Following the Arab Spring, a debate broke out among both academics and pundits as to how important social media had been in bringing about what may have been the least anticipated political development of the 21st century. Critics of the importance of social media pointed in particular to two factors: (a) the proportion of social media messages that were transmitted in English; and (b) the prop...

OBJECTIVE To highlight the perceived personal, social, and environmental barriers to healthy eating and physical activity among Arab adolescents. METHOD A multistage stratified sampling method was used to select 4698 students aged 15-18 years (2240 males and 2458 females) from public schools. Seven Arab counties were included in the study, namely, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Sy...

We study the response to the Charlie Hebdo shootings of January 7, 2015 on Twitter across the globe. We ask whether the stances on the issue of freedom of speech can be modeled using established sociological theories, including Huntington’s culturalist Clash of Civilizations, and those taking into consideration social context, including Density and Interdependence theories. We find support for ...

BACKGROUND While international physician migration has been studied extensively, more focused and regional explorations are not commonplace. In many Arab countries, medical education is conducted in English and students/graduates seek postgraduate opportunities in other countries such as the United States (US). Eligibility for residency training in the US requires certification by the Education...

Saudi Arabia is the third-largest Arab country with a moderate annual burden of tuberculosis. However, tuberculosis (TB) is among several infectious diseases that have not been brought under control, despite the government's considerable efforts. This is clearly evidenced by the ongoing transmission of several imported and indigenous clades of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In addition, the countr...

Purpose. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the level of evidence (LOE) of spine surgery publications in the Arab countries and compare it with standard international literature in spine surgery and to determine the stand of the Arab nations academic production with that of the global one. Methods. An online search using "PubMed" and "Google Scholar" was carried out, using search terms rel...

This spotlight offers a unique window into factors affecting aging in Lebanon. As a bridge between east and west, both geographically and culturally, Lebanon has the fastest growing older adult population in the Arab region, but few societal resources to address its needs. In a country with a history of political instability and war, but also a culture with strong family values, aging adults in...

Perhaps the phrase "Energy Crisis," first introduced during the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, is slightly misleading. The sun, for example, provides the world with 400 times more energy than we use each day. The unmined U.S. coal supply is large enough to meet demand in this country for several centuries. Other forms of energy that man expects to better harness in the future such as the sea, wind, bio...