The C3 component of complement; gene frequency variation in Iraq.

Heterogeneity of gene frequencies in the polymorphism of the third component of complement among local samples in Iraq is analysed. It appears to derive essentially from population and not from regional differences.     

Twists of fate: multiracial representation in the US House of Representatives

It is argued that though strategies of equalization are rare, they are an integral element of the split labour market [SLM] dynamics both in the causes that bring higher-priced labour to adopt these strategies and in the factors that often impede their success. Following Bonacich, three types of equalization strategies are identified and studied in the case of mandatory Palestine: 1. Establishing minimum standards as discussed in the Wage Commissions of 1928 and 1943; 2. Inclusion of cheap labour in the labour organizations of the higher-priced labour (the Palestine Labor League [PLL] and the Railroad, Post &; Telegraph Workers' Organization [RPTWO]; 3. Support of the liberation movement to which the group of cheap labour is affiliated (the Palestine Communist Party [PCP]). Finally, the SLM theory is discussed in the light of the historical case and a number of elaborations are suggested.     

Blood groups and types,hemoglobin variants,and G-6-PD deficiency among Abu Dhabians in the United Arab Emirates

Some erythrocyte genetic factors were studied in the indigenous population of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian peninsula. Determinations carried out included blood groups and types ABO, MNS, Rh_o, KkJs^a, Fy^aFy^b, P₁, Le^a, Vel^a, hemoglobin variants, and screening for G-6-PD deficiency. Prevalence of most blood groups and types harmonized with that among neighboring Arabs and some Arabs elsewhere. The MS and NS gene complexes were noticeably high. African admixture was expressed by the presence of Js^a and Hb S and large numbers of Fy. G-6-PD deficiency was rather high.     

‘Undesirable relationships’ between Jewish Women and Arab Men: representation and discourse in contemporary Israel

Demography has been broadly considered as a key aspect of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. On the Jewish side, State intervention to encourage Jewish immigration and Jewish births is well known. Much less known are the efforts to discourage inter-faith relations. These ‘problematic relationships’ between Arab men and Jewish women from low socio-economic backgrounds have become a high priority item in public discussions over the last decade. In this article I will explore the main discursive practices used in this heated debate by those opposing these relationships. ‘Moral panic’ as a theoretical framework will help me analyse the ways in which Jewish women and Arab men who engage in such relations are presented. As I will show, attempts to criminalize and vilify Arab men meet with strong opposition. Presenting Jewish women as weak and passive victims seems as a more successful strategy, especially when done by professionals from the psych-professions.     

Gifts that Recalibrate Relationships: Marriage Prestations in an Arab Liberation Movement

ABSTRACT

Enduring scholarly interest in the social relations of gift exchange has, following Mauss, emphasised how gifts make relationships. Where gifts break relationships, their ethnographic distinctiveness has reinforced the wider notion that gifts are good at making relations. This article examines gifts which, without the empirical distinctiveness of gifts that break relationships, both make and break relationships. Speakers of the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic in north-west Africa give post-marital gifts from the bride’s to groom’s party; these gifts became highlighted amongst Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, on whom the article focuses. In addition to performing reciprocity, boosting the giver’s honour and making new affinal relations, these post-marital gifts also break the relationship between the bride’s family and the bride. The article argues that gifts’ potential to recalibrate relationships through both making and breaking relationships can be helpfully incorporated into wider thinking about gifts, alongside other distinctions amongst gifts and gift relations.     

Linguistic capital: Language as a socio-economic resource among Kurdish and Arabic women in Turkey

Data from the 1998 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey are used to gain insight into the characteristics of the non-Turkish speaking individuals in Turkey and in the socio-economic consequences of not speaking Turkish for them. The very large majority of non-Turkish speaking individuals turn out to be Kurdish and Arabic women, living in East Turkey and in the countryside. The data indicate that of the married women aged 15–49 in Turkey, about 4 per cent, or one in 25, is not able to speak Turkish. More than 90 per cent of these women has not finished primary education. Regarding their social background, our results suggest that they were more under the influence of traditional cultural values, that their access to the public domain was limited, and that they were more heavily controlled by their family. Regarding the consequences of not speaking Turkish, we found the non-Turkish speaking women to be less employed in the formal economy, to have husbands with lower educational levels and occupations and to have lower family incomes. This result is in line with the predictions of linguistic capital theory.     

Passing as hybrid: Arab-Palestinian teachers in Jewish schools

In this paper I examine how Arab-Palestinians who teach Arabic in Jewish schools appropriate performative identity strategies through passing as hybrid to gain inclusion into the schools. The paradox is that although these teachers are recruited specifically because they are Arabs, they are expected by teachers and students to conceal their Arabness. I argue that because of the ethno-national bright boundaries in Israel, which do not encourage integration but hybridization into roles defined by the state, Arabs cannot and mostly do not want to pass as Israeli-Jews but as good Arabs who do not reside beyond the binarism Jew/Arab but are in-betweens.     

Absence of mutations in GJB2 (Connexin-26) gene in an ethnic group of southwest Iran

BACKGROUND:

The common GJB2 gene mutation (35delG) has been previously reported from Iranian patients that were affected with nonsyndromic autosomal recessive deafness. We, therefore, for the first time, investigated the prevalence and frequency of the GJB2 gene mutation in the Iranian deaf population with Arabian origins.

MATERIALS AND METHODs:

We amplified and sequenced the entire coding sequence of the GJB2 gene from 61 deaf patients and 26 control subjects.

RESULT:

None of the analyzed samples revealed deafness-associated mutation.

CONCLUSION:

This finding differs from several reports from Iran as we have focused on the GJB2 gene that possesses various mutations as the cause of congenital recessive deafness.