaeem, Abdulmohsen; Almathen, Faisal; Faye, Bernard; Chu, Daniel KW; Perera, Ranawaka A; Peiris, Malik

    2015-01-01

    Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an existential threat to global public health. The virus has been repeatedly detected in dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). Adult animals in many countries in the Middle East as well as in North and East Africa showed high (>90%) sero-prevalence to the virus. MERS-CoV isolated from dromedaries is genetically and phenotypically similar to viruses from humans. We summarise current understanding of the ecology of MERS-CoV in animals and transmission at the animal-human interface. We review aspects of husbandry, animal movements and trade and the use and consumption of camel dairy and meat products in the Middle East that may be relevant to the epidemiology of MERS. We also highlight the gaps in understanding the transmission of this virus in animals and from animals to humans. PMID:26256102

  10. Unraveling the Mysteries of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    2014-03-11

    Dr. Aron Hall, a CDC coronavirus epidemiologist, discusses Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus.  Created: 3/11/2014 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).   Date Released: 3/11/2014.

  11. Middle East oil and gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-01-01

    This study is intended to shed light on structural changes occurring in six Middle East countries (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) that can be expected to have a significant impact on their oil and gas industry. These six countries provide 42% of the world's traded crude oil, on which Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) are increasingly dependent. They also contain about 65% and 30% of the world's proven oil and natural gas reserves, respectively, and command a strategic location between Europe and Asia. The Middle East has been one of the most volatile parts of the world where war, revolution and embargoes have caused major upheavals that have led to oil supply disruptions. The oil resources of all six countries were initially developed by international oil companies and all are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In 1994, their crude oil production capacity was about 23 million barrels per day (mbd) and is planned to expand to about 28 mbd by the year 2000. Revenue from the sale of oil accounts for more than 80% of each nation's total exports and about 75% of each government's income. The objectives of this study are: to detail their announced oil and gas development plans, to describe the major trends occurring in these countries, to outline the government responses to the trends, and to analyse the impact of government policies on oil and gas development. (J.S.). 121 refs., 136 figs., 212 tabs

  12. 'Open SESAME' for science in the Middle-East

    CERN Multimedia

    2003-01-01

    A memorandum of understanding has just been signed between CERN, SESAME and Jordan. SESAME, the international centre for Synchrotron light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, is currently being built in Jordan. Its President of Council is no other than CERN's former Director-General, Herwig Schopper.

  13. Franchising in the Middle East: The Example of Egypt

    OpenAIRE

    Elsaman, Radwa S.

    2017-01-01

    With the largest population in the Arab Middle East and a central location between Europe and East Asia, Egypt offers one of the biggest sources of franchising markets in the world for new business opportunities. Egypt, however, does not have specialized laws regulating franchising, which results in real challenges for investors who are seeking to franchise their businesses in Egypt, along with their legal advisors. It also creates problems for the courts who must rule on disputes arising fro...

  14. Impacts of The Future Changes in Extreme Events on Migration in The Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    An, Nazan; Turp, M. Tufan; Ozturk, Tugba; Kurnaz, M. Levent

    2016-04-01

    Natural hazards are defined as extreme events that threat people, their homes and their neighborhoods. They damage housing, food production system and other infrastructures. The frequency of natural hazards namely drought, floods can influence the residential decision-making and can cause substantial residential mobility by affecting relatively greater numbers of people in the region. Developing countries are more vulnerable to the impacts of natural hazards. Therefore, environmental migration can be associated with natural hazards especially in the developing countries. Limited water resources and demographic dynamics of the Middle East make the region one of the most affected domains from the impacts of natural hazards. In this study, we consider the relationship between migration as a demographic process and the frequency of natural hazards in the Middle East for the period of 2020 - 2045 with respect to 1980 - 2005 by performing the projection according to the scenario of IPCC, namely RCP8.5 through the RegCM4.4 and combining them with an econometric analysis. This research has been supported by Boǧaziçi University Research Fund Grant Number 10421.

  15. Obesity Researches Over the Past 24 years: A Scientometrics Study in Middle East Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Djalalinia, Shirin; Peykari, Niloofar; Qorbani, Mostafa; Moghaddam, Sahar Saeedi; Larijani, Bagher; Farzadfar, Farshad

    2015-01-01

    Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers call for updated valid evidences to monitor, prevent, and control of alarming trends of obesity. We quantify the trends of obesity/overweight researches outputs of Middle East countries. We systematically searched Scopus database as the only sources for multidisciplinary citation reports, with the most coverage in health and biomedicine disciplines for all related obesity/overweight publications, from 1990 to 2013. These scientometrics analysis assessed the trends of scientific products, citations, and collaborative papers in Middle East countries. We also provided Information on top institutions, journals, and collaborative research centers in the field of obesity/overweight. Over 24-year period, the number of obesity/overweight publications and related citations in Middle East countries had increasing trend. Globally, during 1990-2013, 415,126 papers have been published, from them, 3.56% were affiliated to Middle East countries. Iran with 26.27%, compare with other countries in the regions, after Turkey (47.94%) and Israel (35.25%), had the third position. Israel, Turkey, and Iran were leading countries in citation analysis. The most collaborative country with Middle East countries was USA and within the region, the most collaborative country was Saudi Arabia. Despite the ascending trends in research outputs, more efforts required for promotion of collaborative partnerships. Results could be useful for better health policy and more planned studies in this field. These findings also could be used for future complementary analysis.

  16. Economic analysis of milk production and consumption in the Middle East and North Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mansoor Maitah

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Milk products are considered as the essential food commodities for humans. Milk products contain essential elements for the human body such as protein, glucose, minerals and vitamins. Moreover, milk is considered the cheapest source of animal protein, an important resource for some related transformation industries and provides employment opportunities for a large number of small producers in both rural and urban areas. The aim of this paper is to analyze the factors which determine the supply and demand for liquid milk (henceforth milk in the Middle East and North Africa in order to point out the main problems and constraints obstructing the milk production in this region. The research also attempts to understand the drivers for the development in milk production in the Middle East and North Africa.Total milk production in the Middle East and North Africa increased from about 12.57 million tons in 1990 to about 25.18 millions tons in 2008. This paper attempts to identify the factors which influence the effectiveness of production, consumption and foreign trade of milk in the Middle East and North Africa. The most important factors affecting consumption is the population, per capita income and produced quantity where a 1% increase in all of them results in increasing the quantity consumed by 1.3%, 2.86% and 0.611%, respectively. Milk sector provides employment opportunities for more than 25% of the working force in some Middle East and North Africa countries.

  17. Nasal allergies in the Middle Eastern population: results from the "Allergies in Middle East Survey".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdulrahman, Hussain; Hadi, Usamah; Tarraf, Hisham; Gharagozlou, Mohammad; Kamel, Mohamed; Soliman, Alaa; Hamad, Walid Abou; Hanna, Kamal Maurice; Mostafa, Badr Eldin; Omrani, Mohammádreza; Abdelmotal, Abdelfatah; Moukarzel, Nabil

    2012-01-01

    Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) are a major public health problem in developing countries including those in the Middle East. However, to date, there is a paucity of information related to physician-diagnosed AR in this region. The Allergies in Middle East Survey was undertaken to help clarify and broaden the understanding of physician-diagnosed AR across Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The survey explores the frequency of physician-diagnosed AR, prevalence and types of associated symptoms, the impact on quality of life (QOL), current treatment practices, and therapy expectations. In total, 7411 households in five countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) were screened to identify individuals that were ≥4 years old with a physician diagnosis of AR and either symptoms and/or treatment in the past 12 months. A total of 501 respondents from the five countries completed the survey. Standardized questionnaires were used to make comparisons across the regions; however, the data collection procedures were tailored for each country. The sample was probability based to ensure valid statistical inference to the population. Ten percent of the Middle East population surveyed had a physician diagnosis of AR, with 65% of respondents stating that their allergies were intermittent in nature. An otolaryngologist or allergist diagnosed the majority of the individuals surveyed. Runny nose, nasal and throat itching, postnasal drip, and nasal congestion or stuffed up nose were the most common and bothersome symptoms of AR. The majority of survey participants (58% of the overall survey population) with AR reported that the condition had an impact on their daily private and professional life. Seventy-two percent of adults reported that their AR symptoms limited their work/school activities and 35% reported that their AR interfered with and caused them to miss work or school within

  18. Middle East and North Africa | IDRC - International Development ...

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

    Across the Middle East and North Africa, local economies are under strain, often relying too heavily on the oil industry. ... Our programming is designed to bring together the right partners for the most impact, in areas such as social and economic policy, the environment, politics and governance, information and ...

  19. Analysis of the summertime buildup of tropospheric ozone abundances over the Middle East and North Africa as observed by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jane J.; Jones, Dylan B. A.; Worden, John R.; Noone, David; Parrington, Mark; Kar, Jay

    2009-03-01

    We use the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model to interpret observations of tropospheric ozone from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) satellite instrument in summer 2005. Observations from TES reveal elevated ozone in the middle troposphere (500-400 hPa) across North Africa and the Middle East. Observed ozone abundances in the middle troposphere are at a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter, consistent with the previously predicted summertime "Middle East ozone maximum." This summertime enhancement in ozone is associated with the Arabian and Sahara anticyclones, centered over the Zagros and Atlas Mountains, respectively. These anticyclones isolate the middle troposphere over northeast Africa and the Middle East, with westerlies to the north and easterlies to the south, facilitating the buildup of ozone. Over the Middle East, we find that in situ production and transport from Asia provides comparable contributions of 30-35% to the ozone buildup. Over North Africa, in situ production is dominant (at about 20%), with transport from Asia, North America, and equatorial Africa each contributing about 10-15% to the total ozone. We find that although the eastern Mediterranean is characterized by strong descent in the middle and upper troposphere in summer, transport from the boundary layer accounts for about 25% of the local Middle Eastern contribution to the ozone enhancement in the middle troposphere. This upward transport of boundary layer air is associated with orographic lifting along the Zagros Mountains in Iran and the Asir and Hijaz Mountain ranges in Saudi Arabia, and is consistent with TES observations of deuterated water.

  20. A panel cointegration analysis of the demand for oil in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narayan, Paresh Kumar; Smyth, Russell

    2007-01-01

    This article applies recently developed panel unit root and panel cointegration techniques to estimate the long-run income and price elasticities for oil in the Middle East. The results for the panel indicate that demand for oil is highly price inelastic and slightly income elastic in the Middle East. There is considerable variation in the results for the income variable across countries, with the coefficient on the income variable statistically insignificant for several countries. The coefficient on the price variable is statistically significant in all cases with the expected sign and the price elasticity is uniformly low. While the results for the income variable differ across countries, the results for the panel as a whole suggest that the demand for oil in the Middle East is being driven largely by strong economic growth, while consumers are largely insensitive to price changes

  1. The Middle East: Its role in world oil. A survey of the issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radetski, M.

    1992-01-01

    The importance of the Middle East oil resource base is exceptional, in quantitative as well as economic terms. A review is presented of this resource base, and the economic and political factors associated with it. In 1990 oil from the Middle East accounted for 27% of world output, and accounts for 65% of proven world oil reserves. The viability of OPEC's role in controlling market prices is discussed, and it is proposed that high prices such as those in the early 1980s are unlikely to re-occur, and that control of capacity to keep prices above competitive levels but not high enough to induce large scale expansion outside the region is the rational course of action. Political instability in the Middle East and its destabilizing impact on oil supply is discussed. 12 refs., 2 tabs

  2. The Unites States and the middle east: the petroleum do not make the policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noel, P.

    2003-01-01

    The author analyzes the USA intervention in Iraq: political reason or energy supply security? It seems difficult to find a direct petroleum rationality to the usa policy towards the Middle east. To illustrate his conclusions the author discusses the usa energy policy, the petroleum resources of the Middle east and the associated risks and the american energy ''dependence''. (A.L.B.)

  3. Working experiences of nurses during the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hee Sun; Son, Ye Dong; Chae, Sun-Mi; Corte, Colleen

    2018-05-30

    To explore working experiences of nurses during Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak. Since the first case of Middle East respiratory syndrome was reported on May 20, 2015 in South Korea, 186 people, including health care workers, were infected, and 36 died. A qualitative descriptive study. Seven focus groups and 3 individual in-depth interviews were conducted from August to December 2015. Content analysis was used. The following 4 major themes emerged: "experiencing burnout owing to the heavy workload," "relying on personal protective equipment for safety," "being busy with catching up with the new guidelines related to Middle East respiratory syndrome," and "caring for suspected or infected patients with caution." Participants experienced burnout because of the high volume of work and expressed safety concerns about being infected. Unclear and frequently changing guidelines were 1 of the common causes of confusion. Participants expressed that they need to be supported while caring for suspected or infected patients. This study showed that creating a supportive and safe work environment is essential by ensuring adequate nurse staffing, supplying best-quality personal protective equipment, and improving communication to provide the quality of care during infection outbreak. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  4. A hybrid HTGR system producing electricity, hydrogen and such other products as water demanded in the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yan, X., E-mail: yan.xing@jaea.go.jp; Noguchi, H.; Sato, H.; Tachibana, Y.; Kunitomi, K.; Hino, R.

    2014-05-01

    Alternative energy products are being considered by the Middle East countries for both consumption and export. Electricity, water, and hydrogen produced not from oil and gas are amongst those desirable. A hybrid nuclear production system, GTHTR300C, under development in JAEA can achieve this regional strategic goal. The system is based on a 600 MWt HTGR and equipped to cogenerate electricity by gas turbine and seawater desalination by using only the nuclear plant waste heat. Hydrogen is produced via a thermochemical water-splitting process driven by the reactor's 950 °C heat. Additionally process steam may be produced for industrial uses. An example is shown of manufacturing soda ash, an internationally traded commodity, from using the steam produced and the brine discharged from desalination. The nuclear reactor satisfies nearly all energy requirements for the hybrid generations without emitting CO{sub 2}. The passive safety of the reactor as described in the paper permits proximity of siting the reactor with the production facilities to enhance energy transmission. Production flowsheet of the GTHTR300C is given for up to 300 MWe electricity, 58 t/day hydrogen, 56,000 m{sup 3}/day potable water, 3500 t/day steam, and 1000 t/day soda ash. The production thermal efficiency reaches 88%.

  5. Maghreb and Middle East, future leaders of the market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zebouddj, I.

    2006-01-01

    The countries of Middle East and North Africa possess the most important resources in fossil energy and should play the first parts from now to about fifteen years, especially on the liquefied natural gas market. The famous peak oil will be the result of a lack of investments but not of a lack of resources says the president of the French Institute of petroleum. But the exporting countries have no interest to increase their production because the demand does not change in spite of high prices. Russian federation excepted, the world reserves are concentrated in the countries of Middle East and North Africa. Algeria will export 85 milliards of meters cube of natural gas in 2010 years 100 milliards in 2015; Qatar is said as the future world leader of liquefied natural gas. Europe will be dependant for its imports of gas for 80% in 2050. (N.C.)

  6. Democracy in the Middle East: A Goal or an Impossibility?

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Carignan, Jennie

    2007-01-01

    Since September 11, democracy has come to dominate the discourse as authoritarian Middle East regimes, even if they are friendly to Western interests, are perceived to be at the root of the existing...

  7. Migration to the medieval Middle East with the crusades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Piers D; Millard, Andrew R

    2009-11-01

    During the 12th and 13th centuries thousands of people moved from Europe to the Middle East to fight, undertake pilgrimage, or settle and make a new life. The aim of this research is to investigate two populations from the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, by determining who was born in Europe and who came from the Middle East. Oxygen and strontium stable isotope analyses were conducted on the enamel of teeth from skeletal remains excavated from Crusader contexts. Twenty individuals from the coastal city of Caesarea (10 high status and 10 low status), and two local Near Eastern Christian farmers from the village of Parvum Gerinum (Tel Jezreel) were analyzed as a control sample. Results were compared with known geographic values for oxygen and strontium isotopes. The population of the city of Caesarea appears to have been dominated by European-born individuals (probably 19/20, but at least 13/20), with few locals. This was surprising as a much higher proportion of locals were expected. Both controls from the farming village of Parvum Gerinum had spent their childhood in the area of the village, which matches our understanding of limited mobility among poor Medieval farmers. This is the first time that stable isotope analysis has been applied to the study of the migration of peoples between Medieval Europe and the Middle East at the time of the crusades. In view of these findings, we must now rethink past estimations of population social structure in Levantine coastal Medieval cities during the Crusader period.

  8. Turkmenistan and the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael B. Bishku

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Turkmenistan is a weak country militarily, but well-­endowed with natural gas reserves. While the latter also insulates it somewhat from international criticism of its human rights abuses, unfortunately, Turkmenistan is landlocked and dependent upon the goodwill of its neighbors in order to export that commodity. Additionally, Turkmenistan is in need of technological assistance. Given its relatively homogenous population and its hydrocarbon wealth it has adopted a policy of subsidizing certain necessities—though it underfunds other—and is fairly stable internally. Nevertheless, it is ruled under an autocratic political system, suffers massive corruption, and has to contend with fears of instability on its borders. Therefore, Turkmenistan has adopted a policy of permanent neutrality and is open to cooperation with all its neighbors as well as the big powers. The countries of the Middle East as both immediate and nearby neighbors play an important part in the international relations of Turkmenistan and in providing technological assistance and economic investments. This article, which reviews and analyzes those ties, utilizes government documents, academic works and newspapers from Turkmenistan and Middle Eastern countries.

  9. Gas projects surge in the Middle East as governments seek new revenue sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, M.D.

    1997-01-01

    The rapid development of natural gas and condensate reserves in the Middle East results from a simple motivation: the desire of governments to earn revenues. For the past decade, Middle East governments have run budget deficits, which they funded by drawing down foreign assets and issuing debt. Now in the process of structural economic reform, they have begun to use an under-utilized resource--natural gas, of which Middle East governments own about one third of the world's reserves. Governments receive revenues from several sources in natural gas developments, which makes the projects very attractive. Revenue comes from the sale of the natural gas in the domestic market and, if exported, the international market; the sale of associated condensates; the additional exports of crude oil or refined products if natural gas is substituted for refined products in domestic markets; the increased sale of crude oil if natural gas is injected into reservoirs to maintain pressure; and the sale of petrochemicals where natural gas is used as feedstock. Large projects under way in the Middle East highlight the consequences of multiple revenue sources and interlinked costs of natural gas and condensate development. Other countries in the region are undertaking similar projects, so examples cited represent only a portion of what is occurring. The paper describes Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Iran

  10. Religious Broadcasting in the Middle East : Content Analysis of ...

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

    Over the past decade, television broadcasting has become central in shaping public attitudes in the Middle East. Against a backdrop of authoritarian governments, political instability, war and pervasive foreign military intervention, broadcasting has emerged as a platform for expressing views and opinions that might ...

  11. Introduction. China and the Challenges in Greater Middle East

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Camilla T. N.; Andersen, Lars Erslev; Jiang, Yang

    2016-01-01

    This collection of short papers is an outcome of an international conference entitled China and the Challenges in Greater Middle East, organized by the Danish Institute for International Studies and Copenhagen University on 10 November 2015. The conference sought answers to the following questions...

  12. MEETING THE PENETRATING SIGHT OF THE GYPSY WOMEN SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

    OpenAIRE

    BUJALSKA, Aleksandra

    2017-01-01

    Somewhere in the Middle East during journey we can meet Gypsy women. Their penetrating sight clenches their entire existence. This stare shows their struggle with life, the everlasting roam and the mysterious knowledge contained in their nature. Who is the Gypsy woman in the Middle East? Gypsy is primarily a vagabond, a woman responsible for divination but very often the beggar and also unfortunately a thief. How we can recognize her from other women? The presence of Gypsies in the Midd...

  13. Quest for Middle East oil: the US versus the Asia-Pacific region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salameh, Mamdouh G.

    2003-01-01

    Two very powerful geopolitical factors will decisively determine whether the quest for Middle East oil (mainly Gulf oil) could enhance the global oil security or could lead to oil supply disruptions and also instability and conflict in the Asia-Pacific region. The two factors are the United States' growing dependence on oil imports from the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region's thirst for oil and the increasingly likely Chinese dependence on oil from the region. The Asia-Pacific countries are increasingly growing concerned about their ability to supply enough oil to fuel future economic growth. The region's phenomenal economic growth up to July 1997 and its economic recovery since then, and its steadily rising energy needs lend urgency to the question of how the region would meet its considerable energy challenges. This paper will endeavour to analyze the impact of this growing dependence on Middle East oil, on global oil supplies, the price of oil and global oil security. It will argue that such dependence on a volatile region like the Middle East and the perception of scarcer energy resources in the Asia-Pacific region, have the potential to lead to conflict in both regions unless these issues are dealt with in geoeconomic rather than geostrategic terms. The paper will strongly express the view that potential conflicts can be resolved not by force but through markets and investment and also through the diversification of energy sources and the promotion of alternative energy development and use across the region

  14. Against 'green development fantasies': resource degradation and the lack of community resistance in the middle Mahakam wetlands, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nooteboom, G.; de Jong, E. B .P.

    2010-01-01

    In the middle Mahakam wetlands, East Kalimantan, local populations are hit hard by ecological deterioration in the form of degraded water quality, floods, depletion of fish stocks, and increasing sedimentation and aquatic weeds. In the short term, resources such as fish and wood are being depleted,

  15. Oil jobs have big impact on heavily populated Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omran, A R; Roudi, F

    1993-09-01

    Labor force interdependence creates a complex pattern among countries in the Middle East. Oil-rich countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) must import two-thirds of their labor force, including 80% of their professional and technical workers. These migrant workers come from Egypt (60%), Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, and South Asia, and the money they send home is a major factor in the economies of their native lands. Many Arabs who are considered foreign laborers have spent their entire lives, or have even been born, in the oil-rich countries; they have no hope of attaining citizenship. South Asians compete with Arabs for work in the Gulf States and tend to accept less-desirable jobs and lower wages. South Asian workers migrate from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. Middle Eastern women have social constraints on labor force participation, and most of the women working n the Gulf States are Asian; they often work as domestics. The women of the Middle East are an untapped resource for this labor market.

  16. OPEC Middle East plans for rising world demand amid uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ismail, I.A.H.

    1996-01-01

    The Middle Eastern members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries must plan for huge increases in oil production capacity yet wonder whether markets for the new output will develop as expected. With worldwide oil consumption rising and non-OPEC output likely to reach its resource limits soon, OPEC member countries face major gains in demand for their crude oil. To meet the demand growth, those with untapped resources will have to invest heavily in production capacity. Most OPEC members with such resources are in the Middle East. But financing the capacity investments remains a challenge. Some OPEC members have opened up to foreign equity participation in production projects, and others may eventually do so as financial pressures grow. That means additions to the opportunities now available to international companies in the Middle East. Uncertainties, however, hamper planning and worry OPEC. Chief among them are taxation and environmental policies of consuming-nation governments. This paper reviews these concerns and provides data on production, pricing, capital investment histories and revenues

  17. Bush doctrine in the Middle East; The US foreign policy towards the Middle East during the George W. Bush presidency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lukáš Hoder

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The article is focused at the most important elements of the US foreign policy towards the Middle East during the administration of George W. Bush (2001 – 2009. The text has two parts. The first part shows three important influences on creation and formulation of the US foreign policy towards the region. At the first place it was an effort to preserve unipolar character of the international system, hegemonic possition of the USA and its dominance in all regions. The second source was specific decision-making process set up by president Bush and the third source of the Bush strategy was a partial transformation of the US longtime policy towards the Middle East. The second part of the article discuss results of the Bush doctrine in the region. The text is focused at five most important consequences of the US foreign policy, which are the fight against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the pursuit of the democratization throughout the region, the Israel-Palestinian conflict, regional “cold war” between Iran and Saudi Arabia and finally the struggle to stabilize the post-conflict Iraq.

  18. [International migration in the Middle East].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beauge, G

    1985-01-01

    This special issue contains a selection of 12 papers by various authors on aspects of international migration to the Middle East. Papers are included on the impact of migration on socioeconomic development, income distribution, and rural capitalization in Egypt; migration from rural Lebanon; the effect of emigration on Pakistan; Indian workers in Oman; inter-Arab migration and development; the role of the state in migration in the Arab peninsula; the dynamics of manpower in Kuwait; the Iraqi model and Arab unity; and the impact of this migration on the concept of the New Economic Order.

  19. Suggested avenues to reduce the stigma of mental illness in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sewilam, Ahmed M; Watson, Annie M M; Kassem, Ahmed M; Clifton, Sue; McDonald, Margaret C; Lipski, Rebecca; Deshpande, Smita; Mansour, Hader; Nimgaonkar, Vishwajit L

    2015-03-01

    Stigma toward mentally ill individuals acts as a barrier to accessing care and receiving treatment. To review current evidence pertaining to stigma toward mental illness in the Middle East in order to inform effective and sustainable interventions in this region. We conducted a systematic literature search using the PubMed database and evaluated all identified studies according to specific inclusion criteria. Stigma toward individuals with mental illness does exist in the Middle East. Stigmatizing attitudes are particularly high toward culturally proscribed mental illnesses like alcohol abuse and lower for other disorders such as depression and psychosis. We propose the following initiatives to reduce stigma toward mental illness in the Middle East: (a) educate families to enable them to support their affected relatives, (b) increase cooperation between psychiatrists and faith healers and (c) educate young people in schools to increase their awareness and understanding of mental illnesses and to combat negative stereotypes. © The Author(s) 2014.

  20. The emerging novel Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: The “knowns” and “unknowns”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available A novel lineage C betacoronavirus, originally named human coronavirus EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC and recently renamed Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV, that is phylogenetically closely related to Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 and Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5, which we discovered in 2007 from bats in Hong Kong, has recently emerged in the Middle East to cause a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-like infection in humans. The first laboratory-confirmed case, which involved a 60-year-old man from Bisha, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA, who died of rapidly progressive community-acquired pneumonia and acute renal failure, was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO on September 23, 2012. Since then, a total of 70 cases, including 39 fatalities, have been reported in the Middle East and Europe. Recent clusters involving epidemiologically-linked household contacts and hospital contacts in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa strongly suggested possible human-to-human transmission. Clinical and laboratory research data generated in the past few months have provided new insights into the possible animal reservoirs, transmissibility, and virulence of MERS-CoV, and the optimal laboratory diagnostic options and potential antiviral targets for MERS-CoV-associated infection.

  1. A New Perspective in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Approach To The Us-Iran Relations in the Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Shokri

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the significance of the cooperation between the United States and Iran for the Middle East region. It will be argued that despite the political and ideological conflicts between the U.S. and Iran, reaching a “point by point” agreement would best help to resolve Middle East predicaments, especially the Islamic terrorism. To achieve this, the following pages examine the historical background of issues such as terrorism in the Middle East. This paper also focuses on two main paths to support the better U.S.-Iran cooperation, if not talking about relations at all. First, the theory of “point by point” approach helps both countries to tackle tough agendas and overcome the predicaments in the Middle East. Second, to reach the desired cooperation between these two countries, both the U.S. and Iran need to overcome their own internal constraints as well as the external constrains imposed by other countries. This paper takes an historical and theoretical approach to reveal the two countries’ common interests in the Middle East. The general thesis argues that the Middle East’s security requires the United States and Iran to develop a diplomatic and military cooperation.

  2. A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East

    CERN Document Server

    Steele, John M

    2012-01-01

    The Middle East is the birthplace of astronomy and the centre for its development during the medieval period. In this brief introduction John Steele offers an intriguing insight into Middle Eastern achievements in astronomy and their profound influence on the rest of the world. Amongst other things, the book traces the Late Babylonians' ingenious schemes for modelling planetary motion. It also reveals how medieval Islamic advances in the study of the heavens, and the design of precise astronomical instruments, led to breakthroughs by Renaissance practitioners such as Copernicus and Kepler. An

  3. North sea: a quarter of total's reserves (excluding the Middle East)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1995-01-01

    In 1994, for the fifth successive year, Total increased its proven reserves of hydrocarbons which reach 4.3 Gboe (+ 6% compared to 1993). Outside the Middle East, the reserves show a development of 9% and reach the threshold of 2 Gboe. In 1994, Total's production of hydrocarbons reached 633,000 boe/d (+ 4%), despite a fall of 3% in oil production in the Middle East. Excluding the Middle East, production was increased to 345,000 boe/d (+ 12%), including 212,000 boe/d for gas (+ 20%). Exploration/production investments were 5.8 GF in 1994 (excluding labour) and the development program for reserves and production for the coming years is based on yearly investments of some 6 GF. Total's production in Europe, essentially in the North Sea, was 154,000 boe/d in 1994 (+ 12%). This zone has potential for significant growth for the group which has undertaken exploration surveys in the Western Shetlands and in Haltenbanken. In the British zone, the Dunbar field and its neighbour Ellon were brought into production in December 1994. In the Norwegian zone, the Froy field, was brought into production last June. In the Lille-Frigg field, whose production started in May, initial reserves are estimated at 6,7 Bcm of gas. Total Norge AS also has interests in the producing fields of Ekofisk, Frigg, East-Frigg, Heimdal, Sleipner East, Veslefrikk, Oseberg, Brage, in those of Sleipner West and Huldra (start-up scheduled for 1997) and in Troll (phase 1) which should be producing in 1996. In the Dutch zone, the K4b and K5a blocks brought into production last November hold reserves estimated at 20 Bcm; their production could reach 2 Bcm/year as from 1995. (authors). 1 tab., 1 photo

  4. Abrupt recent trend changes in atmospheric nitrogen dioxide over the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Lelieveld, J.

    2015-08-21

    Nitrogen oxides, released from fossil fuel use and other combustion processes, affect air quality and climate. From the mid-1990s onward, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been monitored from space, and since 2004 with relatively high spatial resolution by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument. Strong upward NO2 trends have been observed over South and East Asia and the Middle East, in particular over major cities. We show, however, that a combination of air quality control and political factors, including economical crisis and armed conflict, has drastically altered the emission landscape of nitrogen oxides in the Middle East. Large changes, including trend reversals, have occurred since about 2010 that could not have been predicted and therefore are at odds with emission scenarios used in projections of air pollution and climate change in the early 21st century.

  5. Middle Holocene Organic Carbon and Biomarker Records from the South Yellow Sea: Relationship to the East Asian Monsoon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Liang; Hu, Bangqi; Li, Jun; Dou, Yanguang; Xie, Luhua; Dong, Liang

    2018-03-01

    The East Asian monsoon system influences the sedimentation and transport of organic matter in East Asian marginal seas that is derived from both terrestrial and marine sources. In this study, we determined organic carbon (OC) isotope values, concentrations of marine biomarkers, and levels of OC and total nitrogen (TN) in core YSC-1 from the central South Yellow Sea (SYS). Our objectives were to trace the sources of OC and variations in palaeoproductivity since the middle Holocene, and their relationships with the East Asian monsoon system. The relative contributions of terrestrial versus marine organic matter in core sediments were estimated using a two-end-member mixing model of OC isotopes. Results show that marine organic matter has been the main sediment constituent since the middle Holocene. The variation of terrestrial organic carbon concentration (OCter) is similar to the EASM history. However, the variation of marine organic carbon concentration (OCmar) is opposite to that of the EASM curve, suggesting OCmar is distinctly influenced by terrestrial material input. Inputs of terrestrial nutrients into the SYS occur in the form of fluvial and aeolian dust, while concentrations of nutrients in surface water are derived mainly from bottom water via the Yellow Sea circulation system, which is controlled by the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM). Variations in palaeoproductivity represented by marine organic matter and biomarker records are, in general, consistent with the recent EAWM intensity studies, thus, compared with EASM, EAWM may play the main role to control the marine productivity variations in the SYS.

  6. Dietary trends in the Middle East and North Africa: an ecological study (1961 to 2007).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golzarand, Mahdieh; Mirmiran, Parvin; Jessri, Mahsa; Toolabi, Karamollah; Mojarrad, Mehdi; Azizi, Fereidoun

    2012-10-01

    Middle Eastern and North African countries are undergoing nutrition transition, a transition which is associated with an increased burden of non-communicable diseases. This necessitates the evaluation of dietary patterns in these regions. The present study aimed to assess changes in dietary patterns in Middle Eastern and North African countries between 1961 and 2007. Availability of energy and fifteen main food items during 1961-2007 was examined using FAO food balance sheets from the FAOSTAT database. Fifteen countries including nine in the Middle East and six in North Africa were selected and the average availability of total energy and different food items in these regions were compared. Over the 47 years studied, energy and food availability (apart from animal fats and alcoholic beverages) has increased in the Middle East and North Africa. In both regions the proportion of energy derived from meat and vegetable oils has increased significantly while that from cereals decreased significantly. In addition, the proportion of energy from milk and dairy products and vegetables has shown an ascending trend in North Africa while the proportion of energy from fruits has shown a descending trend in the Middle East. The study results reveal an unfavourable trend towards a Westernized diet in the Middle East and, to a certain extent, in North Africa. Tailored nutritional education encouraging healthy eating for prevention of the burden of chronic diseases in these countries seems essential.

  7. Outdoor particulate matter (PM and associated cardiovascular diseases in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeina Nasser

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Air pollution is a widespread environmental concern. Considerable epidemiological evidence indicates air pollution, particularly particulate matter (PM, as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD in the developed countries. The main objective of our review is to assess the levels and sources of PM across the Middle East area and to search evidence for the relationship between PM exposure and CVD. An extensive review of the published literature pertaining to the subject (2000–2013 was conducted using PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar databases. We reveal that low utilization of public transport, ageing vehicle fleet and the increasing number of personal cars in the developing countries all contribute to the traffic congestion and aggravate the pollution problem. The annual average values of PM pollutants in the Middle East region are much higher than the World Health Organization 2006 guidelines (PM2.5 = 10 μg/m3, PM10 = 20 μg/m3. We uncover evidence on the association between PM and CVD in 4 Middle East countries: Iran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The findings are in light of the international figures. Ambient PM pollution is considered a potential risk factor for platelet activation and atherosclerosis and has been found to be linked with an increased risk for mortality and hospital admissions due to CVD. This review highlights the importance of developing a strategy to improve air quality and reduce outdoor air pollution in the developing countries, particularly in the Middle East. Future studies should weigh the potential impact of PM on the overall burden of cardiac diseases.

  8. Consolidating Science Journalism in Africa and the Middle East ...

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

    This project aims to promote health and sustainable development in Africa and the Middle East by building the capacity of the media to inform public opinion and promote evidence-based policymaking. The project will involve training 60 journalists in science reporting and 15 experienced science journalists as trainers in ...

  9. Perceptions and Misperceptions: The Middle East and South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Michael; Tyson, G. A.

    1990-01-01

    Reports findings of a study examining the opinions and awareness level of South African, Israeli, and United States undergraduates about conflicts in either the Middle East or South Africa. Finds religious and racial characteristics determining differences in knowledge level and political support. Reveals South African Blacks and U.S. students…

  10. Mineral facilities of Africa and the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eros, J.M.; Candelario-Quintana, Luissette

    2006-01-01

    This map displays over 1,500 mineral facilities in Africa and the Middle East. The mineral facilities include mines, plants, mills, or refineries of aluminum, cement, coal, copper, diamond, gold, iron and steel, nickel, platinum-group metals, salt, and silver, among others. The data used in this poster were compiled from multiple sources, including the 2004 USGS Minerals Yearbook (Africa and Middle East volume), Minerals Statistics and Information from the USGS Web site (http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/), and data collected by USGS minerals information country specialists. Data reflect the most recent published table of industry structure for each country. Other sources include statistical publications of individual countries, annual reports and press releases of operating companies, and trade journals. Due to the sensitivity of some energy commodity data, the quality of these data should be evaluated on a country-by-country basis. Additional information and explanation is available from the country specialists. See Table 1 for general information about each mineral facility site including country, location and facility name, facility type, latitude, longitude, mineral commodity, mining method, main operating company, status, capacity, and units.

  11. The Nuclear Question. After Iran: Toward Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Courmont, Barthelemy

    2008-01-01

    Iran's potential acquirement of the atomic bomb could lead to nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. Many countries in the region would be tempted to follow the Iranian example, in order to maintain their regional power. This development could produce significant geopolitical consequences in a region where relationships are already tense. In this context, one can envisage different crisis scenarios: support for terrorist acts, attacks on American bases in the region, threats against the state of Israel. Accelerated nuclear proliferation in the Middle East would also jeopardize the efforts undertaken by regional actors during the past four decades to create a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ)

  12. China's Expansion into the Middle East and Its Effects on U.S. Foreign Policy

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Saito, Henry T

    2007-01-01

    ...% of the world's proven oil reserves located in the Middle East, and China realizes that Middle Eastern states will play a vital role in Beijing's ability to meet its energy demands in the future...

  13. Livestock Susceptibility to Infection with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vergara-Alert, Júlia; van den Brand, Judith M A; Widagdo, W; Muñoz, Marta; Raj, V Stalin; Schipper, Debby; Solanes, David; Cordón, Ivan; Bensaid, Albert; Haagmans, Bart L; Segalés, Joaquim

    Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) cases continue to be reported, predominantly in Saudi Arabia and occasionally other countries. Although dromedaries are the main reservoir, other animal species might be susceptible to MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection and potentially serve as reservoirs.

  14. Trump, Islamophobia and US–Middle East relations

    OpenAIRE

    Hassan, Oz

    2017-01-01

    Identifying the Trump administration’s approach to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is problematic. Not only is one hundred days of a new administration too short a period to make an assessment of any potential “Trump Doctrine”, especially given the size and complexity of the region, but Trump is himself unpredictable and consistently inconsistent (Rachman 2017). For some, this has been depicted as a result of Trump following the “Jacksonian” tradition in US foreign policy, emph...

  15. Russian Strategy Of Entering The Innovation Markets Of The Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. A. Maryasis

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This article is an attempt to formulate a non-standard multifactor approach to the problem of consolidating Russia’s presence in the countries of the Middle East. It explores the possibility of creating in the Arab countries a system of educational courses related to innovation. These courses will make it possible for young people in the region to form an attitude towards our country as one of the leaders in the high-tech economy, to strengthen their loyalty to representatives of domestic business. In the future, the ecosystem of innovations can be formed as a result of educational efforts. That is going to allow Russian business circles to take part in the commercialization of new technologies created by innovators of the region. Russia’s innovative presence in the Middle East region can be embodied in the form of joint ventures, the outsourcing of a number of industries and the provision of technological services as well as joint applied scientific research. Such efforts will bring changes in the existing international division of labor by creating more favorable conditions for the development of the economy of the Russian Federation and its transition to the economy of innovation. Moreover, the article draws attention to the possibility of cooperation between Russia and Israel for the organization of a platform for effective interaction between representatives of innovative communities of Muslim countries of the Middle East and participants of the high technology market of the Jewish state. The article shows that the implementation of such a strategy will allow our country to become meaningful player in the process of economic and socio-political transformation of the region. The promotion of innovative business in the region should be part of a wider strategy for promoting a positive image of Russia, creating economic grounds for existing political and military-political ties with the countries of the Middle East.

  16. Outdoor particulate matter (PM) and associated cardiovascular diseases in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasser, Zeina; Salameh, Pascale; Nasser, Wissam; Abou Abbas, Linda; Elias, Elias; Leveque, Alain

    2015-01-01

    Air pollution is a widespread environmental concern. Considerable epidemiological evidence indicates air pollution, particularly particulate matter (PM), as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the developed countries. The main objective of our review is to assess the levels and sources of PM across the Middle East area and to search evidence for the relationship between PM exposure and CVD. An extensive review of the published literature pertaining to the subject (2000-2013) was conducted using PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar databases. We reveal that low utilization of public transport, ageing vehicle fleet and the increasing number of personal cars in the developing countries all contribute to the traffic congestion and aggravate the pollution problem. The annual average values of PM pollutants in the Middle East region are much higher than the World Health Organization 2006 guidelines (PM2.5 = 10 μg/m(3), PM10 = 20 μg/m(3)). We uncover evidence on the association between PM and CVD in 4 Middle East countries: Iran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The findings are in light of the international figures. Ambient PM pollution is considered a potential risk factor for platelet activation and atherosclerosis and has been found to be linked with an increased risk for mortality and hospital admissions due to CVD. This review highlights the importance of developing a strategy to improve air quality and reduce outdoor air pollution in the developing countries, particularly in the Middle East. Future studies should weigh the potential impact of PM on the overall burden of cardiac diseases. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

  17. Chatty, Dawn: Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mohns, Erik

    2011-01-01

    and resettlement with an anthropological account of life experiences of individual members of dispersed communities, Chatty allows the reader to inspect “how various peoples, forced to migrate into or within the Middle East, have survived, founded new communities, integrated, and generally exhibited remarkable...

  18. Regional Effects of the Mount Pinatubo Eruption on the Middle East and the Red Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Osipov, Sergey

    2017-10-26

    The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo had dramatic effects on the regional climate in the Middle East. Though acknowledged, these effects have not been thoroughly studied. To fill this gap and to advance understanding of the mechanisms that control variability in the Middle East\\'s regional climate, we simulated the impact of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption using a regional coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling system set for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) domain. We used the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) framework, which couples the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) model with the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). We modified the WRF model to account for the radiative effect of volcanic aerosols. Our coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations verified by available observations revealed strong perturbations in the energy balance of the Red Sea, which drove thermal and circulation responses. Our modeling approach allowed us to separate changes in the atmospheric circulation caused by the impact of the volcano from direct regional radiative cooling from volcanic aerosols. The atmospheric circulation effect was significantly stronger than the direct volcanic aerosols effect. We found that the Red Sea response to the Pinatubo eruption was stronger and qualitatively different from that of the global ocean system. Our results suggest that major volcanic eruptions significantly affect the climate in the Middle East and the Red Sea and should be carefully taken into account in assessments of long-term climate variability and warming trends in MENA and the Red Sea.

  19. Middle East and North Africa Data Book, September 2014

    OpenAIRE

    Devarajan, Shanta; Mottaghi, Lili

    2014-01-01

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) data book serves as a quick reference and a reliable dataset for monitoring economic and social developments in the region. The data are drawn from the 2014 World Bank's World Development Indicators (WDI) and International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) direction of trade statistics. It contains macroeconomic, sectoral, and social indicators for 19 countrie...

  20. An observational study of acarbose treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes from the Middle East and Morocco

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shihabi AR

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Abdul R Shihabi,1 Essam M Moussa,2 Hania Sobierajska,3 Birgit Schmidt4 1Al Ain Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 2New Jeddah Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Etihad Airways Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 4Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Leverkusen, Germany Background: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing dramatically in the Middle East and North Africa region. However, there are few trials that have determined the effect of antidiabetic treatment in an observational setting in these countries. Methods: This was a noninterventional study performed in Morocco in 2006–2007 and in the Middle East in 2005–2006 to observe the efficacy and safety of acarbose in patients with pretreated or untreated type 2 diabetes. Glycemic parameters (fasting blood glucose, one-hour postprandial blood glucose, and HbA1c were recorded within a 3-month period. The observation period included an initial visit at the start of acarbose therapy and up to three follow-ups. Results: Acarbose was effective in reducing glycemic parameters in patients from Morocco (n = 1082 and the Middle East (n = 1737. The mean one-hour postprandial blood glucose decreased by 35.5% to 165.4 ± 47.9 mg/dL in the Middle East and by 35.5% to 179.0 ± 49.9 mg/dL in Morocco. Mean fasting blood glucose decreased by 30.8% to 126.6 ± 34.2 mg/dL (Middle East and by 34.5% to 150.6 ± 47.1 mg/dL (Morocco. The absolute reduction in HbA1c was 1.3% in the Middle East (final value 7.4% and 1.0% in Morocco (final value 7.5%. Overall, 107 patients (Middle East and 26 patients (Morocco experienced minor drug-related adverse events, which were mainly gastrointestinal. The tolerability of acarbose was rated as very good/good by 80.8% in the Middle East and by 68.6% in Morocco. Conclusion: This study illustrates the efficacy and safety of acarbose in the treatment of type 2 diabetic patients in an observational setting. Keywords: type 2 diabetes, acarbose, Glucobay®, Glucor

  1. Energy Geopolitics in the Middle East After the Opec Summit

    OpenAIRE

    Çubukçuoğlu, Serhat Süha

    2017-01-01

    The Middle East is home to 65% of OPEC’s oil reserves and, with 32 million b/d, provides just over a third of the global oil supplies. Since 2014, the group of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, lead by Saudi Arabia, had seen a worldwide oversupply send prices lower and reduce revenues to government budgets.1 Defending and expanding market share had been the primary goal of the low-cost Middle Eastern states with the aim to squeeze potential...

  2. America's Call to Islam in the Middle East: The Information War

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Leach, Walter H

    2005-01-01

    While the United States armed forces are working hard to defeat terrorists wherever they can be found the country is also engaged on the information front to accelerate the introduction of democracy into the Middle East...

  3. Middle East geopolitics and the great new game

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El Mallakh, D.H.

    1998-01-01

    The dynamics of supply and demand of OPEC oil was the focus of this presentation. The geopolitics involved in moving crude oil from land-locked Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan was also discussed, along with the constraints imposed by the lack of adequate means to move land-locked crude oil and natural gas, and the reality of additional investments of $8 billion to $20 billion that will be needed over the next 10 to 20 years to establish a pipeline network. A look at U.S. crude oil imports shows that OPEC's share reached a high at 85 per cent of total imports in 1977, but declined steadily to bottom out at 41 per cent in 1985. Issues of supply security have been invoked in avoiding overdependence on Middle East (Gulf) oil imports, based on concern over the region's political instability, including inter-state conflicts. The heavy reliance of governments in the Gulf states on oil exports for much of their revenue, the implications of current demographics in the region, and the probability of unmet expectations leading to rising discontent, have important implications for future oil supply and demand from the Middle East. Much of the paper is devoted to the exploration of these implications. 6 tabs

  4. Positive response of Indian summer rainfall to Middle East dust

    KAUST Repository

    Jin, Qinjian

    2014-06-02

    Using observational and reanalyses data, we investigated the impact of dust aerosols over the Middle East and the Arabian Sea (AS) on the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall. Satellite and aerosol reanalysis data show extremely heavy aerosol loading, mainly mineral dust, over the Middle East and AS during the ISM season. Multivariate empirical orthogonal function analyses suggest an aerosol-monsoon connection. This connection may be attributed to dust-induced atmospheric heating centered over the Iranian Plateau (IP), which enhances the meridional thermal contrast and strengthens the ISM circulation and rainfall. The enhanced circulation further transports more dust to the AS and IP, heating the atmosphere (positive feedback). The aerosols over the AS and the Arabian Peninsula have a significant correlation with rainfall over central and eastern India about 2 weeks later. This finding highlights the nonlocal radiative effect of dust on the ISM circulation and rainfall and may improve ISM rainfall forecasts. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

  5. Positive response of Indian summer rainfall to Middle East dust

    KAUST Repository

    Jin, Qinjian; Wei, Jiangfeng; Yang, Zong-Liang

    2014-01-01

    Using observational and reanalyses data, we investigated the impact of dust aerosols over the Middle East and the Arabian Sea (AS) on the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall. Satellite and aerosol reanalysis data show extremely heavy aerosol loading, mainly mineral dust, over the Middle East and AS during the ISM season. Multivariate empirical orthogonal function analyses suggest an aerosol-monsoon connection. This connection may be attributed to dust-induced atmospheric heating centered over the Iranian Plateau (IP), which enhances the meridional thermal contrast and strengthens the ISM circulation and rainfall. The enhanced circulation further transports more dust to the AS and IP, heating the atmosphere (positive feedback). The aerosols over the AS and the Arabian Peninsula have a significant correlation with rainfall over central and eastern India about 2 weeks later. This finding highlights the nonlocal radiative effect of dust on the ISM circulation and rainfall and may improve ISM rainfall forecasts. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

  6. Poverty, Job Quality and Labor Market Dynamics in the Middle East ...

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

    Poverty, Job Quality and Labor Market Dynamics in the Middle East and North Africa ... This project will explore links between labour market dynamics and the quality ... public health, and health systems research relevant to the emerging crisis.

  7. A Realistic View of Long-Term Middle East Production Capacity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Samsam Bakhtiari, Ali [National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Tehran (Iran)

    2003-07-01

    The Middle East is a unique landmass bridging the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. It now consists of fifteen major countries and one neutral zone. Four of these countries (Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon) are practically devoid of commercial oil resources. And the other eleven jointly control oil reserves estimated by Colin Campbell at 805 bnb (42% of world total) -- made up of 758 bnb discovered and 47 bnb yet-to-find. These eleven countries, which produced on average 20.8 mb/d and 19.3 mb/d in 2001 and 2002 respectively, can be subdivided into three categories: (i) the low producers (4 countries); (ii) the mid-size producers (4 countries); and (iii) the three large producers (Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia). In order to investigate the Middle East's long-term production capacity, the forecasts and scenarios developed by the following experts or institutions were reviewed: (a) Dr. Campbell; (b) the major international institutions (IEA, EIA, OPEC); (c) the major oil companies; (d) the major international banks; (e) the specialised press; (f) prominent economists and consultants; (g) the simulations of the 'World Oil Production Capacity' (WOCAP) model. The most significant results were derived from Dr. Campbell's predictions and the WOCAP model. Both of these show Middle Eastern producers going through a long 'bumpy plateau' between 2003 and 2020 with a gradual ramping down during the second decade. WOCAP's simulations for each of the large three producers are presented and analysed. All in all, the Middle Eastern countries, which produce nearly a third of global crude oil, will continue to play a major role on the global oil stage, a role that, with time, can only tend to become more predominant. And although the region's oil represents over 40% of global reserves and roughly two-thirds of proved reserves, there are limits to its output. For those believing that for Middle East oil 'the sky's the limit

  8. CASE STUDY: North Africa and Middle East — Breeding better barley

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

    2011-01-06

    Jan 6, 2011 ... CASE STUDY: North Africa and Middle East — Breeding better barley — together ... In Syria, for example, "host farmers" in nine communities were ... and Yemen, the same approach is being applied to research on lentils.

  9. 78 FR 42779 - Authorization of Emergency Use of an In Vitro Diagnostic for Detection of Middle East Respiratory...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-17

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0754] Authorization of Emergency Use of an In Vitro Diagnostic for Detection of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome... Authorization) for an in vitro diagnostic device for detection of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus...

  10. Unites States and the oil of the Middle-East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noel, P.

    2005-08-01

    The author discusses different aspects of the United States intervention and behavior in the Middle-East petroleum management. The Iraq and Iran potentials are largely under used. The Saudi Arabia defines its own oil policy, but benefits of the Unites States military help. The United States intervention is in the domain of the security of flux on the world market. (A.L.B.)

  11. A Historical Analysis of Three Main Issues Affecting United States Foreign Policy in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    1979-06-01

    4 Objectives . . . . . .. . . . 5 Reserach Questions .a. . . . . . . . . . 6 Literature Review .. a .a . .a aa 7 The United...Question . . . . 12 The Importance of Middle East Oil 14 The Soviet Threat t . . . 15 II. METHODOLOGY ..... b 18 III. THE BIRTH OF ISRAEL AND UNITED...thoroughly’analyzing the history behind these problems can one begin to understand United States foreign policy in the Middle East. 17 17i CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY This

  12. Dengue in the Middle East and North Africa: A Systematic Review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Humphrey, J.M. (John M.); N.B. Cleton (Natalie); C.B.E.M. Reusken (Chantal); Glesby, M.J. (Marshall J.); M.P.G. Koopmans D.V.M. (Marion); L.J. Abu-Raddad (Laith J)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractBackground: Dengue virus (DENV) infection is widespread and its disease burden has increased in past decades. However, little is known about the epidemiology of dengue in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Methodology / Principal Findings: Following Cochrane Collaboration

  13. Understanding farmers' intention and behavior regarding water conservation in the Middle-East and North Africa: a case study in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yazdanpanah, Masoud; Hayati, Dariush; Hochrainer-Stigler, Stefan; Zamani, Gholam Hosein

    2014-03-15

    There is a high risk of serious water shortages in Middle-East and North African countries. To decrease this threat water conservation strategies are gaining overall importance and one main focus is now on farmer's behavior. Among other dimensions it is assumed that normative issues play an important role in predicting environmental oriented intentions and actual actions. To empirically test the possible interactions the Theory of Planned Behavior was used, revised and expanded for the specific case on water management issues and applied to Iranian farmers. The results could not validate the TPB framework which emphasizes the importance of perceived behavioral control for intention and actual behavior and findings are much more in line with the Theory of Reasoned Action. Normative inclinations as well as perception of risk are found to be important for intention as well as actual water conservation behavior. Additionally, the importance and linkages of the dimensions are found to be different between sub-groups of farmers, especially between traditional water management farmers and those who already using advanced water management strategies. This raises the question if one-fits-all behavioral models are adequate for practical studies where sub-groups may very much differ in their actions. Still, our study suggests that in the context of water conservation, normative inclination is a key dimension and it may be useful to consider the role of positive, self-rewarding feelings for farmers when setting up policy measures in the region. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Enhancing research ethics capacity in the Middle East: experience and challenges of a Fogarty-sponsored training program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silverman, Henry; Edwards, Hillary; Shamoo, Adil; Matar, Amal

    2013-12-01

    We describe the research ethics capacity needs of the countries from the Middle East region. Against this background, we relate the experience of an international training program focused on providing long-term training in research ethics to individuals from low and middle-income countries in the Middle East area. We describe our pedagogical approach to training, program changes to address challenges faced, and accomplishments of trainees. Many former trainees developed research ethics curricula in their home institutions, established or enhanced their institutions' research ethics committees, provided leadership to national research ethics systems, and conducted research in research ethics. Based on our analysis, we make recommendations for how trainees can further address current regional research ethics needs in the Middle East and conduct future research. This paper is part of a collection of papers analyzing the Fogarty International Center's International Research Ethics Education and Curriculum Development program.

  15. Middle East energy megaprojects after the millennium: the need to start now

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shammas, Pierre

    1997-01-01

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will become the heart of the world energy supply in the new millennium. Integrated energy megaprojects upon which the oil majors want to embark will be urgently needed and given typical lead times of five to ten years need to be started now. Although perhaps in the most unstable part of the energy world, MENA has the potential to become the most profitable market for such projects in the light of such factors as the security of world energy supply and the decrease in commercial oil inventories. Other considerations include the link between MENA's political stability and socio-economic reforms, and the influence of multinational organisations in promoting privatisation and structural change. A key factor is the link between the Middle East peace process and economic growth. The integrated megaprojects include the Middle East loop of gas pipelines to supply Europe and Asia. Together with the related mini independent power projects and communications links, this will raise MENA living standards and promote MENA's growing liquefied natural gas business. In the energy integration of MENA with both Europe and Asia, Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Iraq will have major roles to play. Data on MENA power requirements to 2005 and private wealth in the Arab world are appended. (2 tables). (UK)

  16. Adapting pediatric psychology interventions: lessons learned in treating families from the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilliard, Marisa E; Ernst, Michelle M; Gray, Wendy N; Saeed, Shehzad A; Cortina, Sandra

    2012-09-01

    Pediatric psychologists are increasingly called upon to treat children from non-Western countries, whose cultures may contrast with a Western medical setting. Research on cultural adaptations of evidence-based treatments (EBTs), particularly for individuals from the Middle East, is sparse. To address this need, we discuss clinical issues encountered when working with patients from the Middle East. Synthesis of the literature regarding culturally adapted EBTs and common themes in Middle Eastern culture. Case vignettes illustrate possible EBT adaptations. Integrating cultural values in treatment is an opportunity to join with patients and families to optimize care. Expectations for medical and psychological treatment vary, and collaborations with cultural liaisons are beneficial. Critical next steps include systematic development, testing, and training in culturally adapting EBTs in pediatric medical settings. Increased dialogue between clinicians, researchers, and cultural liaisons is needed to share knowledge and experiences to enhance patient care.

  17. Sustainable Electricity and Water for Europe, Middle East and North Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller-Steinhagen, H.; Trieb, F.

    2009-04-01

    Sufficient supply of energy and water are among the key requirements for a sustainable development of nations. Both depend strongly on energy carriers such as oil, gas, coal and uranium which have limited availability and a negative impact on the environment during their use. Within the framework of a series of detailed studies, conventional and renewable energy sources available for electricity production and desalination in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East (EU-MENA) have been analysed. Scenarios have been developed for a sustainable electricity supply based on increased plant and user efficiency, and an accelerated introduction of renewable energy sources. Even if all potential exclusion criteria are applied and only those technologies are considered which will become economically competitive within the next decades, a potential has been identified which exceeds the present electricity demand by orders of magnitude. Solar energy is, in this context, the by far largest resource which will most economically be exploited in centralised solar thermal power plants. In combination with heat storage, these power plants can provide bulk and peak electricity, and can be combined with thermal or reverse osmosis desalination plants. At present, solar thermal power plants with a total capacity exceeding 10 GW are in operation or under construction in Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Spain and the USA. Ultimately, the increasing electricity demand of EU-MENA can only be secured in conjunction with the required climate and resource protection targets, if all renewable energy sources are exploited where appropriate, and conversion and user efficiency are increased. To utilise the enormous energy resources of the Mediterranean countries, high voltage direct current power lines will have to be built, linking the most abundant and economic resources with the load centres in the North. With electricity losses below 10% over a distance of 3000 km

  18. Panorama 2012 - The oil and gas producing countries of North Africa and the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cueille, Jean-Philippe

    2011-11-01

    Despite the extent of their reserves, oil production in most countries of the Middle East and North Africa is not likely to increase significantly in the years ahead. Exports from the Middle East, 75% of which are to Asia, and those from North Africa, most of which are focused on Europe, should remain stable overall. The increase in gas production will contribute more to meeting fast-growing domestic demand than to boosting exports. Indeed, many Middle Eastern countries are paradoxically experiencing strains on domestic energy supplies due to energy demand stimulated by energy prices that are generally - and artificially - very low, and the adoption of economic development models based on energy-intensive industries. (author)

  19. Coronary artery disease in Africa and the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kurdi MI

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Wael Almahmeed1, Mohamad Samir Arnaout2, Rafik Chettaoui3, Mohsen Ibrahim4, Mohamed Ibrahim Kurdi5, Mohamed Awad Taher6, Giuseppe Mancia71Heart and Vascular Institute, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 2American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon; 3General and Cardiovascular Clinic of Tunis, Tunisia; 4Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; 5King Khalid University Hospital and The Kingdom Hospital, Saudi Arabia; 6Ain Shams University School of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt; 7University of Milan, Bicocca, Milan, ItalyAbstract: Countries in Africa and the Middle East bear a heavy burden from cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of coronary heart disease is promoted in turn by a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, particularly smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and sedentary lifestyles. Patients in Africa and the Middle East present with myocardial infarction at a younger age, on average, compared with patients elsewhere. The projected future burden of mortality from coronary heart disease in Africa and the Middle East is set to outstrip that observed in other geographical regions. Recent detailed nationally representative epidemiological data are lacking for many countries, and high proportions of transient expatriate workers in countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates complicate the construction of such datasets. However, the development of national registries in some countries is beginning to reveal the nature of coronary heart disease. Improving lifestyles (reducing calorie intake and increasing physical activity in patients in the region will be essential, although cultural and environmental barriers will render this difficult. Appropriate prescribing of pharmacologic treatments is essential in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. In particular, recent controversies relating to the therapeutic profile of beta-blockers may have reduced their use. The

  20. PROSPECTS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES AND CHINA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ms. Zanna V. Petrunina

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Policy management of modern China aims to achieve a high level of welfare state. One of the important components that contributes to the achievement of this goal is the expansion of China's cooperation with the Middle East countries in all fields. At present, China is interested in obtaining energy from the Middle East oil fields. Of great importance is the transport infrastructure expansion between the regions. Construction and operation of oil pipelines, gas pipelines and land transport routes will reduce the risks of transporting raw materials and other goods from one region to another. The paper discusses the features of the development of rail and sea links as part of the strategy of «economic belt of the Silk Road» and «Marine Silk Road of XXI century».

  1. Research for Development in the Middle East and North Africa ...

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

    This book explores the current challenges and opportunities of research for development in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Experts from the region and ... HarassMap et Uber Égypte nouent un partenariat pour sensibiliser la population à la question du harcèlement sexuel. L'organisation HarassMap ...

  2. Regional Effects of the Mount Pinatubo Eruption on the Middle East and the Red Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osipov, Sergey; Stenchikov, Georgiy

    2017-11-01

    The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo had dramatic effects on the regional climate in the Middle East. Though acknowledged, these effects have not been thoroughly studied. To fill this gap and to advance understanding of the mechanisms that control variability in the Middle East's regional climate, we simulated the impact of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption using a regional coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling system set for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) domain. We used the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) framework, which couples the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) model with the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). We modified the WRF model to account for the radiative effect of volcanic aerosols. Our coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations verified by available observations revealed strong perturbations in the energy balance of the Red Sea, which drove thermal and circulation responses. Our modeling approach allowed us to separate changes in the atmospheric circulation caused by the impact of the volcano from direct regional radiative cooling from volcanic aerosols. The atmospheric circulation effect was significantly stronger than the direct volcanic aerosols effect. We found that the Red Sea response to the Pinatubo eruption was stronger and qualitatively different from that of the global ocean system. Our results suggest that major volcanic eruptions significantly affect the climate in the Middle East and the Red Sea and should be carefully taken into account in assessments of long-term climate variability and warming trends in MENA and the Red Sea.

  3. Agrarian Reform Policies and Development in the Arab Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baali, Fuad

    The purpose of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the nature, scope, and implications of the rural development in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa. The first section of the paper deals with the forces that have caused changes in agrarian reform policies as they affected rural development in these countries. Specifically…

  4. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in dromedary camels: An outbreak investigation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    B.L. Haagmans (Bart); S.H.S. Al Dhahiry (Said); C.B.E.M. Reusken (Chantal); V.S. Raj (Stalin); M. Galiano (Monica); R.H. Myers (Richard); G-J. Godeke (Gert-Jan); M. Jonges (Marcel); E. Farag (Elmoubasher); A. Diab (Ayman); H. Ghobashy (Hazem); F. Alhajri (Farhoud); M. Al-Thani (Mohamed); S.A. Al-Marri (Salih); H.E. Al Romaihi (Hamad); A. Al Khal (Abdullatif); A. Bermingham (Alison); A.D.M.E. Osterhaus (Albert); M.M. AlHajri (Mohd); M.P.G. Koopmans D.V.M. (Marion)

    2014-01-01

    textabstractBackground: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes severe lower respiratory tract infection in people. Previous studies suggested dromedary camels were a reservoir for this virus. We tested for the presence of MERS-CoV in dromedary camels from a farm in Qatar

  5. A Matter of Perspective: Teaching International Relations in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burns, Sean

    2014-01-01

    In this article, the author looks at several popular international relations textbooks in light of his experience teaching students in the Middle East. He finds that, for their many strengths, most of the books lack some key features that would make them more useful for students abroad.

  6. Role of Social Media in Diabetes Management in the Middle East Region: Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alanzi, Turki

    2018-02-13

    Diabetes is a major health care burden in the Middle East region. Social networking tools can contribute to the management of diabetes with improved educational and care outcomes using these popular tools in the region. The objective of this review was to evaluate the impact of social networking interventions on the improvement of diabetes management and health outcomes in patients with diabetes in the Middle East. Peer-reviewed articles from PubMed (1990-2017) and Google Scholar (1990-2017) were identified using various combinations of predefined terms and search criteria. The main inclusion criterion consisted of the use of social networking apps on mobile phones as the primary intervention. Outcomes were grouped according to study design, type of diabetes, category of technological intervention, location, and sample size. This review included 5 articles evaluating the use of social media tools in the management of diabetes in the Middle East. In most studies, the acceptance rate for the use of social networking to optimize the management of diabetes was relatively high. Diabetes-specific management tools such as the Saudi Arabia Networking for Aiding Diabetes and Diabetes Intelligent Management System for Iraq systems helped collect patient information and lower hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) levels, respectively. The reviewed studies demonstrated the potential of social networking tools being adopted in regions in the Middle East to improve the management of diabetes. Future studies consisting of larger sample sizes spanning multiple regions would provide further insight into the use of social media for improving patient outcomes. ©Turki Alanzi. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 13.02.2018.

  7. Local conflicts of the 1980s in the Middle East and the interests of the Group of Seven

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nemych, O. V.

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The author studies local conflicts of the 1980s in the Middle East and the interests of the Group of Seven. The purpose of the article is to represent the motivations of G7 of solution local conflicts of the 1980s in the Middle East. The author identified that interests of Group of Seven in resolving of local conflicts 1980s in the Middle East are can be determined by numbers of economic and political factors. This article is based on the analysis of sources and historiography. As a result of this research the author came to the conclusion that control over it – in terms of pricing policy accomplished OPEC – was an important precondition for the economy depended on oil imports of G Seven countries. Political motives component of G7 participation in resolving local conflicts in the Middle East was the trying to prevent the spread of Soviet influence on this region. Priority actions in shaping strategy of Seven countries were actually delegated to the United States, who played the leader of the Western world in the fight against the socialist camp. As a result shown that the motives solution of local conflicts in the Middle East for the Group of Seven countries were built on its own geopolitical and economic interests, rather than on a deep analysis of the internal causes of crises in Afghanistan, Lebanon or Iran.

  8. Need for refining capacity creates opportunities for producers in Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, M.S.S.

    1994-01-01

    Oil industry interest in refining has revived in the past few years in response to rising oil consumption. The trend creates opportunities, for countries in the Middle East, which do not own refining assets nearly in proportion to their crude oil reserved. By closing this gap between reserves and refining capacity, the countries can ease some of the instability now characteristic of the oil market. Some major oil producing countries have begun to move downstream. During the 1980s, Venezuela, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries acquired refining assets through direct total purchase or joint ventures. Nevertheless, the oil industry remains largely unintegrated, with the Middle East holding two thirds of worldwide oil reserves but only a small share downstream. As worldwide refining capacity swings from a period of surplus toward one in which the need for new capacity will be built. The paper discusses background of the situation, shrinking surplus, investment requirements, sources of capital, and shipping concerns

  9. Seasonal scale water deficit forecasting in Africa and the Middle East using NASA's Land Information System (LIS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Arsenault, K. R.; Shukla, S.; Getirana, A.; McNally, A.; Koster, R. D.; Zaitchik, B. F.; Badr, H. S.; Roningen, J. M.; Kumar, S.; Funk, C. C.

    2017-12-01

    A seamless and effective water deficit monitoring and early warning system is critical for assessing food security in Africa and the Middle East. In this presentation, we report on the ongoing development and validation of a seasonal scale water deficit forecasting system based on NASA's Land Information System (LIS) and seasonal climate forecasts. First, our presentation will focus on the implementation and validation of drought and water availability monitoring products in the region. Next, it will focus on evaluating drought and water availability forecasts. Finally, details will be provided of our ongoing collaboration with end-user partners in the region (e.g., USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWS NET), on formulating meaningful early warning indicators, effective communication and seamless dissemination of the products through NASA's web-services. The water deficit forecasting system thus far incorporates NASA GMAO's Catchment and the Noah Multi-Physics (MP) LSMs. In addition, the LSMs' surface and subsurface runoff are routed through the Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform (HyMAP) to simulate surface water dynamics. To establish a climatology from 1981-2015, the two LSMs are driven by NASA/GMAO's Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), and the USGS and UCSB Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) daily rainfall dataset. Comparison of the models' energy and hydrological budgets with independent observations suggests that major droughts are well-reflected in the climatology. The system uses seasonal climate forecasts from NASA's GEOS-5 (the Goddard Earth Observing System Model-5) and NCEP's Climate Forecast System-2, and it produces forecasts of soil moisture, ET and streamflow out to 6 months in the future. Forecasts of those variables are formulated in terms of indicators to provide forecasts of drought and water availability in the region. Current work suggests

  10. Current dietary supplement use of Australian military veterans of Middle East operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Pols, Jolieke C; Kanesarajah, Jeeva; Bell, Alison; Lui, Chi-Wai

    2017-12-01

    To assess patterns and levels of dietary supplement use among Australian Defence Forces, previously deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations. A cross-sectional study. Participants of a large survey self-completed questions about dietary supplement use, health status, personal and job-related characteristics, and lifestyle factors. Frequency of current use of supplements was assessed in three categories (bodybuilding, energy and weight loss). Middle East Area of Operations post-deployment health survey. Current and ex-serving Australian Defence Force personnel (n 14 032) who deployed to the Middle East between 2001 and 2009. Bodybuilding supplements were used by 17·5 % of participants, energy supplements by 24·5 % and weight-loss supplements by 7·6 %. Overall, 32·3 % of participants used any of these supplements. Bodybuilding and energy supplements were more often used by men, younger persons and those in the Army, while weight-loss supplements were more commonly used by women and Navy personnel. Supplements in all three categories were more commonly used by persons in lower ranks, active service and combat roles. Users of bodybuilding supplements had healthier lifestyles and better health status, while users of energy and weight-loss supplements had less healthy lifestyles and poorer mental and physical health status. Overall, 11·7 % of participants used supplements containing caffeine and 3·6 % used a creatine-containing product. Use of dietary supplements among Australian Defence Force personnel is common, and patterned by lifestyle factors and health status.

  11. SESAME: physics for peace in the Middle East

    CERN Multimedia

    2008-01-01

    Allan, Jordan: a bridge of peace between nations is being constructed with the help of particle physics. Scheduled to be operational by 2011, SESAME, the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, brings together countries from all over the region. SESAME construction site (Photo R. Sarraf, copyright: Al-Balqa Applied University). On the east bank of the river Jordan, 30 km from Amman, lies SESAME. A collaboration of nine members, including Jordan, Israel, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Palestine, the project was created under the auspices of UNESCO. Following the same model as CERN, the underlying expectation is that SESAME will encourage peace by training a new generation of scientists from all over the region to work on a new synchrotron facility. Just as scientists from all over Europe collaborated at CERN in the aftermath of the Second World War, SESAME hopes to provide an environment where ...

  12. Development of a daily gridded precipitation data set for the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Yatagai

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available We show an algorithm to construct a rain-gauge-based analysis of daily precipitation for the Middle East. One of the key points of our algorithm is to construct an accurate distribution of climatology. One possible advantage of this product is to validate high-resolution climate models and/or to diagnose the impact of climate changes on local hydrological resources. Many users are familiar with a monthly precipitation dataset (New et al., 1999 and a satellite-based daily precipitation dataset (Huffman et al., 2001, yet our data set, unlike theirs, clearly shows the effect of orography on daily precipitation and other extreme events, especially over the Fertile Crescent region. Currently the Middle-East precipitation analysis product is consisting of a 25-year data set for 1979–2003 based on more than 1300 stations.

  13. Entrepreneurs could hold key to job creation in the Middle East ...

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

    2016-06-22

    Jun 22, 2016 ... Despite reforms, labour markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have been unable to absorb the growing number of job seekers. Women and educated youth are particularly vulnerable to high unemployment. However, data on entrepreneurship and the private enterprise sector in the region ...

  14. Abrupt recent trend changes in atmospheric nitrogen dioxide over the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Lelieveld, J.; Beirle, S.; Hormann, C.; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.; Wagner, T.

    2015-01-01

    economical crisis and armed conflict, has drastically altered the emission landscape of nitrogen oxides in the Middle East. Large changes, including trend reversals, have occurred since about 2010 that could not have been predicted and therefore are at odds

  15. Middle East authoritarianisms: governance, contestation, and regime resilience in Syria and Iran

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heydemann, S.; Leenders, R.

    2013-01-01

    The developments of early 2011 have left the political landscape of the Middle East changed but recognizable. Even as urgent struggles continue, it remains clear that authoritarianism will survive this transformational moment. The study of authoritarian governance, therefore, remains essential for

  16. Climate change in Africa and the Middle East in light of health ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    thought about how climate change, by which I primarily mean global warming, is expected to ... investment in these areas is likely to decrease,[9] which would presumably leave people in a ..... Pilifosova 0. Middle East and Arid Asia. In: Watson ...

  17. Middle east gas: supply source of Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vivies, P. de

    1995-01-01

    The evolution of gas demand, the decreasing of reserves leads to the question of European future needs satisfaction. The european market can call on the russian production or middle east production. Iran has the most important reserves but the needs of the population can limit the gas supply. Yemen and Oman which have less important reserves but also less important needs to satisfy can be a serious alternative; Abu dhabi reserves are destined to asia market. The qatar has the most important gas offshore field in the world. The LNG (liquefied natural gas) seems to have a better position than gas pipeline to dispatch gas towards Europe

  18. Sleep medicine education and knowledge among undergraduate dental students in Middle East universities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talaat, Wael; AlRozzi, Balsam; Kawas, Sausan Al

    2016-05-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the undergraduate dental education in sleep medicine in Middle East universities as well as the students' knowledge in this field. A cross-sectional observational study was carried out during the period from September 2013 to April 2014.Two different questionnaires were used. A self-administered questionnaire and a cover letter were emailed and distributed to 51 randomly selected Middle East dental schools to gather information about their undergraduate sleep medicine education offered in the academic year 2012-2013.The second questionnaire was distributed to the fifth-year dental students in the 2nd Sharjah International Dental Student Conference in April 2014, to assess their knowledge on sleep medicine. A survey to assess knowledge of sleep medicine in medical education (Modified ASKME Survey) was used. Thirty-nine out of 51 (76%) responded to the first questionnaire. Out of the responding schools, only nine schools (23%) reported the inclusion of sleep medicine in their undergraduate curriculum. The total average hours dedicated to teaching sleep medicine in the responding dental schools was 1.2 hours. In the second questionnaire, 29.2% of the respondents were in the high score group, whereas 70.8% scored low in knowledge of sleep-related breathing disorders. Dental students in Middle East universities receive a weak level of sleep medicine education resulting in poor knowledge in this field.

  19. The future of Middle East gas in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aoki, Yuzuru [Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc., Sendai (Japan)

    1997-06-01

    Middle East LNG will be a strong candidate to serve as a source of supply to Japan in the long term. The decisive factor in ensuring that LNG trade with Japan is brought about, however, will be the terms the sellers can offer with regard to three key points: economic efficiency, supply security, and supply/demand matching. In the future, it will be essential to ensure mutual understanding between the LNG sellers and buyers as well as to continue to set up mutual efforts to reduce costs.(Author). 3 tabs.

  20. The future of Middle East gas in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuzuru Aoki

    1997-01-01

    Middle East LNG will be a strong candidate to serve as a source of supply to Japan in the long term. The decisive factor in ensuring that LNG trade with Japan is brought about, however, will be the terms the sellers can offer with regard to three key points: economic efficiency, supply security, and supply/demand matching. In the future, it will be essential to ensure mutual understanding between the LNG sellers and buyers as well as to continue to set up mutual efforts to reduce costs.(Author). 3 tabs

  1. Poverty, Job Quality and Labor Market Dynamics in the Middle East ...

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

    Unemployment is one of the main economic, social and political problems facing governments in the Middle East and North Africa. The nature and ... This project will explore links between labour market dynamics and the quality of jobs in three varied settings. ... Effects of the new labor law on informality & job quality. 41985.

  2. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Antibodies in Dromedary Camels, Bangladesh, 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, Ariful; Rostal, Melinda K.; Islam, Shariful; Rahman, Mohammed Ziaur; Hossain, Mohammed Enayet; Uzzaman, Mohammed Salim; Munster, Vincent J.; Peiris, Malik; Flora, Meerjady Sabrina; Rahman, Mahmudur; Daszak, Peter

    2018-01-01

    Dromedary camels are bred domestically and imported into Bangladesh. In 2015, of 55 camels tested for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Dhaka, 17 (31%) were seropositive, including 1 bred locally. None were PCR positive. The potential for infected camels in urban markets could have public health implications and warrants further investigation. PMID:29664373

  3. Diasporic dreaming: return reproductive tourism to the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inhorn, Marcia C

    2011-11-01

    This article attempts to capture the dynamics of return reproductive tourism to the Middle East, based on ethnographic research undertaken at four different Middle Eastern locales (Egypt, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and Arab America). Across the Middle Eastern diaspora, which is now vast, due to the disruptions of war and political violence, infertile couples often dream of making a test-tube baby 'back home' for a variety of cultural, moral and psychological reasons. These reasons – including medical expatriotism, the language of medicine, co-religion and moral trustworthiness, donor phenotype, the comforts of home and discrimination – are rarely highlighted in the scholarly literature on cross-border reproductive care. Thus, further empirical investigation is needed in order to assess additional reasons for reproductive travel beyond Euro-America. Of particular concern are the needs of 'stranded' refugee populations, who are constrained from seeking assisted reproduction technology 'back home', but who may face economic constraints and cultural discrimination in host communities. Copyright © 2011 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. A new hereditary colorectal cancer network in the Middle East and eastern mediterranean countries to improve care for high-risk families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghorbanoghli, Zeinab; Jabari, Carol; Sweidan, Walid; Hammoudeh, Wail; Cortas, George; Sharara, Ala I; Abedrabbo, Amal; Hourani, Ijad; Mahjoubi, Bahareh; Majidzadeh, Keivan; Tözün, Nurdan; Ziada-Bouchaar, Hadia; Hamoudi, Waseem; Diab, Osama; Khorshid, Hamid Reza Khorram; Lynch, Henry; Vasen, Hans

    2018-04-01

    Colorectal cancer (CRC) has a very high incidence in the western world. Data from registries in the Middle East showed that the incidence of CRC is relatively low in these countries. However, these data also showed that CRC incidence has increased substantially over the past three decades and that a high proportion of cases are diagnosed at an early age (Middle East was discussed and the idea was conceived to establish a network on hereditary colorectal cancer (HCCN-ME) with the goal of improving care for high-risk groups in the Middle East and (Eastern) Mediterranean Countries.

  5. Oil and the economic geography of the Middle East and North Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kortepeter, C.M.

    1990-01-01

    This book gives us the opportunity to follow the development of the field of economic geography as applied to the Middle East during the past half century. The materials are arranged under the following three headings: Geography and Petroleum: Boundaries and Boundary Disputes: and Social Geography

  6. Security concerns in the Middle East for oil supply: Problems and solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sen, Samil; Babali, Tuncay

    2007-01-01

    Comprising 65-70% of the world's oil reserves, the Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar) are key countries for the solutions to the energy supply matters of the world. Free flow of oil to the world markets from Gulf region is an indispensable part of the major security issues. The Middle East has had mainly security related problems such as Arab-Israeli wars and conflicts, Arab-Iranian war and conflicts, Arab-Arab war and conflicts, US-Gulf wars and conflicts and more recently radicalism and terrorist attacks. Energy supply security requires the enhancement of the peace and cooperation between countries instead of competition. Preventive policy approaches are more suitable to address energy supply matters. Preventive strategy might be possible with the active participation of NATO within the 'out of area' type operations to the Middle East and quite possibly indirectly to the Asia-Pacific regions. Religious and ethnic radicalism and terrorist attacks has also direct effects over oil supply security matters

  7. Principles of establishing a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone (MEWMDFZ)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hammad, F.H.; Ali, Adel M.

    2001-01-01

    The Middle East is one of the most dangerous regions in the world. It has suffered conflicts and wars - with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) implications - at higher frequency and intensity than any other region during the last 60 years. The Middle East was the largest importer of conventional weapons in the world since the second gulf war and the UNSCR 687, which aimed at destroying the Iraqi WMD capabilities and capacity. This arms race is fueled by stockpiles of nuclear and other WMD. In addition several countries remain outside the global nonproliferation and disarmament regimes such as the NPT, CWC and BWC. The situation is further complicated by the serious problems facing the Middle East peace process, which is not only threatening peace and security in the region but also in the world. This unstable risky situation cannot continue like this and cannot be handled step by step any more. The establishing of a MEWMDFZ in the context of a regional security system is the only way out. It is a difficult and remote objective but a tenable one. It is essential to work out the technical, legal and political framework of the envisaged system. This paper deals with efforts undertaken to establish a MEWMDFZ and the development of the underlying principles, based on lessons learnt from the evolution of NWFZs as well as regional and global nonproliferation, arms control and disarmament (NPACD) developments

  8. The Future of Iran’s Influence in The Middle East

    OpenAIRE

    ELİAS, Firas

    2017-01-01

    Iran hasthe potential to become a significant regional and international player. Iranuses all its soft and military power in this regard. However, it is facing aproblem in exporting its theocratic model to regional countries. The Iranian strategyis one of the most controversial strategiesin the Middle East. Since the Cold War era, the Iranian foreign policy has seenvarious political patterns in regional and international levels. Iran’sgeostrategic location, population weight, imperial legacy,...

  9. Using Satellite Data and Land Surface Models to Monitor and Forecast Drought Conditions in Africa and Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arsenault, K. R.; Shukla, S.; Getirana, A.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Kumar, S.; McNally, A.; Zaitchik, B. F.; Badr, H. S.; Funk, C. C.; Koster, R. D.; Narapusetty, B.; Jung, H. C.; Roningen, J. M.

    2017-12-01

    Drought and water scarcity are among the important issues facing several regions within Africa and the Middle East. In addition, these regions typically have sparse ground-based data networks, where sometimes remotely sensed observations may be the only data available. Long-term satellite records can help with determining historic and current drought conditions. In recent years, several new satellites have come on-line that monitor different hydrological variables, including soil moisture and terrestrial water storage. Though these recent data records may be considered too short for the use in identifying major droughts, they do provide additional information that can better characterize where water deficits may occur. We utilize recent satellite data records of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) terrestrial water storage (TWS) and the European Space Agency's Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) soil moisture retrievals. Combining these records with land surface models (LSMs), NASA's Catchment and the Noah Multi-Physics (MP), is aimed at improving the land model states and initialization for seasonal drought forecasts. The LSMs' total runoff is routed through the Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform (HyMAP) to simulate surface water dynamics, which can provide an additional means of validation against in situ streamflow data. The NASA Land Information System (LIS) software framework drives the LSMs and HyMAP and also supports the capability to assimilate these satellite retrievals, such as soil moisture and TWS. The LSMs are driven for 30+ years with NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), and the USGS/UCSB Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) rainfall dataset. The seasonal water deficit forecasts are generated using downscaled and bias-corrected versions of NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS-5), and NOAA's Climate Forecast System (CFSv2) forecasts

  10. The Spread of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East: “More May Be Better”? - 10.5102/uri.v4i2.228

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amena Yassine

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available The present paper assesses the post-Cold War debate on whether the spread of nuclear weapons is either central or peripheral to stability in the Middle East. The argument here is that in the current unipolar structure the spread of such weapons is a major destabilising force in the Middle East. Nuclear deterrence is no guarantee of stability to the region. As security dilemmas are mutable overtime, this paper argues that a condition precedent to stability in the Middle East is a refinement of intersubjective knowledge.

  11. Identification of Tropical-Extratropical Interactions and Extreme Precipitation Events in the Middle East based on Potential Vorticity and Moisture Transport

    KAUST Repository

    de Vries, A. J.

    2017-12-26

    Extreme precipitation events in the otherwise arid Middle East can cause flooding with dramatic socioeconomic impacts. Most of these events are associated with tropical-extratropical interactions, whereby a stratospheric potential vorticity (PV) intrusion reaches deep into the subtropics and forces an incursion of high poleward vertically integrated water vapor transport (IVT) into the Middle East. This study presents an object-based identification method for extreme precipitation events based on the combination of these two larger-scale meteorological features. The general motivation for this approach is that precipitation is often poorly simulated in relatively coarse weather and climate models, whereas the synoptic-scale circulation is much better represented. The algorithm is applied to ERA-Interim reanalysis data (1979-2015) and detects 90% (83%) of the 99th (97.5th) percentile of extreme precipitation days in the region of interest. Our results show that stratospheric PV intrusions and IVT structures are intimately connected to extreme precipitation intensity and seasonality. The farther south a stratospheric PV intrusion reaches, the larger the IVT magnitude, and the longer the duration of their combined occurrence, the more extreme the precipitation. Our algorithm detects a large fraction of the climatological rainfall amounts (40-70%), heavy precipitation days (50-80%), and the top 10 extreme precipitation days (60-90%) at many sites in southern Israel and the northern and western parts of Saudi Arabia. This identification method provides a new tool for future work to disentangle teleconnections, assess medium-range predictability and improve understanding of climatic changes of extreme precipitation in the Middle East and elsewhere.

  12. Identification of Tropical-Extratropical Interactions and Extreme Precipitation Events in the Middle East Based On Potential Vorticity and Moisture Transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vries, A. J.; Ouwersloot, H. G.; Feldstein, S. B.; Riemer, M.; El Kenawy, A. M.; McCabe, M. F.; Lelieveld, J.

    2018-01-01

    Extreme precipitation events in the otherwise arid Middle East can cause flooding with dramatic socioeconomic impacts. Most of these events are associated with tropical-extratropical interactions, whereby a stratospheric potential vorticity (PV) intrusion reaches deep into the subtropics and forces an incursion of high poleward vertically integrated water vapor transport (IVT) into the Middle East. This study presents an object-based identification method for extreme precipitation events based on the combination of these two larger-scale meteorological features. The general motivation for this approach is that precipitation is often poorly simulated in relatively coarse weather and climate models, whereas the synoptic-scale circulation is much better represented. The algorithm is applied to ERA-Interim reanalysis data (1979-2015) and detects 90% (83%) of the 99th (97.5th) percentile of extreme precipitation days in the region of interest. Our results show that stratospheric PV intrusions and IVT structures are intimately connected to extreme precipitation intensity and seasonality. The farther south a stratospheric PV intrusion reaches, the larger the IVT magnitude, and the longer the duration of their combined occurrence, the more extreme the precipitation. Our algorithm detects a large fraction of the climatological rainfall amounts (40-70%), heavy precipitation days (50-80%), and the top 10 extreme precipitation days (60-90%) at many sites in southern Israel and the northern and western parts of Saudi Arabia. This identification method provides a new tool for future work to disentangle teleconnections, assess medium-range predictability, and improve understanding of climatic changes of extreme precipitation in the Middle East and elsewhere.

  13. Large-Scale Total Water Storage and Water Flux Changes over the Arid and Semiarid Parts of the Middle East from GRACE and Reanalysis Products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forootan, E.; Safari, A.; Mostafaie, A.; Schumacher, M.; Delavar, M.; Awange, J. L.

    2017-05-01

    Previous studies indicate that water storage over a large part of the Middle East has been decreased over the last decade. Variability in the total (hydrological) water flux (TWF, i.e., precipitation minus evapotranspiration minus runoff) and water storage changes of the Tigris-Euphrates river basin and Iran's six major basins (Khazar, Persian, Urmia, Markazi, Hamun, and Sarakhs) over 2003-2013 is assessed in this study. Our investigation is performed based on the TWF that are estimated as temporal derivatives of terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) products and those from the reanalysis products of ERA-Interim and MERRA-Land. An inversion approach is applied to consistently estimate the spatio-temporal changes of soil moisture and groundwater storage compartments of the seven basins during the study period from GRACE TWS, altimetry, and land surface model products. The influence of TWF trends on separated water storage compartments is then explored. Our results, estimated as basin averages, indicate negative trends in the maximums of TWF peaks that reach up to -5.2 and -2.6 (mm/month/year) over 2003-2013, respectively, for the Urmia and Tigris-Euphrates basins, which are most likely due to the reported meteorological drought. Maximum amplitudes of the soil moisture compartment exhibit negative trends of -11.1, -6.6, -6.1, -4.8, -4.7, -3.8, and -1.2 (mm/year) for Urmia, Tigris-Euphrates, Khazar, Persian, Markazi, Sarakhs, and Hamun basins, respectively. Strong groundwater storage decrease is found, respectively, within the Khazar -8.6 (mm/year) and Sarakhs -7.0 (mm/year) basins. The magnitude of water storage decline in the Urmia and Tigris-Euphrates basins is found to be bigger than the decrease in the monthly accumulated TWF indicating a contribution of human water use, as well as surface and groundwater flow to the storage decline over the study area.

  14. Aerosol Radiative Impact on the Middle East Regional Climate and the Red Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Osipov, Sergey

    2017-01-01

    The climate in the Middle East is complex and remains poorly understood. Due to the vast Arabian Desert, it is very sensitive to radiative forcing. Mineral dust is the dominant aerosol in this region. High background dust loading and frequent dust

  15. Hepatitis B epidemiology in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    André, F

    2000-02-18

    Asia and Africa have previously been classified as areas of high endemicity for hepatitis B virus (HBV), but in some countries highly effective vaccination programmes have shifted this pattern towards intermediate or low endemicity. Thus, China is now the only country in Asia where HBV endemicity is high. Countries with intermediate endemicity include India, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand, and those with low endemicity include Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Most countries in Africa have high HBV endemicity, with the exceptions of Tunisia and Morocco, which have intermediate endemicity. Zambia has borderline intermediate/high endemicity. In the Middle East, Bahrain, Iran, Israel and Kuwait are areas of low endemicity, Cyprus, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates have intermediate endemicity, and Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Yemen and Saudi Arabia have high endemicity. All of these Middle East countries reach a large proportion of their population with hepatitis B vaccination, which is reducing the infection rate, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The vaccination programme in Taiwan has also greatly reduced the HBV infection rate. Future vaccination programmes must take into account the mode of transmission of HBV, the healthcare infrastructure to deliver vaccination, and the socioeconomic and political factors in each individual country, to determine the most cost-effective way of infection control.

  16. Climate change in Africa and the Middle East in light of health ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article principally addresses the likely effects of global warming on health in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, northern Africa and the Middle East as well as how medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, bioethicists and public health researchers, should respond to them in light of ubuntu and Islam, ...

  17. Demanding a religious place. Three female Christian visionaries in the Middle East

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, W.H.M.

    2011-01-01

    Recently, a number of scholars have attempted to bring to light the forgotten and neglected history of religious Christian women in the Middle East. For this paper I will review this literature and compare the life stories of three female mystics in order to understand whether and how these women

  18. Consistent response of Indian summer monsoon to Middle East dust in observations and simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Jin, Q.

    2015-06-11

    The response of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) circulation and precipitation to Middle East dust aerosols on sub-seasonal timescales is studied using observations and the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with online chemistry (WRF-Chem). Satellite data show that the ISM rainfall in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and Pakistan is closely associated with the Middle East dust aerosols. The physical mechanism behind this dust–ISM rainfall connection is examined through ensemble simulations with and without dust emissions. Each ensemble includes 16 members with various physical and chemical schemes to consider the model uncertainties in parameterizing short-wave radiation, the planetary boundary layer, and aerosol chemical mixing rules. Experiments show that dust aerosols increase rainfall by about 0.44mmday1 ( 10% of the climatology) in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and north Pakistan, a pattern consistent with the observed relationship. The ensemble mean rainfall response over India shows a much stronger spatial correlation with the observed rainfall response than any other ensemble members. The largest modeling uncertainties are from the boundary layer schemes, followed by short-wave radiation schemes. In WRF-Chem, the dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Middle East shows the strongest correlation with the ISM rainfall response when dust AOD leads rainfall response by about 11 days. Further analyses show that increased ISM rainfall is related to enhanced southwesterly monsoon flow and moisture transport from the Arabian Sea to the Indian subcontinent, which are associated with the development of an anomalous low-pressure system over the Arabian Sea, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and the Iranian Plateau due to dust-induced heating in the troposphere. The dust-induced heating in the mid-upper troposphere is mainly located in the Iranian Plateau rather than the Tibetan Plateau. This study demonstrates

  19. Consistent response of Indian summer monsoon to Middle East dust in observations and simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Jin, Q.; Wei, J.; Yang, Z.-L.; Pu, B.; Huang, J.

    2015-01-01

    © Author(s) 2015. The response of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) circulation and precipitation to Middle East dust aerosols on sub-seasonal timescales is studied using observations and the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with online chemistry (WRF-Chem). Satellite data show that the ISM rainfall in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and Pakistan is closely associated with the Middle East dust aerosols. The physical mechanism behind this dust-ISM rainfall connection is examined through ensemble simulations with and without dust emissions. Each ensemble includes 16 members with various physical and chemical schemes to consider the model uncertainties in parameterizing short-wave radiation, the planetary boundary layer, and aerosol chemical mixing rules. Experiments show that dust aerosols increase rainfall by about 0.44 mm day-1 (∼10 % of the climatology) in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and north Pakistan, a pattern consistent with the observed relationship. The ensemble mean rainfall response over India shows a much stronger spatial correlation with the observed rainfall response than any other ensemble members. The largest modeling uncertainties are from the boundary layer schemes, followed by short-wave radiation schemes. In WRF-Chem, the dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Middle East shows the strongest correlation with the ISM rainfall response when dust AOD leads rainfall response by about 11 days. Further analyses show that increased ISM rainfall is related to enhanced southwesterly monsoon flow and moisture transport from the Arabian Sea to the Indian subcontinent, which are associated with the development of an anomalous low-pressure system over the Arabian Sea, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and the Iranian Plateau due to dust-induced heating in the troposphere. The dust-induced heating in the mid-upper troposphere is mainly located in the Iranian Plateau rather than the Tibetan

  20. Consistent response of Indian summer monsoon to Middle East dust in observations and simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Jin, Q.

    2015-09-02

    © Author(s) 2015. The response of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) circulation and precipitation to Middle East dust aerosols on sub-seasonal timescales is studied using observations and the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with online chemistry (WRF-Chem). Satellite data show that the ISM rainfall in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and Pakistan is closely associated with the Middle East dust aerosols. The physical mechanism behind this dust-ISM rainfall connection is examined through ensemble simulations with and without dust emissions. Each ensemble includes 16 members with various physical and chemical schemes to consider the model uncertainties in parameterizing short-wave radiation, the planetary boundary layer, and aerosol chemical mixing rules. Experiments show that dust aerosols increase rainfall by about 0.44 mm day-1 (∼10 % of the climatology) in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and north Pakistan, a pattern consistent with the observed relationship. The ensemble mean rainfall response over India shows a much stronger spatial correlation with the observed rainfall response than any other ensemble members. The largest modeling uncertainties are from the boundary layer schemes, followed by short-wave radiation schemes. In WRF-Chem, the dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Middle East shows the strongest correlation with the ISM rainfall response when dust AOD leads rainfall response by about 11 days. Further analyses show that increased ISM rainfall is related to enhanced southwesterly monsoon flow and moisture transport from the Arabian Sea to the Indian subcontinent, which are associated with the development of an anomalous low-pressure system over the Arabian Sea, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and the Iranian Plateau due to dust-induced heating in the troposphere. The dust-induced heating in the mid-upper troposphere is mainly located in the Iranian Plateau rather than the Tibetan

  1. Nontuberculous mycobacteria in Middle East: Current situation and future challenges

    OpenAIRE

    Velayati, Ali Akbar; Rahideh, Sanaz; Derakhshani Nezhad, Zahra; Farnia, Parissa; Mirsaeidi, Mehdi

    2015-01-01

    Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a diverse group of bacterial species that are distributed in the environment. Many of these environmental bacteria can cause disease in humans. The identification of NTM in environmental sources is important for both clinical and epidemiological purposes. In this study, the distribution of NTM species from environmental and clinical samples in the Middle East was reviewed. In order to provide an overview of NTM, as well as recent epidemiological trends, a...

  2. Aerosol Radiative Impact on the Middle East Regional Climate and the Red Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Osipov, Sergey

    2017-10-01

    The climate in the Middle East is complex and remains poorly understood. Due to the vast Arabian Desert, it is very sensitive to radiative forcing. Mineral dust is the dominant aerosol in this region. High background dust loading and frequent dust outbreaks significantly perturb the radiative balance and contribute to climate variability in the Middle East. To assess the climatological impact of dust in the region, we derived the aerosol optical properties and used a standalone column model to quantify radiative forcing sensitivity to a range of parameters representative of the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea. Simulations and modeling assumptions were validated using available in situ observations and satellite retrievals for fair weather and dust storm conditions. We incorporated the optical properties into the regional coupled ocean-atmosphere model and conducted simulations that represent the regional climate. The analysis shows that dust cools the Earth-atmosphere system and thus offsets the warming due to greenhouse gases. Dust reduces the sea surface temperature by 0.4 K, significantly perturbs energy balance, overturning circulation, and its purely dynamical impact reduces biological productivity in the Red Sea. In the real world, dust is present permanently and this does not allow to directly observe the climate response to the dust forcing. Volcanic eruptions produce a transient radiative impact that causes a detectable climate response that could be evaluated from observations and compared with simulations. Large equatorial eruptions are known to significantly perturb the Earth’s climate on the global scale, but their regional impact on the Middle East has not been thoroughly investigated. For example, the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption had a profound effect on the MENA and caused extensive coral bleaching in the Gulf of Aqaba. The analysis shows that observed cooling in the Middle East was mostly driven by changes in the atmospheric large

  3. Assessings impact of drought on water resources management in the Middle East using the GRACE data and hydrological modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rateb, A., II; Kuo, C. Y.; Imani, M.; Kao, H. C.; Shum, C. K.; Ching, K. E.; Tseng, K. H.; Lan, W. H.; Tseng, T. P.

    2017-12-01

    The Middle East (ME) region experiences severe freshwater shortages in 90% of the region due primarily to its semi-arid landscape and climate setting, the growth of its population which outpaces world's average population rate by 3.7%, and rapid economic development. The prolonged and intense drought which started in 2007 resulted in the significant decline of surface water availability in the Tigris-Euphrates basin, and exacerbated the anthropogenic groundwater extraction rate, which declined the productivity of agriculture, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Therefore, evaluating the impact of the drought on the total water storage (TWS) and groundwater storage (GWS) decline is critical to quantify water availability, towards more effective water resources management in the region. In this study, we use the monthly Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) twin-satellite mission gravity solutions, covering April 2002 through December 2015, and hydrological models (GLDAS, CLM4.5, and WGHM2.2b) to monitor the TWS and GWS before and after the onset of the pronged drought which started in 2007. We built an effective Slepian basis concentrated over the Arabian Peninsula (AP) and six regions, including Iran, Iraq, North AP, South AP, Syria-Jordan, and Eastern Turkey, to characterize the impact of the drought at the country scale. The results show that the drought has resulted in further reducing the TWS and GWS depletion rate by more than 50%. The ME region experienced a small negative trend between 2002 and 2007, and then the trend dropped dramatically after 2007. The worst affected regions are northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and North AP. We compared the estimates with agriculture irrigation maps and characterized the depletion rates have been primarily caused by agriculture irrigation, which is directly linked to the pronged drought. Droughts are arguably longer in duration, more frequency and more intense in an increasingly warmer climate. The

  4. Middle East food safety perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idriss, Atef W; El-Habbab, Mohammad S

    2014-08-01

    Food safety and quality assurance are increasingly a major issue with the globalisation of agricultural trade, on the one hand, and intensification of agriculture, on the other. Consumer protection has become a priority in policy-making amongst the large economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries following a number of food safety incidents. To enhance food safety, it is necessary to establish markets underpinned by knowledge and resources, including analysis of international rejections of food products from MENA countries, international laboratory accreditation, improved reporting systems and traceability, continued development and validation of analytical methods, and more work on correlating sensory evaluation with analytical results. MENA countries should develop a national strategy for food safety based on a holistic approach that extends from farm-to-fork and involves all the relevant stakeholders. Accordingly, food safety should be a regional programme, raising awareness among policy- and decision-makers of the importance of food safety and quality for consumer protection, food trade and economic development. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  5. (Dis Integration and the Emergence of the State System in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. Imad El-Anis

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War One and theemergence of the modern state system in the Middle East have receivedsignificant attention in academic literature. However, the impacts thatthe proliferation of state borders in the 19th and 20th centuries havehad on political and economic integration within the Middle East isoften ignored. This study argues that between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries the region underwent significant structural changes.Furthermore, these changes were driven by external intervention andinternal decline. A number of theoretical assumptions are positedconcerning the importance on integration and cooperation of thefollowing: the increase in borders and claims to sovereignty and theseparation of peoples/markets. The conclusions drawn are that thechange from a system characterised by large political actors andintegrated markets to one which is characterised by smaller states andseparated markets led to the disintegration of the region’s internalrelations.

  6. The U.S. Role in Restructuring the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arslan Muhammetkurbanovich Gurbangeldiyev

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Within the framework of global leadership strategy, cooperation with regional powers turns out to be beneficial for the U.S. In the beginning of the XXI century, the United States relied on Turkey in the Middle East, but “neo-Ottoman” ambitions of Turkish government have caused such strong fears in Washington that in order to control its influence on the neighboring countries, the United States decided to limit the mediating role of Ankara in overall conflicts and dissentions in the region, by giving the prerogative to the other Sunni countries. At the same time, in order to deter the Sunni countries as a whole, US decided to soften its stance on Shiite Iran - a longtime political opponent. The situation in Iraq and the passive position of the U.S. in Syria allowed Shiite Iran to expand its influence in the region. The emerging Sunni-Shiite conflict in the Middle East provoked the rise of extremism in the region, as well as the armed conflict in Yemen. One of the main problems that threatens the regional and global security is a newly emerged radical terrorist organization ISIL, which to fight against, the U.S. provides a military and technical support to the Iraqi Kurds striving for their own sovereignty. The possibility of a rise of a Kurdish state in the region, in turn, poses a threat to the territorial integrity of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

  7. Aerosol optical depth trend over the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Klingmüller, Klaus

    2016-04-22

    We use the combined Dark Target/Deep Blue aerosol optical depth (AOD) satellite product of the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) collection 6 to study trends over the Middle East between 2000 and 2015. Our analysis corroborates a previously identified positive AOD trend over large parts of the Middle East during the period 2001 to 2012. We relate the annual AOD to precipitation, soil moisture and surface winds to identify regions where these attributes are directly related to the AOD over Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Regarding precipitation and soil moisture, a relatively small area in and surrounding Iraq turns out to be of prime importance for the AOD over these countries. Regarding surface wind speed, the African Red Sea coastal area is relevant for the Saudi Arabian AOD. Using multiple linear regression we show that AOD trends and interannual variability can be attributed to soil moisture, precipitation and surface winds, being the main factors controlling the dust cycle. Our results confirm the dust driven AOD trends and variability, supported by a decreasing MODIS-derived Ångström exponent and a decreasing AERONET-derived fine mode fraction that accompany the AOD increase over Saudi Arabia. The positive AOD trend relates to a negative soil moisture trend. As a lower soil moisture translates into enhanced dust emissions, it is not needed to assume growing anthropogenic aerosol and aerosol precursor emissions to explain the observations. Instead, our results suggest that increasing temperature and decreasing relative humidity in the last decade have promoted soil drying, leading to increased dust emissions and AOD; consequently an AOD increase is expected due to climate change.

  8. Bioinformatics in Middle East Program Curricula--A Focus on the Arabian Gulf

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loucif, Samia

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to investigate the inclusion of bioinformatics in program curricula in the Middle East, focusing on educational institutions in the Arabian Gulf. Bioinformatics is a multidisciplinary field which has emerged in response to the need for efficient data storage and retrieval, and accurate and fast computational and…

  9. MERS-CoV: Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus: Can radiology be of help? Initial single center experience

    OpenAIRE

    Hamimi, Ahmed

    2016-01-01

    Human infection with a novel coronavirus named Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East in September, 2012. The aim of this study was to establish the most pathognomonic radiological sign(s) to diagnose MERS CoV. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study. All patients were subjected to serial X-ray. High resolution non-contrast CT chest was also obtained for 10 patients. The scans were reviewed fo...

  10. Welcomed and Unwelcomed Actors of Middle East's Sociopolitical Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucian Sanda

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The present research aims at determining whether the current socio-political transformations in the Middle East are the results of an internal need for change, or rather the effects of the geostrategic interests of the U.S.? Following this question, we stress that the current political order in the Islamic world – that is in the Arab states with authoritarian, often dictatorial regimes, such as Iran and Libya – is the mere result of the overlapping collaboration of the two categories of „participants” and interests.

  11. The determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in the Middle East North Africa region

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rogmans, T.J.; Ebbers, H.A.

    2006-01-01

    Although, there has been increasing interest in the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in emerging markets, FDI into the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region has so far received little attention among academics. The MENA region provides a useful ground for the testing of traditional

  12. Middle East respiratory syndrome: A new global threat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pradeep Kumar Bhatia

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS is reported from Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea. It is a respiratory disease caused by coronavirus. Camels are considered as a source for MERS transmission in humans, although the exact source is unknown. Human-to-human transmission is reported in the community with droplet and contact spread being the possible modes. Most patients without any underlying diseases remain asymptomatic or develop mild clinical disease, but some patients require critical care for mechanical ventilation, dialysis and other organ support. MERS is a disease with pandemic potential and awareness, and surveillance can prevent such further outbreaks.

  13. Tackling cancer burden in the Middle East: Qatar as an example.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Robert; Kerr, Karen; Haoudi, Abdelali; Darzi, Ara

    2012-11-01

    Cancer prevalence is increasing in the Middle East, partly because of increased life expectancy and adoption of western lifestyle habits. Suboptimum delivery of health care also contributes to late diagnosis and poor survival of people with cancer. Public awareness of cancer risk is frequently low and misconceptions high, thereby preventing patients from seeking treatment early and constituting a substantial barrier to improvement of cancer outcomes. Screening programmes might have low uptake in Arab populations because of social and health beliefs about cancer. This review outlines the opportunities available to Middle Eastern countries and their emerging economies to learn from global experiences in cancer care, service provision, and research partnerships. The Middle East has begun to develop several health-care transformation programmes. Qatar, in particular, has published a National Health Strategy, in which cancer is one of the main commitments; this Strategy provides the focus of this review. The development of effective health-care strategies and evidence-based medicine directly linked to innovative cancer research is needed to improve cancer care. Although the full extent of the proposed solutions are not necessarily implementable in all Middle Eastern countries, wealthy states can lead derivation of population-specific approaches that could have effects throughout the region. Key challenges are outlined-namely, human capacity and training, subspecialisation of services, building on international cancer research initiatives, and the need for earlier diagnosis and awareness in the population. Countries in the Gulf Region (ie, countries bordering the Persian Gulf, including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Oman) need to address these challenges to be at the forefront of integrated cancer care and research and ensure that the latest innovations and best possible care are delivered to their populations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd

  14. Future of Management of Multiple Sclerosis in the Middle East: A Consensus View from Specialists in Ten Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Aljumah

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS is now considered to be medium-to-high in the Middle East and is rising, particularly among women. While the characteristics of the disease and the response of patients to disease-modifying therapies are generally comparable between the Middle East and other areas, significant barriers to achieving optimal care for MS exist in these developing nations. A group of physicians involved in the management of MS in ten Middle Eastern countries met to consider the future of MS care in the region, using a structured process to reach a consensus. Six key priorities were identified: early diagnosis and management of MS, the provision of multidisciplinary MS centres, patient engagement and better communication with stakeholders, regulatory body education and reimbursement, a commitment to research, and more therapy options with better benefit-to-risk ratios. The experts distilled these priorities into a single vision statement: “Optimization of patient-centred multidisciplinary strategies to improve the quality of life of people with MS.” These core principles will contribute to the development of a broader consensus on the future of care for MS in the Middle East.

  15. The ‘complete gospel’ revisited: Middle East and African influences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glenna S. Jackson

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The author focuses on the historically-reliable gospel pericopes in which a woman is the lead character. She argues that these women provide the complete gospel − Jesus teaches, heals, preaches and is anointed in the context of female-based stories and, of course, the women take him from conception to resurrection. Jackson argues, not only from an analysis of the texts themselves, but also from her personal experiences in the Middle East and Africa.

  16. Trade and energy consumption in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadorsky, Perry

    2011-01-01

    Over the past 30 years many economies have experienced large increases in economic trade, income and energy consumption. This brings up an interesting question. How do increases in trade affect energy consumption? This study uses panel cointegration data estimation techniques to examine the impact of trade on energy consumption in a sample of 8 Middle Eastern countries covering the period 1980 to 2007. Short-run dynamics show Granger causality from exports to energy consumption, and a bi-directional feedback relationship between imports and energy consumption. Long run elasticities estimated from FMOLS show that a 1% increase in per capita exports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.11% while a one percent increase in per capita imports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.04%. These results are important in establishing that increased trade affects energy demand in the Middle East in both the short and long-run. This has implications for energy policy and environmental policy. - Research Highlights: → Trade affects energy consumption in Middle Eastern economies. → Short-run causality runs from exports to energy consumption. → There is a short-run feedback relationship between energy consumption and imports. → In the long-run a 1% increase in per capita exports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.11%. → In the long-run a 1% increase in per capita imports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.04%.

  17. Time is ripe to act on Middle East weapons. Op-ed essay, published in the Financial Times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    ElBaradei, M.; Rotblat, J.

    2004-01-01

    Full text: The writing is on the wall: the Middle East is fertile ground for proliferation concerns. Despite progress in obtaining greater transparency on the nuclear programmes of Iran, Iraq and Libya, a deep sense of insecurity remains. The symptoms are everywhere in the region: the Arab-Israeli conflict continues to fester. Regime change is talked of as the most efficient route to democracy. The situation in Iraq, and its regional security implications, remains far from certain. Tensions with the west have increasingly become subtly - and not so subtly - associated with Muslim culture. More countries in the Middle East have refused to sign global treaties banning nuclear, biological and chemical weapons than in any other region. In the absence of a comprehensive settlement, Israel refuses to discuss its purportedly sizeable nuclear arsenal and shrugs off repeated requests to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). This and the accompanying sense of insecurity have served as an incentive for countries to arm themselves with equal or similar weapons capacity. A recent poll by the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera website showed that more than 80 per cent of respondents favoured acquisition of nuclear weapons by the Arab world. But this mini arms-race has made no one feel more secure. In addition, the increasing sophistication of clandestine programmes, greater access to nuclear and other weapons technology and the increasingly evident black market for illicit acquisition of designs, components and expertise increase the prospect that extremist groups will acquire weapons of mass destruction. If we had any doubts before, it should be clear now that the Middle East situation is unsustainable. If we do nothing, catastrophe is only a matter of time. A great deal of rhetoric has emerged over the idea of making the Middle East a WMD-free region. The establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone has been the topic of UN resolutions for 30 years, with

  18. Security concerns in the Middle East for oil supply: Problems and solutions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sen, Samil [Istanbul Univ., Dept. of Geology, Istanbul (Turkey); Babali, Tuncay [Houston Univ., Dept. of Political Science, Houston, TX (United States)

    2007-03-15

    Comprising 65-70% of the world's oil reserves, the Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar) are key countries for the solutions to the energy supply matters of the world. Free flow of oil to the world markets from Gulf region is an indispensable part of the major security issues. The Middle East has had mainly security related problems such as Arab-Israeli wars and conflicts, Arab-Iranian war and conflicts, Arab-Arab war and conflicts, US-Gulf wars and conflicts and more recently radicalism and terrorist attacks. Energy supply security requires the enhancement of the peace and cooperation between countries instead of competition. Preventive policy approaches are more suitable to address energy supply matters. Preventive strategy might be possible with the active participation of NATO within the 'out of area' type operations to the Middle East and quite possibly indirectly to the Asia-Pacific regions. Religious and ethnic radicalism and terrorist attacks has also direct effects over oil supply security matters. (Author)

  19. Assessment of prescribing information for generic drugs manufactured in the Middle East and marketed in Saudi Arabia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gebran, N.; Al-Haldari, K.

    2006-01-01

    Little research has assessed the quality of manufacturer provided prescribing information or documented difference in key aspects of drug information among different marketed generic products of the same drug particularly in Middle East and Arabian Gulf. We assessed the quality of written prescribing information for selected generic drugs marketed in Saudi Arabia and manufactured in various countries of Middle East. We assessed the correctness and completeness of information pertaining to indications, dosage cautions/contraindications, side effects and drug interactions in 37 packages inserts for generic products registered in Saudi Arabia and manufactured in the Middle East, including atenolol (6 inserts), fluoxetine (4 inserts), ciprofloxacin (11 inserts), melformin (7 inserts) and omeprazole (9 inserts). We also described deficiencies in quality and quantity of manufacturers provided information that could be misleading to patients and prescribes. We found substantial disagreement in information between generic packages inserts versus the British National Formulary and the package insert of the brand product marketed in Saudi Arabia. A cumulative average of 63.16% of drug information indicators were in agreement with these standard references. Section headings with the least conformity with study references were those related to dosage (57, 28%) and side effects (54+-30%). Our results indicate that national authorities should implement appropriate measures aimed at removing misleading and incorrect information in generic package inserts and incorporating crucial prescribing information that is missing. National authorities in the Middle East and Arabian Gulf should strengthen collaboration and information interchange among each other and with international agencies to maintain common quality standards for delivering information through package inserts. (author)

  20. The acceptance of dental operating microscope among advance education specialty programs in endodontics in the middle east

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mansour Alrejaie

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim: To present the current situation of dental operating microscopy (DOM training in the available Advance Specialty Education Programs in Endodontics in Arab Middle-Eastern countries. Materials and Methods: A web-based survey was sent to the electronic mail address of Advance Specialty Education programs of 15 Arab and middle east countries. The questions were limited to those who have an advanced specialty education program in Endodontics at their University if they are using an operating microscope? Results: Out of 15 countries, only 4 countries have microscopic technology in their Advance Education Programs in Endodontics. Conclusion: Few Arab Middle-Eastern countries have DOM in their advance education programs in endodontics. The highest authority in advancing endodontic education in the Arab Middle-East should consider in the near future the importance of this technology as standard care in teaching advance endodontics. An advance workshops should be organized regularly to provide enough knowledge about this standard educational technology.

  1. News reported on 30 November 1993 by the Middle East News Agency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1994-01-10

    The document reproduces a letter dated 27 December 1993 from the Alternate Resident Representative of Iraq to the IAEA including in an annex the news reported on 30 November 1993 by the Middle East News Agency concerning the detection of nuclear radiations in Iraqi military equipment left behind by the Iraqi army during the war for Kuwait liberation.

  2. News reported on 30 November 1993 by the Middle East News Agency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    The document reproduces a letter dated 27 December 1993 from the Alternate Resident Representative of Iraq to the IAEA including in an annex the news reported on 30 November 1993 by the Middle East News Agency concerning the detection of nuclear radiations in Iraqi military equipment left behind by the Iraqi army during the war for Kuwait liberation

  3. The nexus between carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Middle East countries: A panel data analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozcan, Burcu

    2013-01-01

    The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis assumes that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental degradation and income per capita. In other words, as a country grows, it is assumed that its environmental quality improves. In this study, we aim to test the EKC hypothesis for 12 Middle East countries during the period 1990–2008 by employing recently developed panel data methods. Our results provide evidence contrary to the EKC hypothesis. We found evidence favorable to the U-shaped EKC for 5 Middle East countries, whereas an inverted U-shaped curve was identified for only 3 Middle East countries. Furthermore, there appear to be no causal links between income and CO 2 emissions for the other 4 countries. Regarding the direction of causality, there appears to be a unidirectional causality from economic growth to energy consumption in the short-run; in the long-run, however, the unidirectional causality chain runs from energy consumption and economic growth to CO 2 emissions. We also suggest some crucial policy implications depending on these results. - Highlights: • The relationship between CO 2 emissions, energy consumption, and growth is examined. • Panel data estimation methods are used for 12 Middle East countries. • We obtain a U-shaped curve contrary to the EKC hypothesis. • The causality runs from economic growth to energy consumption in the short-run. • In the long-run, causality runs from energy consumption and growth to CO 2 emissions

  4. A short narrative - Challenges and opportunities in expanding research in the Middle East, North Afr

    Science.gov (United States)

    CGH CRTA, Hedieh Mehrtash interviews CGH's Dr. Marie Ricciardone who works with a network of partners in the Middle East and North Africa region, on experiences, challenges, and opportunities in the region.

  5. Stable isotopic composition of East African lake waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Odada, E.O.

    2001-01-01

    The investigation of stable isotopic composition of East African lake waters was conducted by scientists from the Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, as part of the International Decade for the East African Lakes (IDEAL) project and in close collaboration with the scientists from Large Lakes Observatory of the University of Minnesota and the Isotope Hydrology Laboratory of the IAEA in Vienna. The Research Contract was part of the IAEA Co-ordinated Research Programme on Isotope Techniques in Lake Dynamics Investigations, and was sponsored by the Agency. Water and grab sediment samples were obtained from East African Lakes during the month of January and February 1994 and July/August 1995. Water samples were analysed for oxygen and deuterium isotopic composition at the IAEA Laboratories in Vienna, Austria. In this final paper we report the results of the study of oxygen and deuterium isotopic composition from the East African lake waters. (author)

  6. Security Threats Emerging from the Middle East and North Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Çınar, Bekir

    2015-01-01

    The main security threats affecting the Middle East and North African (MENA) region arise from energy insecurity, immigration and terrorism. These threats would remain if authorities and other stake holders do not address the root causes of the problems, which are artificial national borders, authoritarian regimes and lack of pluralist education. This paper suggests that lifting state borders and setting up regional economic communities such as the EU may ease conflicts in the region which ca...

  7. Direct Radiative Effect of Mineral Dust on the Middle East and North Africa Climate

    KAUST Repository

    Bangalath, Hamza Kunhu

    2016-01-01

    Dust-climate interaction over the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has long been studied, as it is the "dustiest" region on earth. However, the quantitative and qualitative understanding of the role of dust direct radiative effect on MENA climate

  8. A brief encounter with the middle east: A narrative of one Muslim woman diagnosed with breast cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lea Baider

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the major challenges the healthcare profession face is understanding the variability and different meanings of the concepts of age and aging within different cultural, social, religious, and ethical contexts. People over the age of 65 in the Middle Eastern countries are estimated to comprise 4.7% of the population and are expected to grow rapidly. In the Middle East, cancer is the leading cause of death among women aged 40-79 and one of the leading causes of death for women over 70 years of age. Many women in the Middle East live within a system of religious values and moral perceptions based on an intergenerational family structure and clear family roles. We present a singular case study describing the importance of the ability to successfully understand cross-cultural issues in a clinical setting. Attention should be given to barriers and facilitators related to health and cancer education. It is recognized that personal, psychological, religious, environmental, social, and economic factors influence participation in any health programs. Cultural and religious factors, in particular, have been shown to play a vital role in women′s attitudes to breast cancer screening. It has to be noted that the case presented is meant to present and demonstrates cross-cultural issues rather than to represent Muslims in the Middle East.

  9. Albuquerque/Middle Rio Grande Urban Waters Viewer

    Science.gov (United States)

    These data have been compiled in support of the Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque Urban Waters Partnership for the region including Albuquerque, New Mexico.The Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque Urban Waters Federal Partnership is co-chaired by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There are also a number of other federal agencies engaged in projects with Tribal, State, and local officials, and community stakeholders. Like many western river ecosystems, the Middle Rio Grande faces numerous challenges in balancing competing needs within a finite water supply and other resource constrains. Historical practices by our ancestors and immigrants to the Middle Rio Grande have established the conditions that we have inherited. Long-term drought exacerbated by climate change is changing conditions that affect natural and human communities as we strive to improve our precious Rio Grande.The Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque Urban Waters Federal Partnership will reconnect our urban communities, particularly those that are overburdened or economically distressed, with the waterway by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led revitalization efforts. Our projects will improve our community water systems and promote their economic, environmental and social benefits. Specifically, the Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque Urban Waters Federal Partnership will support the development of the Valle de Oro

  10. Nuclear war in the Middle East: where is the voice of medicine and public health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dallas, Cham E; Burkle, Frederick M

    2011-10-01

    Once again, the politically volatile Middle East and accompanying rhetoric has escalated the risk of a major nuclear exchange. Diplomatic efforts have failed to make the medical consequences of such an exchange a leading element in negotiations. The medical and academic communities share this denial. Without exaggeration, the harsh reality of the enormous consequences of an imminently conceivable nuclear war between Iran and Israel will encompass an unprecedented millions of dead and an unavoidable decline in public health and environmental devastation that would impact major populations in the Middle East for decades to come. Nuclear deterrence and the uncomfortable but real medical and public health consequences must become an integral part of a broader global health diplomacy that emphasizes health security along with poverty reduction and good governance.

  11. Transnational Ireland on Stage: America to Middle East in Three Texts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei H. Kao

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available British imperialism had once channelled Ireland into becoming not only a subjugator of non-white colonies while itself subjugated, but also a transnational agent that nestled exceedingly well between cultural homogenisation and differentiation. Having said this, this essay will initiate a conversation among three dramatic texts that either question the ambiguity of the Irish role in international politics or unveil the ignored experiences of Irish exiles and their interactions with ethnic Others in a distant land. These Irish texts, to differing degrees, resist the normative impositions of a globalised world-view, and present a hybridised yet unsettling facet of Irish diasporic life in America, France, and Middle East, as it is mediated with the difficulties of changing concepts of space and time in a transnational landscape. The discussion on the three texts will illuminate not only the commonality of ethical problems in general, but also how the individual playwrights reflect on the emerging ethical crises through Irish people's own historical experiences and the concurrent Middle East conflict. The three plays to be discussed are Sebastian Barry's White Woman Street (1992, Frank McGuinness's Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (1992, and Colin Teevan's How Many Miles to Basra? (2006.

  12. INTENDED NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syed Mahbubur Rahman

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available All Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC were requested to communicate intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs in a clear, transparent and understandable way before the Conference of the Parties (known as COP21 held in Paris in 2015. The Contributions were supposed to be balanced and comprehensive to ensure sustainable development and expected to include finance, technology requires, technology transfer and capacity building aiming at mitigation and adaptation. This research focuses on investigating the INDCs prepared by countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA, one of the most water-scarce and dry regions in the world. Following a content analysis, this research has found that INDCs from the region have not been able to reflect the desired output. Submissions were also not timely and not sufficiently ahead of time. Many countries were not able to disclose the current status. INDCs can play a significant role by providing objective, timely, and reliable information, which is missing at present in the countries from MENA.

  13. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Middle-East countries: Meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ansarimoghaddam, Alireza; Adineh, Hosein Ali; Zareban, Iraj; Iranpour, Sohrab; HosseinZadeh, Ali; Kh, Framanfarma

    Metabolic syndrome is an important metabolic disorder which impose noticeable burden on health system. We aimed to review and imply the prevalence of it in Middle-East countries. present study was a systematic review to present overview about metabolic disorder in Middle East. Electronic literature search of Medline database and Google scholar were done for English-language articles without time filtering, as well as for population-based or national studies of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The fallowing search terms were used simultaneously: prevalence of " metabolic syndrome" and "national study", "prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Middle East", "prevalence of metabolic syndrome" and "name of country", "metabolic syndrome &name of country". Additionally, relevant articles in bibliography were searched. Analysis of data was carried out in STATA version 11.0. out of 456 studies in first-step searching (selecting by title) 59 studies were recruited and reviewed. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome fluctuated by country and time of study. This amount was 2.2-44% in Turkish, 16-41% in Saudi-Arabia, 14-63 in Pakistan, 26-33 in Qatar, 9-36 in Kuwait, 22-50 in Emirate, 6-42 in Iran, and up to 23 in Yemen. Pooled estimate was 25%. Attributable risk for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke was 15.87, 11.7, and 16.23, respectively. The prevalence rate of metabolic syndrome is high and it is noticeable cause for stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease. Copyright © 2017 Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Chinese-Middle East Relations and Their Implications for U.S. Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-06-01

    temporary hiatus of 13 enforced isolation, predominantly to the United States. This youthful and/or professional peregrination provides another very rich ...an extensive millenial westward migration from the Middle East and Persia through to and including Greece, Rome, Europe and finally into the New...either radical or moderate reform wings. They are variously referred to in the western press as go-for-it and to-get- rich -is-glorious "reformers" on

  15. Faculty Response to Ethical Issues at an American University in the Middle-East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabsh, Sami W.; El Kadi, Hany A.; Abdelfatah, Akmal S.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The objective of this study is to get feedback on faculty perception of ethical issues related to teaching, scholarship and service at a relatively new American-style university in the Middle-East. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire involving 21 scenarios with multiple choice answers was developed and distributed to all faculty…

  16. The Global Online Sexuality Survey (GOSS): male homosexuality among Arabic-speaking internet users in the Middle East--2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaeer, Osama; Shaeer, Kamal

    2014-10-01

    The prevalence of male homosexuality is difficult to elicit considering the sensitivity of one's sexual orientation. The Global Online Sexuality Survey (GOSS) is an online epidemiologic study of male and female sexuality. The online nature of GOSS allows more confidentiality and wider geographic reach, particularly important in investigating sexual issues within the more conservative societies. This study aims to determine the prevalence of male homosexuality among Internet users in the Arabic-speaking Middle East and the unique characteristics of this subset of the population. Prevalence of male homosexuality. In the year 2010, GOSS was offered to Arabic-speaking web surfers above 18 years of age in the Middle East. Potential participants were invited via advertising on Facebook®. Invitations were dispatched randomly with the exception of geographic region and age, regardless web surfing preferences. GOSS relied in part on validated questionnaires such as the International Index of Erectile Function, as well on other nonvalidated questions. 17.1% reported desire toward the same sex, of whom 5.6% had homosexual encounters, mostly in the form of external stimulation rather than intercourse, and exclusively undercover. An overwhelming majority was ego-dystonic (78.2%). This is--to our knowledge--the first online survey to address the prevalence of homosexual orientation and practice in the Middle East, discriminating desire from practice, ego-syntonic from ego-dystonic, and investigating the pattern of practice. Homosexual desire is present in the Middle East as it is around the world, and homosexual encounters are as prevalent. Yet, the undercover and ego-dystonic states prevail. © 2014 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

  17. Understanding the routes of contamination of ready-to-eat vegetables in the Middle East

    OpenAIRE

    Faour-Klingbeil, D; Murtada, M; Kuri, V; Todd, ECD

    2016-01-01

    publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Understanding the routes of contamination of ready-to-eat vegetables in the Middle East journaltitle: Food Control articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.10.024 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Guidelines for acute management of hyperammonemia in the Middle East region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfadhel M

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Majid Alfadhel,1,2 Fuad Al Mutairi,1,2 Nawal Makhseed,3 Fatma Al Jasmi,4 Khalid Al-Thihli,5 Emtithal Al-Jishi,6 Moeenaldeen AlSayed,7 Zuhair N Al-Hassnan,7,8 Fathiya Al-Murshedi,5 Johannes Häberle,9 Tawfeg Ben-Omran10 Middle East Hyperammonemia and Urea Cycle Disorders Scientific Group (MHUSG 1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetics, 2King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pediatrics, Jahra Hospital, Ministry of Health, Jahra City, Kuwait; 4Department of Pediatric, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates; 5Genetic and Developmental Medicine Clinic, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman; 6Salmaniya Medical Complex, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain; 7Department of Medical Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, 8The National Newborn Screening Program, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 9Department of Pediatrics, Division of Metabolism and Children’s Research Center, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 10Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar Background: Hyperammonemia is a life-threatening event that can occur at any age. If treated, the early symptoms in all age groups could be reversible. If untreated, hyperammonemia could be toxic and cause irreversible brain damage to the developing brain.Objective: There are major challenges that worsen the outcome of hyperammonemic individuals in the Middle East. These include: lack of awareness among emergency department physicians about proper management of hyperammonemia, strained communication between physicians at primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals, and shortage of the medications used in the acute management of hyperammonemia. Therefore, the urge to develop regional guidelines is

  19. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Part 10. Bat fauna of Iran

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Benda, P.; Faizolahi, K.; Andreas, M.; Obuch, J.; Reiter, A.; Ševčík, M.; Uhrin, M.; Vallo, Peter; Ashrafi, S.

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 76, 3-4 (2012), s. 163-562 ISSN 1211-376X Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : distribution * ecology * echolocation * ectoparasites * Chiroptera * Iran * Middle East * Palaearctic Subject RIV: EG - Zoology

  20. Clinical Assessment and Management of Spondyloarthritides in the Middle East: A Multinational Investigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Hammoudeh

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Data on spondyloarthritis (SpA from the Middle East are sparse and the management of these diseases in this area of the world faces a number of challenges, including the relevant resources to enable early diagnosis and referral and sufficient funds to aid the most appropriate treatment strategy. The objective was to report on the characteristics, disease burden, and treatment of SpA in the Middle East region and to highlight where management strategies could be improved, with the overall aim of achieving better patient outcomes. This multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study collected demographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on 169 consecutive SpA patients at four centers (Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The data collected presents the average time from symptom onset to diagnosis along with the presence of comorbidities in the region and comparisons between treatment with NSAIDs and biologics. In the absence of regional registries of SpA patients, the data presented here provide a rare snapshot of the characteristics, disease burden, and treatment of these patients, highlighting the management challenges in the region.

  1. Molecular phylogeny of the tribe Torini Karaman, 1971 (Actinopterygii: Cypriniformes) from the Middle East and North Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borkenhagen, Kai

    2017-02-22

    Freshwater fishes of the cyprinid tribe Torini are widespread in Africa the Middle East and Indomalaya. The relationships of Middle-Eastern Torini are analysed based on mitochondrial markers (Cyt b, ND4) of the majority of relevant species. I present a larely well resolved phylogeny, which confirms the validity of the morphologically defined genera Arabibarbus, Carasobarbus, Mesopotamichthys and Pterocapoeta. The Torini originated in Indomalaya and colonised Africa via the Middle East. Morocco was colonised two times independently, first from sub-Saharan Africa and secondly along the southern margin of the Mediterranean Sea. The Tigris-Euphrates system is an important crossroad for the colonisation of the Jordan River, the Orontes River and the watercourses of the Arabian Peninsula by freshwater fishes. The Jordan lost its connection to the Euphrates earlier than the Orontes. The Arabian Peninsula was colonised from the Tigris-Euphrates system in at least two independent events.

  2. Seasonal scale water deficit forecasting in Africa and the Middle East using NASA's Land Information System (LIS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shukla, Shraddhanand; Arsenault, Kristi R.; Getirana, Augusto; Kumar, Sujay V.; Roningen, Jeanne; Zaitchik, Ben; McNally, Amy; Koster, Randal D.; Peters-Lidard, Christa

    2017-04-01

    Drought and water scarcity are among the important issues facing several regions within Africa and the Middle East. A seamless and effective monitoring and early warning system is needed by regional/national stakeholders. Such system should support a proactive drought management approach and mitigate the socio-economic losses up to the extent possible. In this presentation, we report on the ongoing development and validation of a seasonal scale water deficit forecasting system based on NASA's Land Information System (LIS) and seasonal climate forecasts. First, our presentation will focus on the implementation and validation of the LIS models used for drought and water availability monitoring in the region. The second part will focus on evaluating drought and water availability forecasts. Finally, details will be provided of our ongoing collaboration with end-user partners in the region (e.g., USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWS NET), on formulating meaningful early warning indicators, effective communication and seamless dissemination of the monitoring and forecasting products through NASA's web-services. The water deficit forecasting system thus far incorporates NOAA's Noah land surface model (LSM), version 3.3, the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model, version 4.12, NASA GMAO's Catchment LSM, and the Noah Multi-Physics (MP) LSM (the latter two incorporate prognostic water table schemes). In addition, the LSMs' surface and subsurface runoff are routed through the Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform (HyMAP) to simulate surface water dynamics. The LSMs are driven by NASA/GMAO's Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), and the USGS and UCSB Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) daily rainfall dataset. The LIS software framework integrates these forcing datasets and drives the four LSMs and HyMAP. The Land Verification Toolkit (LVT) is used for the evaluation of the

  3. Middle East Respiratory Coronavirus Accessory Protein 4a Inhibits PKR-Mediated Antiviral Stress Responses

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rabouw, Huib H; Langereis, Martijn A; Knaap, Robert C M; Dalebout, Tim J; Canton, Javier; Sola, Isabel; Enjuanes, Luis; Bredenbeek, Peter J; Kikkert, Marjolein; de Groot, Raoul J; van Kuppeveld, Frank J M

    2016-01-01

    Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes severe respiratory infections that can be life-threatening. To establish an infection and spread, MERS-CoV, like most other viruses, must navigate through an intricate network of antiviral host responses. Besides the well-known type I

  4. Greening of the Sahara - a paleo perspective on the history of water in the Middle East and North Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bar-Matthews, M.

    2012-04-01

    The Middle-East, mostly at its southern edge together with North Africa, the northern edge of the Sahara Desert, are located at the boundary between high- to-mid latitude and tropical-subtropical climate systems. The geographical duality of desert adjacent to Mediterranean-type climate regions played and still plays a major role on the water availability. Thanks to the number of important paleoclimate studies that been made on accurate dating of cave speleothems in Southern Arabia and Oman (Fleitmann et al., 2011) and in the northeast Sahara, the Negev Desert Israel (Vaks et al., 2010) and the study of sapropels in Eastern and central Mediterranean (Almogi-Labin et al., 2009; Osborne et al, 2008), it is clear that the region was graced with water during peak interglacials when the African monsoon and westerly storm/rainfall systems intensified. Northward penetration of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone over the Arabian and African continents resulted in increased discharge of the Nile River and rivers that emerged from central Sahara into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Correspondingly, enhanced westerly wind activity led to an increase in rainfall from Atlantic-Mediterranean sources over the entire Mediterranean basin, which even penetrated south into the north-east corner of the Sahara Desert. The Saharo-Arabian Desert became narrower and climatic "windows" opened for the dispersal of hominids and animals out of the African continent at 250-239, 210-193, 138-120, 108-98, 87-84 and 10-6.5 ka BP, with severe dry conditions in between. Greening of the Sahara Desert at these intervals is supported also by various marine and terrestrial records, such as corals, lakes, tufa deposits and archeological findings. Dry conditions prevailed in the Sahara desert during glacials. This is in contrast to the climatic conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean coastal region and the Jordan Rift Valley (Bar-Matthews et al., 2003; Lisker et al., 2010), where water was available for

  5. a Heritage Inventory for Documenting Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheldrick, N.; Zerbini, A.

    2017-08-01

    The heritage of the Middle East and North Africa is under growing threat from a variety of factors, including agricultural expansion, urban development, looting, and conflict. Recording and documenting this heritage is therefore a key priority to aid heritage practitioners tasked with protecting sites and evaluating their condition on the ground. The Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project has developed a methodology for the identification, documentation, analysis, and monitoring of sites across the region to aid heritage professionals in these efforts. The project uses remote sensing techniques along with traditional archaeological research and prospection methods to collect data, which are stored and managed in a custom-designed database adapted from open-source Arches v.3 software, using CIDOC CRM standards and controlled vocabularies. In addition to these activities, the EAMENA project has initiated an international conference series and training workshops to support and establish partnerships with heritage professionals and institutions across the region.

  6. A HERITAGE INVENTORY FOR DOCUMENTING ENDANGERED ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Sheldrick

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The heritage of the Middle East and North Africa is under growing threat from a variety of factors, including agricultural expansion, urban development, looting, and conflict. Recording and documenting this heritage is therefore a key priority to aid heritage practitioners tasked with protecting sites and evaluating their condition on the ground. The Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA project has developed a methodology for the identification, documentation, analysis, and monitoring of sites across the region to aid heritage professionals in these efforts. The project uses remote sensing techniques along with traditional archaeological research and prospection methods to collect data, which are stored and managed in a custom-designed database adapted from open-source Arches v.3 software, using CIDOC CRM standards and controlled vocabularies. In addition to these activities, the EAMENA project has initiated an international conference series and training workshops to support and establish partnerships with heritage professionals and institutions across the region.

  7. Astronomy in the Middle East and North Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Athem Alsabti, Abdul

    2015-08-01

    Recent turbulent events in the Middle East and North Africa have influenced all aspects of life. Education in general, including astronomy, teaching and research has all been greatly affected. In this presentation, the current situation regarding astronomy in this region is reviewed in detail. This is based on visits made to Tunisia and Algeria recently on behalf of the IAU and other visits to Iraq, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan in recent years, as well as on discussions and communications with astronomers, officials and astronomical and educational institutes in the region. Discussions have also been established with astronomers from Iran, Oman and Morocco. Ideas and proposals will be presented on the best ways for the IAU and the international academic community to help under these circumstances.

  8. Escalation and Intrawar Deterrence During Limited Wars in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-09-01

    Regional Security ( ACRS ) Track 2 talks, which are part of the Middle East Peace Process. He also served as a member of the military and security...documents relating to the Iraqi BW program at his chicken farm in Iraq. The UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) which helped to monitor the WMD and missile...6. Zeev Maoz, Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel’s Security & Foreign Policy, Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2009, p

  9. Child Physical Abuse Prevalence, Characteristics, Predictors, and Beliefs about Parent-Child Violence in South Asian, Middle Eastern, East Asian, and Latina Women in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maker, Azmaira H.; Shah, Priti V.; Agha, Zia

    2005-01-01

    The present study examined the prevalence, characteristics, beliefs, and demographic predictors of parent-child physical violence among South Asian, Middle Eastern, East Asian, and Latina women in the United States. Two hundred fifty-one college-educated women from a middle to high SES (South Asian/Middle Eastern, n = 93; East Asian, n = 72;…

  10. Molecular dynamics of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV) fusion heptad repeat trimers

    KAUST Repository

    Kandeel, Mahmoud; Al-Taher, Abdulla; Li, Huifang; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo; Alnazawi, Mohamed

    2018-01-01

    Structural studies related to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV) infection process are so limited. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was carried out to unravel changes in the MERS CoV heptad repeat domains (HRs

  11. The Middle East - a mixture of oil and politics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skeet, I.

    1992-01-01

    The paper deals with the prospects for stability, in the context both of Middle East politics and of oil price and security. It shows that, because political stability is viewed differently by the actors who would be required to create the constituent parts of a stable political system, the likelihood of such stability is not high. In the case of oil, the objectives of the so-called producer/consumer dialogue are also different for both sides and a stable system is more likely to persist (although always subject to political upsets) as a result of whatever price management naturally evolves rather than through the creation of newly constructed mechanisms. (author)

  12. “New Periphery” as a Factor For Strengthening The Positions of Israel in The Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yury I. Kostenko

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Since its establishment the State of Israel has sought alliances with non-Arab and non- Muslim countries and minorities in the Middle East, as well as Arab states geographically distant from the Arab-Israel conflict. The article presents and explains this regional orientation. It examines Israel's strategy of outflanking. The "periphery doctrine" was a grand strategy, meant to attain the major political-security goal of countering Arab hostility through relations with alternative regional powers and potential allies. This periphery strategy had been internalized to some extent in Israel's strategic thinking and it began to reappear after 2010, following a new era of Arab revolution. The rise of political Islam in Egypt, Turkey, Gaza and southern Lebanon coupled with the Islamic regime in Iran, has generated concern in Israel that it is again being surrounded by a ring of hostile states - in this case, Islamists rather than Arab nationalists. The article analyzes Israel's strategic thinking about the Middle East region. It looks at the importance of the "new periphery strategy" for Israeli efforts to advance the Arab-Israel peace process, and its potential role as the Arab Spring brings about greater Islamization of the Arab Middle East. Israeli strategic planners are talking of "spheres of containment" wherein countries like Cyprus, Greece, Azerbaijan, and Ethiopia constitute a kind of new periphery.

  13. Progreen Online Engineering Diploma in the Middle East: Assessment of the Educational Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baytiyeh, Hoda

    2018-01-01

    Little is known about the status of online learning in the Middle East. This study investigates educational experiences of engineers enrolled in the new joint online ProGreen diploma programme offered by three universities, two in Lebanon and one in Egypt. Forty-eight working engineers responded to an online survey based on the three components of…

  14. The Middle East in 2015: The Impact of Regional Trends in U.S. Strategic Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-07-01

    iii Chapter 1 The Middle East in 2015: An Overview Judith S. Yaphe In the year 2000, two stereotypes of a “typical” Middle Easterncountry and...to the Leader’s call were actually moonlighting , driving cabs, and working in shops and restaurants to support their families. The Iraqi government...been said that the Hollywood film industry is inca- pable of dealing with marriage in its pictures. It is good at depict- ing romance and getting people

  15. Financial resources for development. Capital markets in developing countries: a study on borrowing by developing countries in the emerging capital markets of the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nashashibi, H S

    1980-10-01

    Private transfers of capital from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to developing countries are intended to complement private transfers from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) by tapping the emerging capital markets in the Middle East. Developing countries will be able to diversify their borrowing and gain additional financing. The long-term investment of oil-producing countries will benefit and the pressures on the banking institutions to recycle funds will lessen. Middle East capital markets include international loans and international bonds. The history of the Kuwaiti dinar (KD) bond market, with its advantages for both investors and borrowers, illustrates the successful development of a capital market. Financial intermediation needs to be improved, however, if the Middle East is to become efficient enough to compete with the Euromarkets. Efficiency will require different measures and should reflect strengthening relationships among Middle East nations. (DCK)

  16. Risk scores for diabetes and impaired glycaemia in the Middle East and North Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Handlos, Line Neerup; Witte, Daniel Rinse; Almdal, Thomas Peter

    2013-01-01

    AIMS: To develop risk scores for diabetes and diabetes or impaired glycaemia for individuals living in the Middle East and North Africa region. In addition, to derive national risk scores for Algeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and to compare the performance of the regional risk...

  17. View of the LP gas supply/demand in Asia and a survey of the Middle East trend; Asia no LP gas jukyu tenbo to Chuto doko chosa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-09-01

    A study was made on the LP gas supply/demand in Asia including an outlook for 2000. Eleven countries in Asia including NIES countries, ASEAN countries, China and India have been continuing their rapid growth of economy and have rapidly been increasing their energy consumption. There, LP gas spreads as a home use fuel, and countries excluding some LP gas producing countries depend considerably upon the import from the Middle East. The LP gas consumption quantity is steadily increasing in China and India having huge population, etc., and dependence of LP gas is increasing upon LP gas producing countries of the Middle East. Nevertheless, in the Middle East, the domestic consumption of LP gas, mostly butane, is increasing. Namely, butane is used as raw material of MTBE, and LP gas as that of petroleum chemicals. The Middle East has a lot of plant projects of a sizable size in the future, which predicts that LP gas export from LP gas producing countries of the Middle East is decreasing. 2 refs., 62 figs., 57 tabs.

  18. Rising temperatures, rising tensions : climate change and the risk of violent conflict in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, O.; Crawford, A.

    2009-01-01

    Scientific evidence suggests that climate change will have significant impacts to food security, disease prevalence, population distribution, and water availability in the Middle East. This paper discussed the likelihood of increased conflict as a result of climatic change in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the occupied Palestinian territory. A range of consultations and interviews with experts were analyzed in order to determine security threats in the region over the next 40 years. The study showed that the legacy of conflict in the region will hamper its ability to adapt to climate change. Climate change is likely to increase competition for water resources, intensify food shortages, and hinder economic growth. Climate change may also lead to forced migration and tensions with existing refugee populations and increase the militarization of natural resources. Strategies to pursue sustainable development in the Levant region included fostering a culture of conservation, addressing core tensions related to agriculture and water development, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regional cooperation is needed to develop effective approaches for GHG emissions reduction plans. 68 refs., 3 tabs., 22 figs.

  19. Rising temperatures, rising tensions : climate change and the risk of violent conflict in the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, O.; Crawford, A.

    2009-07-01

    Scientific evidence suggests that climate change will have significant impacts to food security, disease prevalence, population distribution, and water availability in the Middle East. This paper discussed the likelihood of increased conflict as a result of climatic change in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the occupied Palestinian territory. A range of consultations and interviews with experts were analyzed in order to determine security threats in the region over the next 40 years. The study showed that the legacy of conflict in the region will hamper its ability to adapt to climate change. Climate change is likely to increase competition for water resources, intensify food shortages, and hinder economic growth. Climate change may also lead to forced migration and tensions with existing refugee populations and increase the militarization of natural resources. Strategies to pursue sustainable development in the Levant region included fostering a culture of conservation, addressing core tensions related to agriculture and water development, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regional cooperation is needed to develop effective approaches for GHG emissions reduction plans. 68 refs., 3 tabs., 22 figs.

  20. Consensus clinical recommendations for the management of plasma lipid disorders in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Sayed, Nasreen; Al Waili, Khalid; Alawadi, Fatheya; Al-Ghamdi, Saeed; Al Mahmeed, Wael; Al-Nouri, Fahad; Al Rukhaimi, Mona; Al-Rasadi, Khalid; Awan, Zuhier; Farghaly, Mohamed; Hassanein, Mohamed; Sabbour, Hani; Zubaid, Mohammad; Barter, Philip

    2016-12-15

    Plasma lipid disorders are key risk factors for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and are prevalent in the Middle East, with rates increasing in recent decades. Despite this, no region-specific guidelines for managing plasma lipids exist and there is a lack of use of guidelines developed in other regions. A multidisciplinary panel of regional experts was convened to develop consensus clinical recommendations for the management of plasma lipids in the Middle East. The panel considered existing international guidelines and regional clinical experience to develop recommendations. The panel's recommendations include plasma lipid screening, ASCVD risk calculation and treatment considerations. The panel recommend that plasma lipid levels should be measured in all at-risk patients and at regular intervals in all adults from the age of 20years. A scoring system should be used to calculate ASCVD risk that includes known lipid and non-lipid risk factors. Primary treatment targets include low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Lifestyle modifications should be first-line treatment for all patients; the first-line pharmacological treatment targeting plasma lipids in patients at moderate-to-high risk of ASCVD is statin therapy, with a number of adjunctive or second-line agents available. Guidance is also provided on the management of underlying conditions and special populations; of particular pertinence in the region are familial hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes and metabolic dyslipidaemia. These consensus clinical recommendations provide practicing clinicians with comprehensive, region-specific guidance to improve the detection and management of plasma lipid disorders in patients in the Middle East. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  1. Understanding and predicting climate variations in the Middle East for sustainable water resource management and development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuels, Rana

    Water issues are a source of tension between Israelis and Palestinians. In the and region of the Middle East, water supply is not just scarce but also uncertain: It is not uncommon for annual rainfall to be as little as 60% or as much as 125% of the multiannual average. This combination of scarcity and uncertainty exacerbates the already strained economy and the already tensed political situation. The uncertainty could be alleviated if it were possible to better forecast water availability. Such forecasting is key not only for water planning and management, but also for economic policy and for political decision making. Water forecasts at multiple time scales are necessary for crop choice, aquifer operation and investments in desalination infrastructure. The unequivocal warming of the climate system adds another level of uncertainty as global and regional water cycles change. This makes the prediction of water availability an even greater challenge. Understanding the impact of climate change on precipitation can provide the information necessary for appropriate risk assessment and water planning. Unfortunately, current global circulation models (GCMs) are only able to predict long term climatic evolution at large scales but not local rainfall. The statistics of local precipitation are traditionally predicted using historical rainfall data. Obviously these data cannot anticipate changes that result from climate change. It is therefore clear that integration of the global information about climate evolution and local historical data is needed to provide the much needed predictions of regional water availability. Currently, there is no theoretical or computational framework that enables such integration for this region. In this dissertation both a conceptual framework and a computational platform for such integration are introduced. In particular, suite of models that link forecasts of climatic evolution under different CO2 emissions scenarios to observed rainfall

  2. Questions cloud outlook for oil production capacity growth in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tippee, B.

    1994-01-01

    Future expansion of crude oil production capacity in the Middle East is anything but certain-at least with crude prices at recent levels. There is little doubt that the world will need more production capacity than now exists unless petroleum consumption sags. And there is even less doubt about where prospects are best for production capacity growth. The paper discusses the normal surplus, growing demand, financial conditions, and political stability

  3. Foreign Direct Investment and Energy Supply in the Middle East and North Africa: A Correlational Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elghali, Siddig

    Middle East and North Africa countries have been criticized for failing to utilize foreign direct investment energy resources efficiently. The changing of energy resources environment of the past decades with its growing emphasis on the importance of imminent energy supply challenges require strategists to consider different types of energy resources investment to improve energy supply. One type of energy investment will show effectiveness and efficiency in utilizing foreign direct investment in exposing RE, fossil fuels, natural gas, and reducing CO2 emissions. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to utilize foreign direct investment to predict total primary energy supply in the Middle East and North Africa region between 1971 and 2013. The study was conducted using a sample size of 43 years of energy supply resources and foreign direct investment from 1971 to 2013, which includes all of the years for which FDI is available. RE potential may equip Middle East and North Africa countries with sustainable and clean electricity for centuries to come, as non-renewable energy resources may not meet the demands globally and domestically or environmentally. As demands for fossil fuels grow, carbon emissions will increase. RE may be a better option of CO 2 emissions sequestration and will increase electricity to rural areas without government subsidies and complex decision-making policies. RE infrastructure will reduce water desalinization costs, cooling systems, and be useful in heating. Establishing concentrated solar power may be useful for the region cooperation, negotiations, and integration to share this energy. The alternative sought to fossil fuels was nuclear power. However, nuclear power depends on depleting, non-renewable uranium resources. The cost of uranium will increase if widely used and the presence of a nuclear plant in an unstable region is unsafe. Thus, renewable energy as a long-term option is efficient. A nonlinear regression

  4. Sustainability Measures of Urban Public Transport in Cities: A World Review and Focus on the Asia/Middle East Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris De Gruyter

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies of public transport sustainability in cities have been very limited to date, particularly in more developing countries located throughout Asia and the Middle East. This paper assesses the sustainability of urban public transport systems in cities by adopting a quantitative measurement framework containing 15 public transport sustainability indicators. It compares aggregate sustainability performance of urban public transport in international regions of cities, and then examines the relative sustainability of selected cities in the Asia and Middle East region. The world region analysis shows that Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America achieve the highest aggregate normalised scores for sustainable public transport, in that order. In general, the results suggest that western developed countries (Western Europe, North America, and Oceania have better performance on environmental and social indicators but poorer performance on system effectiveness and economic indicators. Asia and Latin America perform the other way round; better on economic and system effectiveness and worse on social and environmental indicators. Eastern Europe is one of the few regions with higher level performance all round. The city-based analysis of Asia/Middle East suggested that out of the 26 cities studied, the top 3 cities in terms of sustainable public transport in the Asia and Middle East Region are: 1st, Manila (Philippines; 2nd, Tokyo (Japan; and 3rd, Chennai (India. Dubai (United Arab Emirates (UAE, rated 26th, Shizuoka (Japan, rated 25th and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia, rated 24th were the lowest rated cities. The paper explores the implications of the findings and makes suggestions for future research.

  5. The price of oil and the future of Middle East Gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zaki Yamani, A.

    1997-01-01

    Most LNG contracts relate the LNG price received by the supplier at the point of delivery to a relevant oil price. Gas and oil are thus closely connected so that when the price of landed oil decreases so dose the price of delivered LNG. With large fixed transportation and liquefaction costs, accounting for around 85% of the supply cost of delivered LNG in the case of Qatari LNG supplied to japan, you can imagine how large falls in the price paid for delivered LNG would squeeze the net back to the producer back in Qatar. However, low oil price can do some damage to the economics of existing LNG projects in the Middle East. More importantly, persistently low oil prices can prevent new LNG projects from leaving the drawing board-which will stifle the exciting export potential of Middle Eastern gas

  6. Natural gas survey, middle east and North Africa, 2005

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    This book provides an exhaustive, unrivaled and quarterly updated analysis of the gas industry in the Arab countries and Iran. In addition to the country-by-country reports, it includes a regional overview section on the objectives and priorities of the national companies: ADNOC, EGAS, NIGC, NOC, PDO, QATARGAS, RASGAS, SAUDI ARAMCO, SONATRACH, etc... It includes: 18 country reports, 51 maps illustrating gas fields and facilities, as well as 62 tables and 87 graphs, and 2420 addresses of oil and gas companies operating in the Middle East and North Africa, with contact names, e-mail, phone and fax numbers. Each country report outlines the government policy, reserves, production, field development, foreign companies involved, export schemes, domestic consumption, etc

  7. A Research on the Middle East Market within the Context of Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yaşar Sarı

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In this study, it is aimed to reveal Middle Eastern tourists' place among the target market of local tourism establishments at Ayder tourism center in the province of Rize and local tourism establishments’ perceptions of Middle Eastern tourists based on the growth in the number of tourists from the Middle East. The study also aims to find out whether there is sufficient diversity of products and services for the target market and how local tourism establishments segment the market. As a method of data collection, semi-structured interviews were used. 16 different types of hospitality businesses representatives and 3 restaurants / fast food representatives located in the researegion have been interviewed. Deductive thematic analysis technique was usedin the analysis of data. In this regard, tourism establishments interviewed could group the tourists based on 13 market segmentation variables except gender. Different answers were received regarding the target market of tourism establishments and none of the tourism operators mentioned Middle Eastern tourists as the target market. Finally, it was found out that the vast majority of tourism establishments have been applying undifferentiated marketing strategy

  8. The Impact of the SESAME Project on Science and Society in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winick, Herman

    2008-04-01

    SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is a UNESCO-sponsored project that is constructing an international research laboratory, closely modeled on CERN, in Jordan (www.sesame.org.jo). Ten Members of the governing Council (Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, and Turkey) have responsibility for the project, led by Herwig Schopper, Council President since 1999. In late 2008 Chris Llewellyn-Smith will become Council President. SESAME was initiated by a gift from Germany of the decommissioned BESSY I facility. The BESSY I 0.8 GeV injector is now being installed in the recently completed building, funded by Jordan, as components are procured for a new 133 m circumference, 2.5 GeV third-generation storage ring with 12 locations for insertion devices. Beam line equipment has been provided by laboratories in France, UK, and US. Support also comes from EU, IAEA, ICTP, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the US Department of Energy and State Department, and laboratories around the world. The broad scientific program includes biomedical, environmental, and archaeological programs particularly relevant to the Middle East. Five scientific workshops and six annual Users' meetings have brought together several hundred scientists from the region, along with researchers from around the world. Training programs have enabled about 100 scientists from the region to work at synchrotron radiation laboratories. These activities have already had significant impact on science and society in the Middle East, for example leading to collaborations between scientists from countries that are not particularly friendly with each other, and to national planning emphasizing synchrotron radiation research. When research starts in 2011 this impact will grow as graduate students are trained in the region in many scientific disciplines, and scientists working abroad are attracted to return.

  9. Perception and Attitude of Emergency Room Resident Physicians toward Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Outbreak

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Al Ghobain

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS outbreaks have had a considerable negative impact on health systems in Saudi Arabia. We aimed to study the psychological impact of a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV outbreak on emergency room resident physicians (ERRPs. Methods. We assessed the MERS-related psychological impact and concerns of ERRPs using a self-report questionnaire. Results. The majority (91% of the ERRPs agreed that their work put them at risk of infection, but most (65% did not agree that they should not be looking after patients infected with MERS. Despite that, 54% of ERRPs reported being afraid of contracting the infection from infected patients and only 4.2% of them were willing to change their current job. The majority of the ERRPs (85% felt that their job would expose their families to risk of infection. Conclusions. Our study demonstrated the considerable psychological impact of MERS outbreaks on ERRPs. The ERRPs’ concerns and the psychological impact of MERS outbreaks should be considered in greater detail by hospital policymakers.

  10. Performance Analysis and Optimization of a Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plant in the Middle East Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Praveen R. P.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The Middle East is one among the areas of the world that receive high amounts of direct solar radiation. As such, the region holds a promising potential to leverage clean energy. Owing to rapid urbanization, energy demands in the region are on the rise. Along with the global push to curb undesirable outcomes such as air pollution, emissions of greenhouse gases, and climate change, an urgent need has arisen to explore and exploit the abundant renewable energy sources. This paper presents the design, performance analysis and optimization of a 100 MWe parabolic trough collector Solar Power Plant with thermal energy storage intended for use in the Middle Eastern regions. Two representative sites in the Middle East which offer an annual average direct normal irradiance (DNI of more than 5.5 kWh/m2/day has been chosen for the analysis. The thermodynamic aspect and annual performance of the proposed plant design is also analyzed using the System Advisor Model (SAM version 2017.9.5. Based on the analysis carried out on the initial design, annual power generated from the proposed concentrating solar power (CSP plant design in Abu Dhabi amounts to 333.15 GWh whereas that in Aswan recorded a value of 369.26 GWh, with capacity factors of 38.1% and 42.19% respectively. The mean efficiency of the plants in Abu Dhabi and Aswan are found to be 14.35% and 14.98% respectively. The optimization of the initial plant design is also carried out by varying two main design parameters, namely the solar multiple and full load hours of thermal energy storage (TES. Based on the findings of the study, the proposed 100 MW parabolic trough collector solar power plant with thermal energy storage can contribute to the sustainable energy future of the Middle East with reduced dependency on fossil fuels.

  11. Lions in the Path of Stability and Security: Oman's Response to Pressing Issues in the Middle East

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Howk, Jason C

    2008-01-01

    .... These factors range from large youth populations to Islamic extremism. This thesis examines responses adopted by the Sultanate of Oman when faced with two structural sources of instability commonly found in the Middle East...

  12. Modeling Spatial Soil Water Dynamics in a Tropical Floodplain, East Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geofrey Gabiri

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Analyzing the spatial and temporal distribution of soil moisture is critical for ecohydrological processes and for sustainable water management studies in wetlands. The characterization of soil moisture dynamics and its influencing factors in agriculturally used wetlands pose a challenge in data-scarce regions such as East Africa. High resolution and good-quality time series soil moisture data are rarely available and gaps are frequent due to measurement constraints and device malfunctioning. Soil water models that integrate meteorological conditions and soil water storage may significantly overcome limitations due to data gaps at a point scale. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the Hydrus-1D model would adequately simulate soil water dynamics at different hydrological zones of a tropical floodplain in Tanzania, to determine controlling factors for wet and dry periods and to assess soil water availability. The zones of the Kilombero floodplain were segmented as riparian, middle, and fringe along a defined transect. The model was satisfactorily calibrated (coefficient of determination; R2 = 0.54–0.92, root mean square error; RMSE = 0.02–0.11 on a plot scale using measured soil moisture content at soil depths of 10, 20, 30, and 40 cm. Satisfying statistical measures (R2 = 0.36–0.89, RMSE = 0.03–0.13 were obtained when calibrations for one plot were validated with measured soil moisture for another plot within the same hydrological zone. Results show the transferability of the calibrated Hydrus-1D model to predict soil moisture for other plots with similar hydrological conditions. Soil water storage increased towards the riparian zone, at 262.8 mm/a while actual evapotranspiration was highest (1043.9 mm/a at the fringe. Overbank flow, precipitation, and groundwater control soil moisture dynamics at the riparian and middle zone, while at the fringe zone, rainfall and lateral flow from mountains control soil moisture during the

  13. Middle East oil refining in the World context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jenkins, Gilbert

    1998-01-01

    The building of new refining capacity in the Middle East which will operate in the early part of the next century will be the decision of just a few men. They will include the heads of the state petroleum agencies in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and the CEOs of BP, Exxon and Shell. They will not want for advice from their corporate planners and external consultants, but the key decisions will be in the hands of just a few people. There is nothing new in this decision-making process. The oil consuming countries will react in a similar way to their common environment. In a paper such as this, it is possible to examine the present environment and to extrapolate that environment into the next decade. This is what planners and forecasters are doing everywhere in the petroleum industry. (author)

  14. De-linking oil and gas; The cost of Gulf gas; Middle East gas must look to Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aissaoui, Ali; Jensen, Jim; Stern, Jonathan

    1994-01-01

    This item consists of letters in response to an article by Robert Mabro on the prospects for gas in North Africa and the Middle East. The first letter is concerned with the issue of de-linking oil and gas. It is argued that the introduction of an ecotax, far from its creators' intentions, may deter investment in the natural gas industry to the benefit of coal and oil producers, rather than promoting gas as the fuel which best protects the environment. The second writer points out the Middle East's geographical disadvantage in aiming to supply natural gas to Europe. While reserves are ample, they are also readily available closer to European consumers, and without extra transportation costs. Markets nearby are either already functioning or, in areas such as India or Pakistan, prohibitively expensive in terms of pipeline construction or other technology. The last author also argues for investment in large-scale pipeline projects in order to use the Middle Eastern gas reserves, but stresses the need for political and security problems to be addressed at the same time. (UK)

  15. The Real Issues of the Middle East and the Arab Spring Addressing Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

    CERN Document Server

    Djeflat, Abdelkader

    2013-01-01

    The wave of protests and populist uprisings in the Middle East has heightened the focus on a volatile region. But the emphasis on political issues has obscured underlying issues concerning education, infrastructure, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable environmental and social development. This volume, emerging in the aftermath of a conference and workshop on science and technology in the region, presents contributions from a range of experts from the Middle East, Europe, and the world to provide fresh new insights and perspectives on the challenges and prospects for regional development in the changing global context of our time. The authors explore such topics as: the role of information and communication technologies; mindset change in support of investment in intangible assets and risk-taking; how to approach cultural issues, institutions and governance; collaborations with other regions, and; benchmarking performance while drawing lessons of relevance for the special local context. Ulti...

  16. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus specific antibodies in naturally exposed Israeli llamas, alpacas and camels

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    David, D. (Dan); Rotenberg, D. (Ditza); Khinich, E. (Evgeny); Erster, O. (Oran); Bardenstein, S. (Svetlana); van Straten, M. (Michael); N.M.A. Okba (Nisreen); Raj, S.V. (Stalin V.); B.L. Haagmans (Bart); Miculitzki, M. (Marcelo); Davidson, I. (Irit)

    2018-01-01

    textabstractThus far, no human MERS-CoV infections have been reported from Israel. Evidence for the circulation of MERS-CoV in dromedaries has been reported from almost all the countries of the Middle East, except Israel. Therefore, we aimed to analyze MERS-CoV infection in Israeli camelids, sampled

  17. The pursuit of longevity - the bringer of peace to the middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stambler, Ilia

    2014-01-01

    Despite the common apprehensions regarding the aging population, this work aims to argue, on both deontological and utilitarian moral grounds, that any increase in general life-expectancy will be beneficial for the Middle East, countering the common fears associated with this increase. A set of ethical arguments concerning increasing longevity is presented, from both the deontological and utilitarian perspective. A wide selection of economic, psychological, demographic and epidemiological literature and databases is analyzed to determine common correlates of extended longevity. On the deontological grounds, the value of extended longevity is derived from the value of life preservation, regardless of its term. On the utilitarian grounds, the value of extended longevity is demonstrated by its correlation with further human values, such as education level and intellectual activity, economic prosperity, equality, solidarity and peacefulness. With the common apprehensions of stagnation and scarcity due to life extension found wanting, the pursuit of longevity by the population can be seen as a cross-cultural and cross-generational good. Though the current study mainly refers to sources and data relevant to the Middle East, a similar pro-longevity argument can be also made for other cultural contexts. In view of its numerous benefits, normatively, the goal of longevity should be set clearly and openly by the society, and actively pursued, or at least discussed, in academia, the political system and broader public.

  18. Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA): Building Sustainable Collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Shorbaji, Najeeb; Househ, Mowafa; Taweel, Adel; Alanizi, Abdullah; Mohammed, Bennani Othmani; Abaza, Haitham; Bawadi, Hala; Rasuly, Hamayon; Alyafei, Khalid; Fernandez-Luque, Luis; Shouman, Mohamed; El-Hassan, Osama; Hussein, Rada; Alshammari, Riyad; Mandil, Salah; Shouman, Sarah; Taheri, Shahrad; Emara, Tamer; Dalhem, Wasmiya; Al-Hamdan, Zaid; Serhier, Zineb

    2018-04-22

    There has been a growing interest in Health Informatics applications, research, and education within the Middle East and North African Region over the past twenty years. People of this region share similar cultural and religious values, primarily speak the Arabic language, and have similar health care related issues, which are in dire need of being addressed. Health Informatics efforts, organizations, and initiatives within the region have been largely under-represented within, but not ignored by, the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). Attempts to create bonds and collaboration between the different organizations of the region have remained scattered, and often, resulted in failure despite the fact that the need for a united health informatics collaborative within the region has never been more crucial than today. During the 2017 MEDINFO, held in Hangzhou, China, a new organization, the Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA) was conceived as a regional non-governmental organization to promote and facilitate health informatics uptake within the region endorsing health informatics research and educational initiatives of the 22 countries represented within the region. This paper provides an overview of the collaboration and efforts to date in forming MENAHIA and displays the variety of initiatives that are already occurring within the MENAHIA region, which MENAHIA will help, endorse, support, share, and improve within the international forum of health informatics. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.

  19. Migrant Workers in the Middle East: Not an In Shah Allah Situation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alwyn Sebastian

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The Middle East is seen by many developing nations as a region of opportunity and prosperity. With the cost of living spiralling, coupled with mass unemployment, most Indian families are left economically strangulated. Education, healthcare, rent, fuel, electricity and other essential commodities are becoming unaffordable to the ordinary masses. In lieu of a better future for their families, most workers migrate to the Middle East in search of well paying jobs. Although the workers are paid as promised, their lives are burdened with many obstacles. Immigrants are discriminated against and made to endure strenuous working conditions. These workers are met with harsh realities, both during the course of employment and otherwise. With a poor dispute redressal mechanism and forcefully signed indemnity agreements, these workers are left neglected and abused. Although free trade agreements have been entered into, the discrimination and hostility has persisted. Religion and nationality are often used as a ground to discriminate. Wages below minimum wages, restriction on job applications, heavy taxation on foreigners, etc. are often used tactics to propagate nepotism towards locals. The international community has warned the Gulf States and surrounding States of the same. Yet, there has been no visible change in the system. The paper seeks to identify, through primary and secondary sources of information, a suitable mechanism to help protect these migrant workers from such inequalities.

  20. Albuquerque/Middle Rio Grande Urban Waters Viewer

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — These data have been compiled in support of the Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque Urban Waters Partnership for the region including Albuquerque, New Mexico.The Middle...

  1. The role of external partners in regional cooperation projects in the Middle East

    OpenAIRE

    Raphael Bar-El; Miki Malul

    2008-01-01

    This article analyzes the extent to which external partners contribute to the internalization of externalities arising from regional cooperation in the Middle East, that is, the degree to which they help increase welfare gains generated by the projects. This is classified by extent, intensity, and sectors of cooperation. Externalities are defined macroeconomically and sociopolitically. The results show that the international community does play a role in the internalization of externalities. ...

  2. The Arab Awakening and US counterterrorism in the Greater Middle East: A missed opportunity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugenio Lilli

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available 'In 2011, the Arab Awakening offered an opportunity to the Obama administration to advance the US interest to counter terrorism in the Greater Middle East without compromising its commitment to the promotion of democracy. As of early 2015, however, with the exception of still-hopeful Tunisia, democracy has not made any significant progress in Middle Eastern countries. Additionally, old and new regional extremist groups have become increasingly active. How did the Obama administration miss the opportunity offered by the Arab Awakening? What actions could the United States take to reverse current unfavorable trends and advance US policies of counterterrorism and democratization in the region?'''

  3. American Missionary Universities in China and the Middle East and American Philanthropy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bertelsen, Rasmus Gjedssø

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates the interacting soft power of two important categories of American transnational actors: American missionary universities in China and the Middle East and American religious, foundation and individual philanthropy. These transnational actors have had and have soft power...... in the host societies. The universities and their philanthropic donors have strengthened US national soft power regarding milieu goals of elite attraction to education, language and liberal norms. However, US national soft power concerning possession goals of acceptance of foreign policies in China...

  4. Future of Water Supply and Demand in the Middle Drâa Valley, Morocco, under Climate and Land Use Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene M. Johannsen

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Regions of scarce fresh water resources, such as the Middle East and North Africa, are facing great challenges already today, and even more in the future, due to climatic and socioeconomic changes. The Middle Drâa valley in Morocco is one of many semi-arid to arid mountainous areas struggling with increasing water scarcity threatening self-sufficient husbandry. In order to maintain people’s livelihoods water management needs to be adapted. The Water Evaluation And Planning System (WEAP software has been widely used to examine complex water systems in the water resource planning sector all around the world and proved to be a helpful asset to show the various interactions of water supply and demand. This paper presents the application of WEAP on the Middle Draâ valley’s water demand and supply, including several socioeconomic and land use scenarios under one basic climate change scenario. The climate scenario shows a significant decrease in available water resources up to 2029 while all socioeconomic scenarios show an increase in water demand. In years of droughts groundwater is used for irrigation, leading to increasingly depleted aquifers. The aquifers are recharged by percolation losses from irrigation and by river bed infiltration the latter of which is stronger in the northern oases than in the southern oases due to water withdrawal rules. A drastic reduction of irrigated agricultural area is the only solution to guarantee sustainable water use.

  5. International Trends in Health Science Librarianship Part 18: The Middle East (Iran, Qatar and Turkey).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeraatkar, Kimia; Ayatollahi, Haleh; Havlin, Tracy; Neves, Karen; Şendir, Mesra

    2016-06-01

    This is the 18th in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship in the 21st century. The focus of the present issue is the Middle East (Iran, Qatar and Turkey). The next feature column will investigate trends in the Balkan States JM. © 2016 Health Libraries Group.

  6. The Islamic State" in the Context of Political Changes in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander A. Kuznetsov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article "The Islamic State phenomenon in the framework of the political changes in the Middle East" is dedicated to the "Islamic State", one of the most powerful and dangerous extremist organizations. Author realizes in this article: research of the genesis and causes of appearance of the movement "Islamic State"; analysis of the sociopolitical and geopolitical situation of the Iraqi Sunni community after the American invasion of 2003; bringing to the light factors of the high scale propagation of the Islamic extremism in Syria and Iraq; research of the military and political potential of the "Islamic State" and factors which could impede its expansion. Author considers "Islamic State" as an emergent phenomenon giving huge impact on the political situation in the Middle East. It provoked repartition of the old frontiers existed since the Sykes-Pico treaty of 1916. To the author's opinion oppression of the Iraqi Sunni community by the government of Nuri al-Maliki was the main cause of the Sunni revolt in Summer of 2014. Sunni tribes of Northern Iraq and former Baath party members were the driving forces of the revolt but then Jihadi extremists hijacked this revolt. To the author's mind elimination of the "Islamic State" is impossible without reconciliation between various religious communities in Syria and Iraq.

  7. REVENUE FROM EXPORTING OIL, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi MOHAGHEGH

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The increases in petrodollars received by oil produ cing countries of the Middle East in the past few years can become a reality again when the wo rld economy recovers from this recession. The access to so much hard currency in the past co uld have potentially impr oved the economies of these nations beyond imagination. Economic de velopment specialists regard reaching some goals such as higher growth rate of real output, less chronic inflation, Improvements in education and healthcare services, greater diversity in the economy and in exports, greater equality in the distribution of income, and lower unemployment rate as indication of economic progress or socio –economic improvements in a developing country. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relative success of the Oil-Produc ing Countries of the Middle East in achieving the above socio- economic goals within the context of huge inflows of petrodollars into their countries every year. Through analysis of data from the region the author of this paper has obtained convincing evidence in support of the view that the oil-exporting nations have, for the most part, wasted the abundant and extremely valuable foreign curr encies that they have received every year for the past several decades.

  8. Changes of deep Pacific overturning circulation and carbonate chemistry during middle Miocene East Antarctic ice sheet expansion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xiaolin; Tian, Jun; Ma, Wentao; Li, Ke; Yu, Jimin

    2018-02-01

    East Antarctic ice sheet expansion (EAIE) at ∼13.9 Ma in the middle Miocene represents a major climatic event during the long-term Cenozoic cooling, but ocean circulation and carbon cycle changes during this event remain unclear. Here, we present new fish teeth isotope (εNd) and benthic foraminiferal B/Ca records from the South China Sea (SCS), newly integrated meridional Pacific benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C records and simulated results from a biogeochemical box model to explore the responses of deep Pacific Ocean circulation and carbon cycle across EAIE. The εNd and meridional benthic δ13C records reveal a more isolated Pacific Deep Water (PDW) and a sluggish Pacific meridional overturning circulation during the post-EAIE with respect to the pre-EAIE owing to weakened southern-sourced deep water formation. The deep-water [CO23-] and calcium carbonate mass accumulation rate in the SCS display markedly similar increases followed by recoveries to the pre-EAIE level during EAIE, which were probably caused by a shelf-basin shift of CaCO3 deposition and strengthened weathering due to a sea level fall within EAIE. The model results show that the ∼1‰ positive δ13C excursion during EAIE could be attributed to increased weathering of high-δ13C shelf carbonates and a terrestrial carbon reservoir expansion. The drawdown of atmospheric CO2 over the middle Miocene were probably caused by combined effects of increased shelf carbonate weathering, expanded land biosphere carbon storage and a sluggish deep Pacific meridional overturning circulation.

  9. THE INFLUENCE OF ARAB SPRING EFFECT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES: STRUCTURAL BREAK PANEL DATA ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murat Beser

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Civil commotions that are started in December, 2010 and named as “Arab Spring” had been spread to Middle East countries and had also brought with it economic and political crises. Many economic, social and political factors that are mostly structural had been effective on starting this process. In this research, influence of Arab Spring on economic growth had been investigated with the help of cross-sectional dependency and structural break unit root test in five Middle East countries by using annual data in between 1990-2014. While cross-sectional dependency has been determined for the overall of panel, it had been reached to the conclusion that there is not structural break unit root.

  10. The Potential Uses of Commercial Satellite Imagery in the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vannoni, M.G.

    1999-06-08

    It became clear during the workshop that the applicability of commercial satellite imagery to the verification of future regional arms control agreements is limited at this time. Non-traditional security topics such as environmental protection, natural resource management, and the development of infrastructure offer the more promising applications for commercial satellite imagery in the short-term. Many problems and opportunities in these topics are regional, or at least multilateral, in nature. A further advantage is that, unlike arms control and nonproliferation applications, cooperative use of imagery in these topics can be done independently of the formal Middle East Peace Process. The value of commercial satellite imagery to regional arms control and nonproliferation, however, will increase during the next three years as new, more capable satellite systems are launched. Aerial imagery, such as that used in the Open Skies Treaty, can also make significant contributions to both traditional and non-traditional security applications but has the disadvantage of requiring access to national airspace and potentially higher cost. There was general consensus that commercial satellite imagery is under-utilized in the Middle East and resources for remote sensing, both human and institutional, are limited. This relative scarcity, however, provides a natural motivation for collaboration in non-traditional security topics. Collaborations between scientists, businesses, universities, and non-governmental organizations can work at the grass-roots level and yield contributions to confidence building as well as scientific and economic results. Joint analysis projects would benefit the region as well as establish precedents for cooperation.

  11. A Geological and Geophysical Information System for the Middle East and North Africa,

    Science.gov (United States)

    1995-08-14

    Saad, D., Sawaf, T., and Gebran, A., 1990, Bouguer gravity trends and crustal structure of the Palmyride Mountain belt and surrounding northern Arabian ...that occurred between 1977 and 1992 (Figure 2). We have finished compiling a crustal scale Bouguer gravity data for Syria, Israel and Lebanon (Figure...3). This Bouguer gravity database is a part of our attempt to form a uniform grided Bouguer gravity data set for the entire Middle East, which then

  12. Overview of preparedness and response for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Oman.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Abaidani, I S; Al-Maani, A S; Al-Kindi, H S; Al-Jardani, A K; Abdel-Hady, D M; Zayed, B E; Al-Harthy, K S; Al-Shaqsi, K H; Al-Abri, S S

    2014-12-01

    Several countries in the Middle East and around 22 countries worldwide have reported cases of human infection with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The exceptionally high fatality rate resulting from MERS-CoV infection in conjunction with the paucity of knowledge about this emerging virus has led to major public and international concern. Within the framework of the national acute respiratory illness surveillance, the Ministry of Health in the Sultanate of Oman has announced two confirmed cases of MERS-CoV to date. The aim of this report is to describe the epidemiological aspects of these two cases and to highlight the importance of public health preparedness and response. The absence of secondary cases among contacts of the reported cases can be seen as evidence of the effectiveness of infection prevention and control precautions as an important pillar of the national preparedness and response plan applied in the health care institutions in Oman. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. Overview of preparedness and response for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV in Oman

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I.S. Al-Abaidani

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Several countries in the Middle East and around 22 countries worldwide have reported cases of human infection with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV. The exceptionally high fatality rate resulting from MERS-CoV infection in conjunction with the paucity of knowledge about this emerging virus has led to major public and international concern. Within the framework of the national acute respiratory illness surveillance, the Ministry of Health in the Sultanate of Oman has announced two confirmed cases of MERS-CoV to date. The aim of this report is to describe the epidemiological aspects of these two cases and to highlight the importance of public health preparedness and response. The absence of secondary cases among contacts of the reported cases can be seen as evidence of the effectiveness of infection prevention and control precautions as an important pillar of the national preparedness and response plan applied in the health care institutions in Oman.

  14. Water Management: in Africa and the Middle East

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

    There too, despite this availability, numerous water-related problems exist. ... The analogy may be particularly useful for Africa, where a relatively high proportion of ...... The water could then be sold by the pail or other conventional container.

  15. The composition and physicochemical characteristics of MSW generated from a city of the Middle East at Ramadan Period

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeon, Yong Woo; Park, In Chul; Kim, Nam Yeol; Kim, Sung Soo; Cho, Yeun Haeng; Yoon, Kyoon Duk

    2010-01-01

    We investigated the worlds first composition and physicochemical characteristics of municipal solid waste (MSW) which was generated from a city of the Middle East at Ramadan period (one month in a year). 17 places in a city of the Middle East were selected for sampling MSW which were roughly classified into three categories - residential area, hotel and public facilities, and commercial area. Investigation and analysis about specific weight, physical characteristics, 3-components (moisture/ combustible/ ash), chemical characteristics, and calorific value were carried out for this research. Specific weight of waste samples depends on the physical characteristics of them, the higher moisture and non-combustible component content, the higher specific weight value. Office building, shopping mall, and school were relatively lower than other places. The average specific weight of waste in this city was equal to 0.129 ton/ m 3 which was lower than in Korea (0.2 ton/ m 3 ). Moisture and combustible component content showed a big difference between residential area and other areas. Residential area, hotel and public facilities, and commercial area showed 37.58 %, 21.80 %, and 18.81 % of moisture content, 54.79 %, 70.28 %, and 70.74 % of combustible component content, 7.63 %, 7.92 %, and 10.46 % of ash content on a wet basis, respectively. Residential area showed relatively high value of moisture content because of high content of food waste. To eat food is prohibited during the day at Ramadan period of the Middle East. But much more food than usual is made for eating after dark, and also is put into the garbage can. The results of chemical characteristics, meanwhile, are similar to Koreas. The low calorific value (LCV) of waste in residential area, hotel and public facilities, and commercial area was 2,875 kcal/ kg, 4,142 kcal/ kg, and 4,279 kcal/ kg on a wet basis, respectively. It could provide the economical and optimum design for MSW treatment system in the Middle East

  16. Oil and natural gas prospects: Middle East and North Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khatib, Hisham

    2014-01-01

    The MENA region is endowed with enormous resources of oil and gas, rendering it the world′s richest region in this regard. Endowment differs from one country to another with few countries are almost dry; however the economic benefits proliferated to almost every country in the region. In spite of some doubts being cast about the amount of proven oil reserves, these with improved technology and new discoveries are increasing year after another. With no long term feasible alternatives to oil for transport and the increasing trade in LNG, the region′s importance as a world′s leading supplier of fossil fuels will continue for decades to come. However, these favourable prospects hide many challenges facing the MENA region, among them is the difficulty in mobilizing investment funds for sustaining and increasing output to feed growing global demand. Growing local demand, due to the proliferation of subsides, is another worrying aspect that already caused few countries with modest resources to become oil importers instead of exporters, with larger exporters decreasing their surplus output. The region is also still mainly dependant on foreign technologies and skilled manpower. Regional cooperation in oil and gas networks and electricity interconnections is still modest. The region has a long history of conflict; correspondingly it is a major importer of armaments which is increasingly eating a lot of its surplus income. With the political and social changes presently taking place in many MENA countries, due to the Arab spring and continuation of local conflicts, the sustainability of supplies from the region are increasingly a source of worry to MENA exporters and its many importers. It is also causing increasing involvement of the super powers in regional affairs. - Highlights: • Global oil and gas reserves and prices. • Energy sustainability and the Middle East. • Energy economics and investments in the Middle East

  17. Power, Arab media Moguldum & gender rights as entertainment in the Middle East

    OpenAIRE

    El Mkaouar, L.

    2016-01-01

    Discourse is a giant field of research and gender related rights are still a disputed area of thinking. Thus, when Arab transnational satellite televisions produce dialogues, images, stories and narratives about the disputed “universal” gender rights in the Middle East, the big questions remain how and why. According to De Beauvoir (1949), one becomes woman and to Butler (1990) one is not born a gender at all but is “done” and “undone” to become one via discourse. Islamic feminism speaks of a...

  18. Climate change in Africa and the Middle East in light of health ubuntu and Islam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thaddeus Metz

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article principally addresses the likely effects of global warming on health in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, northern Africa and the Middle East as well as how medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, bioethicists and public health researchers, should respond to them in light of ubuntu and Islam, values characteristically held in those regions.

  19. Climate change in Africa and the Middle East in light of health, ubuntu and Islam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thaddeus Metz

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This article principally addresses the likely effects of global warming on health in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, northern Africa and the Middle East as well as how medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, bioethicists and public health researchers, should respond to them in light of ubuntu and Islam, values characteristically held in those regions.

  20. Low cost carriers in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects and strategies

    OpenAIRE

    Morrison, W.G.; Mason, Keith J.

    2016-01-01

    We examine socio-economic indicators relevant to ‘low cost carriers’ (LCCs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and review the evolution of air transport liberalization and air service agreements in the region. We analyse the business strategies of MENA-based LCCs and using a benchmarking methodology, we compare the business strategy of Air Arabia Group with those of dominant European LCCs EasyJet and Ryanair. Our economic development indicators suggest future potential for...

  1. Cooperation or confrontation? The Middle East after the nuclear deal. Conference report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mueller-Haerlin, Bernhard (ed.)

    2015-07-15

    In the West, views differ to which extent the agreement on the nuclear issue would open up opportunities for future cooperation between Iran and the E3+3. The US continues to play an essential role in diplomacy and security policy in the Middle East. However, it is only partly fulfilling the demands and expectations that come with this role. Even confronted with a massive deterioration in the region's security situation, Iran's and Saudi Arabia's willingness to cooperate would still be very limited.

  2. Presence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus antibodies in Saudi Arabia : a nationwide, cross-sectional, serological study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Müller, Marcel A; Meyer, Benjamin; Corman, Victor M; Al-Masri, Malak; Turkestani, Abdulhafeez; Ritz, Daniel; Sieberg, Andrea; Aldabbagh, Souhaib; Bosch, Berend-J; Lattwein, Erik; Alhakeem, Raafat F; Assiri, Abdullah M; Albarrak, Ali M; Al-Shangiti, Ali M; Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A; Wikramaratna, Paul; Alrabeeah, Abdullah A; Drosten, Christian; Memish, Ziad A

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Scientific evidence suggests that dromedary camels are the intermediary host for the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). However, the actual number of infections in people who have had contact with camels is unknown and most index patients cannot recall any such

  3. Dust Storm over the Middle East: Retrieval Approach, Source Identification, and Trend Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moridnejad, A.; Karimi, N.; Ariya, P. A.

    2014-12-01

    The Middle East region has been considered to be responsible for approximately 25% of the Earth's global emissions of dust particles. By developing Middle East Dust Index (MEDI) and applying to 70 dust storms characterized on MODIS images and occurred during the period between 2001 and 2012, we herein present a new high resolution mapping of major atmospheric dust source points participating in this region. To assist environmental managers and decision maker in taking proper and prioritized measures, we then categorize identified sources in terms of intensity based on extracted indices for Deep Blue algorithm and also utilize frequency of occurrence approach to find the sensitive sources. In next step, by implementing the spectral mixture analysis on the Landsat TM images (1984 and 2012), a novel desertification map will be presented. The aim is to understand how human perturbations and land-use change have influenced the dust storm points in the region. Preliminary results of this study indicate for the first time that c.a., 39 % of all detected source points are located in this newly anthropogenically desertified area. A large number of low frequency sources are located within or close to the newly desertified areas. These severely desertified regions require immediate concern at a global scale. During next 6 months, further research will be performed to confirm these preliminary results.

  4. Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among hemodialysis patients in the Middle-East: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashkani-Esfahani, Soheil; Alavian, Seyed Moayed; Salehi-Marzijarani, Mohammad

    2017-01-07

    To determine hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection prevalence in each country of the Middle-East and the overall prevalence of the region. In this systematic review, we gathered all documents related to HCV infection prevalence among hemodialysis patients in 17 middle-east countries from April 2006 to March 2016. We selected only cross-sectional studies that had proper sampling and measurement methods as well as a valid statistical analysis. After screening of 7311 documents, 56 studies were selected reporting the prevalence of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients from 10 countries of the region. Seven countries including United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Israel, and Cyprus did not have any relevant document; thus, their latest reports were just mentioned. We performed the meta-analysis and determined the prevalence rates for each country as well as the whole region. The overall HCV infection prevalence among hemodialysis patients in the region was reported to be 25.3%; Egypt and Syria had the highest reported rates while Iran and Lebanon had the lowest. Further investigations are still needed to provide more reliable databases, find main risk factors, and to improve diagnosis and treatment plans, particularly in higher prevalent countries. Controlling the prevalence and improving the management methods of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients are of a great concern in the Middle-East region.

  5. Child physical abuse: prevalence, characteristics, predictors, and beliefs about parent-child violence in South Asian, Middle Eastern, East Asian, and Latina women in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maker, Azmaira H; Shah, Priti V; Agha, Zia

    2005-11-01

    The present study examined the prevalence, characteristics, beliefs, and demographic predictors of parent-child physical violence among South Asian, Middle Eastern, East Asian, and Latina women in the United States. Two hundred fifty-one college-educated women from a middle to high SES (South Asian/Middle Eastern, n = 93; East Asian,n = 72; Latina,n = 86) completed a self-report survey on childhood experiences and beliefs regarding physical abuse. Seventy-three percent of the South Asian and Middle Eastern sample, 65% of the East Asian sample, and 78% of the Latina sample reported experiencing at least one type of physical abuse. Significant differences in characteristics and perpetrators of abuse were found across groups. Demographic factors did not predict physical abuse. Experiencing physical abuse was the only predictor for acceptance of physical discipline and as a parental privilege or right across groups. Implications of alternate cultural models of family violence based on beliefs and exposure to violence are discussed.

  6. Purdah and overpopulation in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misch, A

    1990-01-01

    The Middle East and North Africa constitute the Islamic world. From Morocco to Afghanistan the population is 340 million and growing at a rate of 3% annually and will double in 23 years. Currently food, water, and land resources are being taxed to their limit and continued growth will only cause larger scale problems for the region. To complicate the issue public policies and private practices and attitudes are leading to continued population growth. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism does not recognize the problem of over population. In fact the revision of family law by fundamentalist politicians has done a great deal of damage to the improvements in the status of women throughout the region. The revival of Purdah, the practice of keeping women out of the public eye and confined to home, is just one example or how the rise of Islamic fundamentalism is turning back the clock in terms of women's rights. The primary disadvantage is that since women are being returned to the home, their only source of values is as child bearers. Women cloistered at home are expected to be prolific child bearers, in fact their value as human beings is judged primarily on this basis. It is their ability to bear sons that is coveted. This of course will only compound the population problems being experienced in the region. Few countries have tried to institute state wide family planning programs, namely: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen, but none of these programs has been very successful. In Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia, population growth is viewed as a positive event because it will help eliminate the need for foreign workers. Even in this region, educated people have a lower fertility rate. For example in Jordan 60% of illiterate males "did not believe in" contraception while only 15% of men educated past the secondary level felt the same way. If women are forced out of the labor force and into the home to have children, the population problem will only grow.

  7. Early childhood obesity: a survey of knowledge and practices of physicians from the Middle East and North Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gies, Inge; AlSaleem, Bader; Olang, Beheshteh; Karima, Berkouk; Samy, Gamal; Husain, Khaled; Elhalik, Mahmoud; Miqdady, Mohamad; Rawashdeh, Mohamad; Salah, Mohamed; Mouane, Nezha; Rohani, Pejman; Singhal, Atul; Vandenplas, Yvan

    2017-04-28

    Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health issues of the twenty-first century affecting even low- and middle-income countries. Overweight and obese children are more likely to stay obese into adulthood. Due to the paucity of data on local practices, our study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of physicians from the Middle East and North Africa region with respect to early-onset obesity. A specific questionnaire investigating the perception and knowledge on early-onset obesity was circulated to healthcare providers (general physicians, pediatricians, pediatric gastroenterologist, neonatologists) practicing in 17 Middle East and North African countries. A total of 999/1051 completed forms (95% response) were evaluated. Of all respondents, 28.9% did not consistently use growth charts to monitor growth during every visit and only 25.2% and 46.6% of respondents were aware of the correct cut-off criterion for overweight and obesity, respectively. Of those surveyed, 22.3, 14.0, 36.1, 48.2, and 49.1% of respondents did not consider hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, fatty liver disease, and decreased life span, respectively, to be a long-term complication of early childhood obesity. Furthermore, only 0.7% of respondents correctly answered all survey questions pertaining to knowledge of early childhood overweight and obesity. The survey highlights the low use of growth charts in the evaluation of early childhood growth in Middle East and North Africa region, and demonstrated poor knowledge of healthcare providers on the short- and long-term complications of early-onset obesity. This suggests a need for both continued professional education and development, and implementation of guidelines for the prevention and management of early childhood overweight and obesity.

  8. 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.

  9. THE SUNNI-SHI'ITE RIVALRY AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION OF THE MIDDLE EAST

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander A. Kuznetsov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The article "The Sunni-Shi'ite rivalry and its influence on the geopolitical situation of the Middle East" is dedicated to the sectarian conflicts in the Middle East region in last 30 years. Author considers the Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran as the point of departure of this conflict. Author of the article makes a difference between the Shi'ite Islamic revolutionary doctrine of Khomeini and the Salafi Islamic fundamentalism of Saudi Arabia. Author realizes the analysis of the war between Iran and Iraq in 1980-1988. This analysis is emphasized on the regional geopolitical situation and positions of the outside actors (Saudi Arabia, USA, France, Germany. Then it is covered the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its geopolitical consequences. To the author's mind this aggression and further empowerment of the Shi'ite majority reduced to the civil war in Iraq and exacerbation of the sectarian conflict. Author of the article considers these events as a part of the geopolitical rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia to unfold in the areas of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

  10. The Sunni-Shi'ite Rivalry And Its Influence On The Geopolitical Situation Of The Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander A. Kuznetsov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The article "The Sunni-Shi'ite rivalry and its influence on the geopolitical situation of the Middle East" is dedicated to the sectarian conflicts in the Middle East region in last 30 years. Author considers the Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran as the point of departure of this conflict. Author of the article makes a difference between the Shi'ite Islamic revolutionary doctrine of Khomeini and the Salafi Islamic fundamentalism of Saudi Arabia. Author realizes the analysis of the war between Iran and Iraq in 1980-1988. This analysis is emphasized on the regional geopolitical situation and positions of the outside actors (Saudi Arabia, USA, France, Germany. Then it is covered the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its geopolitical consequences. To the author's mind this aggression and further empowerment of the Shi'ite majority reduced to the civil war in Iraq and exacerbation of the sectarian conflict. Author of the article considers these events as a part of the geopolitical rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia to unfold in the areas of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

  11. The glass ceiling and women in management in the Middle East: Myth or reality

    OpenAIRE

    Marinakou, Evangelia

    2014-01-01

    Although globalization and equal employment have created opportunities for female managers, they are still underrepresented in the corporate ladder. Gender and gender role stereotypes are persistent in organizations that operate in the Middle East, challenging women’s employment and showing evidence of the glass ceiling in management. This paper explores the position of women in management in the Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as the barriers they face in climbing the career ladder. The findings...

  12. Technology, Political Economy, and Economic Development in the Middle East and North Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brach, Juliane

    2009-01-01

    Comparing the pace and extent of economic development across the developing regions yields that Arab countries have displaced a weak economic performance over the past 20 years, despite their favorable geo-strategic location and a high density of national and international structural adjustment...... efforts. Using cross-country regressions, this paper identifies two binding constraints to economic development in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): 1) Most countries are not able to apply or adopt existing technologies efficiently and 2) The economically inefficient...

  13. SESAME - A 3rd Generation Synchrotron Light Source for the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ulkue, Dincer; Rahighi, Javad; Winick, Herman

    2007-01-01

    SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) will be the Middle East's first international research center. It is a cooperative venture by the scientists and governments of the region with founding members Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine Authority, and Turkey. Iran is in the process of finalizing its formal membership. Other countries (Cyprus, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates) are also expected to join. The permanent Council of member states has full responsibility for the project. Members provide the annual operating budget. Observer countries are Germany, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Portugal, Russian Federation, Sweden, the UK, and the US. SESAME is being developed under the umbrella of UNESCO. Jordan was selected as the building site. SESAME will offer excellent opportunities for training of Middle East scientists and attract those working abroad to consider returning. SESAME will be a 2.5GeV 3rd Generation light source (emittance 26nm-rad, circumference ∼133m), providing excellent performance for structural molecular biology, molecular environmental science, surface and interface science, microelectromechanical devices, x-ray imaging, archaeological microanalysis, and materials characterization. It will cover a broad spectral range from the infrared to hard x-rays and will have 12 straight sections for insertion devices (average length 2.75m). The injector will be the BESSY I 0.8 GeV booster synchrotron which has been given as a gift from Germany. Four committees advise the Council and assist in developing the technical design, beam lines, user community, and scientific Program. The SESAME building, now in construction with funds and a site provided by Jordan, is scheduled for completion in late 2006 after which the BESSY I injector will be installed. First stored beam in the new 2.5 GeV ring is planned for 2009 with six initial beamlines planned. Some beamlines will be built by member countries

  14. SESAME - A 3rd Generation Synchrotron Light Source for the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    U˝Lkü, Dinçer; Rahighi, Javad; Winick, Herman

    2007-01-01

    SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) will be the Middle East's first international research center. It is a cooperative venture by the scientists and governments of the region with founding members Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine Authority, and Turkey. Iran is in the process of finalizing its formal membership. Other countries (Cyprus, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates) are also expected to join. The permanent Council of member states has full responsibility for the project. Members provide the annual operating budget. Observer countries are Germany, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Portugal, Russian Federation, Sweden, the UK, and the US. SESAME is being developed under the umbrella of UNESCO. Jordan was selected as the building site. SESAME will offer excellent opportunities for training of Middle East scientists and attract those working abroad to consider returning. SESAME will be a 2.5GeV 3rd Generation light source (emittance 26nm-rad, circumference ~133m), providing excellent performance for structural molecular biology, molecular environmental science, surface and interface science, microelectromechanical devices, x-ray imaging, archaeological microanalysis, and materials characterization. It will cover a broad spectral range from the infrared to hard x-rays and will have 12 straight sections for insertion devices (average length 2.75m). The injector will be the BESSY I 0.8 GeV booster synchrotron which has been given as a gift from Germany. Four committees advise the Council and assist in developing the technical design, beam lines, user community, and scientific Program. The SESAME building, now in construction with funds and a site provided by Jordan, is scheduled for completion in late 2006 after which the BESSY I injector will be installed. First stored beam in the new 2.5 GeV ring is planned for 2009 with six initial beamlines planned. Some beamlines will be built by member countries

  15. Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in pharmacological sciences in Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meo, S A; Usmani, A M; Vohra, M S; Bukhari, I A

    2013-10-01

    Research in pharmacological science is vital to support the health needs of human beings. Measuring the research output provides information that forms the basis of strategic decisions. This study aimed to investigate the impact of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), spending on Research and Development (R&D), number of universities and scientific journals on research documents (papers), citable documents, citations per document and H-index in pharmacological science among Middle East countries. All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. The information regarding GDP, spending on R&D, total number of universities and indexed scientific journals were collected. We recorded the total number of research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in pharmacological science during the period 1996-2011. The main sources for information were World Bank, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters) and SCI-mago/Scopus. The mean per capita GDP of all the Middle East countries is 18125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D 0.63±0.28% of GDP in US$, number of universities 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journal are 8.25±3.93. The number of research documents published in pharmacological science among the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 is 1344.44±499.34; citable documents 1286.37±476.34; citations per document 7.62± 0.84; and H-index is 30.68±6.32. There was a positive correlation between spending on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.56, p = 0.02), H-Index (r = 0.56, p = 0.02); number of universities and research documents (r = 0.72, p = 0.002), citable documents (r = 0.72, p = 0.001); ISI indexed journals and research documents (r = 0.88, p = 0.0001), citable documents (r = 0.88, p = 0.0001), H-Index (r = 0.67, p = 0.004). However, there was no correlation between the GDP per capita and research outcome in pharmacological science. There is a positive association between spending on R&D, number of

  16. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Part 8. Bats of Jordan: fauna, ecology, echolocation, ectoparasites

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Benda, P.; Lučan, R. K.; Obuch, J.; Reiter, A.; Andreas, M.; Bačkor, P.; Bohnenstengel, T.; Eid, E. K.; Ševčík, M.; Vallo, Peter; Amr, Z. S.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 74, 3-4 (2010), s. 185-353 ISSN 1211-376X Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519 Keywords : bats * distribution * ecology * echolocation * ectoparasites * Middle East * Jordan * Arabia * Palaearctic Region Subject RIV: EG - Zoology

  17. The social implications of population displacement and resettlement in the Middle East. Conference report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shami, S; Mccann, L

    1993-01-01

    The focus was on a conference on population displacement and resettlement in the Middle East and on brief summaries of 8 papers in the first study group and 9 papers in the second study group. The conference was held at the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Yarmouk University in Ibid, Jordan, on February 21-24, 1990, and on July 29-31, 1991. Scholars from diverse disciplines gathered to fill a gap in the literature on displacement in the Middle East and to develop a regional theoretical and comparative framework for the study of population movement. A concluding definition of displacement and/or resettlement was determined. The first study group determined that labor or seasonal migration and displacement were both on a continuum with intersecting characteristics, and not divergent. Research should account for the nature, the forcing agents, the underlying causes, the implications, and the outcome of the displacement. The second study group had a more empirical agenda and included the first study group as discussants. The first study group began with a presentation by Dr. Seteney Shami, which reviewed existing literature, outlined unique characteristics for displacement in the Middle East, and discussed the literature on the Nubians, Palestinians, and Bedouins. Other topics included the official settlement of peasants in Iraq and the impact on women and work, the political and economic roles of class among the Palestinian coastal bourgeoisie and other classes, migratory cycles of the Bedouin and disruption by the oil exploration, and historical displacement in Turkey. The second study group focused on migration to the Khartoum area in Sudan among nine unplanned settlements, the two-stage displacement of low-income households from rent-controlled buildings in Cairo and its impact on community structure and employment and social supports, migration from the Suez Canal to Zagazig City in Egypt, displacement due to the Gulf crisis (a case study, the

  18. Middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike protein delivered by modified vaccinia virus ankara efficiently induces virus-neutralizing antibodies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    F. Song (Fei); R. Fux (Robert); L.B.V. Provacia (Lisette); A. Volz (Asisa); M. Eickmann; S. Becker (Stephan); A.D.M.E. Osterhaus (Albert); B.L. Haagmans (Bart); G. Suttera (Gerd)

    2013-01-01

    textabstractMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has recently emerged as a causative agent of severe respiratory disease in humans. Here, we constructed recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) expressing full-length MERS-CoV spike (S) protein (MVA-MERS-S). The genetic

  19. Early diagnosis and treatment of ankylosing spondylitis in Africa and the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rachid, Bahiri; El Zorkany, Bassel; Youseif, Ehab; Tikly, Mohammed

    2012-11-01

    Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is the prototype for spondyloarthritis primarily affecting young men. Geographic and ethnic variations exist in the prevalence and severity of AS and relate to the wide disparity in the frequency of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27, a major genetic risk factor. The strength of the disease association with HLA-B27 is lower in most Arab populations (25-75 %) than in Western European populations (>90 %), and there is no association in sub-Saharan Africa, where the prevalence of HLA-B27 is Africa, and the high rate of spondyloarthropathies associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Diagnosis of AS is often delayed 8-10 years; potential reasons for the delay in Africa and the Middle East include low awareness among physicians and patients, the requirement for radiographic evidence of sacroiliitis for diagnosis, and limited access to magnetic resonance imaging in some countries. Treatment should be initiated early to prevent or reduce skeletal deformity and physical disability. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are effective first-line treatment and anti-tumor necrosis factor-α drugs are indicated for patients who have an inadequate response to first-line therapy. In Africa and the Middle East, such treatments may be precluded either by cost or contraindicated because of the high prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection. Research is sorely needed to develop cost-effective tools to diagnose AS early as well as effective, inexpensive, and safe treatments for these developing regions.

  20. Energy infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa to 2010

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Enav, Peter

    1998-01-01

    Between 1998 and 2010, the 19 countries of the Middle East and North Africa will need to spend approximately $500bn on new energy infrastructure to meet their declared needs and priorities. Private sector involvement will be inevitable with many countries operating under strict budgetary limitations. The opportunities this represents for foreign investment cannot be ignored. This report assesses both power generation and hydrocarbon financing needs on a country-by-country basis. It also identifies the likely financing modalities for each country with a detailed appraisal of country credit-worthiness, highlighting risks and opportunities for outside investors. For each country, the report examines: macro-economic profiles; political risk profiles; prospects for hydrocarbon; and electricity infrastructure development. (author)

  1. Middle East respiratory syndrome clinical practice guideline for hemodialysis facilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hayne Cho Park

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The Korean Society of Nephrology participated in the task force team consisting of government authorities and civilian experts to prevent and control the spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS in 2015. The Korean Society of Nephrology MERS Task Force Team took an immediate action and drafted ‘the clinical recommendation for hemodialysis facilities’ to follow when the first and the only confirmed case was reported in the hemodialysis unit. Owing to the dedicated support from medical doctors, dialysis nurses, and related medical companies, we could prevent further transmission of MERS infection successfully in hemodialysis units. This special report describes the experience of infection control during MERS outbreak in 2015 and summarizes the contents of ‘the clinical practice guideline for hemodialysis facilities dealing with MERS patients’ built upon our previous experience.

  2. Revolutionising engineering education in the Middle East region to promote earthquake-disaster mitigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baytiyeh, Hoda; Naja, Mohamad K.

    2014-09-01

    Due to the high market demands for professional engineers in the Arab oil-producing countries, the appetite of Middle Eastern students for high-paying jobs and challenging careers in engineering has sharply increased. As a result, engineering programmes are providing opportunities for more students to enrol on engineering courses through lenient admission policies that do not compromise academic standards. This strategy has generated an influx of students who must be carefully educated to enhance their professional knowledge and social capital to assist in future earthquake-disaster risk-reduction efforts. However, the majority of Middle Eastern engineering students are unaware of the valuable acquired engineering skills and knowledge in building the resilience of their communities to earthquake disasters. As the majority of the countries in the Middle East are exposed to seismic hazards and are vulnerable to destructive earthquakes, engineers have become indispensable assets and the first line of defence against earthquake threats. This article highlights the contributions of some of the engineering innovations in advancing technologies and techniques for effective disaster mitigation and it calls for the incorporation of earthquake-disaster-mitigation education into academic engineering programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

  3. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Hopeless Case for U.S. Policy in the Middle East?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-05-24

    the liberation of Palestine. The fusion of Fatah with the PLO following the 1967 war, the formal adoption of...fostering democracy and free market economies in the Middle East. Goals also included guaranteeing the survival and security of the state of Israel...of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “for Jews, whose attachment to the Land the Bible , the West Bank is Judea and Samaria, is sacred land. For

  4. The impact of technology on gas reserves, worldwide and in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunlop, N.; Speers, G.R.; BP Exploration, UK)

    1995-01-01

    This paper reviews the distribution of gas reserves both worldwide and the Middle East. As more gas is produced in d ifficult e nvironments, either at long distances from markets or from more complex reservoirs there is a need to curtail costs by improving exploration success, reducing well costs and by increasing the reserves produced per well. Continuing advances in technology can make a major impact in achieving these goals. Historically, the innovative use of technology has resulted in significant increases in the value of oil and gas developments. (Author). 5 fig

  5. Hydraulic Network Modelling of Small Community Water Distribution ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Prof Anyata

    community (Sakwa) water distribution network in North Eastern geopolitical region of Nigeria using. WaterCAD ..... Table 1: Criteria Relating Population to Water Demand (NWSP, 2000) ..... timely manner ... Department, Middle East Technical.

  6. Cases of human brucellosis in Sweden linked to Middle East and Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garofolo, Giuliano; Fasanella, Antonio; Di Giannatale, Elisabetta; Platone, Ilenia; Sacchini, Lorena; Persiani, Tiziana; Boskani, Talar; Rizzardi, Kristina; Wahab, Tara

    2016-05-17

    Human brucellosis cases are still reported each year in Sweden despite eradication of the disease in animals. Epidemiological investigation has never been conducted to trace back the source of human infection in the country. The purpose of the study was to identify the source of infection for 16 human brucellosis cases that occurred in Sweden, during the period 2008-2012. The isolates were identified as Brucella melitensis and MLVA-16 genotyping revealed 14 different genotypes of East Mediterranean and Africa lineages. We also reported one case of laboratory-acquired brucellosis (LAB) that was shown to be epidemiological linked to one of the cases in the current study. Brucella melitensis was the only species diagnosed, confirming its highest zoonotic potential in the genus Brucella, and MLVA-16 results demonstrated that the cases of brucellosis in Sweden herein investigated, are imported and linked to travel in the Middle East and Africa. Due to its zoonotic concerns, any acute febrile illness linked to recent travel within those regions should be investigated for brucellosis and samples should be processed according to biosafety level 3 regulations.

  7. Why did occidental modernity fail in the Arab Middle East: the failed modern state?

    OpenAIRE

    Sardar, Aziz

    2011-01-01

    This thesis asks a straightforward but nevertheless a complex question, that is: Why did modernity fail in the Arab Middle East? The notion of modernity in this thesis signifies the occidental modernity which reached the region in many different forms and through various channels. This occidental modernity had an impact on many areas and changed the societies and politics of the region. But these changes stopped short of reaching modernity, in other words it failed to change the society from ...

  8. Jobs for Shared Prosperity : Time for Action in the Middle East and North Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Gatti, Roberta; Morgandi, Matteo; Grun, Rebekka; Brodmann, Stefanie; Angel-Urdinola, Diego; Moreno, Juan Manuel; Marotta, Daniela; Schiffbauer, Marc; Mata Lorenzo, Elizabeth

    2013-01-01

    In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, when thousands of young women and men fought for the opportunity to realize their aspirations and potential, the question of jobs continues to be crucial in the Middle East and North Africa region. This report uses jobs as a lens to weave together the complex dynamics of employment creation, skills supply, and the institutional environment of labor markets. Consistent with the framework of the 2013 World Development Report on jobs, of which this report is...

  9. Detection and molecular characterization of feline hemoplasmas in wild felid species in Iran in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghazisaeedi, Fereshteh; Atyabi, Nahid; Zahraei Salehi, Taghi; Tabatabaei, Saeid; Ashrafi Tamai, Iraj; Memarian, Iman; Tasker, Séverine

    2017-10-01

    Three feline hemoplasma species exist in felids: Mycoplasma haemofelis, 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum', and 'Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis'. The aims of the study were to determine the presence of, and molecularly characterize, any hemoplasmas in wild felids, including the endangered Persian leopard in Iran, the Middle East. Blood samples were collected from 19 wild felids, including three Persian leopards. Using species-specific hemoplasma PCRs and ELISA serological testing for feline leukaemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), two Persian leopards were found to be infected with 'Ca. M. haemominutum' and were seropositive for FIV. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequences were generated for these 'Ca. M. haemominutum' species and subsequent phylogenetic analysis revealed 97.70% to 99.45% sequence identity with those found in domestic cats from Iran and other countries. This study confirms the presence of 'Ca. M. haemominutum' and concurrent FIV antibody in wild felids in Iran. This represents the first report of hemoplasma in wild felids in the Middle East as well as the first report of infection in Persian leopards. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. A scientometric study of general internal medicine domain among muslim countries of middle East (1991 - 2011).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodhodinezhad, Niloofar; Zahedi, Razieh; Ashrafi-rizzi, Hassan; Shams, Asadollah

    2013-03-01

    The position of General Internal Medicine in the Islamic countries in the Middle East has been investigated in the present study. The scientific productions of the countries in the area on Web of science database during 1990-2011 constitute were examined. The result of the survey showed that the share of these countries in world scientific productions is very low. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran are the first to third ones in this domain in order. In view of annual growth rate, Kuwait having high growth rate, is the first one. Libya and Syria are the next ones. The scientific poverty line of Islamic countries in the area was surveyed. The result showed that in view of the scientific poverty line, the highest is Kuwait with the population of 0.04 percent of the world. Next to it, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are the second and third ones. The results of this research showed that the share of Islamic countries in the Middle East in scientific production of this medicine domain is very low. It needs to be paid more attention by the countries in the area.

  11. Crystal structure of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus helicase.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Hao

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV remains a threat to public health worldwide; however, effective vaccine or drug against CoVs remains unavailable. CoV helicase is one of the three evolutionary most conserved proteins in nidoviruses, thus making it an important target for drug development. We report here the first structure of full-length coronavirus helicase, MERS-CoV nsp13. MERS-CoV helicase has multiple domains, including an N-terminal Cys/His rich domain (CH with three zinc atoms, a beta-barrel domain and a C-terminal SF1 helicase core with two RecA-like subdomains. Our structural analyses show that while the domain organization of nsp13 is conserved throughout nidoviruses, the individual domains of nsp13 are closely related to the equivalent eukaryotic domains of Upf1 helicases. The most distinctive feature differentiating CoV helicases from eukaryotic Upf1 helicases is the interaction between CH domain and helicase core.

  12. Water brief-WDM & wastewater reuse

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

    aalfouns

    Wastewater Reuse for Water Demand Management in the Middle East and ... Among the substantial WDM tools in MENA is the use of wastewater to reduce the pressure on scarce freshwater .... recycled water to irrigate crops with associated ...

  13. Adult Asylum Seekers from the Middle East Including Syria in Central Europe: What Are Their Health Care Problems?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfortmueller, Carmen Andrea; Schwetlick, Miriam; Mueller, Thomas; Lehmann, Beat; Exadaktylos, Aristomenis Konstantinos

    2016-01-01

    Forced displacement related to persecution and violent conflict has reached a new peak in recent years. The primary aim of this study is to provide an initial overview of the acute and chronic health care problems of asylum seekers from the Middle East, with special emphasis on asylum seekers from Syria. Our retrospective data analysis comprised adult patients presenting to our emergency department between 01.11.2011 and 30.06.2014 with the official resident status of an "asylum seeker" or "refugee" from the Middle East. In total, 880 patients were included in the study. Of these, 625 (71.0%) were male and 255 (29.0%) female. The median age was 34 (range 16-84). 222 (25.2%) of our patients were from Syria. The most common reason for presentation was surgical (381, 43.3%), followed by medical (321, 36.5%) and psychiatric (137, 15.6%). In patients with surgical presentations, trauma-related problems were most common (n = 196, 50.6%). Within the group of patients with medical presentation, acute infectious diseases were most common (n = 141, 43.9%), followed by neurological problems (n = 70, 21.8%) and gastrointestinal problems (n = 47, 14.6%). There were no differences between Syrian and non-Syrian refugees concerning surgical or medical admissions. The most common chronic disorder of unclear significance was chronic gastrointestinal problems (n = 132, 15%), followed by chronic musculoskeletal problems (n = 108, 12.3%) and chronic headaches (n = 78, 8.9%). Patients from Syria were significantly younger and more often suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder than patients of other nationalities (pSyria when compared to other nationalities of asylum seekers from the Middle East.

  14. Elucidating Transmission Patterns From Internet Reports: Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome as Case Studies

    OpenAIRE

    Chowell, Gerardo; Cleaton, Julie M.; Viboud, Cecile

    2016-01-01

    The paucity of traditional epidemiological data during epidemic emergencies calls for alternative data streams to characterize the key features of an outbreak, including the nature of risky exposures, the reproduction number, and transmission heterogeneities. We illustrate the potential of Internet data streams to improve preparedness and response in outbreak situations by drawing from recent work on the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome (ME...

  15. the run for arming and conflicts in Middle-East menace the safety of petroleum supplies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1995-01-01

    The situation in the Middle-East is always a run to get arming equipment. Conflicts between Bahrain and Qatar, between Qatar and Saudi Arabia or between this last one and Yemen are a danger for the stability in this area; without forgetting Iran power rising. This situation is an obstacle to economic development, stability of policy and it goes against local populations interests, against industrialized countries interests and against petroleum industry interest itself

  16. What can Iran gain by having a nuclear weapons program that threatens to destabilize security in the Middle East?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Thomas Galasz

    and a lot of neigh- bouring countries fear such a development for security reasons. But why is Iran following a nuclear path that may further destabilise the fragile security situation in the Middle East? It is to do with Iran’s own perception of security risks, its desire for greatness in the region......- bination with its important strategic location by the Strait of Hormuz, and supports various political groupings in and around Syria and Iraq to attract the attention of the United States of American in an attempt to become recognised as the most important player in the Middle East. Should Iran succeed...... in its brinkmanship and the outcome could be the lifting of the UN sanctions, international recognition, improved security, and even a possible end to internal political power struggles due to likely economic reforms post-sanctions. Much is at stake for Iran, but, if it succeeds, it could shift...

  17. Water Management in Islam | IDRC - International Development ...

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

    2001-01-01

    Jan 1, 2001 ... In the Middle East and North Africa, water is rapidly becoming the key ... including water demand management, wastewater reuse, and fair pricing. ... the most promising water management policies, adds to our knowledge of ...

  18. The water-energy nexus in Middle East and North Africa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Siddiqi, Afreen, E-mail: siddiqi@mit.edu [Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (United States); Anadon, Laura Diaz, E-mail: laura_diaz_anadon@harvard.edu [Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (United States)

    2011-08-15

    Extracting, delivering, and disposing water requires energy, and similarly, many processes for extracting and refining various fuel sources and producing electricity use water. This so-called 'water-energy nexus', is important to understand due to increasing energy demands and decreasing freshwater supplies in many areas. This paper performs a country-level quantitative assessment of this nexus in the MENA region. The results show a highly skewed coupling with a relatively weak dependence of energy systems on fresh water, but a strong dependence of water abstraction and production systems on energy. In case of Saudi Arabia it is estimated that up to 9% of the total annual electrical energy consumption may be attributed to ground water pumping and desalination. Other countries in the Arabian Gulf may be consuming 5-12% or more of total electricity consumption for desalination. The results suggest that policy makers should explicitly consider energy implications in water intensive food imports and future restructuring of water demand. This will help in making more integrated decisions on water and energy infrastructure systems. An integrated assessment may in some cases favor water reuse and changes in the agricultural sector as opposed to the expansion of energy intensive and financially expensive desalination systems. - Highlights: > The water-energy nexus in MENA has a highly skewed coupling. > Energy production systems are weakly dependent on fresh water. > Water abstraction and production is strongly dependent on energy. > In Arabian Gulf countries, 5-12% or more of total electricity consumption is for desalination. > Energy implications in water intensive food imports should be included in policy considerations.

  19. Making the most of minimal water

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

    MENA region share lessons on how demand management can avert a looming water crisis. ... volume of renewable water resources make the Middle East ... the tools they need to create and implement ... integrated with traditional knowledge.

  20. Political problems in the Middle-East and the oil barrel price

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saidy, Brahim

    2010-04-01

    After having briefly evoked the evolution of oil prices until April 2010, the author explains these variations in relationship with a market logics, notably by an unbalanced rate between production and consumption as it has been noticed in different countries and by different institutions, and by a slowing down of the supply rate. In the next part, the author addresses and comments the influence of the geopolitical context, or the political logics of oil price, by discussing the prevailing importance of the Middle-East in terms of oil reserves and production, and the impact of geopolitical tensions and events on oil price since the 1970's. The author finally outlines how lower geopolitical tensions would result in a better energy security

  1. Islamic Tourism as a Factor of the Middle East Regional Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gordana Kovjanic

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available For long time tourism, except pilgrimage travels, has been considered as culturally inappropriate and economically unnecessary phenomenon by Arab governments. At the beginning of 21st century, many Arab states developed their tourism industries in order to diversify their economies (in the case of GCC states = Gulf Cooperation Council or to earn foreign currency (in the case of Arab Mediterranean states. Middle East importance for global stability derives from its immense oil reserves and its status as the epicentre of Muslim culture. The majority of their demand for tourism originates from neighbouring countries. The time of unrest in this part of the world has brought a need for local travellers to stay within the same cultural environment when making holiday destination choices.

  2. A systematic review on the prevalence of conduct disorder in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salmanian, Maryam; Asadian-Koohestani, Fatemeh; Mohammadi, Mohammad Reza

    2017-11-01

    Several epidemiological studies have been done on conduct disorder in the Middle East, but no systematic review has been conducted on this topic. Thus, we aimed at investigating the prevalence of conduct disorder in the Middle East in this systematic review of the literature. We searched all the cross-sectional studies in the scientific databases of PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Islamic World Science Citation Center, and Grey Literature including conference proceedings, and hand searching of key journals from 1995 to the end of 2014. Included studies described the prevalence of conduct disorder prior to age of 18, with any type of random or non-random sampling for at least one gender in the general or school-based populations who resided in Middle Eastern countries. Two reviewers assessed the quality of the included studies independently and extracted the relevant data. Twenty-four studies were included in this review. Sample sizes varied from 136 to 9636 with the age range of 6-18 years. These studies were conducted in Iran, Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used in most of the included studies. The prevalence of conduct disorder was reported from 2.4% by diagnostic criteria taken from DSM-IV-TR in Iraq to 32.9% by SDQ in Iran; the prevalence rates ranged from 1 to 29.9% for females and from 3.3 to 34.6% for males. However, the prevalence of conduct disorder was reported 0.34% by the diagnostic instrument of Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime in Iranian children and adolescents. The prevalence of conduct disorder in this study was higher than the worldwide prevalence, thus, it seems essential to design preventive and treatment programs for children and adolescents with conduct disorder.

  3. Far East and Middle East: An Investigation of Strategic Linkages

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Hassig, Kongdan

    2002-01-01

    .... Key factors linking the two regions include Muslim populations in China, China and the DPRK's need for Middle Eastern oil, the pursuit of several Middle Eastern states for weapons of mass destruction...

  4. The water-energy nexus in Middle East and North Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siddiqi, Afreen; Anadon, Laura Diaz

    2011-01-01

    Extracting, delivering, and disposing water requires energy, and similarly, many processes for extracting and refining various fuel sources and producing electricity use water. This so-called 'water-energy nexus', is important to understand due to increasing energy demands and decreasing freshwater supplies in many areas. This paper performs a country-level quantitative assessment of this nexus in the MENA region. The results show a highly skewed coupling with a relatively weak dependence of energy systems on fresh water, but a strong dependence of water abstraction and production systems on energy. In case of Saudi Arabia it is estimated that up to 9% of the total annual electrical energy consumption may be attributed to ground water pumping and desalination. Other countries in the Arabian Gulf may be consuming 5-12% or more of total electricity consumption for desalination. The results suggest that policy makers should explicitly consider energy implications in water intensive food imports and future restructuring of water demand. This will help in making more integrated decisions on water and energy infrastructure systems. An integrated assessment may in some cases favor water reuse and changes in the agricultural sector as opposed to the expansion of energy intensive and financially expensive desalination systems. - Highlights: → The water-energy nexus in MENA has a highly skewed coupling. → Energy production systems are weakly dependent on fresh water. → Water abstraction and production is strongly dependent on energy. → In Arabian Gulf countries, 5-12% or more of total electricity consumption is for desalination. → Energy implications in water intensive food imports should be included in policy considerations.

  5. Paleoclimatic and paleolatitude settings of accumulation of radiolarian siliceous-volcanogenic sequences in the middle Mesozoic Pacific: Evidence from allochthons of East Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vishnevskaya, V. S.; Filatova, N. I.

    2017-09-01

    Jurassic-Cretaceous siliceous-volcanogenic rocks from nappes of tectonostratigraphic sequences of the East Asia Middle Cretaceous Okhotsk-Koryak orogenic belt are represented by a wide range of geodynamic sedimentation settings: oceanic (near-spreading zones, seamounts, and deep-water basins), marginal seas, and island arcs. The taxonomic compositions of radiolarian communities are used as paleolatitude indicators in the Northern Pacific. In addition, a tendency toward climate change in the Mesozoic is revealed based on these communities: from the warm Triassic to the cold Jurassic with intense warming from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Cretaceous warming led to heating of ocean waters even at moderately high latitudes and to the development of Tethyan radiolarians there. These data are confirmed by a global Cretaceous temperature peak coinciding with a high-activity pulse of the planetary mantle superplume system, which created thermal anomalies and the greenhouse effect. In addition, the Pacific superplume attributed to this system caused accelerated movement of oceanic plates, which resulted in a compression setting on the periphery of the Pacific and the formation of the Okhotsk-Koryak orogenic belt on its northwestern framing in the Middle Cretaceous, where Mesozoic rocks of different geodynamic and latitudinal-climate settings were juxtaposed into allochthonous units.

  6. Simultaneous Inversion of Receiver Functions, Multi-Mode Dispersion, and Travel-Time Tomography for Lithospheric Structure Beneath the Middle East and North Africa

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Ammon, Charles J; Kosarian, Minoo; Hermann, Robert B

    2006-01-01

    .... Towards this goal, we perform receiver function analysis using teleseismic waveforms recorded at permanent and temporary broadband seismic stations located in Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North Africa...

  7. Active screening and surveillance in the United Kingdom for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in returning travellers and pilgrims from the Middle East: a prospective descriptive study for the period 2013–2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sowsan F. Atabani

    2016-06-01

    Conclusions: Respiratory tract infections in travellers/pilgrims returning to the UK from the Middle East are mainly due to rhinoviruses, influenza A, and influenza B. Whilst MERS-CoV was not detected in the 202 patients studied, heightened awareness of the possibility of MERS-CoV and continuous proactive surveillance are essential to rapidly identify cases of MERS-CoV and other seasonal respiratory tract viruses such as avian influenza, in patients presenting to hospital. Early identification and isolation may prevent outbreaks in nosocomial settings.

  8. SESAME — A 3rd Generation Synchrotron Light Source for the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Å°lkü, Dinçer; Rahighi, Javad; Winick, Herman

    2007-01-01

    SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) will be the Middle East's first international research center. It is a cooperative venture by the scientists and governments of the region with founding members Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine Authority, and Turkey. Iran is in the process of finalizing its formal membership. Other countries (Cyprus, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates) are also expected to join. The permanent Council of member states has full responsibility for the project. Members provide the annual operating budget. Observer countries are Germany, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Portugal, Russian Federation, Sweden, the UK, and the US. SESAME is being developed under the umbrella of UNESCO. Jordan was selected as the building site. SESAME will offer excellent opportunities for training of Middle East scientists and attract those working abroad to consider returning. SESAME will be a 2.5GeV 3rd Generation light source (emittance 26nm-rad, circumference ˜133m), providing excellent performance for structural molecular biology, molecular environmental science, surface and interface science, microelectromechanical devices, x-ray imaging, archaeological microanalysis, and materials characterization. It will cover a broad spectral range from the infrared to hard x-rays and will have 12 straight sections for insertion devices (average length 2.75m). The injector will be the BESSY I 0.8 GeV booster synchrotron which has been given as a gift from Germany. Four committees advise the Council and assist in developing the technical design, beam lines, user community, and scientific Program. The SESAME building, now in construction with funds and a site provided by Jordan, is scheduled for completion in late 2006 after which the BESSY I injector will be installed. First stored beam in the new 2.5 GeV ring is planned for 2009 with six initial beamlines planned. Some beamlines will be built by member countries

  9. Changing the Currents of Water Management | IDRC - International ...

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

    Avoiding a catastrophic water shortage in the coming decades will require finding ... a water crisis, 40 are in the Middle East, North Africa, or sub-Saharan Africa. ... the availability of water, in dryer regions water conservation has always been a ...

  10. The Palestinian Problem In The Middle East Policy Of The USSR / Russia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. V. Nosenko

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article reveals the stages in the formation of the USSR policy in the field of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict resolution, the features of the developed policy and practical conclusions that could be useful in advancing the current Middle East policy of the Russian Federation. Initially, the Soviet Union perceived the Palestinian theme primarily from the point of view of the problem of refugees. However, Moscow increasingly felt the need for reliable allies in the region. The movement for cooperation between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the USSR was bilateral: the PLO departed from revolutionary romanticism and began to follow a pragmatic line to expand contacts with opponents of Israel. Moscow began to consider the activities of the PLO as part of the national liberation movement, took a sharply anti-Israeli stance. Such a distortion led to a loss of freedom of maneuver in the region and to the announcement of deliberately non-constructive proposals for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Only since 1985 the USSR returned to a more flexible position, which sought to combine the interests of the Palestinian people and Israel. At the present stage, Russian diplomacy uses Soviet experience and connections, especially in the sphere of personal contacts. But Russia’s role in the Middle East conflict resolution has decreased due to subjective and objective reasons. Against the backdrop of the Arab Spring and the Civil War in Syria, Palestinian issues have become secondary in the agenda of Moscow, which, however, can lead to a new surge of violence and tension. Special relations with the Palestinian national liberation movement have always been an advantage of Soviet and then Russian diplomacy. The authors believe that this advantage should be used more actively to strengthen Russia’s positions in the region.

  11. Entrepreneurs’ gender, age and education affecting their networks in private and public spheres: Denmark, Middle East and North Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ashourizadeh, Shayegheh; Schøtt, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    The purpose is to account for entrepreneurs’ networking in private and public spheres, as influenced by gender, age and education in the context of culture. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor has surveyed 17,742 entrepreneurs’ networking for advice in Denmark and 14 countries representative of t....... Education influences networking in the way that networking in the public sphere is especially extensive among educated entrepreneurs.......The purpose is to account for entrepreneurs’ networking in private and public spheres, as influenced by gender, age and education in the context of culture. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor has surveyed 17,742 entrepreneurs’ networking for advice in Denmark and 14 countries representative...... of the Middle East and North Africa. Analyses show that entrepreneurs are networking in the private sphere of family and friends, especially in traditional culture in Middle East and North Africa, and are networking in public spheres, especially in secular-rational culture in Denmark. Male entrepreneurs network...

  12. Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, the number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in environmental sciences in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sultan Ayoub Meo

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, spending on Research and Development (R&D, the number of universities and scientific journals on the published research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries. Materials and Methods: All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. Information regarding the GDP, spending on R&D, the total number of universities and indexed journals was collected. Total number of research documents (papers, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences during the period 1996-2011 was recorded. The study used the World Bank, SCI-mago/Scopus, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters as the main sources of information. Results: The mean GDP per capita of all the Middle East countries amounted to 18 125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D was 0.63±0.28 US$, the number of universities equaled 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journals amounted to 8.25±3.93. The mean number of research documents published in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 was 2202.12±883.98; citable documents: 2156.87±865.09; citations per document: 8.74±0.73; and the H-index: 35.37±6.17. There was a positive correlation between the money spent on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.6, p = 0.01, H-Index (r = 0.6, p = 0.01; the number of universities and a total of research documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006, citable documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006, H-Index (r = 0.50, p = 0.04, as well as ISI indexed journals and total research documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001, citable documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001, H-Index (r = 0.73, p = 0.001. Conclusions: The Middle East countries which spend more on R&D and which have a large number of universities and ISI indexed journals are likely to produce more significant volume of research papers in

  13. Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, the number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in environmental sciences in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meo, Sultan Ayoub; Al Masri, Abeer A; Usmani, Adnan Mahmood; Halepoto, Dost Muhammad

    2013-10-01

    This study aimed to assess the impact of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), spending on Research and Development (R&D), the number of universities and scientific journals on the published research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries. All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. Information regarding the GDP, spending on R&D, the total number of universities and indexed journals was collected. Total number of research documents (papers), citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences during the period 1996-2011 was recorded. The study used the World Bank, SCI-mago/Scopus, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters) as the main sources of information. The mean GDP per capita of all the Middle East countries amounted to 18 125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D was 0.63±0.28 US$, the number of universities equaled 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journals amounted to 8.25±3.93. The mean number of research documents published in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 was 2202.12±883.98; citable documents: 2156.87±865.09; citations per document: 8.74±0.73; and the H-index: 35.37±6.17. There was a positive correlation between the money spent on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.6, p = 0.01), H-Index (r = 0.6, p = 0.01); the number of universities and a total of research documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006), citable documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006), H-Index (r = 0.50, p = 0.04), as well as ISI indexed journals and total research documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001), citable documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001), H-Index (r = 0.73, p = 0.001). The Middle East countries which spend more on R&D and which have a large number of universities and ISI indexed journals are likely to produce more significant volume of research papers in the field of environmental science.

  14. Climate change impacts in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region and their implications for vulnerable population groups

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Waha, Katharina; Krummenauer, Linda; Adams, Sophie; Aich, Valentin; Baarsch, Florent; Coumou, Dim; Fader, Marianela; Hoff, Holger; Jobbins, Guy; Marcus, Rachel; Mengel, Matthias; Otto, Ilona M.; Perrette, Mahé; Rocha, Marcia; Robinson, Alexander; Schleussner, Carl Friedrich

    2017-01-01

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region emerges as one of the hot spots for worsening extreme heat, drought and aridity conditions under climate change. A synthesis of peer-reviewed literature from 2010 to date and own modeling work on biophysical impacts of climate change on selected sectors

  15. Trust and tolerance across the Middle East and North Africa: A comparative perspective on the impact of the Arab uprisings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spierings, N.

    2017-01-01

    The protests that swept the Arab Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are expected to have influenced two key civic attitudes fundamental to well-functioning democracies: trust and tolerance. However, systematic comparative assessments of the general patterns and particularities in this region are

  16. "But Oh! What Tales": Portraying the Middle East in U.S. Homophile Periodicals of the 1950s and 1960s.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milo, Marva

    2017-01-01

    This essay examines Middle East representations in U.S. homophile periodicals from 1953 to 1964. The essay uses more than 120 Middle East-related items that were published in ONE, Mattachine Review, and The Ladder to address the periodicals' engagement with the region (particularly ancient history and biblical themes) and discuss the types of sexual "knowledge" that the homophile periodicals created about the region. It then assesses the role of periodicals as a genre in the creation of a transnational homophile community, showing both their potential for democratizing participation in this community and their limits. The essay argues that the periodicals made visible the process of assembling a homosexual identity and the fragmentary nature of the parts it strove to unify. Though the views of key U.S. homophile organizations became hegemonic in the international gay rights movement, the periodicals show a more complex, ambivalent, and contested process.

  17. Hydrology and water quality of East Lake Tohopekaliga, Osceola County, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schiffer, Donna M.

    1987-01-01

    East Lake Tohopekaliga, one of the major lakes in central Florida, is located in the upper Kissimmee River basin in north-east Osceola County. It is one of numerous lakes in the upper basin used for flood control, in addition to recreation and some irrigation of surrounding pasture. This report is the fourth in a series of lake reconnaissance studies in the Kissimmee River basin prepared in cooperation with the South Florida Water Management District. The purpose of the report is to provide government agencies and the public with a brief summary of the lake 's hydrology and water quality. Site information is given and includes map number, site name, location, and type of data available (specific conductivity, pH, alkalinity, turbidity, color, dissolved oxygen, hardness, dissolved chlorides, dissolved sodium, dissolved calcium, dissolved magnesium, dissolved potassium, nitrogen, ammonia, nitrates, carbon and phosphorus). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintained a lake stage gaging station on East Lake Tohopekaliga from 1942 to 1968. The South Florida Water Management District has recorded lake stage since 1963. Periodic water quality samples have been collected from the lake by the South Florida Water Management District and USGS. Water quality and discharge data have been collected for one major tributary to the lake, Boggy Creek. Although few groundwater data are available for the study area, results of previous studies of the groundwater resources of Osceola County are included in this report. To supplement the water quality data for East Lake Tohopekaliga, water samples were collected at selected sites in November 1982 (dry season) and in August 1983 (rainy season). Samples were taken at inflow points, and in the lake, and vertical profiles of dissolved oxygen and temperature were measured in the lake. A water budget from an EPA report on the lake is also included. (Lantz-PTT)

  18. The NPT and the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freier, S.

    1987-01-01

    Written by an Israeli, this article looks at the nuclear proliferation risks in the Middle Eastern area. It firsts sets the Middle Eastern political scene, then discusses the Non-Proliferation Treaty as perceived in Israel. The nuclear capabilities and intentions of the Middle Eastern Countries are examined and an assessment made of the prospects for non-proliferation. The author is not optimistic as it is felt that Iraq, Iran and possibly Egypt will all want to develop a nuclear weapon capability in spite of their formal commitment to the NPT. (U.K.)

  19. NATO’s Out-of-Area Disputes: Prospects for Common Western Strategies in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-12-01

    behalf for inclusion in the alliance. In a telegram to Secretary of State Acheson, Italian Ambassador Alberto Tarchiani candidly requested Italy’s...West European Defence Identity," p. 335. lu’For an excellent essay on establishing institutional links between the WEU and NATO see, Joao de Deus...Returns to the Middle East." American-Arab Affairs No. 24 (Fall 1990): 46-52. Pmheiro, Joao de Deus . "The European Security Architecture Translantic

  20. Economic Impact of Selected Conflicts in the Middle East; What Can We Learn from the Past?

    OpenAIRE

    Randa Sab

    2014-01-01

    Using narrative-based country-case studies, war episodes in the Middle East were examined to assess their economic impact on conflict and neighboring economies. The paper found that conflicts led to a contraction in growth, higher inflation, large fiscal and current account deficits, loss of reserves, and a weakened financial system. Post-conflict recovery depended on the economic and institutional development of the country, economic structure, duration of the war, international engagement, ...

  1. The Death Throes of Indigenous Christians in the Middle East: Assyrians Living Under the Islamic State

    OpenAIRE

    Atto, Naures

    2017-01-01

    Christianity emerged in the Middle East, became a majority religion, and thereafter expanded into various geographical directions. Although the faith suffered a decline under Arab Muslim rule already in the eleventh century, the region nonetheless remained an important spiritual centre of Christianity until about the thirteenth century. Today, however, local Christians express fear about the end of their existence in this region, their ancestral home. This fear is also shared by scholars and ...

  2. The Middle East: A mixture of oil and politics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skeet, I.

    1991-01-01

    The concept of stability is discussed as it applies to the Middle East countries and to the international oil market. The differences in how the various players involved (such as the USA, Europe, Iran, and the Arab countries) view stability are noted. With regard to stability and the oil trade, the results of the recent Gulf war indicate that the international security of oil supply and the regional balance of power in the Gulf are inseparable. Over most of the post-1945 period, there has been a reasonable degree of oil price stability and supply security. This stability and security has not come about through management of the oil price by governments, institutions, or groups of companies. The massive discontinuities in this management process in 1973, 1979/80, and 1986 are brought forward to provide evidence that a new management system must be created to avoid such problems in the future. It is suggested that in the past few years, the management function has been slipping away from OPEC and replaced by a Saudi Arabia/USA joint interest alliance

  3. Junctional epidermolysis bullosa in the Middle East: clinical and genetic studies in a series of consanguineous families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakano, Aoi; Lestringant, Gilles G; Paperna, Tamar; Bergman, Reuven; Gershoni, Ruth; Frossard, Philippe; Kanaan, Moien; Meneguzzi, Guerrino; Richard, Gabriele; Pfendner, Ellen; Uitto, Jouni; Pulkkinen, Leena; Sprecher, Eli

    2002-04-01

    Junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is a group of inherited blistering diseases characterized by epidermal-dermal separation resulting from mutations that affect the function of critical components of the basement membrane zone. This group of autosomal recessive diseases is especially prevalent in regions where consanguinity is common, such as the Middle East. However, the clinical and genetic epidemiology of JEB in this region remains largely unexplored. The aim of the present study was to assess a series of consanguineous JEB families originating from the Middle East. We identified 7 families referred to us between 1998 and 1999 and originating from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, and Israel. Histologic, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy studies were performed to direct the subsequent molecular analysis. DNA obtained from all family members was amplified by means of polymerase chain reaction and analyzed by conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis with subsequent direct sequencing. In 6 families presenting with the clinical and histologic features distinctive for JEB, mutations in genes encoding 1 of the 3 subunit polypeptides of laminin-5 were identified. Two families each had mutations in LAMB3, 2 in LAMA3, and 2 in LAMC2. Out of 7 distinct mutations, 5 were novel and 2 were recurrent. No relationship was found between the presence of nonsense/frameshift mutations in laminin-5 genes and perinatal mortality, contradicting a major genotype-phenotype correlation previously reported in the European and US literature. Similarly, none of the recurrent LAMB3 hot spot mutations previously described in other populations was found in our series. Finally, in a family with the clinical diagnosis of generalized atrophic benign epidermolysis bullosa, a homozygous non-sense mutation in Col17A1 gene (encoding the BPAG2 antigen) was identified. The present report suggests (1) the existence of a unique spectrum of mutations in the Middle East

  4. Human security and the quest for peace in the Middle East, 24 October 2006, University of Maryland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    ElBaradei, M

    2006-10-24

    In his talk about 'Human Security And The Quest For Peace In The Middle East' Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the IAEA, first looked at the international security landscape and then focused on the Middle East as a case in point. According to a recent report on human security, there has been a sharp decline since the early 1990s in civil wars and other forms of armed conflict. The number of refugees has also gone down, and human rights abuses have decreased. These statistics indicate that the world is becoming more peaceful. Yet at the same time, the collective sense of insecurity is higher than at any time before, because the forces that drive insecurity remain persistent and pervasive. These drivers of insecurity fit into four categories: poverty (poverty-related insecurities, for the billions who lack access to reliable food supplies, safe drinking water, adequate health care, and modern energy supplies), the lack of good governance, the sense of injustice (resulting from the imbalance between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' and the artificial polarization along religious or ethnic lines. The modern age demands that we think in terms of human security - a concept of security that is people centered and without borders. A concept that acknowledges the inherent linkages between economic and social development, respect for human rights, and peace. This is the basis on which we must 're-engineer' security. UN bodies have succeeded in setting norms and overseeing many important aspects of our life - such as labour relations, global health, civil aviation, food and agriculture, and trade. Despite these achievements, however the system often fails short in addressing threats to international peace and security. To understand the urgency of reforming our system for maintaining international peace and security, we must also look critically at situations where it has not been able to adequately fulfill its function. Three aspects in that regard are to be

  5. Human security and the quest for peace in the Middle East, 24 October 2006, University of Maryland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    ElBaradei, M.

    2006-01-01

    In his talk about 'Human Security And The Quest For Peace In The Middle East' Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the IAEA, first looked at the international security landscape and then focused on the Middle East as a case in point. According to a recent report on human security, there has been a sharp decline since the early 1990s in civil wars and other forms of armed conflict. The number of refugees has also gone down, and human rights abuses have decreased. These statistics indicate that the world is becoming more peaceful. Yet at the same time, the collective sense of insecurity is higher than at any time before, because the forces that drive insecurity remain persistent and pervasive. These drivers of insecurity fit into four categories: poverty (poverty-related insecurities, for the billions who lack access to reliable food supplies, safe drinking water, adequate health care, and modern energy supplies), the lack of good governance, the sense of injustice (resulting from the imbalance between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' and the artificial polarization along religious or ethnic lines. The modern age demands that we think in terms of human security - a concept of security that is people centered and without borders. A concept that acknowledges the inherent linkages between economic and social development, respect for human rights, and peace. This is the basis on which we must 're-engineer' security. UN bodies have succeeded in setting norms and overseeing many important aspects of our life - such as labour relations, global health, civil aviation, food and agriculture, and trade. Despite these achievements, however the system often fails short in addressing threats to international peace and security. To understand the urgency of reforming our system for maintaining international peace and security, we must also look critically at situations where it has not been able to adequately fulfill its function. Three aspects in that regard are to be

  6. Geopolitics of European natural gas demand: Supplies from Russia, Caspian and the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bilgin, Mert

    2009-01-01

    This paper addresses issues of natural gas which raise questions about European energy security. It first focuses on the rising gas demand of the EU27 and elaborates alleged risks of dependence on Russia such as Gazprom's disagreement with Ukraine, which became an international gas crisis in January 2006 and also more recently in January 2009. Incentives and barriers of Europe's further cooperation with selected Caspian (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and Middle Eastern (Iran, Iraq and Egypt) countries are discussed. Supplies from Caspian are analyzed with a particular focus on Russia's role and the vested interests in the region. Supplies from the Middle East are elaborated with regard to Iran's huge and Iraq's emerging potentials in terms of natural gas reserves and foreign direct investments in the energy sector. The geopolitical analysis leads to a conclusion that the best strategy, and what seems more likely, for the EU is to include at least two countries from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq within its natural gas supply system.

  7. World gas prospects: which role for the Middle East?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chabrelie, M.F.

    1999-01-01

    Since the early 1970's, the policies of energy diversification that have been implemented in the industrialized countries and in many developing countries have enabled natural gas to regularly increase its role in the world energy balance. Thus, during the past twenty years, natural gas to recorded the highest growth rate among fossil fuels, and its share in the energy market has gradually risen from 18.9 % in 1975 to 23 % in 1997. Today, thanks to favorable economic and environmental factors, natural gas has become the fuel of choice on many markets. Indeed, gas its blessed with a certain number of favorable assets (abundant reserves, flexibility, high-performance uses) which give it a major role in all energy demand forecast scenarios. The most spectacular development will indisputably take place in the power generation sector. Endowed with a considerable gas potential, the Middle East will represent an essential source of supply for many industrialized countries and several gas export projects, either by LNG tanker or by pipelines are currently being contemplated. During the past decade the contribution of natural gas to the energy mix also grew substantially in most Middle Eastern countries. The increase in gas demand should continue at a sustained rate, mainly driven by the power generation sector, petrochemicals and energy consumption by the hydrocarbons industry. These promising prospects for gas demand in most the markets in the region might lead to the development of an intra-regional network. However, although opportunities exist, the region will have to meet many challenges in order to contribute more largely to the world gas balance in the years to come. (author)

  8. First Middle East Aircraft Parabolic Flights for ISU Participant Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pletser, Vladimir; Frischauf, Norbert; Cohen, Dan; Foster, Matthew; Spannagel, Ruven; Szeszko, Adam; Laufer, Rene

    2017-06-01

    Aircraft parabolic flights are widely used throughout the world to create microgravity environment for scientific and technology research, experiment rehearsal for space missions, and for astronaut training before space flights. As part of the Space Studies Program 2016 of the International Space University summer session at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, a series of aircraft parabolic flights were organized with a glider in support of departmental activities on `Artificial and Micro-gravity' within the Space Sciences Department. Five flights were organized with manoeuvres including several parabolas with 5 to 6 s of weightlessness, bank turns with acceleration up to 2 g and disorientation inducing manoeuvres. Four demonstration experiments and two experiments proposed by SSP16 participants were performed during the flights by on board operators. This paper reports on the microgravity experiments conducted during these parabolic flights, the first conducted in the Middle East for science and pedagogical experiments.

  9. Unites States and the oil of the Middle-East; Les Etats-Unis et le petrole du Moyen-Orient

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Noel, P

    2005-08-15

    The author discusses different aspects of the United States intervention and behavior in the Middle-East petroleum management. The Iraq and Iran potentials are largely under used. The Saudi Arabia defines its own oil policy, but benefits of the Unites States military help. The United States intervention is in the domain of the security of flux on the world market. (A.L.B.)

  10. Corporate governance in the Middle East – Which way to go?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Udo C. Braendle

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The Interest in corporate governance is not a new phenomenon in the transition economies of the Middle East, but corporate governance is especially important in these economies since these countries do not have the long-established (financial institutional infrastructure to deal with corporate governance issues. This article focusses on a cross-country analysis of the most important topics in corporate codes – shareholder rights, board systems and executive remuneration. By analysing three representative MENA countries, we discuss if codes based on directives or standards are better for these economies. The introduction of corporate governance codes for these economies seems useful but should not rely on broad standards but on legally enforced binding rules accounting for the discussion of directives versus standards. The paper argues against the blindfold implementation of corporate governance codes and argues for country specific solutions

  11. Factors Influencing Emergency Nurses' Burnout During an Outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Korea

    OpenAIRE

    Kim, Ji Soo; Choi, Jeong Sil

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Emergency department (ED) nurses suffer from persistent stress after experiencing the traumatic event of exposure to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which can subsequently lead to burnout. This study aimed to assess ED nurses' burnout level during an outbreak of MERS-CoV and to identify influencing factors in order to provide basic information for lowering and preventing the level of burnout. Methods: Study participants were ED nurses working in eight hosp...

  12. The dominant Anopheles vectors of human malaria in Africa, Europe and the Middle East: occurrence data, distribution maps and bionomic précis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Okara Robi M

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This is the second in a series of three articles documenting the geographical distribution of 41 dominant vector species (DVS of human malaria. The first paper addressed the DVS of the Americas and the third will consider those of the Asian Pacific Region. Here, the DVS of Africa, Europe and the Middle East are discussed. The continent of Africa experiences the bulk of the global malaria burden due in part to the presence of the An. gambiae complex. Anopheles gambiae is one of four DVS within the An. gambiae complex, the others being An. arabiensis and the coastal An. merus and An. melas. There are a further three, highly anthropophilic DVS in Africa, An. funestus, An. moucheti and An. nili. Conversely, across Europe and the Middle East, malaria transmission is low and frequently absent, despite the presence of six DVS. To help control malaria in Africa and the Middle East, or to identify the risk of its re-emergence in Europe, the contemporary distribution and bionomics of the relevant DVS are needed. Results A contemporary database of occurrence data, compiled from the formal literature and other relevant resources, resulted in the collation of information for seven DVS from 44 countries in Africa containing 4234 geo-referenced, independent sites. In Europe and the Middle East, six DVS were identified from 2784 geo-referenced sites across 49 countries. These occurrence data were combined with expert opinion ranges and a suite of environmental and climatic variables of relevance to anopheline ecology to produce predictive distribution maps using the Boosted Regression Tree (BRT method. Conclusions The predicted geographic extent for the following DVS (or species/suspected species complex* is provided for Africa: Anopheles (Cellia arabiensis, An. (Cel. funestus*, An. (Cel. gambiae, An. (Cel. melas, An. (Cel. merus, An. (Cel. moucheti and An. (Cel. nili*, and in the European and Middle Eastern Region: An. (Anopheles atroparvus

  13. The Dynamic of Geopolitics in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florin Iftode

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available In a complex, dynamic and turbulent world the main confrontation is between fundamentally different values, between democracy and totalitarianism, and it is determined by the major aggression of international terrorism, of religious extremist origin. The objective of the paper is the presentation of geopolitical changes in the Middle East and the factors that influence them. In an increasingly globalized world one cannot stand by and be indifferent to what happens so close to Europe. In this environment, no country can stay isolated or stay neutral, no country is immune and no one should remain out of the global processes. As a result, the international security tends more and more to show its indivisible feature, and the international community is increasingly aware of its global responsibilities. In the undertaken study we conclude that the major tendencies, that govern the global developments in the post bipolar era, create legitimate concerns, posing new challenges, offering opportunities and presenting risks to national values and interests. This paper is intended to focus on: the reconfiguration of the area in the Asian West in the early 21st century; the Muslim world with its issues (see the Iran's geopolitical position; globalization, major factor in determining the behavior of key international actors.

  14. Foot-and-Mouth Disease in the Middle East Caused by an A/ASIA/G-VII Virus Lineage, 2015-2016.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bachanek-Bankowska, Katarzyna; Di Nardo, Antonello; Wadsworth, Jemma; Henry, Elisabeth K M; Parlak, Ünal; Timina, Anna; Mischenko, Alexey; Qasim, Ibrahim Ahmad; Abdollahi, Darab; Sultana, Munawar; Hossain, M Anwar; King, Donald P; Knowles, Nick J

    2018-06-01

    Phylogenetic analyses of foot-and-mouth disease type A viruses in the Middle East during 2015-2016 identified viruses belonging to the A/ASIA/G-VII lineage, which originated in the Indian subcontinent. Changes in a critical antigenic site within capsid viral protein 1 suggest possible evolutionary pressure caused by an intensive vaccination program.

  15. A quantitative assessment of groundwater resources in the Middle East and North Africa region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lezzaik, Khalil; Milewski, Adam

    2018-02-01

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the world's most water-stressed region, with its countries constituting 12 of the 15 most water-stressed countries globally. Because of data paucity, comprehensive regional-scale assessments of groundwater resources in the MENA region have been lacking. The presented study addresses this issue by using a distributed ArcGIS model, parametrized with gridded data sets, to estimate groundwater storage reserves in the region based on generated aquifer saturated thickness and effective porosity estimates. Furthermore, monthly gravimetric datasets (GRACE) and land surface parameters (GLDAS) were used to quantify changes in groundwater storage between 2003 and 2014. Total groundwater reserves in the region were estimated at 1.28 × 106 cubic kilometers (km3) with an uncertainty range between 816,000 and 1.93 × 106 km3. Most of the reserves are located within large sedimentary basins in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, with Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia accounting for approximately 75% of the region's total freshwater reserves. Alternatively, small groundwater reserves were found in fractured Precambrian basement exposures. As for groundwater changes between 2003 and 2014, all MENA countries except for Morocco exhibited declines in groundwater storage. However, given the region's large groundwater reserves, groundwater changes between 2003 and 2014 are minimal and represent no immediate short-term threat to the MENA region, with some exceptions. Notwithstanding this, the study recommends the development of sustainable and efficient groundwater management policies to optimally utilize the region's groundwater resources, especially in the face of climate change, demographic expansion, and socio-economic development.

  16. Consumer Knowledge, Attitudes and Salt-Related Behavior in the Middle-East: The Case of Lebanon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lara Nasreddine

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Sodium intake is high in Lebanon, a country of the Middle East region where rates of cardiovascular diseases are amongst the highest in the world. This study examines salt-related knowledge, attitude and self-reported behaviors amongst adult Lebanese consumers and investigates the association of socio-demographic factors, knowledge and attitudes with salt-related behaviors. Using a multicomponent questionnaire, a cross-sectional study was conducted in nine supermarkets in Beirut, based on systematic random sampling (n = 442. Factors associated with salt-related behaviors were examined by multivariate regression analysis. Specific knowledge and attitude gaps were documented with only 22.6% of participants identifying processed foods as the main source of salt, 55.6% discerning the relationship between salt and sodium, 32.4% recognizing the daily limit of salt intake and 44.7% reporting being concerned about the amount of salt in their diet. The majority of participants reported behavioral practices that increase salt intake with only 38.3% checking for salt label content, 43.7% reporting that their food purchases are influenced by salt content and 38.6% trying to buy low-salt foods. Knowledge, attitudes and older age were found to significantly predict salt-related behaviors. Findings offer valuable insight on salt-related knowledge, attitude and behaviors in a sample of Lebanese consumers and provide key information that could spur the development of evidence-based salt-reduction interventions specific to the Middle East.

  17. Prevalence and Severity of Oral Diseases in the Africa and Middle East Region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abid, A; Maatouk, F; Berrezouga, L; Azodo, C; Uti, O; El-Shamy, H; Oginni, A

    2015-07-01

    This review aims to determine the prevalence and severity of oral health diseases in the Africa and Middle East region (AMER). The profile of oral diseases is not homogeneous across the AMER. There are large disparities between groups. Reliable data are scarce. The prevalence and severity of oral diseases appear to be increasing in the African region, as does associated morbidity. There are substantial differences in inequalities in oral health. Dental caries prevalence is less severe in most African countries than in developed countries, but the high rate of untreated caries reflects the limited resources available and difficulties of access and affordability to essential oral health care services. The prevalence of gingival inflammation is very high in all age groups in several African countries. The prevalence of maxillofacial trauma has increased in many countries, with a wide variation of the incidence and high prevalence of traumatic dental injuries in primary and permanent teeth. Orofacial clefts are among the most common birth defects. Annual incidence of oral cancer is estimated as 25 cases per 100,000 people in Africa. Noma is a major public health problem for the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. Data about human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS are limited, particularly in the MENA region. According to the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa report, some fundamental key basic knowledge gaps need to be underlined. They include inequalities in oral health, low priority for oral health, lack of adequate funding, inadequate dental student training, obstacles to medical and dental research, and poor databases. There are very few effective public prevention and oral health promotion programs in the AMER. Universal health coverage is not achievable without scientific research on the effectiveness of health promotion interventions. © International & American Associations for Dental Research 2015.

  18. Improving Water Demand Management Addressing Socioeconomic ...

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

    2012-01-20

    Jan 20, 2012 ... Efforts to conserve water by improving water demand management policies in the Middle East and North Africa are often slowed or even thwarted by a lack of political consensus and support for water demand management from key powerful stakeholders with vested interest in the status quo. This policy ...

  19. Improving Water Demand Management Addressing Socioeconomic ...

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

    Efforts to conserve water by improving water demand management policies in the Middle East and North Africa are often slowed or even thwarted by a lack of political consensus and support for water demand management from key powerful stakeholders with vested interest in the status quo. This policy brief based on ...

  20. A Human Economy: A "Third Way" for the Future of Young People in the Middle East and North Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaalouk, Malak

    2014-01-01

    This paper looks at the vulnerability of today's youth worldwide, with a particular focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where the proportion of citizens aged 12-24 is particularly high at one-third of the total population. Cursed with poor education and few work opportunities, the youth unemployment rate has risen to 50 per cent in…

  1. An Exploratory Study of Factors That Affect the Research Progress of International PhD Students from the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khozaei, Fatemeh; Naidu, Sivabala; Khozaei, Zahra; Salleh, Nor Aini

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: Despite the critical issues involving Middle East countries such as war and a drop in currency exchange rates, a large number of students leave their country to pursue a higher education abroad, every year. The purpose of this paper is to understand the difficulties that these students face while conducting their research in a foreign…

  2. Gender and Transport in the Middle East and North Africa Region : Case Studies from the West Bank and Yemen

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2011-01-01

    Mobility is a major factor of access to economic resources, education, health, and other key elements influencing women's empowerment. In the Middle East and North Africa's countries, like in many other developing economies, women's mobility is constrained not only by the limited, sometimes unaffordable transport supply but also by social and cultural factors that frame women's access to t...

  3. Bacterial community radial-spatial distribution in biofilms along pipe wall in chlorinated drinking water distribution system of East China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jingqing; Ren, Hongxing; Ye, Xianbei; Wang, Wei; Liu, Yan; Lou, Liping; Cheng, Dongqing; He, Xiaofang; Zhou, Xiaoyan; Qiu, Shangde; Fu, Liusong; Hu, Baolan

    2017-01-01

    Biofilms in the pipe wall may lead to water quality deterioration and biological instability in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs). In this study, bacterial community radial-spatial distribution in biofilms along the pipe wall in a chlorinated DWDS of East China was investigated. Three pipes of large diameter (300, 600, and 600 mm) were sampled in this DWDS, including a ductile cast iron pipe (DCIP) with pipe age of 11 years and two gray cast iron pipes (GCIP) with pipe ages of 17 and 19 years, and biofilms in the upper, middle, and lower parts of each pipe wall were collected. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and culture-based method were used to quantify bacteria. 454 pyrosequencing was used for bacterial community analysis. The results showed that the biofilm density and total solid (TS) and volatile solid (VS) contents increased gradually from the top to the bottom along the pipe wall. Microorganisms were concentrated in the upper and lower parts of the pipe wall, together accounting for more than 80 % of the total biomass in the biofilms. The bacterial communities in biofilms were significantly different in different areas of the pipe wall and had no strong interaction. Compared with the upper and lower parts of the pipe wall, the bacterial community in the middle of the pipe wall was distributed evenly and had the highest diversity. The 16S rRNA genes of various possible pathogens, including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella enterica, were detected in the biofilms, and the abundances of these possible pathogens were highest in the middle of the pipe wall among three areas. The detachment of the biofilms is the main reason for the deterioration of the water quality in DWDSs. The results of this study suggest that the biofilms in the middle of the pipe wall have highly potential risk for drinking water safety, which provides new ideas for the study of the microbial ecology in

  4. Progreen online engineering diploma in the Middle East: assessment of the educational experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baytiyeh, Hoda

    2018-03-01

    Little is known about the status of online learning in the Middle East. This study investigates educational experiences of engineers enrolled in the new joint online ProGreen diploma programme offered by three universities, two in Lebanon and one in Egypt. Forty-eight working engineers responded to an online survey based on the three components of the community of inquiry model: social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence. Exploratory factor analysis identified five factors: sense of belonging, self-directedness, self-actualisation, interaction, and instructional guidance. The findings showed that sense of belonging was the factor engineers rated highest but it did not correlate with instructional guidance. However, instructional guidance highly correlated with self-directedness and self-actualisation.

  5. MISR Views the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-01-01

    This image, generated using 16 orbits of MISR data collected between August 16 and August 30, 2000, takes us to the cradle of many civilizations. The data are from the 60-degree aftward-viewing camera. Because the individual orbit swaths are only 400 kilometers wide, they were 'mosaiced' together to form this composite picture, which covers about 2700 kilometers from west to east and 1750 kilometers from north to south. A few discontinuities are present in the mosaic, particularly near clouds, due to changes in the scene which occurred between dates when the individual orbit data were acquired.At the northern tip of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba frame the sandy deserts and spectacular mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. The highest peaks are Gebel Katherina (Mountain of St. Catherine, 2637 meters) and Gebel Musa (Mountain of Moses, also known as Mount Sinai, 2285 meters). To the northeast, Israel and Jordan flank the Dead Sea, one of the saltiest inland water bodies in the world. At its northern edge is Qumran, where the ancient Scrolls were discovered; the city of Jerusalem lies about 30 kilometers to the west.Several large rivers are prominent. Flowing southeastward through Iraq are the Tigris and Euphrates. The dark area between the two rivers, northwest of the Persian Gulf, is a very fertile region where fishing and farming are prevalent. Wending its way through eastern Egypt is the Nile. In the south is Lake Nasser and the Aswan Dam; continuing northward the Nile passes the Temple of Luxor as it sharply loops to the east. It then turns west and northward, eventually passing the capital city of Cairo, and finally spreading into a prominent delta as it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The bright dot just west of the apex of the delta marks the location of the great Pyramids and Sphinx complexes on the Giza Plateau. On the coast, west of the delta, is the ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt's main seaport.'MISR', as it turns out, is the

  6. Nation branding in the Middle East - United Arab Emirates (UAE vs. Qatar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeineddine Cornelia

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Nation branding is crucial in order to attract investment, boost exports and attract tourists and talented workforce. Nation branding stands between public diplomacy and economic benefits. An adequate policy of Nation Branding-based on a positive, credible and economically reliable image-can be able to extend the range of potential customers and of potential investors. With the aim of better understanding the new challenges, opportunities and threats existent in a globalized economy, the paper compares nation branding in the context of UAE and Qatar. The paper examines nation-branding as a driver for boosting the economy, taking into account that clichés and stereotypes (especially in the context of the Middle East can influence our perception towards one country or another. The analysis explores the strategy adopted in order that Dubai becomes the flagship-brand of the UAE. Abu Dhabi complements this strategy, driving UAE to the position of the most valuable brand in the Middle East. The paper further enquires the case of Qatar and compares it with the branding process of the UAE. Qatar has established various branding resources such as the Al Jazeera news network, international sport events and several cultural and educational exchange programs with international profile. The UAE strives to become an influencer in the global economy, overriding its dependence on hydrocarbon reserves. Qatar is richer in hydrocarbon reserves than the UAE; nevertheless, it shares the interest of detaching itself from the rentier economy. The study explores the fact that from 2014-onwards the global oil economy was hit hard, as the price of the oil barrel is at an historic low, thus it has become stringent for the Persian Gulf countries to diversify the revenue sources. As a result, their branding strategy has become even more salient. The processes undertaken for establishing nation-brands in the Gulf are noteworthy and constitute the focal point of the paper.

  7. The sample of choice for detecting Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in asymptomatic dromedary camels using real-time reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mohran, K A; Farag, E A B; Reusken, C B E; Raj, V S; Lamers, M M; Pas, S D; Voermans, J; Smits, S L; Alhajri, M M; Alhajri, F; Al-Romaihi, H E; Ghobashy, H; El-Maghraby, M M; Al Dhahiry, S H S; Al-Mawlawi, N; El-Sayed, A M; Al-Thani, M; Al-Marri, S A; Haagmans, B L; Koopmans, M P G

    2016-01-01

    The newly identified Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which causes severe respiratory disease, particularly in people with comorbidities, requires further investigation. Studies in Qatar and elsewhere have provided evidence that dromedary camels are a reservoir for the virus,

  8. Urinary diseases and ethnobotany among pastoral nomads in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu-Rabia, Aref

    2005-08-02

    This article is derived from a broad, twenty-year study of ethnobotany and folk medicine among pastoral nomads in the Middle East which took place from 1984 to 2004. The article presents examples of different treatments of diseases and disorders of the urinary tract carried out by healer herbalists. The preparation of remedies includes boiling infusions, extraction of dry or fresh leaves, flowers, seeds or whole plants. Some of these plants were used both as food and as medicine, by ingesting different parts of the plants, such as leaves, flowers, fruits, and so on, either while soft, cooked or dried. Data were collected by using unstructured interviews and by observation. These plants were identified by healers, patients, and university botanists. This paper identified eighty-five plant species, which belong to thirty-six families. The most representative families are: Asteraceae (8), Brassicaceae (6), Poaceae (6), Umbelliferae (6).

  9. Urinary diseases and ethnobotany among pastoral nomads in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu-Rabia, Aref

    2005-01-01

    This article is derived from a broad, twenty-year study of ethnobotany and folk medicine among pastoral nomads in the Middle East which took place from 1984 to 2004. The article presents examples of different treatments of diseases and disorders of the urinary tract carried out by healer herbalists. The preparation of remedies includes boiling infusions, extraction of dry or fresh leaves, flowers, seeds or whole plants. Some of these plants were used both as food and as medicine, by ingesting different parts of the plants, such as leaves, flowers, fruits, and so on, either while soft, cooked or dried. Data were collected by using unstructured interviews and by observation. These plants were identified by healers, patients, and university botanists. This paper identified eighty-five plant species, which belong to thirty-six families. The most representative families are: Asteraceae (8), Brassicaceae (6), Poaceae (6), Umbelliferae (6). PMID:16270930

  10. Ethiopian-Netherlands horticulture partnership : Prospects and challenges for refrigerated container transport of fruits and vegetables from Ethiopia to the Middle East

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wiersinga, R.C.; Snels, J.C.M.A.; Admiraal, L.

    2008-01-01

    Ethiopia has a big potential to grow more fruits and vegetables. Ethiopia’s current fruit and vegetable export is very limited. Scope for expanding and diversifying its export markets is large. Demand for fruits and vegetables is growing in nearby international markets, like the Middle East.

  11. Smart solutions to a worsening water crisis | IDRC - International ...

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

    2013-01-23

    Jan 23, 2013 ... Innovative policies and new technologies that reduce water waste are helping countries across the Middle East and North Africa deal with chronic ... Home · Resources · Publications. Smart solutions to a worsening water crisis.

  12. Geopolitics of European natural gas demand: Supplies from Russia, Caspian and the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bilgin, Mert, E-mail: mert.bilgin@bahcesehir.edu.t [Bahcesehir University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Political Science and International Relations Department, Ciragan Caddesi Besiktas, 34353 Istanbul (Turkey)

    2009-11-15

    This paper addresses issues of natural gas which raise questions about European energy security. It first focuses on the rising gas demand of the EU27 and elaborates alleged risks of dependence on Russia such as Gazprom's disagreement with Ukraine, which became an international gas crisis in January 2006 and also more recently in January 2009. Incentives and barriers of Europe's further cooperation with selected Caspian (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and Middle Eastern (Iran, Iraq and Egypt) countries are discussed. Supplies from Caspian are analyzed with a particular focus on Russia's role and the vested interests in the region. Supplies from the Middle East are elaborated with regard to Iran's huge and Iraq's emerging potentials in terms of natural gas reserves and foreign direct investments in the energy sector. The geopolitical analysis leads to a conclusion that the best strategy, and what seems more likely, for the EU is to include at least two countries from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq within its natural gas supply system.

  13. Geopolitics of European natural gas demand. Supplies from Russia, Caspian and the Middle East

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bilgin, Mert [Bahcesehir University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Political Science and International Relations Department, Ciragan Caddesi Besiktas, 34353 Istanbul (Turkey)

    2009-11-15

    This paper addresses issues of natural gas which raise questions about European energy security. It first focuses on the rising gas demand of the EU27 and elaborates alleged risks of dependence on Russia such as Gazprom's disagreement with Ukraine, which became an international gas crisis in January 2006 and also more recently in January 2009. Incentives and barriers of Europe's further cooperation with selected Caspian (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and Middle Eastern (Iran, Iraq and Egypt) countries are discussed. Supplies from Caspian are analyzed with a particular focus on Russia's role and the vested interests in the region. Supplies from the Middle East are elaborated with regard to Iran's huge and Iraq's emerging potentials in terms of natural gas reserves and foreign direct investments in the energy sector. The geopolitical analysis leads to a conclusion that the best strategy, and what seems more likely, for the EU is to include at least two countries from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Iraq within its natural gas supply system. (author)

  14. Absorption properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the East China Sea and the waters off eastern Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Fengxia; Gao, Xuelu; Song, Jinming; Chen, Chen-Tung Arthur; Yuan, Huamao; Xing, Qianguo

    2018-05-01

    The absorption properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the East China Sea (ECS) and the waters off eastern Taiwan (WET) were studied during May 2014. CDOM absorption coefficient (a280) and spectral slope (S275-295) revealed considerable spatial variations. In the ECS, the values of a280 and S275-295 presented a reverse distribution pattern. In the WET, a280 values were generally low while S275-295 values were generally high. Vertical distributions of a280 and S275-295 also varied in different regions. Terrestrial input, phytoplankton production, sediment release or photobleaching may be responsible for the dynamics of CDOM. Relationships among CDOM related parameters could partly support this conclusion. a280 were also used to trace different water masses and the result showed that the influence of Changjiang Diluted Water could reach the outer shelf of the northern ECS, and that the Kuroshio Current had a strong influence on the middle shelf of the southern ECS.

  15. Hydrogeology and water-quality characteristics of the Lower Floridan aquifer in east-central Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Reilly, Andrew M.; Spechler, Rick M.; McGurk, Brian E.

    2002-01-01

    The hydrogeology and water-quality characteristics of the Lower Floridan aquifer and the relation of the Lower Floridan aquifer to the framework of the Floridan aquifer system were evaluated during a 6-year (1995-2001) study. The study area, a 7,500 square-mile area of east-central Florida, is underlain by three principal hydrogeologic units: the surficial aquifer system, the intermediate confining unit, and the Floridan aquifer system. The Floridan aquifer system, a carbonate-rock aquifer system composed of the Upper Floridan aquifer, a middle semiconfining unit, a middle confining unit, and the Lower Floridan aquifer, is the major source of water supply to east-central Florida. The Upper Floridan aquifer provides much of the water required to meet the current (2002) demand; however, the Lower Floridan aquifer is being used increasingly as a source of freshwater, particularly for municipal needs. For this reason, a better understanding of the aquifer is needed. The Lower Floridan aquifer is present throughout east-central Florida. The aquifer is composed of alternating beds of limestone and dolomite, and is characterized by abundant fractured dolomite zones and solution cavities. The altitude of the top of the Lower Floridan aquifer ranges from less than 600 feet below sea level in the northern part of the study area to more than 1,600 feet below sea level in the southwestern part. Thickness of the unit ranges from about 910 to 1,180 feet. The top of the Lower Floridan aquifer generally is marked by an increase in formation resistivity and by an increase in the occurrence of fractures and solution cavities within the carbonates. Also, a noticeable increase in borehole flow often marks the top of the unit. The bottom of the Lower Floridan aquifer is based on the first occurrence of evaporites. Ground-water in the Lower Floridan aquifer generally moves in a southwest-to-northeast direction across the study area. In September 1998, the altitude of the potentiometric

  16. Risk of revolutions in the Middle East. [Of importance for oil supplies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jensen, R.

    1983-01-01

    Western Europe and of course also Denmark will still for many years be dependent on the oil that is recovered in the Arabian Gulf. Denmark has the largest percentage oil conservation in Western Europe. It is not only due to the power plants using more coal, but also our energy consumption decreases more than in other Western European countries. In spite of these reulsts it is obvious, that Denmarks economy entirely depends on the economy of our neighbouring countries. Security of energy supply is therefore a western problem, which Denmark cannot solve alone. The development of societies in the Middle East countries, including the key country Saudi Arabia, is so labile, that a period of crisis with insecurity in the oil supplies cannot be excluded. In addition to this is the risk of international conflicts, that stop the oil export. The probability of these risks becoming actualized in the next 10 to 15 years is hard to tell, but it is important to call the attention to the risks. These risks seem to be much underrated in the discussions of security policy, where the east-west problems dominate. Therefore it would be wrong to take the westernization of the Arabic societies for granted. Periods with extreme ideologies are very probable. As to the international conflicts one only has to refer to the present war between Iraq and Iran.

  17. Water in Cities — Many Threats, Many Opportunities | CRDI - Centre ...

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

    Urban water issues in developing countries are complex and increasingly urgent. ... is helping countries in the parched Middle East and North Africa share lessons ... can protect water quality by organizing garbage collection and educating the ...

  18. A survey of health problems of Nepalese female migrants workers in the Middle-East and Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simkhada, Padam; van Teijlingen, Edwin; Gurung, Manju; Wasti, Sharada P

    2018-01-18

    Nepal is a key supplier of labour for countries in the Middle East, India and Malaysia. As many more men than women leave Nepal to work abroad, female migrant workers are a minority and very much under-researched. The aim of the study was to explore the health problems of female Nepalese migrants working in the Middle-East and Malaysia. The study was conducted among 1010 women who were registered as migrant returnees at an organisation called Pourakhi Nepal. Secondary data were extracted from the records of the organisation covering the five-year period of July 2009 to July 2014. The 1010 participants were aged 14 to 51 with a median age of 31 (IQR: 38-25) years. A quarter of respondents (24%) reported having experienced health problems while in the country of employment. Fever, severe illness and accidents were the most common health problems reported. Working for unlimited periods of time and not being able to change one's place of work were independently associated with a greater likelihood of health problems. Logistic regression shows that migrant women who are illiterate [OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.38, p = 0.042], who had changed their workplace [OR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.14 to 2.32, p = 0.007], who worked unlimited periods of time [OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.44 to 1.93, p = 0.020], had been severely maltreated or tortured in the workplace [OR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.15 to 2.92, p = 0.010], were not being paid on time [OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.60 to 3.55, p = 0.038] and migrant women who had family problems at home [OR = 3.48, CI 95%: 1.22 to 9.98, p = 0.020] were significantly associated with health problems in their host country in the Middle East. Female migrant workers face various work-related health risks, which are often related to exploitation. The Government of Nepal should initiate awareness campaigns about health risks and rights in relation to health care services in the host countries. Recruiting agencies

  19. Honor killings in the Middle East and North Africa: a systematic review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulczycki, Andrzej; Windle, Sarah

    2011-11-01

    A systematic review of the research literature on honor killings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) indicates a paucity of studies relative to the presumed magnitude of the problem. Forty articles were reviewed and critically appraised, of which only 9 contained primary data and 11 presented original secondary analyses. Despite a recent increase in published studies, persistent methodological limitations restrict the generalizability of findings. Most studies focus on legal aspects, determinants, and characteristics of victims and perpetrators. Victims are mostly young females murdered by their male kin. Unambiguous evidence of a decline in tolerance of honor killings remains elusive.

  20. APPLYING THE VERNACULAR MODEL TO HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amer Al-Jokhadar

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In the age of globalisation and continuous urbanisation, architects have a greater responsibility to design residential buildings with comfortable and sustainable environments. However, sustainable solutions should not concern themselves only with utilising technology, but also with creating synergies amongst a community’s social, cultural, historical, and environmental aspects. This research focuses on the implications of this wider definition of sustainability within the hot-arid climates of the Middle East and North Africa. Most of the current high-rise residential buildings in these regions do not promote social cohesion as they have been constructed without consideration for local identity and lifestyle. In contrast, vernacular courtyard dwellings and neighbourhoods offer good examples of socially cohesive and healthy environments. Yet, vernacular houses might not be compatible with pressures of modern construction. The question then becomes how to maintain the relationship between the spatial, social and environmental aspects while employing the latest technologies and materials. This paper presents the different qualities of vernacular houses and neighbourhoods in the different regions of the Middle East and North Africa. Social and spatial relationships of different cases are assessed, through a typological analysis approach using a developed syntactic-geometric model, to trace the lifestyle and the cultural values of the society. The aim is a parametric exploration of appropriate sustainable solutions that facilitate the synergy of socio-climatic requirements, the well-being qualities of the residents, and the specifics of culture, time and people while designing sustainable high-rise developments.

  1. A case of imported Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus infection and public health response, Greece, April 2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsiodras, S; Baka, A; Mentis, A; Iliopoulos, D; Dedoukou, X; Papamavrou, G; Karadima, S; Emmanouil, M; Kossyvakis, A; Spanakis, N; Pavli, A; Maltezou, H; Karageorgou, A; Spala, G; Pitiriga, V; Kosmas, E; Tsiagklis, S; Gkatzias, S; Koulouris, Ng; Koutsoukou, A; Bakakos, P; Markozanhs, E; Dionellis, G; Pontikis, K; Rovina, N; Kyriakopoulou, M; Efstathiou, P; Papadimitriou, T; Kremastinou, J; Tsakris, A; Saroglou, G

    2014-04-24

    On 18 April 2014, a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection was laboratory confirmed in Athens, Greece in a patient returning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Main symptoms upon initial presentation were protracted fever and diarrhoea, during hospitalisation he developed bilateral pneumonia and his condition worsened. During 14 days prior to onset of illness, he had extensive contact with the healthcare environment in Jeddah. Contact tracing revealed 73 contacts, no secondary cases had occurred by 22 April.

  2. Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, K.J.; Leon Vintro, L.; Mitchell, P.I.; Bally de Bois, P.; Boust, D.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper we report and compare the concentrations of 234 Th and 238 U measured in surface and subsurface waters collected in the course of a sampling campaign in the north east Atlantic in June-July 1998. Dissolved 234 Th concentrations in surface waters ranged from 5 to 20 Bq m -3 , showing a large deficiency relative to 238 U concentrations (typically 42 Bq m -3 ). This disequilibrium is indicative of active 234 Th scavenging from surface waters. Observed 234 Th/ 238 U activity ratios, together with corresponding 234 Th particulate concentrations, were used to calculate mean residence times for 234 Th with respect to scavenging onto particles (τ diss ) and subsequent removal from surface waters (τ part ). Residence times in the range 5-30 days were determined for τ diss and 4-18 days for τ part (n=14). In addition, ultrafiltration experiments at six stations in the course of the same expedition revealed that in north-east Atlantic surface waters a significant fraction (46±17%; n=6) of the thorium in the (operationally-defined) dissolved phase ( 234 Th is rapidly absorbed by colloidal particles, which then aggregate, albeit at a slower rate, into larger filterable particles. In essence, colloids act as intermediaries in the transition from the fully dissolved to the filter-retained (>0.45 μm) phase. Thus, the time (τ c ) for fully dissolved 234 Th to appear in the filter-retained fraction is dependent on the rate of colloidal aggregation. Here, we determined τ c values in the range 3-17 days

  3. Natural gas in the Middle East and North Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Enay, P.

    1997-02-01

    Natural Gas in the Middle East and North Africa gives an in-depth country-by-country survey of both the region's ambitious gas development plans and the problems it faces. It provides details of production costs, the extent and accessibility of gas reserves and the degree of host government support. The report addresses all the essential questions surrounding investment opportunities in this area and guides you through gas demand in the region. It also includes a detailed study of 11 major gas producing and consuming countries in the area, covering: Algeria; Egypt; Iran; Kuwait; Libya; Oman; Qatar; Saudia Arabia; Syria; UAE; Yemen. The report is divided into two sections for ease of use. The first section examines the demand factors for the region's gas exports, the second provides details of gas exploitation programmes in individual countries. The report also provides you with details of: gas reserves, production and use - a country-by-country review; maps of major pipelines - internal networks and export routes; growth in international gas trade; political and fiscal analysis - key to measuring investment risk and short- to medium-term political stability; and major limitations to the region's gas development - geography, political instability and US geopolitical influence in the region. (author)

  4. Uterus transplantation: An update and the Middle East perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Randa Akouri

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Uterus transplantation (UTx is the only available treatment for absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI, which is caused by either absence (congenital or after hysterectomy or presence of a non-functioning uterus. Uterus transplantation became a clinical reality after more than 10 years of structured animal-based research. Aside from gestational surrogacy, this procedure is the only alternative for women with AUFI to attain genetic motherhood. In the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT region, out of a population of around 470 million, more than 100,000 women of fertile age are estimated to suffer from AUFI. Introduction of UTx as an infertility treatment in this region will certainly differ in specific countries from ethical, religious and legal standpoints depending on culture and religion. The MENAT region is the cradle of three religions and the geographic area encompasses a variety of cultures and religions with different views on assisted reproduction. In light of these issues, the aim of this article is to give an overview of the research-based development of UTx and its clinical results up until today as well as to explore how UTx would fit into current infertility treatments in the MENAT region, with its existing multifaceted religious perspectives.

  5. Peace, petroleum and economic development in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1995-01-01

    The first obstacle which is still on the way to lead to a durable peace is the issue of negotiations between Israel and Syria and Lebanon, but it is only a question of time. Arab and Israeli people make relations in all kind of areas: industry, agriculture, finances, tourism, trade. Hope of economic development were well illustrated by big projects such roads and trains networks, interconnection of electric networks. An important challenge to realize these works is to collect the money which is necessary to their realization; the project of a bank for the development in the middle east, helped by Usa, is not welcome for arab countries of the Gulf. They think a new bank is not necessary but in reality they are afraid that the loans give profits only to Israeli people. In the same time, it does not seem possible to increase the petroleum prices when Opec and non Opec countries disagree and Usa and industrialized countries are not disposed to pay more for their energy; finally if the peace is necessary to allow an economic development in this area, it is not sufficient to solve the poverty problem, frustrations and social tensions, which are now the principle menaces in this area for the policy stability

  6. Medical Geology in the Middle East: Potential Health Risks from Mineralized Dust Exposure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyles, M. B.; Fredrickson, H. L.; Bednar, A. J.; Fannin, H. B.; Griffin, D. W.; Sobecki, T. M.

    2012-04-01

    In the Middle East, dust and sand storms are a persistent problem delivering significant amounts of mineralized particulates via inhalation into the mouth, nasal pharynx, and lungs. The health risks of this dust inhalation are presently being studied but accurate characterization as to the potential health effects is still lacking. Experiments were designed to study the chemical composition, mineral content, and microbial flora of Kuwaiti and Iraqi dust particles for the potential to cause adverse human health effects both acute and chronic. Multiple site samples were collected and chemical and physical characterization including particle size distribution and inorganic analysis was conducted, followed by analysis and identification of biologic flora to include bacteria, fungi and viruses. Additionally, PM10 exposure data was collected hourly over a 12 day period (>10,000 ug/m3). Data indicates that the mineralized dust is composed of calcium carbonate and magnesium sulfate coating over a precipitated matrix of metallic silicate nanocrystals of various forms containing a variety of trace and heavy metals constituting ~3 % of the particles by weight. This includes ~ 1% by weight bioaccessible aluminum and reactive iron with the remaining 1% a mixture of bioaccessible trace and heavy metals. Microbial analysis reveals a significant biodiversity of bacteria of which ~25 % are known pathogens. Of the microbes identified, several have hemolytic properties and most have significant antibiotic resistance. Viral analysis indicates a tremendous amount of virons with a large percent of RNA viruses. The level of total suspended particle mass at PM10 constitutes an excessive exposure micro-particulates including PM 2.5 (~1,0000 ug/m3). Reported data on cell culture and animal studies have indicated a high level of toxicity to these dust particles. Taken together, these data suggest that at the level of dust exposure commonly found in the Middle East (i.e., Iraq, Kuwait, and

  7. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease is rare in children: An update from Saudi Arabia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A; Kattan, Rana F; Memish, Ziad A

    2016-11-08

    To summarize the reported Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases, the associated clinical presentations and the outcomes. We searched the Saudi Ministry of Health website, the World Health Organization website, and the Flutracker website. We also searched MEDLINE and PubMed for the keywords: Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus, MERS-CoV in combination with pediatric, children, childhood, infancy and pregnancy from the initial discovery of the virus in 2012 to 2016. The retrieved articles were also read to further find other articles. Relevant data were placed into an excel sheet and analyzed accordingly. Descriptive analytic statistics were used in the final analysis as deemed necessary. From June 2012 to April 19, 2016, there were a total of 31 pediatric MERS-CoV cases. Of these cases 13 (42%) were asymptomatic and the male to female ratio was 1.7:1. The mean age of patients was 9.8 ± 5.4 years. Twenty-five (80.6%) of the cases were reported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The most common source of infection was household contact (10 of 15 with reported source) and 5 patients acquired infection within a health care facility. Using real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction of pediatric patients revealed that 9 out of 552 (1.6%) was positive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Utilizing serology for MERS-CoV infection in Jordan and Saudi Arabia did not reveal any positive patients. Thus, the number of the pediatric MERS-CoV is low; the exact reason for the low prevalence of the disease in children is not known.

  8. Nutrition leadership development: Capacity-building initiatives in Iran and the Middle-East region since 2009

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azadeh eDavari

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Personal and organizational performance is determined by commitment and both technical and general competencies, including leadership skills. Academia, however, mainly targets technical aspects in its curricular programs. On the other hand, the interdisciplinary and multi-sector nature of Nutrition necessitates high levels of collaboration between stakeholders. Leadership development is therefore required in Nutrition. This paper describes the endeavor made in Iran and the Middle-East region, aiming at building leadership capacity among nutrition professionals. The empowered human resource is expected to facilitate nutrition security at the national and regional levels.Since 2007, the development process of the initiative has begun through research, bench marking and consultation. The learning organizations, leadership from inside-out and transformational leadership frameworks have been employed as underpinning theories. Main topics have been self-awareness, effective communication, shared-visioning, trust building, creativity, and motivating. Outbound team building activities and coaching have also included.The 1st workshop of the Iranian Food and Nutrition Leadership Program (IFNLP was held in 2009 in Tehran. The experience expanded to the region as the Middle-East Nutrition Leadership Program (MENLP. The PhD Nutrition programs (at 4 leading Universities and Iranian Nutrition Society have been taken as other opportunity windows to develop leadership competencies. Biannual Iranian nutrition congresses have been used as the main media for advocacy purposes. High satisfaction rates obtained following each training activity.In short, the initiative on nutrition leadership development has received growing investment and positive feedback in Iran. Continuous improvement of the initiative, establishment of active alumni networks, building MENLP regional platform, and integrating a monitoring and evaluation system are required to increase investment

  9. Nutrition Leadership Development: Capacity-Building Initiatives in Iran and the Middle-East Region Since 2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davari, Azadeh; Rashidi, Arash; Baartmans, Jacques Antonius

    2015-01-01

    Personal and organizational performance is determined by commitment and both technical and general competencies, including leadership skills. Academia, however, mainly targets technical aspects in its curricular programs. On the other hand, the inter-disciplinary and multi-sector nature of Nutrition necessitates high levels of collaboration between stakeholders. Leadership development is therefore required in Nutrition. This paper describes the endeavor made in Iran and the Middle-East region, aiming at building leadership capacity among nutrition professionals. The empowered human resource is expected to facilitate nutrition security at the national and regional levels. Since 2007, the development process of the initiative has begun through research, bench marking, and consultation. The "learning organizations," "leadership from inside-out," and "transformational leadership" frameworks have been employed as underpinning theories. Main topics have been self-awareness, effective communication, shared visioning, trust building, creativity, and motivating. Outbound team-building activities and coaching have also been included. The first workshop of the Iranian Food and Nutrition Leadership Program was held in 2009 in Tehran. The experience expanded to the region as the Middle-East Nutrition Leadership Program (MENLP). The Ph.D. Nutrition programs (at four leading Universities) and Iranian Nutrition Society have been taken as other opportunity windows to develop leadership competencies. Biannual Iranian nutrition congresses have been used as the main media for advocacy purposes. High-satisfaction rates obtained following each training activity. In short, the initiative on "nutrition leadership development" has received growing investment and positive feedback in Iran. Continuous improvement of the initiative, establishment of active alumni networks, building MENLP regional platform, and integrating a monitoring and evaluation system are required to increase the

  10. Nutrition Leadership Development: Capacity-Building Initiatives in Iran and the Middle-East Region Since 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davari, Azadeh; Rashidi, Arash; Baartmans, Jacques Antonius

    2015-01-01

    Personal and organizational performance is determined by commitment and both technical and general competencies, including leadership skills. Academia, however, mainly targets technical aspects in its curricular programs. On the other hand, the inter-disciplinary and multi-sector nature of Nutrition necessitates high levels of collaboration between stakeholders. Leadership development is therefore required in Nutrition. This paper describes the endeavor made in Iran and the Middle-East region, aiming at building leadership capacity among nutrition professionals. The empowered human resource is expected to facilitate nutrition security at the national and regional levels. Since 2007, the development process of the initiative has begun through research, bench marking, and consultation. The “learning organizations,” “leadership from inside-out,” and “transformational leadership” frameworks have been employed as underpinning theories. Main topics have been self-awareness, effective communication, shared visioning, trust building, creativity, and motivating. Outbound team-building activities and coaching have also been included. The first workshop of the Iranian Food and Nutrition Leadership Program was held in 2009 in Tehran. The experience expanded to the region as the Middle-East Nutrition Leadership Program (MENLP). The Ph.D. Nutrition programs (at four leading Universities) and Iranian Nutrition Society have been taken as other opportunity windows to develop leadership competencies. Biannual Iranian nutrition congresses have been used as the main media for advocacy purposes. High-satisfaction rates obtained following each training activity. In short, the initiative on “nutrition leadership development” has received growing investment and positive feedback in Iran. Continuous improvement of the initiative, establishment of active alumni networks, building MENLP regional platform, and integrating a monitoring and evaluation system are required to

  11. Adult Asylum Seekers from the Middle East Including Syria in Central Europe: What Are Their Health Care Problems?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmen Andrea Pfortmueller

    Full Text Available Forced displacement related to persecution and violent conflict has reached a new peak in recent years. The primary aim of this study is to provide an initial overview of the acute and chronic health care problems of asylum seekers from the Middle East, with special emphasis on asylum seekers from Syria.Our retrospective data analysis comprised adult patients presenting to our emergency department between 01.11.2011 and 30.06.2014 with the official resident status of an "asylum seeker" or "refugee" from the Middle East.In total, 880 patients were included in the study. Of these, 625 (71.0% were male and 255 (29.0% female. The median age was 34 (range 16-84. 222 (25.2% of our patients were from Syria. The most common reason for presentation was surgical (381, 43.3%, followed by medical (321, 36.5% and psychiatric (137, 15.6%. In patients with surgical presentations, trauma-related problems were most common (n = 196, 50.6%. Within the group of patients with medical presentation, acute infectious diseases were most common (n = 141, 43.9%, followed by neurological problems (n = 70, 21.8% and gastrointestinal problems (n = 47, 14.6%. There were no differences between Syrian and non-Syrian refugees concerning surgical or medical admissions. The most common chronic disorder of unclear significance was chronic gastrointestinal problems (n = 132, 15%, followed by chronic musculoskeletal problems (n = 108, 12.3% and chronic headaches (n = 78, 8.9%. Patients from Syria were significantly younger and more often suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder than patients of other nationalities (p<0.0001, and p = 0.05, respectively.Overall a remarkable number of our very young group of patients suffered from psychiatric disorders and unspecified somatic symptoms. Asylum seekers should be carefully evaluated when presenting to a medical facility and physicians should be aware of the high incidence of unspecified somatic symptoms in this patient population

  12. Use of second-generation antipsychotics in the acute inpatient management of schizophrenia in the Middle East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alkhadhari S

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Sulaiman Alkhadhari,1 Nasser Al Zain,2 Tarek Darwish,3 Suhail Khan,4 Tarek Okasha,5 Hisham Ramy,5 Talaat Matar Tadros6 1Kuwait Center for Mental Health, Safat, Kuwait; 2Al Amal Complex for Mental Health Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 3Behavioural Science Pavilion, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 4Jeddah Psychiatric Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 5Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt; 6Ibrahim Bin Hamad Obaidallah and Seif Bin Ghubash Hospitals, Ras Alkhaimah, United Arab Emirates Background: Management of acute psychotic episodes in schizophrenic patients remains a significant challenge for clinicians. Despite treatment guidelines recommending that second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs should be used as monotherapy, first-generation antipsychotics, polypharmacy, and lower than recommended doses are frequently administered in clinical practice. Minimal data exist regarding the use of SGAs in the Middle East. The objective of this study was to examine the discrepancies between current clinical practice and guideline recommendations in the region. Methods: RECONNECT-S Beta was a multicenter, noninterventional study conducted in Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to observe the management of schizophrenic patients who were hospitalized due to an acute psychotic episode. Patients underwent one visit on the day of discharge. Demographic and medical history, together with data on antipsychotic treatment and concomitant medication during the hospitalization period and medication recommendations at discharge were recorded. Results: Of the 1,057 patients, 180 (17.0% and 692 (65.5% received SGAs as monotherapy and in combination therapy, respectively. Overall, the most frequently administered medications were given orally, and included risperidone (40.3%, olanzapine (32.5%, and quetiapine (24.6%; the doses administered varied between countries and deviated from the recommended

  13. Middle East Desert Dust Exposure: Health Risks from Metals and Microbial Pathogens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyles, M. B.

    2014-12-01

    In the Middle East, dust and sand storms are a persistent problem and can deliver significant amounts of micro-particulates via inhalation into the mouth, nasal pharynx, & lungs due to the fine size and abundance of these micro-particulates. The chronic and acute health risks of this dust inhalation have not been well studied nor has the dust been effectively characterized as to its chemical composition, mineral content, or microbial flora. Scientific experiments were designed to study the Kuwaiti and Iraqi dust as to its physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and for its potential to cause adverse health effects. First, dust samples from different locations were collected and processed and exposure data collected. Initial chemical and physical characterization of each sample including particle size distribution and inorganic analysis was conducted, followed by characterization of biologic flora of the dust, including bacteria, fungi and viruses. Data indicates that the mineralized dust is composed of calcium carbonate over a matrix of metallic silicate nanocrystals containing a variety of trace and heavy metals constituting ~3 % of the PM10 particles by weight, of which ~1% is bioaccessible aluminum and reactive iron, each. The particles also consist of ~1% bioavailable aluminum and reactive iron each. Microbial analysis reveals a significant biodiversity of bacterial, fungi, and viruses of which ~30% are known pathogens. Of the microbes identified, several have hemolytic properties and most have significant antibiotic resistance. Viral analysis indicates a tremendous amount of virons with a large percent of RNA viruses. The level of total suspended particle mass at PM 10 along with environmental & physiological conditions present constitute an excessive exposure to micro-particulates including PM 2.5 and the potential for adverse health effects. Reported data on cell culture and animal studies have indicated a high level of toxicity to these dust

  14. Dissolved Carbon Dioxide in Tropical East Atlantic Surface Waters

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bakker, D.C.E.; Baar, H.J.W. de; Jong, E. de

    1999-01-01

    Variability of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and the fugacity of carbon dioxide (fCO2) is discussed for tropical East Atlantic surface waters in October–November 1993 and May–June 1994. High precipitation associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone, river input and equatorial upwelling

  15. A New Tephrochronology for Early Diverse Stone Tool Technologies and Long-Distance Raw Material Transport in the Middle-Late Pleistocene Kapthurin Formation, East Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blegen, N.; Jicha, B.

    2017-12-01

    The Middle to Late Pleistocene (780-10 ka) of East Africa records significant behavioral change, the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens and the dispersals of our species across and out of Africa. Studying human evolution in the Middle to Late Pleistocene thus requires an extensive and precise chronology relating the appearances of various behaviors preserved in archaeological sequences to aspects of hominin biology and evidence of past environments preserved in the fossils and geological sequences. Tephrochronology provides the chronostratigraphic resolution to achieve this through correlation and dating of volcanic ashes. The tephrochronology of the Kapthurin Formation presented here, based on tephra correlations and 40Ar/ 39Ar dates, provides new ages between 396.3 ± 3.4 ka and 465.3 ± 1.0 ka for nine sites showing some of the earliest evidence of diverse blade and Levallois methods of core reduction. These are >110 kyr older than previously known in East Africa. New 40Ar/ 39Ar dates provide a refined age of 222.5 ± 0.6 ka for early evidence of long-distance obsidian transport at the Sibilo School Road Site. Long-distance tephra correlation between the Baringo and Lake Victoria basins also provides a new date of 100 ka for the Middle Stone Age site of Keraswanin. By providing new or older dates for 11 sites containing several important aspects of hominin behavior and extending the chronology of the Kapthurin Formation forward by 130,000 years, the tephrochronology presented here contributes one of the longest and most refined chronostratigraphic frameworks relevant to modern human evolution. In conjunction with recent archaeological and paleoenvironmental data, this tephrochronology provides the foundation to understand the process of modern human behavioral evolution through the East African Middle and Late Pleistocene as it relates to biological and paleoenvironmental circumstances.

  16. Strategic planning by the palliative care steering committee of the Middle East Cancer Consortium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Shannon Y; Pirrello, Rosene D; Christianson, Sonya K; Ferris, Frank D

    2011-04-01

    High quality comprehensive palliative care is a critical need for millions of patients and families, but remains only a dream in many parts of the world. The failure to do a strategic planning process is one obstacle to advancing education and pain prevention and relief. The Middle Eastern Cancer Consortium Steering Committee attendees completed an initial strategic planning process and identified "developmental steps" to advance palliative care. Underscoring the multi-disciplinary nature of comprehensive palliative care, discipline-specific planning was done (adult and pediatric cancer and medicine, pharmacy, nursing) in a separate process from country-specific planning. Delineating the layers of intersection and differences between disciplines and countries was very powerful. Finding the common strengths and weaknesses in the status quo creates the potential for a more powerful regional response to the palliative care needs. Implementing and refining these preliminary strategic plans will augment and align the efforts to advance palliative care education and pain management in the Middle East. The dream to prevent and relieve suffering for millions of patients with advanced disease will become reality with a powerful strategic planning process well implemented.

  17. Fighting rabies in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia--experts call for a regional initiative for rabies elimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aikimbayev, A; Briggs, D; Coltan, G; Dodet, B; Farahtaj, F; Imnadze, P; Korejwo, J; Moiseieva, A; Tordo, N; Usluer, G; Vodopija, R; Vranješ, N

    2014-05-01

    MEEREB is an informal network of rabies experts from the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, seeking to eliminate rabies from the region. They met for the second time to review the current rabies situation, both globally and in their respective countries, highlighting current rabies control problems and potential solutions. Success stories in Latin America, in Western Europe, in some Asian countries, as well as in Croatia and Serbia prove that elimination of human rabies is achievable in the MEEREB region. It requires political willingness and cooperation of all stakeholders, including Ministries of Health and of Agriculture; adequate management of animal bites through post-exposure prophylaxis; pre-exposure prophylaxis for populations at high risk of rabies exposure, animal vaccination and humane control of stray dog populations. MEEREB members called for a regional initiative for rabies elimination in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. They are confident that the elimination of human rabies of canine origin can be achieved in the region through adopting a One Health approach, and that campaigns for rabies elimination will have significant benefit for public health, including strengthening the structure for control of other zoonoses. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  18. Psychology and modern life challenges: the 2nd Middle East and North Africa Regional Conference of Psychology, Amman, Jordan, 2007.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knowles, Michael; Sabourin, Michel

    2008-04-01

    The Second Middle East and North Africa Regional Conference of Psychology was held in Amman from 27 April - 1 May 2007 under the Royal Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and the auspices of the International Union of Psychological Science, the International Association of Applied Psychology, and the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology. It was hosted by the Jordanian Psychological Association whose President was Dr. Asaad Zuby. The President of the Conference and the Local Organizing Committee was Dr. Adnan Farah, the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee was Dr. Mohammad Rimawi, and the Chair of the Regional Advisory Committee was Dr. Marwan Dwairy. The Conference succeeded in attracting participants from 28 countries, including 15 from the Middle East and North Africa region. The Scientific Program explored ways and means to promote the role of psychology in meeting life challenges at regional and international levels. The Conference concluded with the signing of a formal Declaration which called upon governments, academic and professional institutions and organizations, non-governmental organization and other civil society groups, and the United Nations, to work together and to make every possible effort individually and collectively to achieve these goals.

  19. The Middle East Content Priority Teaching Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fix, Jerrold E.

    Variations of a social studies unit on Middle Eastern culture, history, and geography are presented to aid secondary school classroom teachers as they develop and implement Middle Eastern area studies educational programs. The guide is presented in four parts, each of which represents one version of the unit. Teachers are directed to select the…

  20. Survey of contemporary feeding practices in critically ill children in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Judith J M; Ong, Chengsi; Han, Wee Meng; Mehta, Nilesh M; Lee, Jan Hau

    2016-01-01

    Nutrition is a fundamental component of care of critically ill children. Determining variation in nutritional practices within paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) allows for review and improvement of nutrition practices. The aim was to survey the nutrition practices and perspectives of paediatric intensivists and dieticians in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. A questionnaire was developed to collect data on (1) the respondent's and institution's characteristics, (2) nutritional assessments and nutrient delivery practices, and (3) the perceived importance and barriers to optimal enteral feeding in the PICU. We analysed 47 responses from 35 centres in 18 different countries. Dedicated dietetic services were only present in 13 (37%) centres and regular nutrition assessments were conducted in only 12 (34%) centres. In centres with dedicated dieticians, we found greater use of carbohydrate, fat additives and special formulas. Two thirds [31 (66%)] of respondents used total fluids to estimate energy requirements. Only 11 (31%) centres utilized feeding protocols. These centres had higher use of small bowel feeding, acid suppressants, laxatives and gastric residual volume thresholds. When dealing with feed intolerance, they were also more likely to start a motility agent. There was also a lack of consensus on when feeding should start and the use of adjuncts. Nutrition practices and barriers are unique in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and strongly reflect a lack of dietetic services. Future effort should focus on developing a uniform approach on nutrition practices to drive paediatric critical care nutrition research in these regions.

  1. Weapons of mass destruction free zone in the Middle East: getting out of the NPT framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hautecouverture, Benjamin

    2013-10-01

    The 8. Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT, 2010) was marked by the resumption of diplomatic thinking on the objective of a 'weapons of mass destruction free zone' (WMDFZ) in the Middle east: a conference gathering the states of the region was planned to be held in 2012, it actually never took place. This setback is easily explained, it does not undermine the goal as such but it questions the NPT as a framework for action and progress. Any real progress on a project of WMDFZ requires a regional framework for dialogue. For now, this framework is lacking. (author)

  2. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus seroprevalence in domestic livestock in Saudi Arabia, 2010 to 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemida, M G; Perera, R A; Wang, P; Alhammadi, M A; Siu, L Y; Li, M; Poon, L L; Saif, L; Alnaeem, A; Peiris, M

    2013-12-12

    In Saudi Arabia, including regions of Riyadh and Al Ahsa, pseudoparticle neutralisation (ppNT) and microneutralisation (MNT) tests detected no antibodies to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in sheep (n= 100), goats (n= 45), cattle (n= 50) and chickens (n= 240). Dromedary camels however, had a high prevalence of MERS-CoV antibodies. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) infected sera from cattle had no cross-reactivity in MERS-CoV ppNT or MNT, while many dromedary camels’ sera reacted to both BCoV and MERS-CoV. Some nevertheless displayed specific serologic reaction profiles to MERS-CoV.

  3. The Middle East and Eastern Europe rabies Expert Bureau (MEEREB) third meeting: Lyon-France (7-8 April, 2015).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picot, V; Rasuli, A; Abella-Rider, A; Saadatian-Elahi, M; Aikimbayev, A; Barkia, A; Benmaiz, S; Bouslama, Z; De Balogh, K; Dehove, A; Davlyatov, F; Farahtaj, F; Gongal, G; Gholami, A; Imnadze, P; Issad, M; Khoufi, S; Nedosekov, V; Rafila, A; Rich, H; Soufi, A; Tuychiev, J; Vranjes, N; Vodopija, R; Zaouia, I; Nel, L

    MEEREB is an inter-regional network of countries from North Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia that work together with the aim of improving rabies control and prevention at local, regional and global level. MEEREB members met for the third time in 2015 in France (Lyon) to review the current rabies situation within the network and to discuss the way forward the prospect of a One Health approach against rabies. Dogs were the main vector of transmission in all MEEREB countries except for Croatia and Serbia where foxes represented the primary source. The number of rabies animal cases reported in 2014 varied substantially between countries with Ukraine reporting the highest number of animal cases. Human cases still occur in North Africa and all Middle East and Eurasian countries while no cases of human rabies were reported in Croatia, Serbia and Romania, although cases of rabies were identified in both dogs and foxes in 2014. Participants concluded that MEEREB can act as a think-tank where countries can share data, information, experiences and best practices to jointly address challenges in rabies control and prevention. They called for elimination of dog-transmitted rabies through vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin stockpiles and implementation of a One Health approach to achieve rabies's eradication. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  4. The dummies guide to promoting wildlife conservation in the Middle East: telling tales of unicorns and ossifrages to save the hawk and leopard.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Tom

    2011-06-01

    In the Middle East there are great pressures on the environment and wildlife. Indeed, many species are teetering on the edge of extinction. Wildlife health, management, and welfare are poorly understood concepts and are not important priorities for regional governments. What can be done to raise the level of awareness to wildlife health, management, and welfare in a region where most people live in large modern cities detached from nature? In this article, I relate the story of how a small group of colleagues and I harnessed our frustration at the pervasive indifference to conservation to positive effect. We took action to establish Wildlife Middle East News, an information resource to raise awareness of conservation issues and to enable better management and welfare of wildlife. This case study demonstrates how individuals, such as biologists, veterinarians, and environmental educators working with wildlife in narrow professional arenas can play a role in the solution of wider environmental problems.

  5. Two haplotype clusters of Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto in northern Iraq (Kurdistan region) support the hypothesis of a parasite cradle in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassan, Zuber Ismael; Meerkhan, Azad Abdullah; Boufana, Belgees; Hama, Abdullah A; Ahmed, Bayram Dawod; Mero, Wijdan Mohammed Salih; Orsten, Serra; Interisano, Maria; Pozio, Edoardo; Casulli, Adriano

    2017-08-01

    Human cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by Echinococcus granulosus s.s. is a major public health problem in Iraqi Kurdistan with a reported surgical incidence of 6.3 per 100,000 Arbil inhabitants. A total of 125 Echinococcus isolates retrieved from sheep, goats and cattle were used in this study. Our aim was to determine species/genotypes infecting livestock in Iraqi Kurdistan and examine intraspecific variation and population structure of Echinococcus granulosus s.s. in this region and relate it to that of other regions worldwide. Using nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox 1) we identified E. granulosus s.s. as the cause of hydatidosis in all examined animals. The haplotype network displayed a double-clustered topology with two main E. granulosus s.s. haplotypes, (KU05) and (KU33). The 'founder' haplotype (KU05) confirmed the presence of a common lineage of non-genetically differentiated populations as inferred by the low non-significant fixation index values. Overall diversity and neutrality indices indicated demographic expansion. We used E. granulosus s.s. nucleotide sequences from GenBank to draw haplotype networks for the Middle East (Iran, Jordan and Turkey), Europe (Albania, Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain), China, Mongolia, Russia, South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico) and Tunisia. Networks with two haplotype clusters like that reported here for Iraqi Kurdistan were seen for the Middle East, Europe, Mongolia, Russia and Tunisia using both 827bp and 1609bp cox1 nucleotide sequences, whereas a star-like network was observed for China and South America. We hypothesize that the double clustering seen at what is generally assumed to be the cradle of domestication may have emerged independently and dispersed from the Middle East to other regions and that haplotype (KU33) may be the main haplotype within a second cluster in the Middle East from where it has spread into Europe, Mongolia, Russia and North

  6. Mycological discoveries in the Middle East region in the second part of the last century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mouchacca J

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The arid Middle East extends over 9 million km² in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Interest in the fungi of this region after the Second World War led to the discovery of species then regarded as being new to Science. A scan of the Index of Fungi issued in the period running from 1940-2000 revealed that 240 novel taxa had then been proposed. The recorded novelties were examined following the chronology of their introduction, their distribution in the local fifteen political states and their gross taxonomic characters at the Class level. These new additions were characterised at the rate of 40 units / decade. Most originated from Egypt, Iraq and the Palestine-Israel area and relate to the Classes Mitosporic Fungi, Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes. All together 145 generic names are reported in this group of novelties; twelve were based on type material collected in Egypt (5 genera, the Palestine-Israel area, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon and Sudan. The present group of novelties was also surveyed in relation to the nature of the substrate sustaining the selected holotypes. The relevant Mitosporic fungi (93 taxa were equally isolated from soil or from living or decaying plant parts. For Ascomycetous novelties (86 taxa, although their soil-borne elements outnumber the plant related ones, several also developed on other types of substrates. In the case of novel Basidiomycetes (37 taxa, the plant-parasitic species encompass those collected on the ground surface. Finally, a limited number of these novelties disclosed notable thermotolerant abilities and some even qualify as thermophiles. The main features of these novel records underlines that in Egypt more attention was awarded to the local Mitosporic fungi and to Ascomycetes inhabiting its soil-borne communities. For the Basidiomycetes (sensu lato marked interest developed solely in the Palestine-Israel area while in Iraq taxonomic studies focussed on Ascomycetes including those developing on dung

  7. The Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiencies and  Inadequacies in the Middle East and Approaches to  Interventions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nahla Hwalla

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Micronutrient deficiencies and inadequacies constitute a global health issue, particularly among countries in the Middle East. The objective of this review is to identify micronutrient deficits in the Middle East and to consider current and new approaches to address this problem. Based on the availability of more recent data, this review is primarily focused on countries that are in advanced nutrition transition. Prominent deficits in folate, iron, and vitamin D are noted among children/adolescents, women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and the elderly. Reports indicate that food fortification in the region is sporadic and ineffective, and the use of dietary supplements is low. Nutrition monitoring in the region is limited, and gaps in relevant information present challenges for implementing new policies and approaches to address the problem. Government‐sponsored initiatives are necessary to assess current dietary intakes/patterns, support nutrition education, and to reduce food insecurity, especially among vulnerable population groups. Public–private partnerships should be considered in targeting micronutrient fortification programs and supplementation recommendations as approaches to help alleviate the burden of micronutrient deficiencies and inadequacies in the Middle East.

  8. 76 FR 28025 - East Maui Pumped Storage Water Supply LCC; Notice of Preliminary Permit Application Accepted for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-13

    ... Storage Water Supply LCC; Notice of Preliminary Permit Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting... Act (FPA), proposing to study the feasibility of the East Maui Pumped Storage Water Supply Project to.... Bart M. O'Keeffe, East Maui Pumped Storage Water Supply LLC; P.O. Box 1916; Discovery Bay, CA 94505...

  9. Comparative Analysis of Water Quality between the Runoff Entrance and Middle of Recycling Irrigation Reservoirs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haibo Zhang

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Recycling irrigation reservoirs (RIRs are an emerging aquatic ecosystem of critical importance, for conserving and protecting increasingly scarce water resources. Here, we compare water quality between runoff entrance and middle of four RIRs in nurseries in Virginia (VA and Maryland (MD. Surface water temperature (T and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP were lower in the middle than at the entrance, while the trend was opposite for dissolved oxygen (DO, pH and chlorophyll a (Chla. The magnitude of these differences between the entrance and middle decreased with increasing depth. These differences were magnified by water stratification from April to October. Minimum differences were observed for electrical conductivity (EC, total dissolved solids (TDS and turbidity (TUR. Cluster analyses were performed on water quality difference data to evaluate whether the differences vary with respect to reservoirs. Two clusters were formed with one consisting primarily of VA reservoirs, and the other consisting mostly of MD reservoirs in both years. Water quality in the middle and at the entrance of RIRs was expected to vary greatly because of runoff inflow. The two-point water quality differences observed here, although statistically significant, are not large enough to cause significant impact on crop health and productivity for most water quality parameters except pH. Additional analysis of outlet data shows that the range and magnitude of water quality difference between the middle and the outlet are comparable to those between the middle and entrance of RIRs. These results indicate that monitoring at a single point is sufficient to obtain reliable water quality estimates for most water quality parameters in RIRs except pH. This is important when considering the cost of labor and equipment necessary for documenting water quality in agricultural production systems. However, additional pH measurements are still necessary to make practical water quality

  10. Water Penetration into Middle Ear Through Ventilation Tubes in Children While Swimming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mao-Che Wang

    2009-02-01

    Conclusion: Water penetration into the middle ear through ventilation tubes and middle ear infection are not likely when surface swimming. Children with ventilation tubes can enjoy swimming without protection in clean chlorinated swimming pools.

  11. Spot sale of uncommitted LNG from Middle East: Japan or the UK?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nikhalat-Jahromi, Hamed; Bell, Michael G.H.; Fontes, Dalila B.M.M.; Cochrane, Robert A.; Angeloudis, Panagiotis

    2016-01-01

    The importance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is rising as demand for it grows rapidly and steadily due to growth in energy demand, the transition to a low carbon economy and the longer distances over which natural gas is now traded. Given its importance, this work proposes an optimization model that assists to decide on when and where LNG should be delivered by coordinating tanker type, assignment and routing, inventory management, contract obligations, arbitrage and uncommitted LNG. The model maximizes the profit mainly by taking advantage of price differences between different markets. The contributions of this work are twofold. First, following the analysis of expenses and revenues, a new mixed integer programming model for LNG liquefaction and shipping is proposed from a corporate finance perspective. Furthermore, a solution approach for it is implemented and tested. Second, the model is used to derive a short term trade policy for the Middle Eastern LNG producers regarding the spot sale of their uncommitted product to Japan or to the UK, namely to: dispatch to whichever market has the higher current spot price, regardless of the variability of the transport expenses. - Highlights: •The cash-flow of an LNG producer in operational planning is examined. •An LNG inventory routing problem for EBITDA maximization is formulated. •A project in Middle East for studying the spot sale of uncommitted LNG is created. •In sale to Japan and the UK the market with the higher price should be picked.

  12. The Origins of Energy Security: British Energy Policy in the Middle East (Selling the Same Horse Three Times!)

    OpenAIRE

    VIDAKIS, Ioannis

    2015-01-01

    This specific text focuses on UK energy policy. It attempts to link the past to the present by making a short story focusing on energy sources. The United Kingdom has decided to use the «black gold» in warships, with a serious risk: it didn’t have its own inventory and had to look for it elsewhere. The decision of Britain involved countries and people of the wider Middle East in support of its energy interests for many years.

  13. Recent spread of a new strain (A-Iran-05) of foot-and-mouth disease virus type A in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knowles, N J; Nazem Shirazi, M H; Wadsworth, J; Swabey, K G; Stirling, J M; Statham, R J; Li, Y; Hutchings, G H; Ferris, N P; Parlak, U; Ozyörük, F; Sumption, K J; King, D P; Paton, D J

    2009-06-01

    This report describes the characterization of a new genotype of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) type A responsible for recent FMD outbreaks in the Middle East. Initially identified in samples collected in 2003 from Iran, during 2005 and 2006 this FMDV lineage (proposed to be named A-Iran-05) spread into Saudi Arabia and Jordan and then further west into Turkey reaching European Thrace in January 2007. Most recently A-Iran-05 has been found in Bahrain. To the east of Iran, it has been recognized in Afghanistan (2004-07) and Pakistan (2006-07). Throughout the region, this lineage is now the predominant genotype of FMDV serotype A sampled, and has appeared to have replaced the A-Iran-96 and A-Iran-99 strains which were previously encountered. In August 2007, a new A-Iran-05 sub-lineage (which we have called A-Iran-05(ARD-07)) was identified in Ardahan, Turkey, close to the border with Georgia. This new sub-lineage appeared to predominate in Turkey in 2008, but has, so far, not been identified in any other country. Vaccine matching tests revealed that the A-Iran-05 viruses are antigenically different to A-Iran-96 and more like A(22). These findings emphasize the importance of undertaking continued surveillance in the Middle East and Central Asia in order to detect and monitor the emergence and spread of new FMDV strains.

  14. Maternal and neonatal service usage and determinants in fragile and conflict-affected situations: a systematic review of Asia and the Middle-East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gopalan, Saji S; Das, Ashis; Howard, Natasha

    2017-03-15

    Fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) in Asia and the Middle-East contribute significantly to global maternal and neonatal deaths. This systematic review explored maternal and neonatal health (MNH) services usage and determinants in FCS in Asia and the Middle-East to inform policy on health service provision in these challenging settings. This systematic review was conducted using a standardised protocol. Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and selected development agency websites were searched for studies meeting inclusion criteria. Studies were assessed for methodological quality using an adapted evaluation tool. Qualitative and quantitative data were synthesized and pooled odds ratios generated for meta-analysis of service-usage determinants. Of 18 eligible peer-reviewed studies, eight were from Nepal, four from Afghanistan, and two each from Iraq, Yemen, and the Palestinian Territories. Fragile situations provide limited evidence on emergency obstetric care, postnatal care, and newborn services. Usage of MNH services was low in all FCS, irrespective of economic growth level. Demand-side determinants of service-usage were transportation, female education, autonomy, health awareness, and ability-to-pay. Supply-side determinants included service availability and quality, existence of community health-workers, costs, and informal payments in health facilities. Evidence is particularly sparse on MNH in acute crises, and remains limited in fragile situations generally. Findings emphasize that poor MNH status in FCS is a leading contributor to the burden of maternal and neonatal ill-health in Asia and the Middle-East. Essential services for skilled birth attendance and emergency obstetric, newborn, and postnatal care require improvement in FCS. FCS require additional resources and policy attention to address the barriers to appropriate MNH care. Authors discuss the 'targeted policy approach for vulnerable groups' as a means of addressing MNH service usage

  15. Lg Attenuation Modeling in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasyanos, M. E.; Matzel, E. M.; Walter, W. R.; Rodgers, A. J.

    2008-12-01

    We present a broadband tomographic model of Lg attenuation in the Middle East derived from source- and site-corrected amplitudes. The study region spans from Turkey through the Arabian Peninsula and Iran to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and northwest India. Absolute amplitude measurements are made on hand-selected and carefully windowed seismograms for tens of stations and thousands of crustal earthquakes resulting in excellent coverage of the region. We have modified the standard attenuation tomography technique to more explicitly define the earthquake source expression in terms of the seismic moment. This facilitates the use of the model to predict the expected amplitudes of new events, an important consideration for earthquake hazard or explosion monitoring applications. We will discuss the updated method and implications of this parameterization. A conjugate gradient method is used to tomographically invert the amplitude dataset of over 8000 paths. We solve for Q variation, as well as site and source terms, for a wide range of frequencies ranging from 0.5 -- 10 Hz. The attenuation results have a strong correlation to tectonics. Shields have low attenuation, while tectonic regions have high attenuation, with the highest attenuation at 1 Hz found in eastern Turkey. The results also compare favorably to other studies in the region made using Lg propagation efficiency, Lg/Pg amplitude ratios and two-station methods. We tomographically invert the amplitude measurements for each frequency independently. In doing so, it appears the frequency-dependence of attenuation is not compatible with the power law representation of Q(f). This research was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract number DE-AC52-07NA27344. This is LLNL contribution LLNL-ABS-406761.

  16. A novel dromedary camel enterovirus in the family Picornaviridae from dromedaries in the Middle East.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woo, Patrick C Y; Lau, Susanna K P; Li, Tong; Jose, Shanty; Yip, Cyril C Y; Huang, Yi; Wong, Emily Y M; Fan, Rachel Y Y; Cai, Jian-Piao; Wernery, Ulrich; Yuen, Kwok-Yung

    2015-07-01

    The recent emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus from the Middle East and the discovery of the virus from dromedary camels have boosted interest in the search for novel viruses in dromedaries. Whilst picornaviruses are known to infect various animals, their existence in dromedaries was unknown. We describe the discovery of a novel picornavirus, dromedary camel enterovirus (DcEV), from dromedaries in Dubai. Among 215 dromedaries, DcEV was detected in faecal samples of four (1.9 %) dromedaries [one (0.5 %) adult dromedary and three (25 %) dromedary calves] by reverse transcription PCR. Analysis of two DcEV genomes showed that DcEV was clustered with other species of the genus Enterovirus and was most closely related to and possessed highest amino acid identities to the species Enterovirus E and Enterovirus F found in cattle. The G+C content of DcEV was 45 mol%, which differed from that of Enterovirus E and Enterovirus F (49-50 mol%) by 4-5 %. Similar to other members of the genus Enterovirus, the 5' UTR of DcEV possessed a putative type I internal ribosome entry site. The low ratios of the number of nonsynonymous substitutions per non-synonymous site to the number of synonymous substitutions per synonymous site (Ka/Ks) of various coding regions suggested that dromedaries are the natural reservoir in which DcEV has been stably evolving. These results suggest that DcEV is a novel species of the genus Enterovirus in the family Picornaviridae. Western blot analysis using recombinant DcEV VP1 polypeptide showed a high seroprevalence of 52 % among serum samples from 172 dromedaries for IgG, concurring with its much higher infection rates in dromedary calves than in adults. Further studies are important to understand the pathogenicity, epidemiology and genetic evolution of DcEV in this unique group of animals.

  17. Challenges Facing Medical Residents' Satisfaction in the Middle East: A Report From United Arab Emirates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdulrahman, Mahera; Qayed, Khalil I; AlHammadi, Hisham H; Julfar, Adnan; Griffiths, Jane L; Carrick, Frederick R

    2015-01-01

    PHENOMENON: Medical residents' satisfaction with the quality of training for medical residency training specialists is one of the core measures of training program success. It will also therefore contribute to the integrity of healthcare in the long run. Yet there is a paucity of research describing medical residents' satisfaction in the Middle East, and there are no published studies that measure the satisfaction of medical residents trained within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This makes it difficult to develop a quality residency training program that might meet the needs of both physicians and society. The authors designed a questionnaire to assess medical residents' satisfaction with the Dubai residency training program in order to identify insufficiencies in the training, clinical, and educational aspects. The survey was a self-report questionnaire composed of different subscales covering sociodemographic and educational/academic profile of the residents along with their overall satisfaction of their training, curriculum, work environment, peer teamwork, and their personal opinion on their medical career. Respondents showed a substantial level of satisfaction with the residency training. The vast majority of residents (80%, N = 88) believe that their residency program curriculum and rotation was "good," "very good," or "excellent." Areas of dissatisfaction included salary, excessive paperwork during rotations, and harassment. INSIGHTS: This is the first report that studies the satisfaction of medical residents in all specialties in Dubai, UAE. Our findings provide preliminary evidence on the efficiency of different modifications applied to the residency program in UAE. To our knowledge, there has not been any previous study in the Middle East that has analyzed this aspect of medical residents from different specialties. The authors believe that this report can be used as a baseline to monitor the effectiveness of interventions applied in the future toward

  18. Forced Migration in the Middle East: The Palestinian and Syrian Refugee Experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meltem YNCE YENILMEZ

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Forced migration in the Middle East has a long history, going back to, at least, the early days of the 20th century. This paper looks at the experience of two populations, the Palestinian refugees, who experienced their initial displacement in the mid-20th century, and the current day growing population of Syrian refugees. This latter group constitutes the largest group of displaced people since the Second World War. This paper uses the experience of both of these groups to explore the impact that forced migration has had on the host countries and the region at large. It looks at the economic, cultural and political impact of forced migration and concludes that, in the long-term, forced migration, although extremely disruptive to all involved, has a net benefit on the host countries. It also explores lack of regional coping mechanisms, and proposes that the terms “crisis” and “guests” should be replaced when discussing forced migrations.

  19. The Middle East. Domestic sufficiency of fossil fuel resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Swegle, John A. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Kessinger, Samuel E. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

    2016-08-01

    In this paper, we’ve compared energy production and consumption across the broader Middle East, paying special attention to three different countries; Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers (second in the CIA World Factbook ranking of crude oil producing countries), with a growing population in the mid-range (47th in the world, according to the CIA World Factbook, and fifth among the nations in this region), a large GDP and GDP per capita (15th in the world, second in this region in GDP, and 21st in GDP per capita in the world, just behind the US at 19th); Qatar, the world’s fourth largest producer of natural gas, with a small native population (and a relatively large foreign labor contingent) that is very wealthy (with the world’s highest GDP per capita, more than twice that of the US); and Egypt, the most populous nation in the region (with the world’s 16th largest population), but relatively poor (with a GDP per capita of about a fifth that of the US and a twelfth that of Qatar); Egypt is a significant energy producer – 29th in the world in crude oil production and 17th in natural gas production – but production has stalled or declined in recent years, and domestic consumption has overtaken production.

  20. Partnerships in the Middle East: Interventionist Endeavors?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aarøe Jørgensen, Jakob

    2014-01-01

    This chapter aims to analyse NATO’s two Middle Eastern and North African (MENA)1 partnership programmes – the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). The chapter aims to answer the questions: (1) why does NATO engage with MENA partners; (2) what are the obstacles...... that MD and ICI face, and; (3) is the new flexible partnership policy a step towards more constructive Middle Eastern partnerships?...

  1. Employing nation branding in the Middle East - United Arab Emirates (UAE and Qatar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeineddine Cornelia

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Branding represents the instrument through which an entity communicates and identifies itself in the consumer’s perception. National branding is a similar mean employed at country level. Nation branding is crucial in order to attract investment, boost exports and attract tourists and talented workforce. Nation branding stands between public diplomacy and economic benefits. An adequate policy of Nation Branding-based on a positive, credible and economically reliable image- can be able to extend the range of potential customers and of potential investors. With the aim of better understanding the new challenges, opportunities and threats existent in a globalized economy, the paper evaluates nation branding in the context of UAE and Qatar. The paper examines nation-branding as a driver for boosting the economy, taking into account that clichés and stereotypes (especially in the context of the Middle East can influence our perception towards one country or another. The analysis explores the strategy adopted in order that Dubai becomes the flagship-brand of the UAE. Abu Dhabi complements this strategy, driving UAE to the position of the most valuable brand in the Middle East. The paper further enquires the case of Qatar and compares it with the branding process of the UAE. Qatar has established various branding resources such as the Al Jazeera news network, international sport events and several cultural and educational exchange programs with international profile. The UAE strives to become an influencer in the global economy, overriding its dependence on hydrocarbon reserves. Qatar is richer in hydrocarbon reserves than the UAE; nevertheless, it shares the interest of detaching itself from the rentier economy. The study explores the fact that from 2014-onwards the global oil economy was hit hard, as the price of the oil barrel is at an historic low, thus it has become stringent for the Persian Gulf countries to diversify the revenue sources. As a

  2. The Middle East and Eastern Europe rabies Expert Bureau (MEEREB third meeting: Lyon-France (7–8 April, 2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Picot

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available MEEREB is an inter-regional network of countries from North Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia that work together with the aim of improving rabies control and prevention at local, regional and global level. MEEREB members met for the third time in 2015 in France (Lyon to review the current rabies situation within the network and to discuss the way forward the prospect of a One Health approach against rabies. Dogs were the main vector of transmission in all MEEREB countries except for Croatia and Serbia where foxes represented the primary source. The number of rabies animal cases reported in 2014 varied substantially between countries with Ukraine reporting the highest number of animal cases. Human cases still occur in North Africa and all Middle East and Eurasian countries while no cases of human rabies were reported in Croatia, Serbia and Romania, although cases of rabies were identified in both dogs and foxes in 2014. Participants concluded that MEEREB can act as a think-tank where countries can share data, information, experiences and best practices to jointly address challenges in rabies control and prevention. They called for elimination of dog-transmitted rabies through vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin stockpiles and implementation of a One Health approach to achieve rabies’s eradication. Keywords: MEEREB, Rabies, Epidemiology, Report

  3. Global Impact of Energy Use in Middle East Oil Economies: A Modeling Framework for Analyzing Technology-Energy-Environment-Economy Chain

    OpenAIRE

    Hodjat Ghadimi

    2007-01-01

    To explore choices of improving energy efficiency in energy-rich countries of the Middle East, this study lays out an integrated modeling framework for analyzing the technology-energy-environment-economy chain for the case of an energy exporting country. This framework consists of an input output process-flow model (IOPM) and a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The former investigates the micro-level production processes and sectoral interdependencies to show how alternative technol...

  4. The Third World War? In The Cyberspace. Cyber Warfare in the Middle East.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martina

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to provide a brief and comprehensive introduction to the issue of cyber warfare and to display the recent development in this area. Geographically, it focuses on the Middle East region, since the vast majority of the most important recent cyber attacks appeared just in there or were connected to it. The first part of the article tries to define the key notion of cyber warfare, compares it to the standard warfare and presents different types of cyber weapons that are known today. The second part points out examples of the most striking recent cyber attacks and uses them as evidences to demonstrate today's importance and dissemination of cyber warfare. Finally, the article sums up pros and cons of the cyber weapons and, in view of these, predicts a significant increase in their use in any future war conflicts.

  5. None of Our Business: A Lack of Curricular Internationalization on the Middle East at Small to Midsize Colleges and Universities in New England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raymond, Chad; Gomaa, Sally

    2018-01-01

    Cross-cultural competencies are now specified as critical outcomes in U.S. higher education. Yet an analysis of accredited business programs in New England revealed that students frequently were not required to take courses about the Middle East. The study findings indicate that, for a region of economic and political importance to the United…

  6. Mental health in the Middle East: an Egyptian perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okasha, A

    1999-12-01

    This article introduces the reader to mental health in the Middle East with an Egyptian perspective, from the Pharaonic era through the Islamic Renaissance, up until the current state. During Pharaonic times, mental illness was not known as such, as there was no separator between Soma and Psyche. Actually, mental disorders were described as symptoms of the heart and uterine diseases, as stated in Eber's and Kahoun's papyri. In spite of the mystical culture, mental disorders were attributed and treated on a somatic basis. In the Islamic era, mental patients were never subjected to any torture or maltreatment because of the inherited belief that they may be possessed by a good Moslem genie. The first mental hospital in Europe was located in Spain, following the Arab invasion, and from then on it propagated to other European countries. The 14th century Kalawoon Hospital in Cairo had four departments, including medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, and mental disorders. Six centuries earlier, psychiatry in general hospitals was recognized in Europe. The influence of Avicenna and Elrazi and their contributions to European medicine is well-known. This article discusses further the current state of the mental health services in Egypt and the transcultural studies of the prevalence and phenomenology of anxiety, schizophrenia, depression, suicide, conversion, and obsessive compulsive disorders. An outline of psychiatric disorders in children is discussed. The problem of drug abuse is also addressed, especially that in Egypt after 1983, where drugs like heroine replaced the common habit of hashish.

  7. Economic concepts to address future water supply-demand imbalances in Iran, Morocco and Saudi Arabia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hellegers, P.J.G.J.; Immerzeel, W.; Droogers, P.

    2013-01-01

    In Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, renewable groundwater and surface water supply are limited while demand for water is growing rapidly. Climate change is expected to increase water demand even further. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the water supply–demand imbalances in

  8. A Primer of Middle Eastern Leadership Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheldon Greaves

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available It is natural for someone looking in on a foreign culture from the outside to interpret what they see and frame their reactions based on their own background and assumptions. With cultures as a different as those of the Middle East and the West, the potential for blunders increases dramatically, made worse by the high political, diplomatic, military, and commercial stakes involved. Leadership culture in this region has been shaped over centuries through a variety of factors, such as reputation, family, and religion, which continue to influence decision making. The present study posits that an understanding of these factors and how they work is crucial for intelligence analysts, policy and decision makers, strategists, and scholars who must find their way through a very unfamiliar cultural landscape in the Middle East. It is hoped that this discussion will in some way assist in the creation of more effective interaction, policies, and analysis associated with the Middle East.

  9. A middle Pleistocene through middle Miocene moraine sequence in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balter, A.; Bromley, G. R.; Balco, G.; Thomas, H.; Jackson, M. S.

    2017-12-01

    Ice-free areas at high elevation in the central Transantarctic Mountains preserve extensive moraine sequences and drift deposits that comprise a geologic record of former East Antarctic Ice Sheet thickness and extent. We are applying cosmogenic-nuclide exposure dating to determine the ages of these moraine sequences at Roberts Massif and Otway Massif, at the heads of the Shackleton and Beardmore Glaciers, respectively. Moraines at these sites are for the most part openwork boulder belts characteristic of deposition by cold-based ice, which is consistent with present climate and glaciological conditions. To develop our chronology, we collected samples from 30 distinct ice-marginal landforms and have so far measured >100 3He, 10Be, and 21Ne exposure ages. Apparent exposure ages range from 1-14 Ma, which shows that these landforms record glacial events between the middle Pleistocene and middle Miocene. These data show that the thickness of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in this region was similar to or thicker than present for long periods between the middle Miocene and today. The time range represented by these moraine sequences indicates that they may also provide direct geologic evidence for East Antarctic Ice Sheet behavior during past periods of warmer-than-present climate, specifically the Miocene and Pliocene. As the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest ice sheet on earth, understanding its sensitivity to warm-climate conditions is critical for projections of ice sheet behavior and sea-level rise in future warm climates.

  10. High growth and rapid internationalisation of firms from emerging markets: the case of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

    OpenAIRE

    Hatem, Omaima

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this thesis is to understand the phenomena of the high growth and rapid internationalisation of firms from emerging markets. It explores the applicability of international entrepreneurship theory to the context of the emerging market enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It integrates the literature of strategic entrepreneurship and that of portfolio entrepreneurship with the literature of international entrepreneurship to provide a closer fi...

  11. Sustainable Energy, Water and Environmental Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østergaard, Poul Alberg; Duic, Neven

    2014-01-01

    This issue presents research results from the 8th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES - held in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2013. Topics covered here include the energy situation in the Middle East with a focus in Cyprus and Israel, energy planning me...

  12. PROJECT ANQA: DIGITIZING AND DOCUMENTING CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Akhtar

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The practice of digitizing cultural heritage sites is gaining ground among conservation scientists and scholars in architecture, art history, computer science, and related fields. Recently, the location of such sites in areas of intense conflict has highlighted the urgent need for documenting cultural heritage for the purposes of preservation and posterity. The complex histories of such sites requires more than just their digitization, and should also include the meaningful interpretation of buildings and their surroundings with respect to context and intangible values. Project Anqa is an interdisciplinary and multi-partner effort that goes beyond simple digitization to record at-risk heritage sites throughout the Middle East and Saharan Africa, most notably in Syria and Iraq, before they are altered or destroyed. Through a collaborative process, Anqa assembles documentation, historically contextualizes it, and makes data accessible and useful for scholars, peers, and the wider public through state-of-the-art tools. The aim of the project is to engage in capacity-building on the ground in Syria and Iraq, as well as to create an educational web platform that informs viewers about cultural heritage in the region through research, digital storytelling, and the experience of virtual environments.

  13. Project Anqa: Digitizing and Documenting Cultural Heritage in the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akhtar, S.; Akoglu, G.; Simon, S.; Rushmeier, H.

    2017-08-01

    The practice of digitizing cultural heritage sites is gaining ground among conservation scientists and scholars in architecture, art history, computer science, and related fields. Recently, the location of such sites in areas of intense conflict has highlighted the urgent need for documenting cultural heritage for the purposes of preservation and posterity. The complex histories of such sites requires more than just their digitization, and should also include the meaningful interpretation of buildings and their surroundings with respect to context and intangible values. Project Anqa is an interdisciplinary and multi-partner effort that goes beyond simple digitization to record at-risk heritage sites throughout the Middle East and Saharan Africa, most notably in Syria and Iraq, before they are altered or destroyed. Through a collaborative process, Anqa assembles documentation, historically contextualizes it, and makes data accessible and useful for scholars, peers, and the wider public through state-of-the-art tools. The aim of the project is to engage in capacity-building on the ground in Syria and Iraq, as well as to create an educational web platform that informs viewers about cultural heritage in the region through research, digital storytelling, and the experience of virtual environments.

  14. A Contribution To The Understanding Of Middle Eastern and Muslim Exceptionalism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hariri, Jacob Gerner

    2015-01-01

    The democratic deficit in the Middle East and the Muslim world is well-established. No study has, however, identified what it is about being a Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country that impedes democracy. The explanatory deficit has given rise to an idea of Middle Eastern....... If they were colonized, territories with more developed state structures were more likely to experience an indirect form of colonial rule. Such territories, including the Islamic heartland in the Middle East, experienced less European settlement and colonial rule through local intermediaries and were therefore...

  15. Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East

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

    They all play a role — more accurately, as great a role as granted to them — as do both modern and traditional institutions for conflict resolution. .... Development of financial management systems for improved WDM. 9% ..... training of water officials and extension officers in all of the above. ...... Chief Scientist, Food Security

  16. Research of water resources allocation of South-to-North Water Diversion East Route Project in Jiangsu Province ,Eastern China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, C.

    2015-12-01

    Optimized allocation of water resources is the important means of solving regional water shortage and can improve the utilization of water resources. Water resources allocation in the large-scale water diversion project area is the current research focus. This research takes the east route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in Jiangsu province as the research area, based on the hydrological model, agricultural irrigation quota model, and water project scheduling model, a water resources allocation model was constructed. The research carried on generalized regional water supply network, simulated the water supply, water demand and water deficit in agriculture, industry, life, ecology and lock under the status quo and planning engineering conditions. According to the results, the east route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project is helpful to improve regional water shortage situation. The results showed that pump output increase by 2.8 billion cubic meters of water. On the conditions of P = 95%, 75% and 50%, compared with the benchmark year, water demand increases slightly due to the need of social and economic development in planning years, and water supply increased significantly because of new diversion ability. Water deficit are greatly reduced by 74.9% especially in the commonly drought condition because of the new project operation and optimized allocation of water resources.

  17. Water loss in Mafraq governorate, Jordan

    OpenAIRE

    Al-Ansari, Nadhir; Al-Oun, Salem; Hadad, Wafa; Knutsson, Sven

    2013-01-01

    Jordan is located in the Middle East and covers an area of 89,342 km2. The total population of Jordan is 6,508,271. Jordan is rapidly facing a severe water supply crisis due to greater demands on a finite quantity of available water. If current trends continue, it has been estimated that the country will experience a chronic water shortage by 2020. Despite these shortages, water loss in the distribution network is relatively high where it reaches 46%. Mafraq Governorate has the maximum water ...

  18. Middle east respiratory syndrome-corona virus infection: A case report of sieral computed tomographic findings in a young male patient

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Won Jin; Lee, Ki Nam; Kang, Eun Ju; Lee, Hyuck [Dong A University Hospital, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-02-15

    Radiologic findings of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), a novel coronavirus infection, have been rarely reported. We report a 30-year-old male presented with fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, who was diagnosed with MERS. A chest computed tomographic scan revealed rapidly developed multifocal nodular consolidations with ground-glass opacity halo and mixed consolidation, mainly in the dependent and peripheral areas. After treatment, follow-up imaging showed that these abnormalities markedly decreased but fibrotic changes developed.

  19. Communicating about the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak to the international community and in-country foreigners, Republic of Korea, 2015

    OpenAIRE

    Minwon Lee; Jooyoung Sohn; Kidong Park

    2016-01-01

    During the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2015, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) of the Republic of Korea provided outbreak information targeting international visitors and foreign residents through multiple channels. The MOHW created a MERS portal website in Korean and English on 10 June 2015; in addition, the existing MOHW website provided English-language press releases beginning 28 May. A toll-free telephone hotline also started service in English on 12 June;...

  20. Human Resource Education in the Middle East Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dirani, Khalil M.; Hamie, Christine Silva

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of human resource development (HRD) education in Middle Eastern countries. In particular, the authors discuss the current state of HRD education, country readiness and challenges that hinder HRD progress in Middle Eastern countries. They argue that HRD programs need to prepare young…

  1. A fatal case of middle east respiratory syndrome corona virus infection in South Korea: Cheat radiography and CT findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Seung Eun; Kim, Hyo Lim; Choi, Su Mi [Dept. of Internal Medicine, Yeouido St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-06-15

    The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) infection in South Korea originated from Saudi Arabia. This virus shows high infectivity, and causes outbreaks of severe febrile respiratory infections in health care-associated settings. Herein, we reported a fatal case of MERS-CoV infection with a focus on the pulmonary radiologic findings. The initial chest computed tomography and radiographs of our patient showed ground-glass opacity in patchy distribution, followed by rapid progression of consolidation and pleural effusion in serial studies.

  2. A fatal case of middle east respiratory syndrome corona virus infection in South Korea: Cheat radiography and CT findings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Seung Eun; Kim, Hyo Lim; Choi, Su Mi

    2016-01-01

    The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) infection in South Korea originated from Saudi Arabia. This virus shows high infectivity, and causes outbreaks of severe febrile respiratory infections in health care-associated settings. Herein, we reported a fatal case of MERS-CoV infection with a focus on the pulmonary radiologic findings. The initial chest computed tomography and radiographs of our patient showed ground-glass opacity in patchy distribution, followed by rapid progression of consolidation and pleural effusion in serial studies

  3. Conservation of nucleotide sequences for molecular diagnosis of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, 2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuki Furuse

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Infection due to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV is widespread. The present study was performed to assess the protocols used for the molecular diagnosis of MERS-CoV by analyzing the nucleotide sequences of viruses detected between 2012 and 2015, including sequences from the large outbreak in eastern Asia in 2015. Although the diagnostic protocols were established only 2 years ago, mismatches between the sequences of primers/probes and viruses were found for several of the assays. Such mismatches could lead to a lower sensitivity of the assay, thereby leading to false-negative diagnosis. A slight modification in the primer design is suggested. Protocols for the molecular diagnosis of viral infections should be reviewed regularly after they are established, particularly for viruses that pose a great threat to public health such as MERS-CoV.

  4. Urban Waters and the Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque (New Mexico)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Middle Rio Grande/Albuquerque (New Mexico) of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) reconnects urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led efforts.

  5. Modification and implementation of NCCN guidelines on lymphomas in the Middle East and North Africa region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bazarbachi, Ali; Azim, Hamdy A; Alizadeh, Hussain; Aljurf, Mahmoud; Barista, Ibrahim; Chaudhri, Naeem A; Fahed, Zahira; Fahmy, Omar A; Ghavamzadeh, Ardeshir; Khalaf, Mohamed H; Khatib, Sami; Kutoubi, Aghiad; Paydas, Semra; Elayoubi, Hanadi Rafii; Zaatari, Ghazi; Zawam, Hamdy M; Zelenetz, Andrew D

    2010-07-01

    In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, cancer has many epidemiologic and clinical features that are different from those in the rest of the world. Additionally, the region has a relatively young population and large disparities in the availability of resources at diagnostic and treatment levels. A critical need exists for regional guidelines on cancer care, including those for lymphoid malignancies. A panel of lymphoma experts from MENA reviewed the 2009 version of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) on Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Hodgkin Lymphoma and suggested modifications for the region that were discussed with the United States NCCN Lymphoma Panels. This article presents the consensus recommendations.

  6. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) RNA and neutralising antibodies in milk collected according to local customs from dromedary camels, Qatar, April 2014

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reusken, C B; Farag, E A; Jonges, M; Godeke, G J; El-Sayed, A M; Pas, S D; Raj, V S; Mohran, K A; Moussa, H A; Ghobashy, H; Alhajri, F; Ibrahim, A K; Bosch, B J; Pasha, S K; Al-Romaihi, H E; Al-Thani, M; Al-Marri, S A; AlHajri, M M; Haagmans, B L; Koopmans, M P

    2014-01-01

    Antibodies to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) were detected in serum and milk collected according to local customs from 33 camels in Qatar, April 2014. At one location, evidence for active virus shedding in nasal secretions and/or faeces was observed for 7/12 camels; viral

  7. The Agia Marina Xyliatou Observatory: A remote supersite in Cyprus to monitor changes in the atmospheric composition of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sciare, Jean

    2016-04-01

    The Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region has been identified as one of the hot spot region in the world strongly influenced by climate changes impacts. This region is characterized by rapidly growing population with contrasting economic development, strong environmental gradients and climate extremes. However, long-term observations of the atmospheric constituents (gaseous and particulate) of the atmosphere at a remote site representative of EMME is still missing making difficult to assess current and future impacts on air quality, water resources and climate. In collaboration with the Department of Labour Inspection and in the frame of French research programs (ChArMEx and ENVI-Med "CyAr") and the EU H2020 "ACTRIS-2" (2015-2019) project, CyI and CNRS are putting unprecedented efforts to implement at a rural site of Cyprus (Agia Marina Xyliatou) a unique infrastructure to monitor key atmospheric species relevant to air quality and climate. A large set of real-time instrumentations is currently deployed to characterize reactive gases (incl. O3, CO, NOx, SO2, VOC), in-situ aerosol properties (mass, size distribution, light scatt./absorption/extinction coef. and chemistry) and as well as integrated optical properties (sunphotomer, solar flux). Through Transnational access (H2020 ACTRIS2), this station is offering to (non-)EU partners (Research, SMEs) a new atmospheric facility to monitor long range transported clean/polluted air masses from 3 different continents (Europe, Africa, Middle East) and investigate aerosol-cloud interactions through the use of UAV and a mountain site (Troodos, 1900m asl). We will present here an overview of this new research infrastructure and provide a first glance of key features observed from gas/aerosol measurements obtained in 2015

  8. Analog models of convergence and divergence: perspectives of the tectonics of the Middle East

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mart, Yossi

    2010-05-01

    Three series of analog models of convergence and divergence of tectonic plates illuminate the possible tectonic processes that shaped the lithology of the Middle East since the early Miocene. The Mid-East geographic province extends from the Ionian Sea to the Arabian Sea, and comprises the Hellenic subduction zone, the Aegean back-arc basin, the motion of Anatolia southwestwards, the oblique collision of Arabia and Iran along the Zagros suture, and the continental break-up of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. The tectonic evolution of all these diverse domains started in the Miocene nearly contemporaneously, and modeling suggests that the convergence and divergence, though derived from unrelated processes, their tectonics is intertwined. Centrifuge models of the initiation of subduction show the correlation between early subduction and the opening of its back-arc basin (Mart et al., 2005). The models emphasize the significance of extensive seawards roll-back of the deformation front when friction between the thrust slabs is reduced, and consequently, the pull within the overthrust slab that leads to its structural extension. That extension produced the Aegean domain with its volcanism and the exposure of its core complex, as well as the westwards displacement of Anatolia along the North and East Anatolian Faults. Sand-box models of oblique subduction, namely the gradual shift from subduction to collision along the convergence front, showed orthogonal patterns of extension in distal parts of the underthrust slab (Bellahsen et al., 2002). It is suggested that the extensional domains deflected the propagation of Carlsberg Ridge to swing 1200 and penetrate the Gulf of Aden in the early Miocene. The structural differences between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea can be accounted for by the results of sand-box experiments in oblique rifting (Mart and Dauteuil, 2000). The models suggest that oblique rifting, where the deviation from the normal extension was ca. 50, would

  9. Solving the water crisis: Increase supplies or improve management ...

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

    2011-01-31

    Jan 31, 2011 ... Across rocky plains where skinny goats scrounge the scant ... The situation is no different in other countries of North Africa and the Middle East ... to water scarcity being mounted in households, farmers' fields, villages, and city ...

  10. Water: Essential Element of United States Security Policy in the Middle East

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Larson, Lars E

    1991-01-01

    .... Traditional sources of water have been taxed by the growth of populations in the area and their accompanying problems of pollution, waste, improper operation of water facilities, and poor cooperation...

  11. Health care providers and human trafficking: What do they know, what do they need to know? Findings from the middle East, the Caribbean, and Central America

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Viergever, R.F.; West, H.; Borland, R.; Zimmerman, C.

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Human trafficking is a crime that commonly results in acute and chronic physical and psychological harm. To foster more informed health sector responses to human trafficking, training sessions for health care providers were developed and pilot-tested in the Middle East, Central America,

  12. Labor market reforms, growth, and unemployment in labor-exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agénor, Pierre-Richard; Nabli, Mustapha K.; Yousef, Tarik

    2007-01-01

    A general equilibrium model is used to study the impact of labor market policies on growth, employment, urban inequality, and rural welfare in labor-exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Various experiments are conducted, such as a reduction in payroll taxation, cuts in public......-enhancing job creation in the region, labor market reforms must take account of general equilibrium effects, including crowding-in effects on private investment and variations in income remittances and international migration patterns. Finally, we argue that labor market reforms should be viewed as a component...... of a more comprehensive program of structural reforms aimed at spurring growth and employment...

  13. Communication dated 26 September 2008, copied to the Agency by the Permanent Mission of India regarding the Middle East and South Asia area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    The Secretariat has received a copy of a communication dated 26 September 2008 from the Permanent Mission of India to the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan regarding the Middle East and South Asia Area. As requested by the Resident Representative of India to the Agency, during the meeting of the Board of Governors on 6 October 2008, the communication is herewith circulated for information

  14. Saracatinib Inhibits Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus Replication In Vitro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Soo Shin

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV, first identified in Saudi Arabia, is an emerging zoonotic pathogen that causes severe acute respiratory illness in humans with a high fatality rate. Since its emergence, MERS-CoV continues to spread to countries outside of the Arabian Peninsula and gives rise to sporadic human infections following the entry of infected individuals to other countries, which can precipitate outbreaks similar to the one that occurred in South Korea in 2015. Current therapeutics against MERS-CoV infection have primarily been adapted from previous drugs used for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome. In search of new potential drug candidates, we screened a library composed of 2334 clinically approved drugs and pharmacologically active compounds. The drug saracatinib, a potent inhibitor of Src-family of tyrosine kinases (SFK, was identified as an inhibitor of MERS-CoV replication in vitro. Our results suggest that saracatinib potently inhibits MERS-CoV at the early stages of the viral life cycle in Huh-7 cells, possibly through the suppression of SFK signaling pathways. Furthermore, saracatinib exhibited a synergistic effect with gemcitabine, an anticancer drug with antiviral activity against several RNA viruses. These data indicate that saracatinib alone or in combination with gemcitabine can provide a new therapeutic option for the treatment of MERS-CoV infection.

  15. Deterministic and stochastic models for middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suryani, Dessy Rizki; Zevika, Mona; Nuraini, Nuning

    2018-03-01

    World Health Organization (WHO) data stated that since September 2012, there were 1,733 cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) with 628 death cases that occurred in 27 countries. MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and the largest cases of MERS outside Saudi Arabia occurred in South Korea in 2015. MERS is a disease that attacks the respiratory system caused by infection of MERS-CoV. MERS-CoV transmission occurs directly through direct contact between infected individual with non-infected individual or indirectly through contaminated object by the free virus. Suspected, MERS can spread quickly because of the free virus in environment. Mathematical modeling is used to illustrate the transmission of MERS disease using deterministic model and stochastic model. Deterministic model is used to investigate the temporal dynamic from the system to analyze the steady state condition. Stochastic model approach using Continuous Time Markov Chain (CTMC) is used to predict the future states by using random variables. From the models that were built, the threshold value for deterministic models and stochastic models obtained in the same form and the probability of disease extinction can be computed by stochastic model. Simulations for both models using several of different parameters are shown, and the probability of disease extinction will be compared with several initial conditions.

  16. Saracatinib Inhibits Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus Replication In Vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Jin Soo; Jung, Eunhye; Kim, Meehyein; Baric, Ralph S; Go, Yun Young

    2018-05-24

    The Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV), first identified in Saudi Arabia, is an emerging zoonotic pathogen that causes severe acute respiratory illness in humans with a high fatality rate. Since its emergence, MERS-CoV continues to spread to countries outside of the Arabian Peninsula and gives rise to sporadic human infections following the entry of infected individuals to other countries, which can precipitate outbreaks similar to the one that occurred in South Korea in 2015. Current therapeutics against MERS-CoV infection have primarily been adapted from previous drugs used for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome. In search of new potential drug candidates, we screened a library composed of 2334 clinically approved drugs and pharmacologically active compounds. The drug saracatinib, a potent inhibitor of Src-family of tyrosine kinases (SFK), was identified as an inhibitor of MERS-CoV replication in vitro. Our results suggest that saracatinib potently inhibits MERS-CoV at the early stages of the viral life cycle in Huh-7 cells, possibly through the suppression of SFK signaling pathways. Furthermore, saracatinib exhibited a synergistic effect with gemcitabine, an anticancer drug with antiviral activity against several RNA viruses. These data indicate that saracatinib alone or in combination with gemcitabine can provide a new therapeutic option for the treatment of MERS-CoV infection.

  17. The Middle East competitiveness report: regional and territorial analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Huggins, R; Mahroum, S; Thompson, P

    2016-01-01

    This report explores the extent to which Middle Eastern regions have generated relatively high or low levels of competitiveness. Whilst many Middle Eastern regions may owe some of their competitiveness to the natural advantages of oil reserves, for others their competitiveness has been achieved through other means. Their small size and high degree of autonomy means that many of the regions are effectively independent states. Middle Eastern nations and their regions have been characterized by ...

  18. Water as a Human Right for the Middle East and North Africa

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

    While unquestionably, availability of clean drinking water and access to sanitation are .... A main issue that needs to be resolved is how to raise this high level of ...... severe limitations since the water must be extracted in 'small containers' that ...

  19. Complete Genome Sequence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) from the First Imported MERS-CoV Case in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Roujian; Wang, Yanqun; Wang, Wenling; Nie, Kai; Zhao, Yanjie; Su, Juan; Deng, Yao; Zhou, Weimin; Li, Yang; Wang, Huijuan; Wang, Wen; Ke, Changwen; Ma, Xuejun; Wu, Guizhen; Tan, Wenjie

    2015-08-13

    On 26 May 2015, an imported Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified in Guangdong Province, China, and found to be closely related to the MERS-CoV strain prevalent in South Korea. The full genome of the ChinaGD01 strain was sequenced and analyzed to investigate the epidemiology and evolution of MERS-CoV circulating in South Korea and China. Copyright © 2015 Lu et al.

  20. Far East Asia | Page 67 | IDRC - International Development ...

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

    Far East Asia. Extrême-Orient. Read more about Environmental Degradation, Social Marginalization and the Dynamics of Vulnerability in the Earthquake of October 2005 (Pakistan). Language English. Read more about Promoting Trade in Services in the Middle East and North Africa : Pilot Project. Language English.