Social inclusion or exclusion? never-married singles in West Amman

Due to the continuous belief in the centrality of marriage and family value in Arab countries, the noticeable increase in the average age of females\u27 marriages in Jordan for the last years is starting to ring alarming bells. This is associated with the increasing numbers of the NMW and delayed marriages (in 2007 more than 100000 women over the age of 30 years were reported by Aljazeera as still not married, Aljazeera News 26 Dec, 2008). This is compounded by a delay in the average age of marriage for females, which rose from 21 years in 1979 to 27 years in 2002 (Department of Statistics-Jordan 2003). Using the lens of social exclusion, my paper investigates the lives of NMW whose ages ranged between 30- 49; I ask how do never married women navigate social spaces, how do they define and claim rights in their daily interactions, and what challenges and opportunities do they face? Particularly, I explore whether NMW are included or excluded from the different social settings in West Amman, and examine the meanings, forms and tactics they deploy in dealing with their inclusion/exclusion. In my research I focus on middle to upper middle class women, who are characterized by a mix of conservatism and liberalism. I conducted in-depth interviews with eleven NMW and a couple of NMM to unpack possible gender differences. My paper relays aspects of women\u27s lived reality and describes the freedoms and restrictions experienced by single women living in urban spaces as factors shaping their wellbeing. I argue that changes in marriage and nuclear family constitute a vital part of gendered relations and wellbeing

Optimal Integration Of Solar Energy With District Cooling System: Mathematical Modeling Approach

The outstanding development witnessed in various sectors across the globe caused mankind to increase their need to cooling energy and hence, consume unsustainable energy resources excessively. That raised the fears on the potential presence of these resources and on how to combat global warming caused by fossil fuel energy. Therefore, industries are shifting toward using renewable energy resources as they are widely available and environmentally friendly. This research addresses the integration of solar energy into conventional cooling systems. Three mixed integer linear programming (MILP) models are developed to represent different configurations of solar thermal and electric cooling systems combined with the conventional cooling systems to minimize annual total system cost. The models are fed with actual data collected on the parameters of the models. Moreover, four different case studies which represent low, medium, high and very high cooling demand scenarios are selected and solved using the CPLEX solver. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis are carried out on the different parameters of the models. The results of the research indicated that the solar electric cooling system connected to the grid is the most economical system compared to other system configuration

Mapping Groundwater Levels in Erbil Basin

In the Erbil Basin, which is located in Kurdistan Region at northern part of Iraq, several production wells have been selected for monthly monitoring of groundwater levels. The continuous depletion of groundwater levels has been recorded due to uncontrolled exploitation from both legal and illegal wells that poses a major problem in selected Basin, which is classified as arid and semi-arid regions. Accurate prediction of groundwater depth and elevation maps is crucial for the development of effective groundwater management strategies in the aquifer system of the area. Depth to groundwater measures for each of the 55 wells that distributed across the North, Central, and South sub-basins of Erbil, also mapped and compared with wells data that are recorded periodically by the Directorate of Erbil Groundwater. The methodology of this study is involved mapping groundwater tables for the measured wells in (2022) with surveying wells coordinates as field observations, and compare with data of groundwater tables in (2004) that archived by groundwater directorate. This study employs high-accuracy surveying techniques for the selected wells and utilizes geographic information systems (GIS) as a successful tool for mapping groundwater levels using both Kriging and IDW interpolation methods. The results are indicated successfully that groundwater tables have sudden drawdown during these (18) years, the main reasons behind that is drilling numerous wells without planning and lack of management of the wells system in the study area. Meanwhile, Erbil basin required better planning and management of groundwater resources. The study concludes that there is lack in groundwater management need to keep the sustainability of this vital resources, and observing monthly groundwater levels need to be connected with high accuracy sensor inside observation wells not manually measuring groundwater levels by damaged sounders. Unfortunately, there is no observation wells inside Erbil basin, the recorded data are within production wells that cannot represent as actual levels of the groundwater. The main objective of this study is to present the actual problems in the study area by create the maps of the groundwater table for the selected basin and to be used as a basic plan in developing strategies for effective management and planning of Erbil groundwater resources. And also employed to protect aquifer storage and prevent depletion of groundwater resources

Identifying Proteins Involved in Glioma Angiogenesis: a Proteomics Approach

Approximately half of tumors encountered in the brain represent metastases from neoplasms located elsewhere in the body. A large part of the other half represents meningiomas arising from the membranes covering the brain. The remaining group consists of so-called primary brain tumors, which are tumors arising from the cellular components of brain tissue itself. Most of these tumors are called gliomas because they putatively arise from glial cells. Gliomas are the most frequently encountered subtypes of primary brain tumors. Glial tumor cells still display signs of glial differentiation to some extent [1]. Relative to the major cancers affecting humans like lung-, breast -, colonic - and prostate cancer, glial neoplasms are only a minority. The morbidity and mortality of this group is, however, highest of all. Hence, the impact of these tumors on the well-being of the patients and the economic consequences thereof warrants research efforts comparable to those undertaken in the major cancer groups. In several respects gliomas differ from other tumors. They hardly ever metastasize. Further, neoplastic glial cells infiltrate brain tissue diffusely by mechanisms of migration. Because of the diffuse infiltrative character there are no clear-cut tumor borders and therefore, radical surgery is never possible. Another peculiarity of gliomas is their continuous metamorphosis: over time the tumors change their histological appearance. This goes along with increasing genetic instability. The tumors become more cellular; the cells more pleomorphic and finally necrotic areas appear. The metamorphosis goes along with an increase in blood vessels and a change in the structure of the blood vessel walls. Although gliomas are among the most vascularized tumors, it is surprising that anti-angiogenesis therapies have been relatively unsuccessful so far. To improve this situation it is necessary to increase the specificity of the therapeutic targets in the glioma vascularization

Overexpression of Colligin 2 in Glioma Vasculature is Associated with Overexpression of Heat Shock Factor 2

In previous studies we found expression of the protein colligin 2 (heat shock protein 47 (HSP47), SERPINH1) in glioma neovasculature while not in normal brain tissue. Generally, the regulation of heat shock gene expression in eukaryotes is mediated by heat shock factors (HSF). In mammals, three heat shock transcription factors, HSF-1, -2, and -4, have been isolated. Here we investigated the relation between the expression of colligin 2 and these heat shock factors at the mRNA level using real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) in different grades of astrocytic tumorigenesis, viz., low-grade glioma and glioblastoma. Endometrium samples, representing physiological angiogenesis, were included as controls. Since colligin 2 is a chaperon for collagens, the gene expression of collagen I (COL1A1) was also investigated. The blood vessel density of the samples was monitored by expression of the endothelial marker CD31 (PECAM1). Because NG2-immunopositive pericytic cells are involved in glioma neovascularization, the expression of NG2 (CSPG4) was also measured

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Brain Metastasis: The Link between Molecular Mechanisms and Novel Therapeutic Approaches

The prognosis of patients suffering from non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) worsens significantly when brain metastasis occurs. Seeding to the brain usually happens relatively early in the course of disease and therefore, new therapies anticipating this complication would result in considerable improvement in outcomes. In this review, we address recent molecular data of NSCLC with a focus on the risk of the formation of brain metastasis. Included is new data on the involvement of miRNAs and lncRNAs in the rise of the cerebral seeding of NSCLC. We summarize novel therapeutic approaches developed in the light of these recent molecular discoveries

Expression site of P2RY12 in residential microglial cells in astrocytomas correlates with M1 and M2 marker expression and tumor grade

The role of resident microglial cells in the pathogenesis and progression of glial tumors is still obscure mainly due to a lack of specific markers. Recently P2RY12, a P2 purinergic receptor, was introduced as a specific marker for microglial cells under normal and pathologic conditions. Here we analyzed the expression of P2RY12 in astrocytomas of various malignancy grades in relation to markers for M1 and M2 macrophage activation profiles by using two web-based glioma datasets and confocal immunohistochemistry to 28 astrocytoma samples grades II-IV. In the gliomas, P2RY12 immunoreactivity delineated CD68 negative cells with otherwise microglial features from CD68 positive tumor associated macrophages (TAMs). The presence of P2RY12 positive cells correlated positively with overall survival. P2RY12 mRNA levels and membrane-bound localization of P2RY12 were inversely correlated with increasing malignancy grade, and the expression site of P2RY12 shifted from cytoplasmic in low-grade gliomas, to nuclear in high-grade tumors. The cytoplasmic expression of P2RY12 was associated with the expression of M1 markers, characteristic of the pro-inflammatory macrophage response. In contrast, the nuclear localization of P2RY12 was predominant in the higher graded tumors and associated with the expression of the M2 marker CD163. We conclude that P2RY12 is a specific marker for resident microglia in glioma and its expression and localization correspond to tumor grade and predominant stage of M1/M2 immune response

RNA from stabilized whole blood enables more comprehensive immune gene expression profiling compared to RNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Monitoring changes in the immune profile in blood samples can help identifying changes in tumor biology and therapy responsiveness over time. Immune-related gene expression profiles offer a highly reproducible method to monitor changes of the immune system. However, measuring gene expression profiles in whole blood samples can be complicated because of the high protein and enzyme abundancy that affect the stability and quality of the RNA. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are one the most commonly used source for immune cell RNA extraction, though, this method does not reflect all components of the peripheral blood. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in immune-related gene expression between RNA isolated from stabilized whole blood and RNA isolated from PBMCs. Whole blood samples from 12 pancreatic cancer patients were collected before and after chemotherapy (n = 24). Blood samples were collected in both EDTA tubes, and Tempus tubes containing an RNA stabilizer (total n = 48). PBMCs were isolated from EDTA samples using Ficoll and were snap frozen. Subsequently, immune-related gene expression was profiled using the PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel of NanoString technology. Gene expression profiles of PBMCs were compared to that of Tempus tubes using the Advanced Analysis module of nSolver software. Both types of samples provided good quality RNA and gene expression measurements. However, RNA isolated from Tempus tubes resulted in significantly higher gene counts than PBMCs; 107/730 genes were exclusively detected in Tempus samples, while under the detection limit in PBMCs. In addition, 192/730 genes showed significantly higher gene counts in Tempus samples, 157/730 genes showed higher gene counts in PBMCs. Thus, RNA isolated from whole blood stabilizing blood tubes, such as Tempus tubes, enable higher gene counts and more comprehensive measurements of gene expression profiles compared to RNA isolated from PBMCs