Arabs

The incidence and ossification of sesamoid bones in the hands and feet were studied in 922 radiographs (400 hands and 522 feet) in an Arab population from Bahrain, 5-83 years of age and consisting of 549 adults (393 men and 156 women) and 373 children (286 boys and 97 girls). All radiographs of the hand and foot in the adult population showed two sesamoid bones in the thumb metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint and in the hallucal metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint, respectively. Only 2.3% and 1.5% of hands showed sesamoids at the MCP joints of the middle and ring fingers respectively compared to a reported incidence of 7.1% for each digit in Caucasians. The incidence of sesamoids in the MTP joints of third and fourth toes (0.6% each) and inferior to the hallucal interphalangeal joint (3.1%) is probably the lowest reported so far in the literature. In the hands, ossification commenced first in the thumb sesamoids, at the age of 10 years in females and 11 years in males and was completed by the age of 13 and 14 years, respectively. In the feet, ossification began first in the hallucal sesamoids at the age of 8 years in females and 9 years in males and was completed by the age of 10 years in both sexes. The incidence and ossification of sesamoids in the hands and feet in the Arab population from Bahrain seem to differ considerably from reports in other populations. The clinical significance of our findings is discussed.

Guided by a family resiliency model grounded in systems theory and social constructionism, we conducted in-depth interviews to explore how 18 Arab American couples living in New York and New Jersey perceived and dealt with the terrorist attacks and aftereffects of September 11, 2001. Results are organized around five themes: Making sense of the attacks; the social environment after September 11, 2001; construction of identity: Arab and/or American; how couples cope: reactions and resources; and immigration and acculturation. Clinical recommendations include helping couples to uncover and to explore conflicts in both Arab and American identities, using genograms to deal with family-of-origin histories, recognizing specific couple dynamics linked to traditional gender roles, helping couples connect to religious and cultural communities, and assessing acculturation.

OBJECTIVE. Children with fine-motor problems and handwriting difficulties often are referred for occupational therapy. The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of a short-term treatment on the fine-motor and graphomotor skills of first-grade students. METHOD. We recruited 52 first-grade students who had scored below the 21st percentile on the Visual–Motor Integration test from schools in a city with a low socioeconomic, mixed (Arab and Jewish) population. The children were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group. Before and after the intervention, we administered two tests to both groups. RESULTS. Students in the intervention group made significant gains both in the total score on the graphomotor test (Developmental Test of Visual Perception) and on the fine-motor test (Bruininks–Oseretsky Motor Development Scale). CONCLUSION. This study provided preliminary evidence of the efficacy of a short-term graphomotor intervention. The results increased t...

Background:  Voluntary dehydration is a condition where humans do not drink appropriately in the presence of an adequate fluid supply. This may adversely affect their physical and intellectual performance. The present study aimed to describe the prevalence of voluntary dehydration among elementary school children of different ethnicities and countries of birth.Methods:  Four hundred and twenty-nine elementary school children, aged 8–10 years, from four subpopulations (Israeli-born Jewish and Bedouin-Arab children, and immigrant children who recently arrived to Israel from Eastern Europe and from Ethiopia) were studied. The level of dehydration was determined by noontime urine osmolality, from samples taken over 1 week in mid-summer. Urine osmolality <500 mOsmol kg−1 H2O was considered to be an appropriate level of hydration.Results:  Mean urine osmolality was 862 ± 211 mOsmol kg−1 H2O. Osmolality above 800 mOsmol kg−1 H2O was detected in 67.5% of the urine samples; among these, 25% were above 1000 mOsmol kg−1 H2O. The most dehydrated group was that of Israeli-born Jewish children, whereas the Bedouin-Arab children were the least dehydrated.Conclusions:  A high proportion of children who reside in a hot and arid environment were found to be in a state of moderate to severe dehydration. Bedouin ethnicity was associated with better hydration, whereas Israeli-born Jews were most severely dehydrated. Educational intervention programmes promoting water intake should start in early childhood and continue throughout life.

Southern Sinai, a mountainous desolated arid area, is inhabited by Bedouin nomad tribes composed of Arabic-speaking Moslems. Until the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel in 1967, healthcare services in the region were based on traditional medicine performed by the Darvish, a local healer. Over the course of Israeli rule (1967-1982) an elaborate healthcare service was established and maintained, providing modern, up to date, comprehensive medical services that were available to all free of charge.

Professionalism must be explicitly taught, but teaching professionalism is challenging, because medical teachers are not prepared to teach this content area. This study aims at designing and evaluating a faculty development programme on learning and teaching professionalism in the Arabian context. Programme development: The study used a participatory design, where four authors and 28 teachers shared the responsibility in programme design in three steps: orientation workshop for teachers, vignette development, and teaching professionalism to students. The workshop provided the cognitive base on the salient attributes of professionalism in the Arabian context. After the workshop, authors helped teachers to develop a total of 32 vignettes in various clinical aspects, portraying a blend of professionalism dilemmas. A battery of seven questions/triggers was suggested to guide students&#39; reflection. The programme was evaluated with regard to its &quot;construct&quot; and its &quot;outc...

This is a carefully reasoned, positive, and largely reflective work. Looking back at the various stages of Islamic ‎historical development, AbuSulayman puts forward a thesis that focuses on the recovery of what is termed the ‎Qur’anic worldview. By this is meant an ethical, monotheistic, and purposeful perspective on the world and those ‎within it. Our faith will only be complete when we have become utterly sincere in our love for God, a love expressed ‎in a pure, passionate love for goodness and truth in this world. It was the strict internalization of this perspective ‎and close adherence to the principles of the Qur’an which AbuSulayman contends, played a key factor in ‎galvanizing the devout and intensely God-conscious followers of fledgling Islam to achieve the successes that they ‎once did, the profound historical and global impact of which is still the subject of much study and admiration today. ‎The rebirth of Islamic identity through this Qur’anic worldview is the key requirement of our times and a ‎prerequisite for any future healthy and viable development of Muslim societies.‎

Youth health risk behaviors, including substance use (psychoactive substances including alcohol and illicit drugs), have been the subject of relatively limited study to date in Middle Eastern countries. This study provides insights into the perceived prevalence and patterns of alcohol and drug use among Palestinian youth. The study was based on ten focus groups and 17 individual interviews with youth aged 16-24 years (n = 83), collected as part of the formative phase of a cross-sectional, population representative study of risk taking behaviors among Palestinian youth in the West Bank in 2012. Qualitative analysis was used to code detailed notes of focus groups and interviews. Most participants reported that substance use exists, even in socially conservative communities. Almost all participants agreed that alcohol consumption is common and that alcohol is easily available. The top alcoholic drinks referred to by the study participants were vodka, whisky, beer, and wine. Most partic...

The wave of Arab revolutions and uprisings that has been shaking all corners of the Arab Middle East since 2011 and that has come to be known as the Arab Spring owed a major portion of its success to online activism. The spark that ignited these revolutions in the offline world was ignited by the Arab cyberactivists' well-coordinated campaigns, calling for the toppling of corrupt regimes in their home countries. These campaigns were launched through various forms of social media, such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Flicker with the goal of introducing drastic political changes and allowing for a higher margin of freedom in a region that has often been associated with autocracy and dictatorship. Three Arab countries in particular-Egypt, Tunisia and Libya-have witnessed sweeping transformations, leading to the ousting and court trials of members of their old regimes and the holding of democratic presidential and parliamentary elections. This study utilizes qualitative, on-the-field interviews with cyberactivists in these three countries to provide a unique perspective into how they have paved the way for a new era of openness and democratic reform in their respective countries.

Smoking and subsequent development of COPD is an ever-increasing epidemic in Arabian Gulf and Middle East countries, with no signs of decline. The important fact to be highlighted is that this COPD epidemic of increasing incidence and prevalence is mostly unrecognized by patients, due to the common attribution of symptoms to &quot;smoker&#39;s cough&quot;, and the underdiagnosis and undertreatment by physicians because the common signs and symptoms masquerade as asthma. Consequently, there are long-term adverse effects of missing the diagnosis. The purpose of this review article is to focus upon the status of COPD in Arabian Gulf and Middle East countries, stressing the increasing burden of smoking and COPD, to emphasize the specific factors leading to rise in prevalence of COPD, to bring to light the underdiagnosis and undermanagement of COPD, and to treat COPD in conformity with standard guidelines with local and regional modifications. This review ends with suggestions and recomm...

The book is dedicated to problem of the Muslim military collaboration in the period of the Second World War. Based on the numerous complex of sources the analysis of military collaborationism of muslim peoples with management of Nazi Germany is carried out and selected it typical features. Military-political reasons and terms, which were instrumental in creation of the Muslim collaboration formations, are certain. Interethnic relations in territories of Near East, India, Balkan and USSR and their influence on the problem of collaborationism are considered . The role of national movements in the process of creation and using of collaboration units is found out. The features of their organization, preparation and battle using are shown. The resulted about the comparative quantity of personnel of the Muslim collaborationist formations into this category and towards to the quantity of personnel of units, formed from foreign citizens is given.

This study is the first to use identical data collection processes and instruments in Egypt, Kuwait, Palestine, and Israeli Arab communities regarding help-seeking behaviors and attitudes towards perceived cultural beliefs about mental health problems. Data is based on a survey sample of 716, undergraduate students in the 4 countries, 61% female and 39% male. Results indicate that respondents within the various countries, based on nationality, gender and level of education, vary in terms of recognition of personal need, beliefs about mental health problems (i.e. stigmatization), and the use of traditional healing methods versus modern approaches to psychiatric therapy. The conclusion discusses differences between our respondents’ expectations and prevailing mental health service provision and delivery.

RD HOBBS reviews "Talking Hands" by Margalit Fox.
Fox, M. (2007). Talking hands; What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
A team of researchers descend on a village in southern Israel where a Bedouin tribe has 4% deaf population because of the custom of cousins marrying one another. The "organically grown" language of the deaf is an opportunity for linguists to study are relatively new language that should give clues as to how languages come to be. Half of the book is devoted as a narrative of the linguists visiting, recording, photographing, and filming families in their homes, and the other half of the book as intermittent chapters discuss language, linguistics, language in the brain, grammar, and language evolution. Comparisons are drawn between Sign languages, sign language communities, grammars, and more.

No ano de 2007, período em que os jogos eletrônicos já se mostravam como uma indústria consolidada, com um mercado multimilionário, que já abarcava todos os gêneros e faixas etárias, a desenvolvedora Infinity Ward lançou um jogo que prometia inovar todo seu segmento. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, além dos gráficos de qualidade e das novas mecânicas de jogo, possuía, em sua narrativa, algo que a diferenciava das suas principais concorrentes. O jogo em questão não se baseava na Segunda Guerra Mundial ou na Guerra do Vietnã, conflitos esses já muito explorados por outras franquias de jogos do gênero. A tal guerra moderna, narrada no jogo, se consistia em um conflito que uniu britânicos e estadunidenses, esses sendo os personagens que serão controlados pelo jogador, em uma cruzada contra uma aliança formada por russos e árabes, rivais históricos dos Estados Unidos, que agora eram reunidos em um mesmo contexto, como símbolo de uma ameaça à paz e a ordem no mundo. Tendo em vista essas questões supracitadas, o objetivo da pesquisa é, além de historicizar brevemente a indústria dos games, também analisar de que forma os russos e os árabes foram representados no competitivo que nos serve de fonte, bem como quais foram os fatores que levaram a tal tipo de representação, traçando um paralelo com eventos contemporâneos a criação do jogo, que possam ter servido de inspiração aos criadores. Para isso nos ampararemos em estudos que discutem identidades nacionais na contemporaneidade, relações internacionais e globalização, além de utilizarmos também de teóricos que se dedicam às áreas da Narratologia e da Ludologia.

The Palestinian-Israeli problem has been the most significant obstacle in the peace process in the Middle East. The Balfour Declaration between the British Empire and the Zionists in 1917, which explicitly declared support for creating a "national home for the Jewish people" at the expense of the Palestinians, began after the Jewish exodus to Palestine after WW1. There have been three wars between Arab-Israel and Zionist imperial control over the Palestinians, resulting in the displacement of millions of refugees and hundreds of thousands of deaths of the Palestinians. Since the 1948 war, there have been no official Arab-Israeli relations except for Egypt and Jordan. However, geopolitical changes over the last decade have completely disrupted the Middle East and North Africa's conventional political order thanks to the Arab Spring, the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS, and new non-Arab hegemonial forces like Iran and Turkey. Over the last decade, these developments have altered the perspective of the Arab monarchies towards the Palestinian issue, which they conceive as a mere distraction from real immediate threats. It finally contributed to Abraham's agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel and then the agreement between Bahrain and Israel. While there is the considerable fuss about the agreement, it will only lead to more conflict and chaos in the MENA region from a pragmatic point of view, as has emerged in the recent developments in Libya and the Mediterranean Sea.

RD Hobbs Book Review
Fox, M. (2007). Talking Hands. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
A team of researchers descend on a village in Southern Israel inhabited by a Bedouin tribe with 4% deaf population due to cousins marrying. The normal statistic for deaf population is one out of 1,000 to one out of 10,000, not four out of 100. Having deaf family members in the village is normal. Deaf children do not grow up in isolation. As a result, a deaf language organically evolved. The more dependable way of observing the evolved language is to observe a deaf child with his hearing sibling. The reason is that deaf children go to school and learn Israeli Sign language. So, when two deaf children get together from the village, their sign language will be mixed with Village sign and Israeli sign. Hearing children learn Village sign from deaf relatives at home and not in school, so they are unfamiliar with Israeli sign language. Chapters in Fox (2007) alternate between observations of Village Bedouins using Village sign and chapters on language and linguistics. The author tells of a Dublin School for the deaf that segregate boys from girls. As a result of the segregation, 70% of the signs are different. The authors explain that before Sandinistas taking power, deaf children grew up in isolation, so they were language impaired for the rest of their lives - having missed the threshold of time to learn a language. After the Sandinistas took power, education improved and deaf children attended school. Linguists report that the older children in the first cohort never learned Nicaragua Sign Language (NSL) adequately, but in the second cohort, children under age 7 enriched the rudimentary "language" they were given to create a bonafide language. Researchers were informed by other examples of Sign language. Thus, Fox (2007) takes on the roles of neurolinguists and psycholinguists in that they explain language in the brain, but also sociolinguists in that they explain deaf language in society as well as in culture and sub-cultures.

Despite evidence towards the risk for discrimination and acculturative stress that Arab American adolescents may face, the link between socio-cultural adversities and psychological well-being in this population has not been established. This study examined the role of socio-cultural adversities (discrimination and acculturative stress) and cultural resources (ethnic identity, religious support and religious coping) in terms of their direct impact on psychological distress. Using structural equation modeling, the proposed model was tested with 240 Arab American adolescents. The results indicated a strong positive relationship between socio-cultural adversities and psychological distress. Furthermore, this study supported a promotive model of cultural resources, where a negative association between cultural resources and psychological distress was found. Understanding the manner in which socio-cultural adversities and resources are linked to psychological distress can inform the development of culturally appropriate interventions that can effectively mitigate mental health concerns for understudied and vulnerable populations.