Freedom of expression, accountability and development in the Arab region

Mechanisms for ensuring government transparency and accountability have yet to become established in the Arab region, where oil rents and security rents have traditionally enabled governments to provide jobs and services without having to rely heavily, if at all, on raising revenue through personal income tax on citizens. Yet various forms of resource mobilisation, which will be needed in future, are likely to require a greater degree of accountability from those responsible for such mobilisation. This paper considers whether a move in this direction is under way. It reviews government approaches to freedom of expression in the media and among non-governmental organisations. It notes changes that have taken place in this sphere since the start of the 1990s, not all of them positive, and concludes that many more steps remain to be taken if media organisations and NGOs are to exert pressure for accountability on behalf of citizens, and especially the disadvantaged

The Arab world: society, culture, and state

This wide-ranging examination of Arab society and culture offers a unique opportunity to know the Arab world from an Arab point of view. Halim Barakat, an expatriate Syrian who is both scholar and novelist, emphasizes the dynamic changes and diverse patterns that have characterized the Middle East since the mid-nineteenth century.The Arab world is not one shaped by Islam, nor one simply explained by reference to the sectarian conflicts of a "mosaic" society. Instead, Barakat reveals a society that is highly complex, with many and various contending polarities. It is a society in a state of becoming and change, one whose social contradictions are at the root of the struggle to transcend dehumanizing conditions. Arguing from a perspective that is both radical and critical, Barakat is committed to the improvement of human conditions in the Arab world

Alienation From The School System: Its Dynamics And Structure.

PhDSocial psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/184313/2/6614483.pd

Dunia arab : masyarakat, budaya dan negara

xi, 447 hlm : 23 c

Dunia Arab: masyarakat , budaya dan negara

Masyarakat Arab adalah masyarakat yang menyimpan potensi persatuan sekaligus perpecahan. Buku ini menghadirkan potret masyarakat Arab secara komprehensif tanpa mengabaikan kompleksitas, kekhususan, dan dinamikanya. Sehingga, paparan ini mampu memunculkan cara pandang baru yang bisa digunakan untuk lebih memahami kondisi objektif negara-negara Arab dan posisi mereka di masa depan

Urinary β-HCG in Benign and Malignant Urinary Tract Diseases

Detectable leve ls of HCG have been reported in conditions other th an normal pregnancy, including threatened abortion, ectopic pregnancy, trophoblastic tumors, carcinomas of the stomach, liver, pancreas and breast as well as multiple myeloma and melanoma. The present study was conducted to estimate urinary β-HCG in bladder cancer and benign urinary tract disorders. 163 individuals were included, 68 with bladder cancer (60 males and 8 females), 64 with benign urinary tract diseases (55 males and 9 females) and 31 normal healthy controls (26 males and 5 females). Urinary β-HCG was estimated by the ELISA technique using the reagents supplied by DRG International Inc., Germany. Results of th e study revealed an overexpression of β-HCG in mali gnant and benign urinary tract diseases. 60.3% of the cancer patients and 29.7% of patients with benign diseases showed urinary β-HCG values above the upper limit of the control group (2mIU/ml )

Evidence for Association of the E23K Variant of KCNJ11 Gene with Type 2 Diabetes in Tunisian Population: Population-Based Study and Meta-Analysis

Aims. Genetic association studies have reported the E23K variant of KCNJ11 gene to be associated with Type 2 diabetes. In Arab populations, only four studies have investigated the role of this variant. We aimed to replicate and validate the association between the E23K variant and Type 2 diabetes in Tunisian and Arab populations. Methods. We have performed a case-control association study including 250 Tunisian patients with Type 2 diabetes and 267 controls. Allelic association has also been evaluated by 2 meta-analyses including all population-based studies among Tunisians and Arabs (2 and 5 populations, resp.). Results. A significant association between the E23K variant and Type 2 diabetes was found (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.14–2.27, and P=0.007). Furthermore, our meta-analysis has confirmed the significant role of the E23K variant in susceptibility of Type 2 diabetes in Tunisian and Arab populations (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.15–1.46, and P<10-3 and OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.13–1.56, and P=0.001, resp.). Conclusion. Both case-control and meta-analyses results revealed the significant association between the E23K variant of KCNJ11 and Type 2 diabetes among Tunisians and Arabs