Marginalization and Leadership: Iranian Immigrant Women’s Challenges in Canadian Academia and Society

Iranian women disappointed by increasing social and political instability in their homeland have migrated to Canada to achieve their dream of social rights and justice. However, the tragedy of September 11, 2001 directed considerable hatred toward Middle Eastern people. They did not feel at peace, were not treated with respect, and their presence in the west aroused suspicion. More recently, Iran's president, Mahmood Ahmadinejad is largely seen to be a person who threatens world peace; this negatively impacts Iranians in the west as those remaining in Iran face heavy economic sanctions. In this article, which is a small part of my thesis research findings, I discuss the challenges of first-generation of Iranian immigrant women through their experiences in Canadian graduate schools and workplaces. How do they negotiate the many negative images of Iranians and how do these images shape their experiences within these institutions?First-generation female Iranian graduate students' experiences in Canada are unheard and undocumented. In interviews, these women questioned the ability of neo-liberal capitalist schools to connect them to Canadian society while honouring their Iranian origins and identities and enabling them to achieve their goal to live and study in Canada. I argue that Iranian immigrant women experience a double exclusion both at school and in the workplace despite their willingness to engage with both places. This dual exclusion is an enormous source of pressure on their minds and spirits. The goal of this research is to give these women a voice. Policy makers in school and workplaces will benefit from the findings of this research, which calls for significant changes to realize social justice in Canadian society

Molecular analysis of the clavulanic acid regulatory gene isolated from an Iranian strain of Streptomyces clavuligerus, PTCC 1709

Objective: The clavulanic acid regulatory gene (claR) is in the clavulanic acid biosynthetic gene cluster that encodes ClaR. This protein is a putative regulator of the late steps of clavulanic acid biosynthesis. The aim of this research is the molecular cloning of claR, isolated from the Iranian strain of Streptomyces clavuligerus (S. clavuligerus). Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, two different strains of S. clavuligerus were used (PTCC 1705 and DSM 738), of which there is no claR sequence record for strain PTCC 1705 in all three main gene banks. The specific designed primers were subjected to a few base modifications for introduction of the recognition sites of BamHI and ClaI. The claR gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using DNA isolated from S. clavuligerus PTCC 1705. Nested-PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and sequencing were used for molecular analysis of the claR gene. The confirmed claR was subjected to double digestion with BamHI and ClaI. The cut claR was ligated into a pBluescript (pBs) vector and transformed into E. coli. Results: The entire sequence of the isolated claR (Iranian strain) was identified. The presence of the recombinant vector in the transformed colonies was confirmed by the colony-PCR procedure. The correct structure of the recombinant vector, isolated from the transformed E. coli, was confirmed using gel electrophoresis, PCR, and double digestion with restriction enzymes. Conclusion: The constructed recombinant cassette, named pZSclaR, can be regarded as an appropriate tool for site directed mutagenesis and sub-cloning. At this time, claR has been cloned accompanied with its precisely selected promoter so it could be used in expression vectors. Hence the ClaR is known as a putative regulatory protein. The overproduced protein could also be used for other related investigations, such as a mobility shift assa

Validity of self-reported substance use : research setting versus primary health care setting

Funding Information: This study has been supported by the Vice Chancellery for Research & Technology of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences. The context of this article are the views of the authors and the funder had no role in design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, decision to publish and writing the manuscript. Acknowledgments The Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences provided funding for this study. Also we thank the people who participated in the study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Ironic Acceptance – Present in Academia Discarded as Oriental: The Case of Iranian Female Graduate Student in Canadian Academia

The purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of first-generation, highly educated Iranian women who came to Canada to pursue further education in a ‘just’, ‘safe’, and ‘peaceful’ place. The research has revealed that these women who were fleeing from an ‘oppressive’ and ‘unjust’ Iranian regime face new challenges and different forms of oppression in Canada. This dissertation examines some of the challenges that these women face at their place of work and/or at graduate school. The research findings are based on narratives of eleven Iranian women who participated in in-depth interviews in the summer of 2008. These women, whose ages range from 26 to 55 and are of diverse marital status, all hold an academic degree from Iran. They were also all enrolled in different graduate schools and diverse disciplines in Ontario universities at the time of the interviews. The research findings indicate that their presence in Canada became more controversial after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade centers in New York. Historically, the social images imposed on Middle Eastern women derive from the Orientalism that arose following the colonization of the Middle East by Western imperialists. The perpetuation of such images after the 9/11 attack has created a harsh environment for the participants in this research. After 9/11 most immigrants from the Middle East were assumed to be Muslim and Arab, which many North Americans came to equate with being a terrorist. In order to analyze the participants’ voices and experiences, I have adopted a multi-critical theoretical perspective that includes Orientalism, anti-colonialism and integrative anti-racist feminist perspectives, so as to be equipped with the tools necessary to investigate and expose the roots of racism, oppression and discrimination of these marginalized voices. The findings of this research fall under six interrelated themes: adaptation, stereotyping, discrimination, being silenced, strategy of resistance, and belonging to Canadian society/ graduate school. One of the important results of this research is that, regardless of the suffering and pain that the participants feel in Canadian graduate school and society, they prefer to stay in Canada because of the socio-political climate in Iran.Ph

Differential Expression of MiR-18b in PBMC from T1D Patients in Isfahan population

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is caused by cell-mediated autoimmune attack on pancreatic beta-cells. Previous studies highlight the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of T1D. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs involved in the regulation of gene expression post-transcriptionally. In this work, miR-18b was chosen and the differential expression of it was measured between T1D patients and healthy controls from Isfahan population. Materials and Methods: MiR-18b was selected using Bioinformatics studies by miRWalk software. 22 T1D patients and 18 healthy controls from Isfahan population were enrolled in this study. Total RNA of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) samples were extracted. After cDNA synthesis, the expression profile of miR-18b quantified by means of qPCR method in patients and controls. Finally the results were statistically analyzed. Results: In this study despite our hypothesis, the expression levels of miR-18b didn’t show any significant difference between T1D patients and healthy controls (p value: 0.145). Conclusion: Due to the results of our experimental analysis, it seems that miR-18b doesn’t have any association with T1D disease in Isfahan population