Laws without enforcement : the case of unskilled foreign workers in Kuwait

International labour migration has become an issue widely addressed in international relations, due to the many spheres that are related to this area, such as economics, human rights, labour rights as well as sociological issues. In recent years, the Middle East and especially the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have become some of the most sought-after labour destinations in the world. As a newly oil-rich nation, Kuwait relied on foreign workers to fill the gaps in the labour market that existed due to a shortage of skills among the local population. Modern infrastructures, large-scale projects and basic services such as health care and education all needed human resources that were unavailable at the time. The reliance on foreign labour in Kuwait has increased rapidly in the last forty years and shows no signs of abating. What began as an effort to import labour for the purpose of building and developing modern infrastructures in a recently oil-rich nation, has developed into a reliance on foreign labour that generates a great deal of wealth for nationals, without offering proper protections for those laborers. Millions of Asian men and women migrate to the GCC seeking better opportunities for their families in their home countries, however in most cases this is less dependent on legal guarantees of labour protection and more on luck. In theory, unskilled foreign laborers, like other expatriate workers in Kuwait, are granted the same legal rights that are granted to nationals. Although there are some exceptions pertaining to nationals in the labour laws, in general, both groups are protected by the Kuwaiti Constitution, as well as international agreements that Kuwait has signed. In practice, however, the situation is very different. Due to the confines of the sponsorship system, and the immense control over workers’ lives it grants nationals, unskilled foreign workers face widescale discrimination and violations of their rights every day, a situation that is best described as forced labour and slavery. In many cases, the failure of the government to act in respect to the abuse of migrants’ rights reveals its inability to balance its international and national obligations. The purpose of this thesis is to show how the lack of enforcement of national and international labour and human rights laws concerning unskilled foreign workers in Kuwait constitutes modern slavery and forced labour. There are three main factors that will be addressed: the lack of enforcement of existing national laws, as well as international treaties and conventions; the ways in which the sponsorship system, as it exists today, is in breach of international laws and human rights standards; and the responsibilities of governments, recruitment agencies, and other organizations involved with migrant labour. Issues such as wages, housing and working conditions, dispute resolutions, and labour contracts will be discussed

Development and early-stage validation of a questionnaire measuring patient acceptance of electronic patient reported outcome measures.

Electronic patient-reported outcome measures (e-PROMs) have been introduced to improve the collection of patient feedback and to facilitate data linkage with research databases. However, before implementing e-PROMs, it is important to understand patient’s feelings about and acceptance of these technologies. Until today, there has been no adequate questionnaire to understand patient acceptance of e-PROMs. So, this study aimed to study patient acceptance of e-PROMs through developing and validating a new questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and additional factors including computer anxiety and patient characteristic factors. Not only did this study apply a quantitative method to understand the factors behind patient acceptance, the development and the psychometric testing of the new questionnaire was conducted using a variety of methodological approaches. This includes: (1) developing the initial version of the questionnaire based on the available literature, (2) an expert panel review (n=5) and cognitive interviews (n=10) to measure face and content validity, and (3) conducting field-testing (n=231) to measure construct validity and internal consistency reliability. The field-testing included testing the conceptual model with cancer survivors at an outpatient oncology clinic in Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Based on these study findings, the developed questionnaire shows good validity and reliability. Moreover, the conceptual model results show that patient attitudes (a TPB construct), computer anxiety and gender were significantly (P<0.05) associated with behavioural intention to use e-PROMs. The most influential factor is patients’ attitude to computers, followed by computer anxiety then male gender. Overall, these model constructs explained around 87% of the variance in acceptance. The findings of this study strongly suggest that clinicians need to encourage their male patients to use e-PROMs and help them to reduce their computer anxiety

Measuring service excellence in banking industry using an integrated approach. An empirical study in the Saudi context.

The research sought to investigate the Critical Excellence Factors (CEFs) that drive Excellence in banking industry. Moreover, it examines whether customers perceive the service of an excellent bank differently from a less-excellent bank. Three hypotheses were formed then tested through case study and survey strategy (triangulation), within the Saudi banking industry context. The study combines the EFQM excellence model as an internal assessment tool (case studies), with the SERVQUAL gap model for external assessment (questionnaires). Analysing and contrasting the two sets of results allowed the study to achieve its main objective. Based on the empirical work, the study identifies several CEFs that must be carefully considered when driving excellence in banking. These factors were proposed in a generic integrated model for driving Excellence in Banking

Simple Spectrophotometric Method for Determination of Paroxetine in Tablets Using 1,2-Naphthoquinone-4-Sulphonate as a Chromogenic Reagent

Simple and rapid spectrophotometric method has been developed and validated for the determination of paroxetine (PRX) in tablets. The proposed method was based on nucleophilic substitution reaction of PRX with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulphonate (NQS) in an alkaline medium to form an orange-colored product of maximum absorption peak (λmax) at 488 nm. The stoichiometry and kinetics of the reaction were studied, and the reaction mechanism was postulated. Under the optimized reaction conditions, Beer's law correlating the absorbance (A) with PRX concentration (C) was obeyed in the range of 1–8 μg mL−1. The regression equation for the calibration data was: A = 0.0031 + 0.1609 C, with good correlation coefficients (0.9992). The molar absorptivity (ε) was 5.9 × 105 L mol−1 1 cm−1. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.3 and 0.8 μg mL−1, respectively. The precision of the method was satisfactory; the values of relative standard deviations did not exceed 2%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of PRX in its pharmaceutical tablets with good accuracy and precisions; the label claim percentage was 97.17 ± 1.06 %. The results obtained by the proposed method were comparable with those obtained by the official method

New Spectrophotometric and Fluorimetric Methods for Determination of Fluoxetine in Pharmaceutical Formulations

New simple and sensitive spectrophotometric and fluorimetric methods have been developed and validated for the determination of fluoxetine hydrochloride (FLX) in its pharmaceutical formulations. The spectrophotometric method was based on the reaction of FLX with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulphonate (NQS) in an alkaline medium (pH 11) to form an orange-colored product that was measured at 490 nm. The fluorimetric method was based on the reaction of FLX with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) in an alkaline medium (pH 8) to form a highly fluorescent product that was measured at 545 nm after excitation at 490 nm. The variables affecting the reactions of FLX with both NQS and NBD-Cl were carefully studied and optimized. The kinetics of the reactions were investigated, and the reaction mechanisms were presented. Under the optimum reaction conditions, good linear relationships were found between the readings and the concentrations of FLX in the ranges of 0.3–6 and 0.035–0.5 μg mL−1 for the spectrophotometric and fluorimetric methods, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.1 and 0.01 μg mL−1 for the spectrophotometric and fluorimetric methods, respectively. Both methods were successfully applied to the determination of FLX in its pharmaceutical formulations

Bis(2,3-dimethyl­anilinium) dihydrogen­diphosphate

In the title compound, 2C8H12N+·H2P2O7 2−, the complete dihydrogendiphosphate anion is generated by crystallographic twofold symmetry, with the bridging O atom lying on the rotation axis [P—O—P = 135.50 (9)°]. In the crystal, the 2,3-xylidinium cations are anchored between ribbons formed by the H2P2O7 entities. Crystal cohesion and stability are supported by electrostatic inter­actions which, together with N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, build up a three-dimensional network

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

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

Bioinformatics insights into the genes and pathways on severe COVID-19 pathology in patients with comorbidities

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection is known for its severe clinical pathogenesis among individuals with pre-existing comorbidities. However, the molecular basis of this observation remains elusive. Thus, this study aimed to map key genes and pathway alterations in patients with COVID-19 and comorbidities using robust systems biology approaches.Methods: The publicly available genome-wide transcriptomic datasets from 120 COVID-19 patients, 281 patients suffering from different comorbidities (like cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and obesity), and 252 patients with different infectious diseases of the lung (respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and MERS) were studied using a range of systems biology approaches like differential gene expression, gene ontology (GO), pathway enrichment, functional similarity, mouse phenotypic analysis and drug target identification.Results: By cross-mapping the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across different datasets, we mapped 274 shared genes to severe symptoms of COVID-19 patients or with comorbidities alone. GO terms and functional pathway analysis highlighted genes in dysregulated pathways of immune response, interleukin signaling, FCGR activation, regulation of cytokines, chemokines secretion, and leukocyte migration. Using network topology parameters, phenotype associations, and functional similarity analysis with ACE2 and TMPRSS2—two key receptors for this virus-we identified 17 genes with high connectivity (CXCL10, IDO1, LEPR, MME, PTAFR, PTGS2, MAOB, PDE4B, PLA2G2A, COL5A1, ICAM1, SERPINE1, ABCB1, IL1R1, ITGAL, NCAM1 and PRKD1) potentially contributing to the clinical severity of COVID-19 infection in patients with comorbidities. These genes are predicted to be tractable and/or with many existing approved inhibitors, modulators, and enzymes as drugs.Conclusion: By systemic implementation of computational methods, this study identified potential candidate genes and pathways likely to confer disease severity in COVID-19 patients with pre-existing comorbidities. Our findings pave the way to develop targeted repurposed therapies in COVID-19 patients