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North African (north + african)
Selected AbstractsThe Impact of Trade and Exchange-rate Policy Reforms on North African Manufactured ExportsDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2002Khalid Sekkat Three indicators capture the impact of exchange-rate policy in fostering manufactured exports from North Africa: changes in the real effective exchange rate (REER), its volatility, and its misalignment. The impact of trade policy is examined using a trade liberalisation indicator. Export supply equations are estimated for three manufacturing industries: textiles, chemicals, and food. The results suggest that trade and exchange-rate policies matter for export performance, as is evidenced by the negative influence exerted independently by real exchange-rate misalignment and volatility and by the positive influence of trade liberalisation. [source] The peopling of Madeira archipelago (Portugal) according to HLA genesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 1 2009A. Arnaiz-Villena Summary The Madeira-Porto Santo Archipelago was officially colonized in 1420 by Portuguese settlers. Its importance in Columbus' information for the American discovery and for slave traffic across the Atlantic is unquestionable. Thus, a complex peopling may have given rise to a present-day high admixture of ethnicities according to HLA genes. A sample of 173 healthy unrelated Madeirans was analysed and compared with 6986 HLA chromosomes from other worldwide populations. Genetic distances, neighbour-joining dendrograms and correspondence analyses were used for comparisons. Southern European, North African (including Canary Islands), Jewish and Mediterranean typical HLA alleles were found and genetic distances from Madeirans to these populations were the closest ones. In addition A*24-B*65-DRB1*0102-DQB1*0501 and A*68-B*08-DRB1*0301-DQB1*0201 haplotypes were newly found in Madeira and not found in any other population. Jewish-Armenian-Middle East haplotype (A*33-B*65-DRB1*0102-DQB1*0501) is one of the most common haplotypes; this haplotype is also present in Spaniards and North Africans. Quantitatively, Portuguese, North Africans (Algerians), Spaniards and Canary Islanders (in this order) are the most important parental populations to Madeirans. Results are discussed on the basis of the recorded historical peopling which does not show a noticeable African gene input in present-day Madeiran population according to our data; one of the closest related populations found is the Canary Islanders, suggesting that Guanche (Canary Islands first inhabitants) slaves gene flow is still noticed at present, both in Madeira and in Canary Islands populations. [source] The effect of religiosity and ethnic origin on direct and indirect aggression among males and females: Some Israeli findings ,AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2002Simha F. Landau Abstract Israeli society is characterized by significant internal divisions. Two of the most salient of these divisions within the Jewish population relate to (1) religiosity (religious vs. secular Jews) and (2) ethnic origin (Eastern [Asian and North African] vs. Western [European and American]). The aim of this study was to assess the effects of these social divisions on aggressive behavior and victimization to aggression among Israeli children. Three types of aggressive behavior (physical, verbal, and indirect) were investigated by means of peer estimation. The sample (N = 630) was composed of three age groups (8-, 11-, and 15-year-olds). The findings indicate that in general, secular respondents scored higher on aggressive behavior and victimization than their religious counterparts, and respondents of Eastern origin scored higher than those of Israeli or Western origin. The effect of both religiosity and ethnic origin was stronger among girls than among boys. Ethnic origin had no effect on any of the boys' measures but did affect these measures among girls. Among boys, religiosity affected verbal and indirect aggression and victimization. Among girls, indirect aggression and victimization, as well as victimization to physical aggression, were affected by religiosity. As to the effect of age, similar to previous studies, in all types of aggression and victimization, the 11-year-olds scored highest and the 15-year-olds scored lowest. Differences between the three types of aggression and victimization, as well as various interactions between the variables, are reported. The results are discussed within the wider context of the role of religiosity and ethnic origin in Israeli society. Aggr. Behav. 28:281,298, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] LOWER SILURIAN "HOT SHALES" IN JORDAN: A NEW DEPOSITIONAL MODELJOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 3 2009D. K. Loydell Data are presented from the Batra Formation (also known as the Mudawwara Shale Formation) of a core from well BG-14 in the Batna el Ghoul area, southern Jordan, which enable a new depositional model to be proposed for the middle Rhuddanian (lower Llandovery, Silurian) "hot shale" which may be applicable to other Arabian and North African "hot shales" of similar stratigraphical age. This "hot shale" probably results from rapid early burial of organic carbon associated with a minor regression during which anoxic bottom conditions were maintained for most, but not all, of the time. Evidence for regression comes from (1) increased sediment grain size within the "hot shale" by comparison with underlying shales; (2) palynological changes including a decrease in acritarch species diversity; an increase in the relative abundance of sphaeromorphs, veryhachiids with three processes and acritarchs with short, simple processes; and a decrease in the relative abundance of acanthomorphs; (3) a positive ,13Corg excursion (other Late Ordovician and Silurian positive ,13Corg excursions occur during regressions); and (4) very brief intervals of oxygenation (associated with sediment influx) reflected in the preservation of graptolites as three-dimensional pyrite internal moulds, rather than as flattened periderm. The minor regression reflects a eustatic sea-level fall, evidence for which has recently been presented from several regions, including Arctic Canada, Bohemia and Scotland. The BG-14 "hot shale" is shown to be thicker than estimated in previous studies. Previous TOC measurements from the upper part of the "hot shale" were affected by the weathering of overlying strata in the BG-14 core. ICP-MS measurements show that uranium content is high in these weathered levels, extending the stratigraphical extent of the "hot shale" interval into the middle Rhuddanian. Depositional models such as that presented here rely on a robust biostratigraphical framework; in the Ordovician and Silurian of Arabia and North Africa, this can be provided by graptolites and chitinozoans. [source] Ethnicity affects the diagnostic validity of alpha-fetoprotein in hepatocellular carcinomaASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, Issue 2-3 2005Amal GAD Abstract Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide with a high morbidity and mortality. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is considered the main tumor marker for HCC diagnosis, but the variation in its diagnostic validity among studies justifies further investigation of the underlying contributing factors. Ethnic difference could be one of the factors that has not been well studied. We aimed at investigating the ethnic difference in AFP validity between Egyptian (representing Arabic North African) and Japanese (representing Asian) for HCC diagnosis. Methods: Four cohorts with chronic liver diseases (CLD) were studied: 171 Egyptian (65 HCC/106 non-HCC), and 173 Japanese (45 HCC/128 non-HCC). Laboratory tests including serum AFP, protein-induced vitamin K deficiency or absence (PIVKA-II), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin, platelet count, HBsAg, anti-HCV, and HCV core antigen were conducted using standard commercially available assays. Results: A significantly higher sensitivity of AFP in Egyptian in comparison with Japanese for HCC diagnosis (99 vs 67%, P < 0.001) was observed using an AFP cut-off point of 10 ng/mL, with a comparable specificity, (75,vs, 82%), While, a, sensitivity, of, 98, versus, 56%,,P < 0.001, and, a, specificity, of, 83, versus, 89% was found for AFP cut-off point of 20 ng/mL, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was found to be 0.98 (95%CI = 0.969,0.997) for Egyptian and 0.77 (95%CI = 0.686,0.864) for Japanese. The highest sensitivity for the former group occurred at AFP = 20.5 ng/mL and at AFP = 10.2 ng/mL for the latter. Univariate analysis showed no effect for age, sex, underlying liver disease, cirrhosis, Child's class or tumor characteristics (size, pathological grade) on AFP sensitivity, while race significantly contributed to the higher sensitivity among Egyptians in comparison with the Japanese. Using ROC analysis, the AFP cut-off point for HCC detection in each subgroup of patients with and without each of the risk factors of interest was determined and the subgroups were again subclassified according to AFP positivity (< or , the decided cut-off point for each group). Logistic regression analysis of those factors combined showed that Egyptian ethnicity with an AFP level >20.5 ng/mL (P = 0.007), older age (>50 years) with an AFP level >26 ng/mL (P = 0.010), and cirrhosis with an AFP level >10.5 ng/mL (P = 0.014) were the independent risk factors for HCC. Conclusion: There is an ethnic variation in AFP validity between Egyptian and Japanese patients with a significantly lower sensitivity in the latter. Alpha-fetoprotein should not be the only marker used for screening HCC among Asian Japanese and younger age groups (<50 years) with CLD. In addition, an AFP cut-off point of 20 ng/mL is recommended when screening patients of Asian origin for HCC. [source] The genetic population structure of Buthus occitanus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) across the Strait of Gibraltar: calibrating a molecular clock using nuclear allozyme variationBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2004BENJAMIN GANTENBEIN I assess here the importance of the Strait of Gibraltar as a barrier to gene flow for populations of the scorpion Buthus occitanus. This polytypic buthid scorpion occurs in Europe and in North Africa where it is morphologically more diverse. The phylogenetic relationship between B. occitanus populations across the Strait of Gibraltar is investigated by nuclear allozymes analysis (15 loci scored). Phylogenetic analysis based on estimated gene frequency data results in a tree topology that divides the populations into three clades, i.e. a European, an Atlas (= Morocco samples) and a Tell-Atlas clade (= Tunisian samples). The Tell-Atlas clade grouped with the European clade with a rather high bootstrap support of 70%. Within these clades low levels of genetic variability are observed. Calibrating a molecular clock under the assumption that the European populations are autochthonous and have been isolated from the North African for at least 5.33 Myr reveals a divergence rate of 0.060 genetic distance (D) per Myr estimated between European and Moroccan samples and 0.036D Myr,1 between European and Tunisian samples, respectively. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 81, 519,534. [source] The peopling of Madeira archipelago (Portugal) according to HLA genesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 1 2009A. Arnaiz-Villena Summary The Madeira-Porto Santo Archipelago was officially colonized in 1420 by Portuguese settlers. Its importance in Columbus' information for the American discovery and for slave traffic across the Atlantic is unquestionable. Thus, a complex peopling may have given rise to a present-day high admixture of ethnicities according to HLA genes. A sample of 173 healthy unrelated Madeirans was analysed and compared with 6986 HLA chromosomes from other worldwide populations. Genetic distances, neighbour-joining dendrograms and correspondence analyses were used for comparisons. Southern European, North African (including Canary Islands), Jewish and Mediterranean typical HLA alleles were found and genetic distances from Madeirans to these populations were the closest ones. In addition A*24-B*65-DRB1*0102-DQB1*0501 and A*68-B*08-DRB1*0301-DQB1*0201 haplotypes were newly found in Madeira and not found in any other population. Jewish-Armenian-Middle East haplotype (A*33-B*65-DRB1*0102-DQB1*0501) is one of the most common haplotypes; this haplotype is also present in Spaniards and North Africans. Quantitatively, Portuguese, North Africans (Algerians), Spaniards and Canary Islanders (in this order) are the most important parental populations to Madeirans. Results are discussed on the basis of the recorded historical peopling which does not show a noticeable African gene input in present-day Madeiran population according to our data; one of the closest related populations found is the Canary Islanders, suggesting that Guanche (Canary Islands first inhabitants) slaves gene flow is still noticed at present, both in Madeira and in Canary Islands populations. [source] HLA class I polymorphism in a Moroccan population from CasablancaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 3 2002F. Choukri Summary We have studied the distribution of HLA-A and -B alleles and haplotypes by sequence-specific primer amplification in a sample of 100 unrelated healthy individuals belonging to both Berber and Arabic-speaking groups from the region of Casablanca in Morocco. Among the 17 HLA-A and 23 HLA-B alleles observed, the most frequent were HLA-A2 (21%), -A1 (11%), -A3 (10%), -B44 (11.4%), -B50 (9.9%), -B5(8.5%) and -B35 (6.5%). Six two-locus haplotypes were observed with a frequency above 5%: A2-B50 (9.6%), A23-B44 (7.4%), A2-B15 (6.4%), A68-B39 (5.3%), A1-B51 (5.3%) and A68-B44 (4.3%). Our data confirm that, on the basis of genetic distances, the majority of present-day North Africans from Morocco are closely related to Berbers and also to Iberians. They cluster apart from Middle-Eastern Mediterranean populations, and show greater genetic distances to Eastern and other Mediterranean populations. This study will serve as a reference for further anthropological studies, as well as studies of HLA and disease associations. [source] Islamic Radicalisation among North Africans in BritainBRITISH JOURNAL OF POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2008Jonathan Githens-Mazer This article examines how symbols of Islamic repression and massacre affect radicalisation among North Africans living in the UK. It suggests that these symbols are an insufficient but necessary cause in the larger process of ,radicalisation', because they provide a basis for perceptions of injustice. In this context, myths, memories and symbols of colonial repression, contemporary repression of free political expression in North African states and current perceptions of western ,oppression' of Islam may be perceived as rationales for ,oxygenation'. Oxygenation here denotes exchanges among different Muslim communities throughout Britain which potentially facilitate terrorist networks. Oxygenation in turn contributes to ,blowback', here in the guise of perceptions among British Muslims of global oppression of the Umma, especially understood in light of the Iraqi and Afghani insurgencies. This article also explores how these symbols may be cultivated and disseminated at popular and elite levels. [source] | |||||||||||||