During a 1-year study, Trichuris adults were obtained after necropsy of Arabian camels (Camelus dromedarius) from a slaughterhouse in Kuwait. Morphological and molecular identification was performed to confirm the identity of the Trichuris specimens obtained from C. dromedarius. Fifteen male Trichuris specimens were selected, and molecular identification was performed using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, 12S ribosomal RNA, 16S ribosomal RNA genes and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region. Through phylogenetic analysis, 2 distinct groups were obtained using the mitochondrial genes, where group 1 showed a close relationship to Trichuris globulosa while group 2 showed a close relationship to Trichuris ovis, providing molecular evidence of a possible T. globulosa species complex. Additionally, the nuclear ITS2 region did not provide enough resolution to distinguish between the 2 groups of Trichuris specimens. Observation of morphological characters revealed variations in the shape of the male spicule sheath, where specimens present either a globular posteriorly truncated swelling or the absence of posteriorly truncated swelling. Moreover, the variations in male spicule sheath does not corroborate with the results of molecular data, suggesting the limited use of this character for identification of T. globulosa. In conclusion, molecular analysis suggests a possible species complex in T. globulosa, with the mitochondrial genetic markers successfully differentiating between the 2 groups. The limited use of the male spicule sheath as a diagnostic character for identification of T. globulosa is suggested.

Bubiyan Island, presently a vast sabkha and salt flat in the westernmost part of the Shatt Al-Arab delta, originated ca. 4000 cal yr BP as prodelta deposits from a paleochannel of the Euphrates River that flowed into a shallow sea. Southeastern Bubiyan Island first surfaced when spits and barrier islands formed on a 1–2 m forebulge caused by heavy sediment load to the northwest; the spits and barriers delineated an incipient shoreline and sheltered a shallow lagoon. Progradation of southeastern Bubiyan Island began when the spits and barriers were gradually stranded as beach ridges during minor sea-level fluctuations and continued marginal uplift. AMS dating of the beach ridges, which are ~1–5 km from the present shoreline, implies that Late Holocene relative sea level fell in three phases: ca. 3700–3400 cal yr BP, ca. 2600–1000 cal yr BP, and ca. 600–500 cal yr BP. Prior to each phase, relative sea level apparently stabilized to near stillstands, allowing spits and barriers to accrete. Torpedo-jar pottery sherds scattered on some of the most prominent beach ridges indicate Sasanian (AD ca. 300–650; 1650–1300 cal yr BP) to early Islamic (AD ca. 650–800; 1300–1150 cal yr BP) periods of human presence, concurrent with the Second phase of beach-ridge formation.

This article examines ʿAbd al-Ilah al-Qinaʿi's early 20th-century melding of local, imperial, and transoceanic health practices alongside his 21st-century reemergence as a protonational Kuwaiti doctor. In the early 20th century, geographically and ideologically expansive horizons of health care fostered the emergence of hybrid medical practices. Facilitated by his access to multiple medical spheres and his proximity to Kuwait's rulers, ʿAbd al-Ilah was uniquely positioned to meet the demands of health-seeking consumers. In the 21st century, Kuwaitis' search for a national history that naturalizes claims to citizenship has resulted in ʿAbd al-Ilah's new designation as Kuwait's first doctor. Both processes—the interplay between local cultures of health and emergent institutions and the imagining of medical history as a nativist teleology—demonstrate how health-seeking and history-writing efforts of a range of historical actors have placed medicine at the center of politics in Kuwait.

This study aimed to determine anthropometric cut-points for screening diabetes and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Arab and South Asian ethnic groups in Kuwait and to compare the prevalence of the MetS based on the ethnic-specific waist circumference (WC) cut-point and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute WC criteria. The national population-based survey data set of diabetes and obesity in Kuwait adults aged 18–60 years was analysed. Age-adjusted logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to evaluate for 3589 individuals the utility of WC, waist:height ratio (WHtR) and BMI to discriminate both diabetes and ≥3 CVD risk factors. Areas under the ROC curve were similar for WC, WHtR and BMI. In Arab men, WC, WHtR and BMI cut-offs for diabetes were 106 cm, 0·55 and 28 kg/m2 and for ≥3 CVD risk factors, 97 cm, 0·55 and 28 kg/m2, respectively. In Arab women, cut-offs for diabetes were 107 cm, 0·65 and 33 kg/m2 and for ≥3 CVD risk factors, 93 cm, 0·60 and 30 kg/m2, respectively. WC cut-offs were higher for South Asian women than men. IDF-based WC cut-offs corresponded to a higher prevalence of the MetS across sex and ethnic groups, compared with Kuwait-specific cut-offs. Any of the assessed anthropometric indices can be used in screening of diabetes and ≥3 CVD risk factors in Kuwaiti Arab and Asian populations. ROC values were similar. The WC threshold for screening the MetS in Kuwaiti Arabs and South Asians is higher for women.

Individuals with obesity tend to perform less well than their non-obese peers in tertiary education, but there is little evidence from non-Western countries and recent studies. The present study aimed to test whether academic attainment differed between female undergraduates with obesity (defined by body mass index (BMI)), and those who were non-obese in Kuwait, a country with very high obesity prevalence. In 400 female Kuwaiti first- and second-year Social Science students (mean age 18⋅0, sd 0⋅6 years), educational attainment was defined as the Grade Point Average (GPA) across all subjects (from 1⋅00 to 4⋅00). The mean GPA (2⋅51, sd 0⋅53) among students defined as obese by the BMI (n 163) was significantly lower than among the students defined as non-obese by the BMI (n 237; 2⋅80, sd 0⋅63; P < 0⋅001), and those defined as obese were more likely to be in the lowest quartile for the GPA (OR 3⋅03; 95% CI 1⋅90, 4⋅85), independent of socio-economic status. Similar differences were observed between students defined as having high versus normal body fatness. Female undergraduates in Kuwait with obesity have lower academic attainment than their non-obese peers, and universities should consider measures to mitigate reduced attainment among their female undergraduates.

This article fills a gap in the literature by quantifying impacts of fossil fuel subsidy reform on trade (inflow and outflow) in an oil-producing, “almost small”, economy, using Kuwait as an example. It employs a two-region economy-wide model with oligopoly behaviour in a general equilibrium framework. The model embodies unique elements of Kuwait's economic structure, idiosyncratic rigidities, and distortions, including oligopolistic industrial structure and labour markets. Simulations show that energy subsidies have minimal effects on trade and on non-energy exports, largely due to the pervasiveness of oligopolies that sustain large markups and their collusive pricing. Reforming energy subsidies generates higher pro-trade effects if implemented during low (not high) oil prices because its negative effects are partially offset by efficiency gains and reduction in oligopoly markups. Yet, contrary to claims by proponents of reforms, these effects remain largely constrained unless appropriate incentives are introduced. These results have important policy implications. In developing oil-exporting economies with pervasive oligopolies, microeconomic reform can be a channel through which to achieve pro-trade effects of energy subsidy reform. Further, benefits beyond export expansion, such as higher economic efficiency, could be better motivators of energy subsidy reform in oil economies.

Most research on the Gulf states focuses on oil and its impact on state power. The literature on rentier theory almost unanimously agrees that oil rents buy off citizens and lead to socio-political stagnation. Massive protests and government attempts to address citizen demands in Kuwait between 2011 and 2013 call into question that narrative. Since those protests, the Kuwaiti government has taken steps to increase its representation of public officials and accessibility in the public sphere, including by expanding the government's presence on Instagram. How have Kuwaiti citizens voiced their opinions to government accounts? And how has the government responded to online criticism?

This essay looks at the pattern of interactions between the state and Kuwaiti citizens on Twitter and Instagram using a content analysis of government accounts. The findings raise questions about the validity of the payoff thesis and understandings of consent and acquiescence. My analysis illustrates that there is a public dialogue that moves beyond the rigid structure of state and society by which the literature has traditionally understood Gulf rentier societies.