bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rhokinase Inhibitors novel Potential Treatment Modality for Glaucoma
Authors: Dhillon Jasleen
Published: March 2016

Rhokinase inhibitors is a new class of drug under trial that improve the outflow facility through conventional path way by inhibiting the contractile tone of actin cytoskeleton. They additionally protect trabecular meshworkfrom oxidative stress, improve Optic Nerve head blood flow, facilitate corneal endothelium wound healing, increase ganglion cell survival and reduce scarring in glaucoma surgery.
Plio‐Pleistocene glacial‐interglacial productivity changes in the eastern equatorial Pacific upwelling system
Authors: Jakob Kim A. , Wilson Paul A. , Bahr André , Bolton Clara T. , Pross Jörg , Fiebig Jens , Friedrich Oliver
Published: March 2016

The eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (EEP) upwelling system supports >10% of the present‐day global ocean primary production, making it an important component in Earth's atmospheric and marine carbon budget. Traditionally, it has been argued that since intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (iNHG, ~2.7 Ma), changes in EEP productivity have predominantly depended on trade wind strength‐controlled upwelling intensity. An alternative hypothesis suggests that EEP productivity is primarily controlled by nutrient supply from the high southern latitudes via mode waters. Here we present new high‐resolution data for the latest Pliocene/early Pleistocene from Ocean Drilling Program Site 849, located within the equatorial divergence system in the heart of the EEP upwelling regime. We use carbon isotopes in benthic and planktic foraminiferal calcite and sand accumulation rates to investigate glacial‐interglacial (G‐IG) productivity fluctuations between 2.65 and 2.4 Ma (marine isotope stages (MIS) G1 to 94). This interval includes MIS 100, 98, and 96, three large‐amplitude glacials (~1‰ in benthic δ18O) representing the culmination of iNHG. Our results suggest that latest Pliocene/early Pleistocene G‐IG productivity changes in the EEP were strongly controlled by nutrient supply from Southern Ocean‐sourced mode waters. Our records show a clear G‐IG cyclicity from MIS 100 onward with productivity levels increasing from full glacial conditions and peaking at glacial terminations. We conclude that enhanced nutrient delivery from high southern latitudes during full glacial conditions together with superimposed intensified regional upwelling toward glacial terminations strongly regulated primary productivity rates in the EEP from MIS 100 onward.
Structure–activity relationship study of angiotensin II analogs in terms of β‐arrestin‐dependent signaling to aldosterone production
Authors: Valero Thairy Reyes , Sturchler Emmanuel , Jafferjee Malika , Rengo Giuseppe , Magafa Vassiliki , Cordopatis Paul , McDonald Patricia , Koch Walter J. , Lymperopoulos Anastasios
Published: March 2016

The known angiotensin II (AngII) physiological effect of aldosterone synthesis and secretion induction, a steroid hormone that contributes to the pathology of postmyocardial infarction (MI) heart failure (HF), is mediated by both Gq/11 proteins and β‐arrestins, both of which couple to the AngII type 1 receptors (AT1Rs) of adrenocortical zona glomerulosa (AZG) cells. Over the past several years, AngII analogs with increased selectivity (“bias”) toward β‐arrestin‐dependent signaling at the AT1R have been designed and described, starting with SII, the gold‐standard β‐arrestin‐”biased” AngII analog. In this study, we examined the relative potencies of an extensive series of AngII peptide analogs at relative activation of G proteins versus β‐arrestins by the AT1R. The major structural difference of these peptides from SII was their varied substitutions at position 5, rather than position 4 of native AngII. Three of them were found biased for β‐arrestin activation and extremely potent at stimulating aldosterone secretion in AZG cells in vitro, much more potent than SII in that regard. Finally, the most potent of these three ([Sar1, Cys(Et)5, Leu8]‐AngII, CORET) was further examined in post‐MI rats progressing to HF and overexpressing adrenal β‐arrestin1 in vivo. Consistent with the in vitro studies, CORET was found to exacerbate the post‐MI hyperaldosteronism, and, consequently, cardiac function of the post‐MI animals in vivo. Finally, our data suggest that increasing the size of position 5 of the AngII peptide sequence results in directly proportional increases in AT1R‐dependent β‐arrestin activation. These findings provide important insights for AT1R pharmacology and future AngII‐targeted drug development.
Cell-autonomous programming of rat adipose tissue insulin signalling proteins by maternal nutrition
Authors: Martin-Gronert Malgorzata S. , Fernandez-Twinn Denise S. , Bushell Martin , Siddle Kenneth , Ozanne Susan E.
Published: March 2016

Aims/hypothesis

Individuals with a low birthweight have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in adulthood. This is associated with peripheral insulin resistance. Here, we aimed to determine whether changes in insulin signalling proteins in white adipose tissue (WAT) can be detected prior to the onset of impaired glucose tolerance, determine whether these changes are cell-autonomous and identify the underlying mechanisms involved.

Methods

Fourteen-month-old male rat offspring born to dams fed a standard protein (20%) diet or a low (8%) protein diet throughout gestation and lactation were studied. Fat distribution and adipocyte size were determined. Protein content and mRNA expression of key insulin signalling molecules were analysed in epididymal WAT and in pre-adipocytes that had undergone in vitro differentiation.

Results

The offspring of low protein fed dams (LP offspring) had reduced visceral WAT mass, altered fat distribution and a higher percentage of small adipocytes in epididymal WAT. This was associated with reduced levels of IRS1, PI3K p110β, Akt1 and PKCζ proteins and of phospho-Akt Ser473. Corresponding mRNA transcript levels were unchanged. Similarly, in vitro differentiated adipocytes from LP offspring showed reduced protein levels of IRβ, IRS1, PI3K p85α and p110β subunits, and Akt1. Levels of Akt Ser473 and IRS1 Tyr612 phosphorylation were reduced, while IRS1 Ser307 phosphorylation was increased.

Conclusions/interpretation

Maternal protein restriction during gestation and lactation changes the distribution and morphology of WAT and reduces the levels of key insulin signalling proteins in the male offspring. This phenotype is retained in in vitro differentiated adipocytes, suggesting that programming occurs via cell-autonomous mechanism(s).
Study of biological communities subject to imperfect detection: bias and precision of communityN‐mixture abundance models in small‐sample situations
Authors: Yamaura Yuichi , Kéry Marc , Andrew Royle J.
Published: March 2016

CommunityN‐mixture abundance models for replicated counts provide a powerful and novel framework for drawing inferences related to species abundance within communities subject to imperfect detection. To assess the performance of these models, and to compare them to related community occupancy models in situations with marginal information, we used simulation to examine the effects of mean abundance: 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5), detection probability: 0.1, 0.2, 0.5), and number of sampling sites (nsite: 10, 20, 40) and visits (nvisit: 2, 3, 4) on the bias and precision of species‐level parameters (mean abundance and covariate effect) and a community‐level parameter (species richness). Bias and imprecision of estimates decreased when any of the four variables,,nsite,nvisit) increased. Detection probabilitywas most important for the estimates of mean abundance, whilewas most influential for covariate effect and species richness estimates. For all parameters, increasingnsitewas more beneficial than increasingnvisit. Minimal conditions for obtaining adequate performance of community abundance models werensite≥ 20,≥ 0.2, and≥ 0.5. At lower abundance, the performance of community abundance and community occupancy models as species richness estimators were comparable. We then used additive partitioning analysis to reveal that raw species counts can overestimate β diversity both of species richness and the Shannon index, while community abundance models yielded better estimates. CommunityN‐mixture abundance models thus have great potential for use with community ecology or conservation applications provided that replicated counts are available.
Neighbourhood abundance and small‐tree survival in a lowland Bornean rainforest
Authors: Newbery D. M. , Ridsdale C. E.
Published: March 2016

Conspecific effects of neighbours on small‐tree survival may have a role in tree population dynamics and community composition of tropical forests. This notion was tested with data from two 4‐ha plots in lowland forest at Danum, Sabah (Borneo), for a 21‐year interval (censuses at 1986, 1996, 2001, 2007). Species with ≥45 focal trees 10 to <100 cm stem girth per plot in 1986 were selected. Logistic regressions fitted mean focal tree size and mean inverse‐distance‐weighted basal area abundance of neighbours (within 20 m), for the periods over which each focus tree was alive. Coefficients of variation of neighbourhood basal area abundance, both spatially and temporally, quantified the changing environment of each focus tree. Fits were critically and individually evaluated, with corrections for spatial autocorrelation. Conspecific effects at Danum was generally very weak or non‐existent: species’ mortality rates varied also across plots. The main reasons appear to be that (1) species were not dense enough to interact despite frequent although weak spatial aggregation, and their neighbourhoods were highly differing in species composition; and (2) these neighbourhoods were highly variable temporally, meaning that focus trees experienced stochastically fluctuating neighbourhood environments. Only one species, Dimorphocalyx muricatus, showed strong conspecific effects (varying between plots) which can be explained by its distinct ecology. This understorey species is highly aggregated on ridges and is drought‐tolerant. That this functionally and habitat‐specialized species, has implied intraspecific density‐dependent feedback in its dynamics is a remarkable indication of the overall processes maintaining stability of the Danum forest.
Site formation and chronology of the New Paleolithic Site Sima de Las Palomas de Teba, Southern Spain
Authors: Kehl Martin , Burow Christoph , Cantalejo Pedro , Domínguez-Bella Salvador , Durán Juan José , Henselowsky Felix , Klasen Nicole , Linstädter Jörg , Medianero Javier , Pastoors Andreas , Ramos José , Reicherter Klaus , Schmidt Christoph , Weniger Gerd-Christian
Published: March 2016

The newly identified Paleolithic site Sima de Las Palomas de Teba hosts an almost seven-m-thick sediment profile investigated here to elucidate the rock shelter's chronostratigraphy and formation processes. At its base, the sediment sequence contains rich archeological deposits recording intensive occupation by Neanderthals. Luminescence provides a terminus ante quem of 39.4 ± 2.6 ka or 44.9 ± 4.1 ka (OSL) and 51.4 ± 8.4 ka (TL). This occupation ended with a rockfall event followed by accumulation of archeologically sterile sediments. These were covered by sediments containing few Middle Paleolithic artifacts, which either indicate ephemeral occupation by Neanderthals or reworking as suggested by micromorphological features. Above this unit, scattered lithic artifacts of undiagnostic character may represent undefined Paleolithic occupations. Sediment burial ages between about 23.0 ± 1.5 ka (OSL) and 40.5 ± 3.4 ka (pIRIR) provide an Upper Paleolithic chronology for sediments deposited above the rockfall. Finally, a dung-bearing Holocene layer in the uppermost part of the sequence contains a fragment of a human mandible dated to 4032 ± 39 14C yr BP. Overall, the sequence represents an important new site for studying the end of Neanderthal occupation in southern Spain.
French Doctoral Dissertations on The Near East and North Africa. Part I: Thesis Submitted 1970–1974
Authors: Montague Joel
Published: March 2016

The published literature—books, articles and monographs—in the French language on the Near East and North Africa is well-known and of remarkable value to the scholar and traveler interested in the Islamic world. Less accessible and, of course, less well-known, particularly in anglophone countries, are the often unpublished doctoral dissertations submitted to French universities. It has thus seemed useful to prepare a short bibliography covering some of the more recently completed thesis. The list is not exhaustive, even within the social sciences and humanities, and some of the citations are incomplete although, hopefully, not too often inaccurate. The dissertations covered are the Doctorat d’état, roughly equivalent to the Ph.D., the Doctorat d’université, and the Doctorat de specialité (3ème cycle). The legal and other requirements for the degrees are available in considerable detail in the Journal officiel de la République Française, May 2, 1974, pp. 4668–4672.
Philip Khuri Hitti
Authors: Ziadeh Farhat J.
Published: March 2016

Students of Middle East Studies in this country will, for generations to come, continue to sing the praises of the dean of American Arabists and Islamicists, who passed away last Christmas Eve. For there is hardly a scholar of the Middle East in this country whose academic career or intellectual development has not been directly or indirectly influenced by him, his students, or his many publications. There is hardly a center of Middle East studies in this country that has not followed the tradition for these studies which he established at Princeton University. In a real sense he was the father of these studies in America. Small wonder that his students and colleagues—following the medieval Islamic tradition in designating the head of an intellectual school—lovingly called him “al-Shaykh.”
The 1908 Young Turk Revolution: Old and New Approaches
Authors: Quataert Donald
Published: March 2016

In many areas of Middle East studies, revolutions—from the 8th century Abbasid to the 20th century Egyptian cases—have been treated as multidimensional phenomena, filled with actors impelled by varying, often conflicting interests and motives. Scholarship has come to perceive these revolutions as products of commingled political, intellectual, social and economic forces, and each event as the unique creation of a particular blend of the various elements. The nature of this mix, in turn, has been seen to determine the subsequent post-revolutionary behavior of the various groups in society. Yet when we focus on the case of the so-called Young Turk “Revolution” of 1908, we find that most studies have been strikingly unilinear in their analyses. The limited approach has colored our view, both of the Revolution and of subsequent events. My purpose here is to examine the historiography of the Young Turk Revolution and then to offer some possible alternative interpretations.
Time-Machine Magic
Authors: Gavin Carney E.S.
Published: March 2016

The Harvard Semitic Museum’s FOCUS Project and the quest to preserve the earliest accurate images of the most swiftly changing part of today’s world.

“Sunlight and shadow are the same.” Quoting Emerson’s paradox, the late Ethel Roosevelt Derby opened a photographic laboratory she had established in the basement of the Harvard Semitic Museum in memory of her daughter, who had died young a few months before. That paradox succinctly summarizes the physical basis for photography and epitomizes as well something unique about culture and the human spirit: adversity often brings blessings “in disguise.”
Demographic Research on the Middle East in the 1970s
Authors: Sabagh Georges
Published: March 2016

Since 1970, when the last state-of-the-art paper on the “Demography of the Middle East” was published in thisBulletin(Sabagh, 1970), there has been a spectacular expansion of population studies on the Middle East. This is documented by the various bibliographies of these studies published in this period (Balkan, 1972; Loza, 1979a, b; United Nations, ECWA, 1980). Thus, if we consider only the Arab East, the number of articles and books on the population of the region more than doubled between the 1960s and the 1970s (United Nations, ECWA, 1980). During the latter decade, there was an increasing number of detailed descriptions of the demographic characteristics and trends for most countries of the Middle East (Allman & Hill, 1978; Abu Jaber et al., 1980; Bachi, 1977; Baddou, 1974; Bahri, 1974; Behnam & Amani, 1974; Courbages & Fargues, 1974, 1975; Deming, Van Arsdol & Zayani, 1978; Hagopian & Zahlan, 1974; A.G. Hill, 1975, 1980a, b; Ibrahim, 1977; Karadayı et al., 1974; Khalifa, 1975; Kossaifi, 1980; Omran, 1973; Salih, 1976; Samman, 1976; Seklani, 1974; U.N., ECWA, 1978a, b; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1980). Contributing to this growth is the fact that in the 1970s the Cairo Demographic Center and the Population Division of the United Economic Commission for Western Asia became two major, regional centers of demographic research on the Arab world (Tabbarah, Mamish & Gemayel, 1978). Another important factor has been the marked improvement in the volume, variety and quality of demographic data (United Nations, ECWA, 1979b).
Palestinian Islamic Court Records: A Source for Socioeconomic History
Authors: Doumani Beshara B.
Published: March 2016

The Major Lacuna in Palestinian historiography is the lack of social and economic histories, especially for the Ottoman period.

Sijillāt al-maḥākim airshar‘īya(records of the Islamic religious courts), preserved in the major cities and towns of historic Palestine, are local Palestinian archives which can go a long way towards filling this gap. These records, some of which date from the first decades of the Ottoman occupation to the present, are akin to a people’s history. Literally hundreds of volumes illustrate in a concrete and detailed manner nearly every aspect of daily human interaction – be it in the personal, social, economic, religious, or administrative fields.
Survey Research in the Arab World: Challenges and Rewards
Authors: Suleiman Michael W.
Published: March 2016

In the past fifteen years, the MESA Bulletin has published numerous reports about research facilities in various Middle East countries, including several on Arab states (Zartman 1970; Williams 1970; Brown, Rollman, and Waterbury 1970; Coury 1971; Raccagni and Simmons 1972; Hudson 1972; Bechtold 1973, Zghal and Karoui 1973; Miller 1973; Hale and Hale 1975; Rassam 1976; Mandaville 1979; Anderson 1980; Reinhart 1980; Clancy-Smith 1984; Crystal 1984). None of these, however, has focused on doing survey research in the region. In part, this seemed to indicate a lack of interest in, and/or feasibility for, carrying out this type of research. In fact, when in 1973 MESA members were asked to share with their colleagues the data from surveys they had carried out, only twenty-one individuals responded, and in only nine cases were there survey data gathered in Arab states (“A Preliminary Listing …” 1974). Since then, the situation has improved somewhat. Thus, Palmer et al. (1982) have compiled an analytical index detailing more than 350 studies using survey research techniques in different Arab countries. Also in 1983, an international conference on the evaluation and application of survey research in the Arab world was held at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy. The Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation sponsored the conference, which was attended by twenty-four individuals from the United States and seven Arab countries. A book based on the papers and proceedings of the conference will be published soon, edited by Tessler et al. (forthcoming).
The Institutionalization of Middle East Women’s Studies in the United States
Authors: Badran Margot
Published: March 2016

The wave of the study of women which led directly into the formation of the new discipline called women’s studies started in the 1960s in the Middle East and the United States concurrently. A generation earlier, foreshadowing the creation of the new field, Zahiyya Dughan, a Lebanese delegate to the Arab Women’s Conference in Cairo in 1944, called upon Arab universities to accord the intellectual and literary heritage of Arab women a place in the curriculum by creating chairs for the study of women’s writings. By now, at the end of the 1980s, women’s studies as a distinct field has found legitimacy in the academy. In the United States there are women’s studies programs in all major colleges and universities—more than sixty graduate programs offer M.A.’s and Ph.D.’s—and fifty major research centers, most of which are attached to universities. The National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) and the Middle East Studies Association equally claim some three thousand members. However, the study of women remains marginal within Middle East studies, while women’s studies still remain largely centered on the West.
Presidential Address 1987: Democratization and the Problem of Legitimacy in Middle East Politics
Authors: Hudson Michael C.
Published: March 2016

When I told some of my colleagues and students that I wanted to address the question of democratization in Middle East politics at the annual meeting, I was not surprised at their reactions, which were mainly incredulous. If ever a topic were passé, surely it was this one. Not only was the experience of parliamentary democracy brief and unhappy, it also had ended by the middle 1950s. Furthermore, the liberal modernization paradigm that had underpinned earlier forecasts of democracy was itself largely discarded. In addition, my friends argued, how could I try to make a case for democratization when my own writing on Arab politics portrayed fragmented, disoriented societies and unstructured, insecure political environments in which the race between societal demands and state capabilities—no matter which side was “ahead”—could hardly be conducive to democracy. Skeptical colleagues from Egypt and other Arab countries also raised the troublesome question of academic and ideological ethnocentrism: should one even ask about prospects for democratization?
Archival Resources and Research Institutions in Jordan
Authors: Rogan Eugene L.
Published: March 2016

To Date, Jordan remains a country largely studied from without. A number of excellent monographs treating diverse aspects of the politics, economy, demography, and history of Jordan have come out in recent years, drawing primarily on the wealth of resources preserved in European, American, and, most recently, Israeli archives. The sources used strongly influence the selection of topics treated. Thus, one resulting bias is that Jordan is seldom studied in its own right; rather, scholars have concentrated on its history under British mandatory rule, or as a player in the Arab-Israeli drama. Consequently, the dynamics of Jordanian structures—social, economic, and political—are either cursorily reviewed or presented as apprehended by travelers, political officers, or intelligence agents. In view of the relative ease of conducting research in Jordan, and the availability of diverse primary sources, the study of Jordan from within is to be encouraged. Towards this end, the following is intended to serve as an introduction to conducting research in Jordan, and as a survey of primary sources and research centers of value to the study of Jordan and the Middle East in general.
The Residential Quarter in Bukhara before the Revolution (The Work of O. A. Sukhareva)
Authors: Khalid Adeeb
Published: March 2016

Soviet Scholarship on Islamic studies exists in almost hermetic isolation from its Western counterpart for both linguistic and methodological reasons. Soviet scholarship is concerned with a different set of questions that emerge from Soviet Marxism, rarely tackling the conceptual questions formulated in the West. Nevertheless, Soviet scholarship is very strong on descriptive detail which could, if properly utilized, enrich Western debate. Unfortunately, few Western Islamicists (except those involved in Central Asian history) know Russian, and therefore a wealth of factual information unearthed by Soviet scholars remains virtually unknown in the West and plays no part in the scholarly discourse here.
Costume in the Middle East
Authors: Stillman Yedida K. , Micklewright Nancy
Published: March 2016

Clothing constitutes a cultural statement. It is a manifestation of culture, no less than art, architecture, literature, and music. Like all cultural phenomena, it communicates a great deal of information both on the physical and symbolic level about the society in which it is found. Fashions, or modes of dress, reflect not only the æsthetics of a particular society (what might be called the “adornment factor”), but also its social mores and values (the “modesty/immodesty factor,” or “reveal/conceal factor”). Furthermore, dress is often a clear economic indicator. The fabric, quality of cut, and ornamentation of a garment are commonly badges of socioeconomic status. More subtly and often symbolically, clothing reflects religious and political norms. In Islamic society, clothing has historically been intimately connected with notions of purity and impurity (tahāraandnajas), ritual behavior (sunna), and the differentiation of the believer from the unbeliever (ghiyār), as well as the separation of the genders (hijāb). Thus, within Islamic society clothing constitutes a cultural complex, or what Roland Barthes has dubbed a “vestimentary system.” (Barthes 1957).
The DANTES Survey of Courses in Contemporary Middle East Studies
Authors: Salem Lori Anne
Published: March 2016

In Fall 1990, the Defense Department mailed an eight-page questionnaire to more than a thousand college and university professors who teach courses in contemporary Middle East Studies. Fifteen percent, 184 professors, responded, which is an impressive rate for such an endeavor. The survey asked, among other things, how often courses meet, how course materials are organized, which specific topics are covered, which texts are used and requested a copy of the professor’s course syllabus. I heard about the survey from one of those solicited and called the director of the project to learn the results.

The information sought in this survey is not classified. Specifics about a Middle East Studies course are available to anyone who signs up; and most professors are more than willing to discuss their selection and organization of material. But the survey was conducted without identifying the surveyors or their purpose. Neither the questionnaire nor its cover letter indicated a connection to the Department of Defense.
The Qur’ān Recited
Authors: Ayoub Mahmoud
Published: March 2016

Until recently, the Qur’ān has been treated in the curricula of Western universities and colleges as a historical and literary document. Little attention was paid to the Qur’ān as a sacred scripture and the vital role it continues to play in the spiritual, social and cultural lives of millions of men and women around the world. Even scantier attention was paid to the place of the Qur’ān in the development of the art of music.

As interest is growing in the impact of the Qur’ān on the devotional and cultural life of the Muslim community, greater attention is given to the various sciences of the Qur’ān, including the highly developed art of Qur’ān recitation. This brief essay introduces students of Islamic and religious studies to four well-known modern representatives of this art whose recitations are readily available on audio cassettes, disks or compact disks. A few introductory remarks on the development of this art may provide a useful background for the discussion.
Turks in Germany: Overview of the Literature
Authors: White Jenny B.
Published: March 2016

A complete bibliography of just German-language literature dealing with the Turkish minority in Germany could easily double as a coffee table. The best one can do for a short introduction to German-, English- and Turkish-language sources is to separate out major categories into which one can organize the thrust and style of these writings and to select several examples of particularly representative or insightful recent publications. Of necessity that leaves a large barrel untapped. For those interested in acquiring a more complete bibliography, to furnish their home or not, I have appended several sources.
Middle Eastern Resources in American Research Libraries
Authors: Yamak Labib Zuwiyya
Published: March 2016

This paper does not purport to deal with western language publications about the Middle East, and the reason for excluding them from our analysis is because they are bibliographically well identifiable and controllable and physically both available and easily accessible. By contrast, publications in Arabic, Persian and Turkish are on the whole relatively unknown even to the scholars, let alone the students, and, when available, are not easily accessible. Thus, a differentiating characteristic of western language materials on the Middle East is their “knowability.” They are known to us through a variety of bibliographical sources, national and otherwise, as well as through library catalogs. Furthermore, they are not only well organized but also easily organizable. Bibliographers and other librarians who can work with them and process them are available, and more are being trained every year.
Economic History of the Middle East to 1914
Authors: Issawi Charles
Published: March 2016

Perhaps the most accurate description of the present state of knowledge on the economic history of the Near East is the schoolboy’s definition of a net as “a bunch of holes tied together with string.” The trouble is that, here, the holes are so wide that rather large fish can easily slip through, while the string is so weak that one cannot be sure of keeping what one thinks one holds. Add to this the fact that the present fisherman is a newcomer to the field, and has not yet had the time to make much of the necessary studies, and it will be seen that this paper must be regarded as only a preliminary and very tentative introduction, which makes no claim to thoroughness or completeness.
The Inclusion Imperative (1996 MESA Presidential Address)
Authors: Kazemi Farhad
Published: March 2016

A puzzling issue for those of us who study the modern Middle East is the slow—and in some instances nonexistent—progress toward more open and inclusive political systems. Why does authoritarianism persist in the Middle East? Why have regimes in many parts of the world, from East Europe to Latin America and elsewhere, made successful transitions from authoritarianism while the Middle East has lagged behind? Is the Middle Eastern exceptionalism likely to endure?

What makes these questions more paradoxical is the presence of a number of democrats and reformers in the Middle East, as well as human rights organizations and civic groups, that attempt to provide a check on abuses of power and try to promote political reform. Moreover, there are regimes such as Israel and Turkey where democratic political systems, with limitations, exist and function reasonably successfully. Although in a few other polities (Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, Kuwait, and so on) semi-regular competitive elections for high offices are held, exclusionary tactics are used routinely to keep some individuals and groups from becoming active players in the political arena.
Globalization and the Nation State in the Arab World
Authors: Moussalli Ahmad S.
Published: March 2016

Among The Wide range of issues analyzed by Arab scholars, there is a significant interest in the political economy of the Middle East. The impact of globalization on national sovereignty is a particularly strong concern, which is addressed in four studies that were published in Beirut in 1997.
The Algerian Civil War: A Review Essay
Authors: Kapil Arun
Published: March 2016

The Civil War in Algeria is entering its eighth year and, despite a recent decrease in intensity, shows no sign of ending. Just when it appears that the armed Islamist groups are on the verge of defeat, another horrendous massacre occurs, reminding all that the conflict is far from resolution. One of the particularities of the Algerian war is that so little has been known about it, about the protagonists, the attitude of the population, how the conflict has played out across the country, and even what exactly is being fought over. This has been largely due to restrictions on freely moving around the country—and, for foreign inquirers, entering Algeria itself—interviewing eyewitnesses to the violence, and speaking to the full range of regime opposition. And then there has been the inhospitality of the armed groups. One consequence has been a dearth of good, first-hand empirical data upon which analysis could be based.
Inshad Dini and Aghani Diniyya in Twentieth Century Egypt: A Review of Styles, Genres, and Available Recordings
Authors: Frishkopf Michael
Published: March 2016

It is often assumed that as ‘orthodox’ Islam rejects music, Qur’anic recitation (tilawa) and the Call to Prayer (adhan) are its only acceptable melodic practices. By the same logic, the special music of Sufism is bracketed under the labels ‘heterodox,’ or else ‘popular,’ Islam. Both ‘orthodox’ and ‘Sufi’ practices are then categorically distinguished from the ‘secular’ world anditsmusic. This erroneous ‘tripolar’ view of music and religion in Egypt can be ameliorated by considering the rich range of Islamic melodic practices performed there.
Conversation with a Revolutionary
Authors: Reza Ghods M. , Foster Thomas W.
Published: March 2016

Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi, who played a pivotal role in the Iranian revolution of 1979, and who is today a leading figure among Iran’s liberal political dissidents, visited the US in early November 2000 and spoke at several American universities, including Ohio State University. During his visit, we hosted a small reception for Dr. Yazdi at a home in central Ohio and had the opportunity of engaging him in an extended conversation about the events of the revolution, his personal relationship with the Ayatollah Khomeini, his views on the current political situation in Iran, and his thoughts on the future of Iran’s relationship with the US.
Middle East Studies After September 11, 2001
Authors: Beinin Joel
Published: March 2016

The office of MESA president is mainly honorific; the associated duties are normally not particularly onerous. The very capable staff of the secretariat does most of the hard work involved in running this organization. None of you could have known at the time of the MESA elections in the summer and early fall of 2000 that you would be giving me the opportunity to serve as your president in the post-September 11, 2001 era, when public interest in the Middle East, demands on those with expertise in the region, and incongruously, attacks on MESA, university-based programs in Middle East Studies, and more than a few individual MESA members have reached unprecedented levels. Serving as your president in this period has been a more exciting ride than it would have been at almost any other time I can imagine; I thank you all for making it possible. I would also like to acknowledge my wife Miriam, who also received a fuller plate than she could have imagined as a result of my serving as MESA president. Her support has always been indispensable in everything I have done.
Conducting Research in Lebanon: An Overview of Historical Sources in Beirut (Part I)
Authors: Scalenghe Sara , Sbaiti Nadya
Published: March 2016

Nearly two decades of war in Lebanon crippled possibilities for historical research during a period when scholarship underwent significant theoretical and methodological developments. The last several years, however, have seen a renewed vigor to preserve, catalog, and promote all types of sources that could possibly shed light on the rich history of the country and of the Middle East in general. Sources and resources in Lebanon are largely decentralized, rendering the country something of a logistical labyrinth that can cost scholars considerable expenditures of time and energy. This article is a modest attempt to facilitate research in Beirut. Although mostly geared towards historians, we hope that this article may prove useful to scholars from other fields as well. It is slightly slanted towards the British and American academies, particularly since the Francophone world has been so much more embedded in the intellectual and scholarly atmosphere of the country.
al-Muwashshahâtandal-Qudûd al-Halabiyya: Two Genres in the AleppineWasla
Authors: Shannon Jonathan H.
Published: March 2016

This article analyzes two important genres of Arab music that are heard in Syria in the course of the performance of thewasla, or suite of songs: themuwashshahâtand the popular songs known asal-qudûd al-halabiyya. Many consider themuwashshahât(sing,muwashshah) to be the epitome of Arab music. Poetically, melodically, and vocally, themuwashshahâtconstitute a veritable treasure-house of Arabic culture and civilization. Thequdûd(sing,qadd) are sung in both standard and colloquial Arabic, but because of their simpler melodic rhythmic structure are generally considered to be simplified versions ofmuwashshahât; therefore in this article I treat them as a sub-set of themuwashshahât.
The Study of Parties in Political Development in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Johnston Scott D.
Published: March 2016

A concern on the part of Middle East specialists with an examination of political parties and groupings and related political processes represents a comparatively recent development. It is a development, of course, which has lagged behind the study of parties and political processes in the United States and Europe, although even there the subject largely was neglected until a quarter of a century ago.
Geography of the Middle East
Authors: Kolars John
Published: March 2016

Geography as a discipline allows several interpretations of area materials. The following outline does not claim to be exhaustive, but I feel that it does cover the major approaches to teaching a course entitled: The Geography of the Middle East. This syllabus incorporates materials suggested in other teachers’ course outlines in addition to my own, but the final interpretation — with its strengths and weaknesses — is my responsibility.
Nehrî Documents from the Institute of Persian National Records: A Catalogue
Authors: Dehqan Mustafa
Published: March 2016

The Kurdish nationalist tradition is surely not very old. The earliest origins of Kurdish nationalism coincide with the beginning of modernity in Kurdistan, which emerged with the secular humanism of the ‘Western Enlightenment,’ ushering in a gradual decline of traditional Islamic identity. The nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries in Kurdish history were a period for the incubation and growth of nationalism in Kurdistan. The famous temporary conquest of Iranian Kurdistan by Sheikh ‘Ubaydullah Nehrî (d. 1883), son of Sheikh Sayyid Taha, is the most important event in the history of early Kurdish nationalism. What I want to present here is in no way a complete investigation of the revolt of ‘Ubaydullah and his nationalist efforts. This is no more than an introduction to some newly-found Persian documents from the Institute of Persian National Records (IPNR) in Tehran, a schema of basic subjects surrounding the rebellion of ‘Ubaydullah and the Kurdish tribes as reflected in Persian diplomatic reports. Here I can only list the documents without entering into much detail. This collection has attracted little attention yet, but is well worth intensive investigation.
Cross-Regional Approaches to Middle East Studies: Constructing and Deconstructing a Region
Authors: Kurzman Charles
Published: March 2016

The Middle East is deconstructing—that is, the concept of a coherent geographic entity with the label “Middle East.” A Thematic Conversation on this subject began at the 2005 MESA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., and will conclude at the 2007 meeting in Montréal. These discussions grow out of efforts in the 1990s to rethink area studies globally, spurred by programs at the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council, among others. A variety of scholars have taken up these issues with regard to the Middle East specifically over the past decade, including the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which organized this Thematic Conversation.
Cultivating Taste, Creating the Modern Subject: Sawt el-Fannan and Art Criticism in 1950s Egypt
Authors: Ramadan Dina A.
Published: March 2016

This paper is born of two somewhat separate but interrelated concerns: the oft-repeated assertion that there exists no history of art criticism in Egypt, and the greatly felt “absence” of an archive, an organized system of collecting and cataloguing dedicated to the fine arts in Egypt. It is with these two concerns in mind that I propose we approach the journal Sawt el-Fannan (The Voice of the Artist), for it was in response to these perceived shortcomings that this publication—a self-proclaimed pioneer in the field of Egyptian art criticism–was first produced in 1950. Despite the thriving Egyptian art scene of the time (or what is repeatedly referred to by journal contributors as al-nahda al-fanniyya al-haditha), such a movement was seen to lack a certain credibility and effectiveness, of being in danger of a short life in the absence of the appropriate reflection, recording, and documentation. In other words, the establishment of Sawt el-Fannan took place with a great sense of urgency on the part of contributors that reflects much of what was seen to be at stake in the existence of a modern art scene in Egypt. Therefore a close examination of the editorial vision behind Sawt el-Fannan is an important departure point for understanding the ways in which art criticism was being imagined during this period. By delineating the parameters of what Sawt el-Fannan considered to be this field known as “art criticism” or al-naqd al-fanni, we can begin to identify some of the functions it was expected to fulfill, and by extension, begin to address the place and function of art in Egypt at the time. I want to suggest that through its expansive understanding of its field, Sawt el-Fannan produces a complicated and multi-faceted relationship between artistic production and art criticism, one in which its role is both reflective and productive. As will become apparent, the notion of “taste” or al-hassa al-dhawqiyya is central to the objectives of Sawt el-Fannan; what such a publication is ultimately invested in are the wider discourses involved in cultivating a bourgeois artistic awareness and aesthetic sensibilities, what Bourdieu would call cultural competence, as part of the larger project of constructing the modern subject in Egypt.
Art in the Streets: Modern Art, Museum Practice and the Urban Environment in Contemporary Morocco
Authors: Pieprzak Katarzyna
Published: March 2016

Every summer, cultural festivals take place all over Morocco, and streets in towns and cities become animated scenes for the articulation of Moroccan contemporary culture. So animated, heterogeneous and pluralistic has this festival scene become that the semiofficial newspaper for the Islamist PJD party has called these street festivals “vectors of decadence” and performing-artist union officials have declared that they feel threatened by the “foreign invasion” of internationally-based diaspora groups. Recently, in a critique of these attitudes, the magazine Telquel reported that they are “sick of the wet-rags of the festival season” that deny “millions of happy festival-goers the occasional…free oasis in the grand cultural desert of Morocco.” Describing the street as an oasis of culture vis-à-vis the desert landscape of Moroccan cultural institutions is not a new trope. In this paper I explore how Moroccan artists have engaged with the potential, promise and problems of art in the street when gallery spaces and museums fail to integrate modern art into a wider Moroccan cultural landscape.
Ottoman History (Post-1789)
Authors: Davison Roderic H.
Published: March 2016

Ottoman history is the history of the Ottoman Empire. It may seem ridiculous to state so self-evident a proposition; but is is put forth here to indicate the complexities in the study of Ottoman history. For the Ottoman Empire still, at the end of the eighteenth century, included the territories of what are now nineteen independent countries. The lands of twelve future independent countries were yet within the Ottoman borders in 1914 at the start of the war which sounded the death-knell of the sprawling conglomerate. Of course some of these areas were only nominally or very loosely under the control of the Istanbul government. Yet they were still within the empire, and created problems for it, if nothing else.
Research Facilities in Algeria
Authors: Zartman I. William
Published: March 2016

Nearly every current review of research conditions in the Third World (including our first item in this series, MESA Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 2) now begins with a long exposition of the need to respect local culture and attitudes toward research itself, not only in the name of effectiveness but as part of a social equation between studied and studier. We are far beyond the old era of Third World research—at least as it was stereotypically conceived—of paternalistic scientists studying “quaint” folkways without regard to the subjects’ needs, feelings, or wishes. We may well wonder how accurate this stereotype was, if only on the basis of effectiveness, but in any case the pendulum has swung toward discretion as the better part of valor.
A Bibliography of Middle Eastern Statistical Documents (1945+)
Authors: Gibbons Virginia H.
Published: March 2016

Dates in parentheses at the end of each statement represent the combined holdings of the Stanford University-Hoover Institution libraries and are meant to serve as a guide to the publication history of the documents.

The bibliography is arranged by country and then by issuing agency. The Arabic form of the agency has been used when available.

This bibliography is not a comprehensive listing, but rather serves as an introduction to the wealth of material buried in the confusing array of publications of statistical agencies in the Middle East.