The Arab Woman by Rena Akroush

While the challenge Arab American women face balancing the American way of life with the Arab culture is an unacknowledged issue in our nation’s society, these women have discovered their strength and stability to protect their family, honor their bodies, embrace womanhood, and prove their worth to not only those in their communities, but to themselves. Despite Arab American women having suffered emotional hardships, gender stereotypical roles, undesirable marriage expectations, misrepresentation in society, and mental health instability; they have been known to persevere, thrive, and uplift themselves in a world where they do not belong. Purchase College SUNYGender StudiesBachelor of Fine ArtsRossman, Mega

LEADING SAFETY INDICATORS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: THE CASE OF TENNESSEE

The construction industry has historically suffered from high frequency and severity of accidents, making safety a major concern for all associated stakeholders. To improve safety performance, leading safety indicators have emerged as a more effective alternative to the traditional lagging indicators measured after the occurrence of an incident or accident. These are ex ante assessment of construction behaviors and processes to proactively predict safety breaches. Prior research has defined and assessed leading safety indicators, but has not yet sufficiently understood their actual current application either at the local and/or regional levels. To this end, this research aims to study, define, evaluate and provide guidance in relation to utilizing leading safety indicators in Tennessee. The research utilizes an interdependent research methodology. Based on a comprehensive literature review, an industry questionnaire was developed targeting construction professionals in Middle and East Tennessee. The results of the questionnaires were analyzed through different statistical analysis techniques including reliability measures, measures of central tendency and variability, correlations, normality, and comparisons of means. The results of the survey, received from professionals with collective experience of over 600 years, showed that 66.7% of the firms investigated had an instituted system of leading indicators. Firms with no use or awareness of an instituted system still applied concepts similar to leading indicators. Also, it was revealed that among the 78 indicators of the survey, only 48 were highly utilized by the responding firms. The most popular indicators - used by over 80% of respondents - were related to Housekeeping, use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), and Substance Abuse Programs. On the other hand, the least popular indicators were associated with contractual safety obligations, feedback stemming from safety meetings, and perceptions and evaluations of reporting systems. Larger companies were more likely to use passive leading indicators related to policymaking and strategic programs compared to smaller companies. Pursuant to the findings of this research, it is advisable to repeat similar studies at other local and regional areas across the nation to assess similarities and differences in implementation. This will help in developing effective and efficient proactive strategies for a zero-accident construction industry

In Vivo Effects of a RAMBA and Vitamin A Deficiency on Ovary Development

The active metabolite of vitamin A, retinoic acid, is vital to several physiological functions, and is most notably associated with vision and organ development Its role in the male reproductive system is well understood, but studies in female reproduction are lacking. Recent studies show that Cyp26b1, a retinoic acid degrading enzyme, is expressed highly in the Day1-10 mouse ovary. This time point correlates with establishment of the primordial follicle pool. In vitro studies show that both retinoic acid and R115866, an agent that blocks retinoic acid metabolism, increase cell proliferation. Because of this, we hypothesized that retinoic acid plays a critical role in the development of the mouse ovary. To test this hypothesis, we placed female mice on a vitamin A deficient diet over a time course beginning from gestation. Endogenous retinoic acid levels were also increased by injection of R115866 at either 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg during the first 7 days after birth when the levels of Cyp26b1 expression are high. At day 19, week 7, and week 15, ovaries were harvested for morphological and RT-PCR studies. Our results show that animals on a vitamin A-deficient diet or injected with R115866 developed a variety of ovarian pathologies at day 19, week 7, and week 15. Long term pathologies were also observed in mice that were placed on a vitamin A-deficient diet for 16 weeks then allowed to recover for one year Overall, our results indicate that retinoic acid plays an important role in the development ofthe mouse ovary and that balanced retinoic acid levels early in development are needed for the health of ovaries. In addition, the effect of early vitamin A deficiency has long lasting consequences that cannot be corrected by a subsequent normal die

The role of sport in the development of international relations from the perspective of political and non-political figures in Jordanian sport

The aim of this study was to identify the role that sport plays in improving international relations from the perspective of Jordanian athletic political and non-political figures, and also to find the differences in the perception of the role of sport in developing international relations among status variables. The researchers used the descriptive approach due to its relevance to the nature of the study. A total of 122 individuals participated in this study: politicians (n = 33), non – politicians (n = 89). The questionnaire was used as a tool to collect the data. It was designed through personal interviews and it surveys five fields: political field, media field, economic field, and the social and cultural field. For data analysis, we used the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings showed that the role of sports in improving international relations in the five fields listed above was undeniable. There was no statistically significant difference in the total score of the role of sport in improving international relations when it comes to status (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the results showed no statistically significant difference between the members of the controlled sample whether they were politicians or non-politicians (p > 0.05). Jordanian politicians and non-politicians believe that sport is an important tool for improving international relations and could be a starting point for public diplomacy dialogue. The researchers strongly recommend the need to work on activating and supporting sport media as it has a big role in developing international relations, and to work on improving sport performance because of its great impact in showing countries at international level

How customer orientation enhances salespeople’s performance? A case study from an international market

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of salespeople’s customer orientation on the relationship between sales manager personal characteristics, fellow salespeople’s characteristics, job satisfaction and adaptive selling and salespeople’s performance in the insurance industry in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach: A structured and self-administered survey was employed targeting 500 insurance salespeople working at insurance companies operating in Jordan. The final sample size was 320 salespeople representing a response rate of 64 percent. A Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the research constructs dimensions, unidimensionality, validity and composite reliability. Structural path analysis was also used to test the hypothesized relationships of the research model. Findings: The empirical findings indicate that salespeople’s customer orientation fully mediates the effect of fellow salespeople’s characteristics and adaptive selling on salespeople’s performance. Sales managers’ personal characteristics have a direct effect on salespeople’s performance, contrary to job satisfaction that had no effect on salespeople’s performance. Research limitations/implications: This paper has examined only five factors that affected directly and indirectly salespeople’s performance; meanwhile other factors may affect their performance, such as salespeople experience, internal marketing and corporate image. Additionally, the fact that paper’s sample consisted only of insurance salespeople working at insurance companies limits its generalization potential to other industries. Practical implications: The findings emphasize the importance of fostering good relationships among fellow salespeople’s characteristics and adaptive selling strategies. Further, sales managers’ personal characteristics directly affecting salespeople’s performance signifies the importance to hire managers with the right personal approach. Originality/value: This paper represents one of the early attempts that investigate factors affecting salespeople’s performance through the mediating role of customer orientation. Accordingly, the findings shed more light into the strategic role of this construct in enhancing salespeople’s performance. Also, the paper is the first of its kind to build and examine an integrated model of salespeople’s performance in the insurance market of Jordan, which provides valuable empirical evidence concerning the drivers of salespeople’s performance in the insurance industry in Jordan

Leadership characteristics of youth and sport city managers and its role on quality performance, entrepreneurship and excellence from the perspective of the cities administrators

This Study aims at identifying the role that leadership characteristics play on performance quality, entrepreneurship and excellence from the perspective of the youth and sport cities administrators, and it also suggests a model of leadership characteristics that must be available in youth and sports cities managers. The researcher used descriptive approach, the sample was randomly selected, the sample was (61), (32) sub-managers and (29) managers. The questionnaire was used as a tool to collect the data, whereby especially questionnaire is built that surveys six fields: The administrative field, the leadership field, the creativity entrepreneurship and excellence field, the investment field, the relations field and the integrity and transparency field. The legalization of the questionnaire in terms of validity and reliability have been applied. Data analyzed by using SPSS software. The findings showed that the most important administrative features that must be provided is integrity and transparency characteristics and then administrative characteristics, and these findings also show a correlation between leadership characteristics and performance quality, entrepreneurship and Excellency. Furthermore, there are also characteristics that contribute to predict the quality of performance entrepreneurship and excellence. This study was also able to build a model for city managers characteristics and it recommended empowering administrative leaders and taking into account the method of selecting city managers according to the characteristics that achieve quality and excellence

Home Quarantine and its Socio-economic Impact on the Jordanian Society during Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense suffering in several aspects of human life worldwide. The present study investigates the potential social and economic impacts of Covid-19 on Jordanian society during home quarantine. An online survey was distributed electronically to a sample of (1115) members of the Jordanian society. In the forty-questions, we attempted to examine the impact of the quarantine on the people on the socio-economic level using a 5- point Likert scale. The paper came out with the following findings. First, the members of the Jordanian society are affected more economically than socially; however, Jordanian women are found to be more affected on the social and economic levels. Second, people working in the private sector, daily workers, business owners, retirees and the unemployed are more adversely affected economically than those working in the governmental (public) sector. We offer a set of recommendations, foremost of which is to cease the closure of childcare centres (nurseries and kindergartens) to safeguard womens economic participation and augment its ratio and to safeguard the limited gains of women. In addition, to support the workers in the private sector and daily workers during the pandemic. It recommended conducting further similar studies related to the period of recovery from the spread of the virus to define the requirements for overcoming the repercussions of the pandemic

Coeliac disease on the rise: the COVID-19 vaccination hypothesis

Introduction Coeliac disease (CD) is a common lifelong autoimmune condition, more frequently diagnosed in women, with a global prevalence of 1–2%. Its broad clinical spectrum necessitates careful suspicion for timely diagnosis. Over the past 2 years, we have observed a sharp rise in cases, coinciding with the post-pandemic era, prompting this study. Some research suggests that viral infections may trigger autoimmune diseases, such as CD. This study explores the potential link between the surge in cases and factors such as infections and vaccinations. Method In this retrospective analysis, the medical records of a cohort of 454 patients were categorised according to date, age, gender, clinical manifestations, CD serology and histopathological findings. Data on vaccine type and dosage were analysed to explore a potential association. Results were classified as follows: Positive CD diagnosis: confirmed by serology and/or histopathology; Negative CD diagnosis: both serology and histopathology results were negative; Borderline CD: serology results fell within the grey zone, and histopathology was insufficient for a definitive diagnosis according to the Marsh-Oberhuber classification (stages 0 & 1). Subdivisions: each diagnostic category was further subdivided based on vaccination status (vaccinated, unvaccinated, or unknown). Gender analysis: results were also evaluated by patient sex. Results The results showed that 47.4% of the cohort tested positive or borderline for CD, including 32.8% of vaccinated patients who experienced symptoms during and after the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Notably, positivity increased among men, deviating from typical patterns. Many files lacked infection status, and genetic studies were not conducted because of cost, highlighting the need for further research. Figure 1 visually represents CD diagnoses based on vaccination status using serology/histopathology results. It categorises patients into vaccinated (orange), unvaccinated (blue) and unknown status (green). Among vaccinated patients, 204 tested negative, while 149 were positive/borderline for CD. In the unvaccinated group, 33 were negative, and 37 were positive/borderline for CD. In the unknown group, 20 tested negative, and 11 tested positive/borderline for CD. This breakdown suggests a notable CD prevalence, raising clinical suspicion about a link to COVID-19 vaccination/infection. The Chi-square value (6.18) supports this, but the p value (0.186) exceeds the statistical significance threshold (<0.05). While not statistically significant, the post-pandemic case surge may hold clinical significance. Conclusion To conclude, the data point toward an increasing trend in CD diagnosis, putting us at the forefront of managing a serious autoimmune systemic illness that carries a significant burden on healthcare. There are a few potential factors contributing to this trend, including: • Enhanced awareness and increased availability of diagnostic tools; • Suboptimal processing techniques of gluten-containing foods may increase immunogenicity; • The possibility of an immunomodulating effect of the COVID-19 virus and its vaccine on the immune system. Case reports suggest COVID may contribute to autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Despite lacking statistical significance, the data do not justify accepting the null hypothesis. The potential link between CD and COVID-19 vaccination/infection requires further study through larger prospective and retrospective studies