scholarly journals Telerehabilitation in the Middle East North Africa Region: A Structured Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naif Qasam Aljabri ◽  
Kim Bulkeley ◽  
Anne Cusick
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Intervention Studies ◽  
Narrative Synthesis ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Frameworks ◽  
Practitioner Perceptions

A structured review using the PRISMA guidelines, MeSH keywords and eight health databases was conducted (1990 to March 2021). Telerehabilitation research evidence from the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) was summarized. Twelve studies from Iran, Israel, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia met inclusion criteria; nearly all had been published within the past five years. Methodological quality was moderate to good in the four randomized controlled trials, five cohort-studies and three cross-section surveys. There were seven intervention studies in cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurology or burn rehabilitation and three patient perception and two practitioner perception studies. Narrative synthesis revealed content themes relating to rehabilitation availability and accessibility; patient/practitioner perceptions of telerehabilitation; telerehabilitation to augment traditional services; and barriers to telerehabilitation. Telerehabilitation practice in MENA has been demonstrated as feasible, acceptable to patients, and effective in practitioner-designed cohort specific programs. Practitioners are generally positive but lack experience and need training, enabling technological systems, and policy frameworks.  

scholarly journals Transitional Justice in the Middle East and North Africa – Taking Account of Islam

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hakeem O. Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Islamic Values

AbstractThe core of the argument of this article is that the integration of Islamic notions of justice into transitional justice mechanisms in the MENA makes for a more viable and sustainable transitional justice process in the region. This would mean a critical cultural value in the MENA is given a place in dealing with the past and mapping out a sustainable future in the region. The argument here is premised on the logic that a social transformation-focused enterprise like transitional justice ought to engage with Islam for sustainable outcomes in societies in the MENA where Islam is very influential. Given the significant role and influence of Islam on cultural, socio-political and legal institutions in the MENA, a process of transitional justice that takes account of Islamic values and practices is important for negotiating justice and institutionalising reforms in societies in the region.

scholarly journals Empowering Women, Developing Society: Female Education in the Middle East and North Africa

1970 ◽  
pp. 4-11
Author(s):  
Faraneh Roudi-Fahimi ◽  
Valentine M. Moghadam
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
School Enrolment ◽  
Mena Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Secondary School Enrolment ◽  
And Gender

Education is a key part of strategies to improve individuals' well-being and societies' economic and social development. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (countries and territories included in the Middle East and North Africa as defined here are listed in Table 1), access to education has improved dramatically over the past few decades, and there have been a number of encouraging trends in girls' and women's education (see Figure 1). Primary school enrolment is high or universal in most MENA countries, and gender gaps in secondary school enrolment have already disappeared in several countries. Women in MENA countries are also more likely to enrol in universities than they were in the past.

scholarly journals Putative Effects of Nutritive Polyphenols on Bone Metabolism In Vivo—Evidence from Human Studies

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Austermann ◽  
Natalie Baecker ◽  
Peter Stehle ◽  
Martina Heer
Keyword(s):  
Bone Turnover ◽  
Intervention Studies ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Mineral Density ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Pubmed Database ◽  
Habitual Diet ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Turnover Markers

For the prevention and treatment of bone loss related diseases, focus has been put on naturally derived substances such as polyphenols. Based on human intervention studies, this review gives an overview of the effects of dietary significant polyphenols (flavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acids, and stilbenes) on bone turnover. Literature research was conducted using PubMed database and articles published between 01/01/2008 and 31/12/2018 were included (last entry: 19/02/2019). Randomized controlled trials using oral polyphenol supplementation, either of isolated polyphenols or polyphenols-rich foods with healthy subjects or study populations with bone disorders were enclosed. Twenty articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and the average study quality (mean Jadad score: 4.5) was above the pre-defined cut-off of 3.0. Evidence from these studies does not allow an explicit conclusion regarding the effects of dietary important polyphenols on bone mineral density and bone turnover markers. Differences in study population, habitual diet, lifestyle factors, applied polyphenols, used doses, and polyphenol bioavailability complicate the comparison of study outcomes.

The “Arab Spring” as Seen through the Prism of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Negin Nabavi
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
New Order ◽  
Iranian Revolution ◽  
The Past ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Arab Middle East

Revolutions are by nature unpredictable and unsettling. That the wave of revolutions in North Africa and the Arab Middle East began so unexpectedly and spread with such speed, leading to the fall of the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, has added to the concern regarding the “new order” that is to come after the initial euphoria. From the outset, the fear has been that these revolutions will follow the same trajectory as Iran did in 1979—in other words, that they will marginalize those who launched the revolutions and provide the grounds for the rise to power of the most savvy, purposeful, and best organized of the opposition groups, namely, the Islamists. Yet when one considers the recent uprisings in the Arab world through the prism of Iran's experiences in 1979, the parallels are not so evident. Mindful of the variations and distinctions between each of the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, it would appear that in broad terms, and beyond superficial similarities, there is little in common between the events of Iran in 1979 and what has happened in the past year in the Arab world.

scholarly journals Saudi Arabia: A prince’s revolution

European View ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-234
Author(s):  
Jihan Chara
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Collateral Consequences ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Eu

Over the past decades, the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council have emerged as the leaders of the Middle East and North Africa region. They have also proved to be the safest Arab allies for the EU due to their stability and prosperity, despite being the only regimes in the region whose leaders are not elected by universal direct suffrage. In recent months, Saudi Arabia, in particular, has been anxious to re-establish its leadership in the region through disruptive structural changes. Even though it remains difficult to make sense of these reforms, many analysts have speculated about their purported future relevance. This article argues that the changes undermine the social contract that has prevailed in the kingdom for decades, whereby citizens enjoy material comfort in exchange for their loyalty to the regime. Thus these changes threaten to destabilise the country, with potential lasting effects on the region and collateral consequences for Europe.

Environmental disclosure studies in Middle East and Northern Africa in shadow of theoretical context

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal Eljayash
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Theoretical Method ◽  
Theoretical Interpretation ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Social Theories

Purpose Over the past few decades, accounting research has received considerable attention from academics and researchers in an effort to understand and interpret accounting events in firms. Environmental disclosure research is featured in those studies because of its effect on the number of groups within society where companies operate. Therefore, many studies, especially in developing countries, have been conducted in order to interpret and reach an understanding of the determinants of disclosure in companies through using accounting and social theories. In the Middle East and North Africa, a substantial number of accounting studies have been undertaken aimed at addressing the environmental disclosure in companies. The purpose of this paper is to examine these studies conducted in the Middle East and North Africa in order to establish an overview of the theoretical approach in the interpretation of the environmental disclosure in companies. Design/methodology/approach Review of studies of the environmental disclosure in the Gulf region and North Africa by focusing on a theoretical method that interpreted the environmental disclosure. Findings Studies have shown a difference in the theoretical interpretation of the environmental disclosure with emphasis on the theory of stakeholder, the most common in such studies. Originality/value The value of this study is to add to the accounting literature in this area which, thus, is considered as a starting point for future studies on the most important theories used in the interpretation of environmental disclosure in the Gulf region and North Africa.

scholarly journals "Euroslam" - is it ridda or time consuming?

2005 ◽  
pp. 22-39
Author(s):  
T. Hazyr-Ogly
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
East Asia ◽  
North Africa ◽  
The State ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Monitoring Center ◽  
Muslim Communities

Islam is now professed by the population of many countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe. According to the World Islamic League, as of 2004, there were 1.2 billion Islamic followers in different countries (around 120 countries). In 35 countries, Muslims now make up 95-99 percent of the population, in 17 countries Islam is the state religion, and in 25 states, Muslims are an influential minority. Muslim communities are overwhelmed in Asia and North Africa. But they are also present in Europe, the US and Japan. According to statistics from the European Monitoring Center and Xenophobia (EUMC), Islam is the only religious religion in the world over the past 100 years, from 13 to 19.5 percent.

scholarly journals Global aeolian dust variations and trends: a revisit of dust event and visibility observations from surface weather stations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Xi
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Middle East ◽  
East Asia ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Trend Detection ◽  
Dust Event ◽  
Aeolian Dust ◽  
The Past

Abstract. This study revisits the use of horizontal visibility and manually reported present weather (ww) records from the NOAA Integrated Surface Database (ISD) for characterizing the aeolian dust variability and recent trends over the globe and three largest source regions (North Africa, Middle East, and East Asia). Due to its qualitative nature, ww is combined with visibility to derive a new variable, VI, which has higher correlations with the dust emission and burden from satellite observations and global aerosol reanalyses than does the dust event frequency (FR) derived from ww only. Both FR and VI capture the intensive dust activity associated with the prolonged North American drought during the 1950s and Sahelian drought during the 1980s. Correlation analysis suggests soil moisture has a lagged effect on the global dustiness, with a maximum r = −0.3 when soil moisture leads VI by 14 months. Through a critical assessment of the ww continuity and ww-visibility consistency of various report types in ISD, the SYNOP data are used for global dust trend detection from 1986 to 2019. Globally, FR and VI decreased at a rate of −0.23 % yr−1 and −8.0 × 10−4 km−1 yr−1, respectively, from 1986 to 1996/1997 when dust reached a minimum, followed by a slower rebound at a rate of 0.085 % yr−1 and 1.9 × 10−4 km−1 yr−1, respectively. The nonlinear behavior of global dustiness is qualitatively consistent with satellite observations and global aerosol reanalyses. Regionally, North Africa experienced increased dust activity during the past decade after staying below average for most of the 1990s–2000s, in response to reduced soil moisture and increased wind speed following the transition of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) from strong negative to recurring positive phases since 2011. In the Middle East, dust has been increasing since 1998 due to a prolonged drought in the Tigris-Euphrates basin associated with strong negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) phases. As PDO turned positive and weak negative after 2015, the amelioration of drought has led to decreased dust activity in recent years. The dust variability in East Asia is primarily driven by wind speed, which explains the dust decline from 1986 to 1997, and the absence of dust trends during the past two decades. This study constitutes an initial effort of creating a homogenized weather station-based dust-climate dataset in support of wind erosion monitoring, dust source mapping, and dust-climate analysis at local to global scales.

The State of Democracy in Africa and the Middle East 2021: Resilient Democratic Aspirations and Opportunities for Consolidation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Democracy Assistance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Bright Spots ◽  
The World ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Remarkable Progress ◽  
Made In

Recent declines in democracy have undermined some of the remarkable progress made in Africa over the past three decades, although bright spots remain. The Covid-19 pandemic, though seemingly less damaging to public health than elsewhere in the world, has added pressure on governance, rights, and social inequality. The report also covers the Middle East and North Africa which is one of the least democratic regions in the world. The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the erosion in democratic principles and the deepening authoritarianism that has accompanied a decade of economic, social and political turmoil in the region. This Report provides lessons and recommendations that governments, political and civic actors, and international democracy assistance providers should consider in order to counter the concerning trends in the erosion of democracy, and to foster its resilience and deepening.

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