The Effect of Cultural and Psychological Discrimination against Working Women on hindering their Economic Independency in Jordan

This study aims at investigating the effect of cultural and psychological discrimination against working women on hindering their economic independency in Jordan. To achieve the objectives of the study a questionnaire of 30 items was developed to be the primary tool to collect data from the study's sample, which consists of 150 female employees in the private sector in Jordan. Collected data was analyzed via "most probable median" statistical program. Results indicated cultural and psychological discrimination against working women in Jordan have a very negative effect on their progress towards economic independency. Recommendations are set forward. Keywords: Discrimination, Equality, Economic Independence, Wage gap Working Woman

Do close relative marriages contribute to the Causes of Autism among ethnic groups in Jordan, psychological effect on society? Umm Al Quttain village and Abdali area a case study

This field survey aims at investigating and if possible prove that close relative marriages are considered to be one of autism causing factors  among ethnic groups in Jordan. To achieve this purpose author conducted a Field survey in two areas in Jordan, where the ethnic group of Duruz live: Umm Al Quttain in northern Jordan and Al Abdali area in Amman, the capital city. Ten families were chosen from these areas to be experimental group, and other ten families from mainstream population in Amman were chosen to be a control group. A brief questionnaire was developed to be use simultaneously with the experimental group and control group. Results revealed that Duruz ethnic group practice widely relative marriages and there many autistic children within the duruz families member in the study. The study puts forward several recommendations, most importantly is to stay away from marrying relatives, and initiate awareness programs to show the negative consequences of relative marriages. Keywords: Autistic children, the ethnic group of  Duruz, Umm Quttain area, Abdali

Female Migrant Domestic Workers, a Forgotten Segment of Forced Labor: Evidence from Jordan

This study aims at investigating the life and work conditions of Female migrant domestic workers in the Gulf States and United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in general and Jordan in particular.Interviews were conducted with officials in the Sri Lankan, Indonesian and Philippines embassies accompanied by extensive relevant literature review including UN organization reports.Results revealed that female migrant domestic workers live and work in environment that is similar to the life of slaves. The study recommends that the current work contract system be abolished and be replaced with better work system that gives female Migrant domestic workers more freedom and independence to enter labor markets with complete rights protection Keywords: Migrant Domestic Workers, forced labor, human right slavery, exploitatio

The Effect of War and Displacement on Syrian Refugee Children in Terms of Increase Deviation and MHPSS: Afield Study at the Za'atri, Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan

This field study aims at revealing facts about the effect of war and displacement of Syrian refugee children in Jordan in terms of deviation increase and MHPSS .Away from media for profit and reports. Researcher visited the Zaatri camp several times, spent long hours in observation and talking to camps children .Also conducting interviews with UN personnel and other professionals at several field hospitals.The study revealed some important results, such as:  children are in need for everything because they have nothing. This condition pushes children to suffer from chronic psychological illnesses, and disorders. They suffer from increasing deviation among other things. what makes child's deviation in the increase and remain a prey for chronic MHPSS. is the war still going on fiercely in their home country Syria with no solution or a hope for solution in the horizon. Keywords: Deviation, Al Za'atri Refugee Camp, children war victims, MHPSS, Psychotrauma

Marriage and divorce practices in Islamic centers in Italy

This paper studies Muslim marriages and divorces in Islamic centers in Italy, which are influenced by religion, and conducted outside the scope of Italian laws. The paper is basically empirical research, based on interviews with imāms in various Islamic centers, Muslim women and men who have chosen to refer to Islamic centers for their marriage or divorce, and family counselors following different cases. It investigates the motivations behind these practices by analyzing the fieldwork data, and demonstrates the related socio-legal consequences, specifically in relation to the role of Islamic centers and imāms in these marriages and divorces. The current state of religious rights for Muslims in Italy, and the lack of knowledge about the circumstances and reasons for these practices at national level are taken into consideration

Study of Treg FOXP3 in childhood bronchial asthma in relation to corticosteroid therapy

Background: T cells are considered the main cells responsible for production of suppressive cytokines, and play a key role in balancing the immune responses to maintain the peripheral tolerance against allergens. Objective: The present study investigates T regulatory (Treg) forkheadwinged helix protein 3 FOXP3 expression in childhood asthma and its relation to corticosteroid therapy. Methods: In this case control study, Treg FOXP3 was measured in blood of 60 children using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. Two asthmatic groups were included, one on corticosteroid therapy (20 patients) and the other not on corticosteroid treatment (20 patients). They were compared to 20 healthy children as controls. Results: FOXP3 concentration was significantly elevated in asthmatic patients (90 ± 77.4) compared to healthy children (12.844 ± 10.6) (p= 0.000). FOXP3 was significantly more elevated in asthmatics on corticosteroids (161.158 ± 63.9) than steroid naive asthmatics (36.038 ± 23.4) (p=0.000). Levels of Treg FOXP3 in asthmatics with inhaled corticosteroids (mean 151.16 ± 53.79) were almost similar to FOXP3 in asthmatics with systemic corticosteroids (161.49±72.5) (p>0.05). FOXP3 levels did not differ with smoking, asthma severity or disease control and did not correlate with age, FEV1, blood lymphocytes percentage or eosinophils percentage. Conclusion: Asthmatics have increased expression of FOXP3, and corticosteroid therapy –whether oral or inhaled - enhances FOXP3 expression.Keywords: FOXP3, Treg, Corticosteroids, Bronchial asthma, Transcription factors, CytokinesEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2012;10(1):39-43

Mapping Soil Salinity and Its Impact on Agricultural Production in Al Hassa Oasis in Saudi Arabia

Soil salinity is considered as one of the major environmental issues globally that restricts agricultural growth and productivity, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. One such region is Al Hassa Oasis in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, which is one of the most productive date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) farming regions in Saudi Arabia and is seriously threatened by soil salinity. Development of remote sensing techniques and modelling approaches that can assess and map soil salinity and the associated agricultural impacts accurately and its likely future distribution should be useful in formulating more effective, long-term management plans. The main objective of this study was to detect, assess and map soil salinity and and its impact on agricultural production in the Al Hassa Oasis. The presented research first started by reviewing the related literature that have utilized the use of remote sensing data and techniques to map and monitor soil salinity. This review started by discussing soil salinity indicators that are commonly used to detect soil salinity. Soil salinity can be detected either directly from the spectral reflectance patterns of salt features visible at the soil surface, or indirectly using the vegetation reflectance since it impacts vegetation. Also, it investigated the most commonly used remote sensors and techniques for monitoring and mapping soil salinity in previous studies. Both spectral vegetation and salinity indices that have been developed and proposed for soil salinity detection and mapping have been reviewed. Finally, issues limiting the use of remote sensing for soil salinity mapping, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions have been highlighted. In the second study, broadband vegetation and soil salinity indices derived from IKONOS images along with ground data in the form of soil samples from three sites across the Al Hassa Oasis were used to assess soil salinity in the Al-Hassa Oasis. The effectiveness of these indices to assess soil salinity over a dominant date palm region was examined statistically. The results showed that very strongly saline soils with different salinity level ranges are spread across the three sites in the study area. Among the investigated indices, the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Normalized Differential Salinity Index (NDSI) and Salinity Index (SI-T) yielded the best results for assessing the soil salinity in densely vegetated area, while NDSI and SI-T revealed the highest significant correlation with salinity for less densely vegetated lands and bare soils. In the third study, combined spectral-based statistical regression models were developed using IKONOS images to model and map the spatial variation of the soil salinity in the Al Hassa Oasis. Statistical correlation between Electrical Conductivity (EC), spectral indices and IKONOS original bands showed that the Salinity Index (SI) and red band (band 3) had the highest correlation with EC. Integrating SI and band 3 into one model produced the best fit with R2 = 0.65. The high performance of this combined model is attributed to: (i) the spatial resolution of the images; (ii) the great potential of SI in enhancing and delineating the spatial variation of soil salinity; and (iii) the superiority of band 3 in retrieving soil salinity features and patterns. Soil salinity maps generated using the selected model showed that strongly saline soils (>16 dS/m) with variable spatial distribution were the dominant class over the study area. The spatial variability of this class over the investigated areas was attributed to a variety factors, including soil factors, management related factors and climate factors.16 dS/m) with variable spatial distribution were the dominant class over the study area. The spatial variability of this class over the investigated areas was attributed to a variety factors, including soil factors, management related factors and climate factors. In the fourth study, Landsat time series data of years 1985, 2000 and 2013 were used to detect the temporal change in soil salinity and vegetation cover in the Al Hassa Oasis and investigate whether there is any linkage of vegetation cover change to the change in soil salinity over a 28-year period. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Soil Salinity Index (SI) differencing images were used to identify vegetation and salinity change/no-change for the two periods. The results revealed that soil salinity during 2000-2013 exhibited much higher increase compared to 1985-2000, while the vegetation cover declined for the same period. Highly significant (p In the fifth study, the effects of physical and proximity factors, including elevation, slope, soil salinity, distance to water, distance to built-up areas, distance to roads, distance to drainage and distance to irrigation factors on agricultural expansion in the Al Hassa Oasis were investigated. A logistic regression model was used for two time periods of agricultural change in 1985 and 2015. The probable agricultural expansion maps based on agricultural changes in 1985 was used to test the performance of the model to predict the probable agricultural expansion after 2015. This was achieved by comparing the probable maps of 1985 and the actual agricultural land of 2015 model. The Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) method was also used and together these two methods were used to validate the developed model. The results showed that the prediction model of 2015 provides a reliable and consistent prediction based on the performance of 1985. The logistic regression results revealed that among the investigated factors, distance to water, distance to built-up areas and soil salinity were the major factors having a significant influence on agricultural expansion. In the last study, the potential distribution of date palm was assessed under current and future climate scenarios of 2050 and 2100. Here, CLIMEX (an ecological niche model) and two different Global Climate Models (GCMs), CSIRO-Mk3.0 (CS) and MIROC-H (MR), were employed with the A2 emission scenario to model the potential date palm distribution under current and future climates in Saudi Arabia. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify the CLIMEX model parameters that had the most influence on date palm distribution. The model was also run with the incorporation of six non-climatic parameters, which are soil taxonomy, soil texture, soil salinity, land use, landform and slopes, to further refine the distributions. The results from both GCMs showed a significant reduction in climatic suitability for date palm cultivation in Saudi Arabia by 2100 due to increment of heat stress. The lower optimal soil moisture, cold stress temperature threshold and wet stress threshold parameters had the greatest impact on sensitivity, while other parameters were moderately sensitive or insensitive to change. A more restricted distribution was projected with the inclusion of non-climatic parameters. Overall, the research demonstrated the potential of remote sensing and modeling techniques for assessing and mapping soil salinity and providing the essential information of its impacts on date palm plantation. The findings provide useful information for land managers, environmental decision makers and governments, which may help them in implementing more suitable adaptation measures, such as the use of new technologies, management practices and new varieties, to overcome the issue of soil salinity and its impact on this important economic crop so that long-term sustainable production of date palm in this region can be achieved. Additionally, the information derived from this research could be considered as a useful starting point for public policy to promote the resilience of agricultural systems, especially for smallholder farmers who might face more challenges, if not total loss, not only due to soil salinity but also due to climate change

Cancer Magnitude in West Libya and Study the Effect of Dietary Habits in Cancer Incidence and Cancer Treatment Using Nanotechnology

This study provides an overview of magnitude of cancer incidence in West Libya form 2009 to 2013, to identify the role of bad meal in developing cancer, and to suggest further nano-technology research for treating cancer. Among 1851 cancer cases, 1472 cases (79.5%) occur in people aged above 40 years old. The most affected age by cancers was in males aged 61-70 years and in females aged 41-50 years. Lung cancer is the principal cancer in men accounting for 21% of cases, while breast cancer is the leading malignancy in women accounting for 35% of cases. Among 100 interviewed males and females with colon, stomach and liver cancers, 50% of them were eating a lot of red meat, canned and fast foods, whereas 20% of all cases were eating a little of fruits and vegetables. 22% of all cases were more likely to have a positive family history of cancer and 8% of all cases had chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, urinary tract infection and gastritis. Good efforts have been made to improve the treatment of cancer by using nanomedicines in order to enhance the performance of chemotherapy and reduce systemic side effects

A positive role for selenium in mitigating complications associated with fructose-induced metabolic syndrome in rats

This study was designed to investigate the potential role of selenium on metabolic syndrome induced by fructose in rats. Thirty male Wister Albino rats weighing 185 to 225 g were used. The rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, 10 rats each. The first group received water only and set as a control (GI). The second group received 20% fructose in drinking water daily (GII). Third group (GIII) received fructose 20% and 0. 25 mg/0.5 ml distilled water/kg body weight per day selenium in drinking water. After 5 weeks of supplementation, rats were sacrificed; blood samples were obtained for different biochemical analysis including serum level of glucose; lipids profile were measured including total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and triglyceride (TG). Liver function tests, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), albumin and total protein were carried out. Also, kidney function tests (creatinine, urea and uric acid) were estimated in serum. The present study revealed that selenium treatment mitigate the complications associated with metabolic syndrome. It is recommended that selenium may be an important part of an individual medical nutritional and lifestyle intervention