Emirati women’s experiences of consanguineous marriage: A qualitative exploration of attitudes, health challenges, and coping styles

Consanguineous marriage is associated with increased risk of congenital physical disabilities, as well as behavioural and mental health problems among consanguineous offspring. Furthermore, mental health problems have been highlighted as being prevalent among women involved in consanguineous marriages. Despite this, there has been limited research exploring the lived experiences of consanguineous marriage among women living in the United Arab Emirates, where up to 39% of all marriages are consanguineous. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of Emirati women involved in a consanguineous marriage in order to improve understanding of the experiential challenges faced by such individuals. Six Emirati women involved in a consanguineous marriage attended a focus group, and a thematic analysis of the interview transcript was subsequently undertaken. Five master themes emerged from the dataset: (i) Reasons for Marrying Consanguineously, (ii) Awareness and Fear of Hereditary Diseases, (iii) Emotional and Psychological Challenges, (iv) Coping Mechanisms, and (v) Confidence in Consanguineous Marriages. The master themes indicated a high level of family and parental influence as well as a cultural/traditional paradigm as being key causes for entering into a consanguineous marriage. Emotional and mental health challenges arouse due to the fear of genetic problems among offspring as well as difficulties coming to terms with consanguineous marriage dynamics. Self-help coping strategies were identified such as participants turning to religion in times of need, while shunning professional psychological help. Despite these challenges, participants generally retained confidence in the consanguineous marriage process. Findings shed light on the personal and health challenges experienced by Emirati women involved in consanguineous marriages, and highlight the need for further research to better understand the support needs of this population group.N/

Oxidation of Benzene by Persulfate in the Presence of Fe(III)- and Mn(IV)-Containing Oxides: Stoichiometric Efficiency and Transformation Products

Sulfate radical (SO₄^•‑) is a strong, short-lived oxidant that is produced when persulfate (S₂O₈^2–) reacts with transition metal oxides during in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) of contaminated groundwater. Although engineers are aware of the ability of transition metal oxides to activate persulfate, the operation of ISCO remediation systems is hampered by an inadequate understanding of the factors that control SO₄^•– production and the overall efficiency of the process. To address these shortcomings, we assessed the stoichiometric efficiency and products of transition metal-catalyzed persulfate oxidation of benzene with pure iron- and manganese-containing minerals, clays, and aquifer solids. For most metal-containing solids, the stoichiometric efficiency, as determined by the loss of benzene relative to the loss of persulfate, approached the theoretical maximum. Rates of production of SO₄^•– or hydroxyl radical (HO^•) generated from radical chain reactions were affected by the concentration of benzene, with rates of S₂O₈^2– decomposition increasing as the benzene concentration increased. Under conditions selected to minimize the loss of initial transformation products through reaction with radicals, the production of phenol only accounted for 30%–60% of the benzene lost in the presence of O₂. The remaining products included a ring-cleavage product that appeared to contain an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde functional group. In the absence of O₂, the concentration of the ring-cleavage product increased relative to phenol. The formation of the ring-cleavage product warrants further studies of its toxicity and persistence in the subsurface