bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design of Voltage control Oscillator using Nonlinear Composite Right/Left-Handed Transmission Line
Authors: El-Khozondar H. J. , Abu-Marasa M. , El-Khozondar R. J. , Elbahri M. , Zouhdi S.
Published: March 2016

In the present work, we propose a voltage control oscillator (VCO) at high frequency consists of nonlinear composite right/left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL) loaded with Resonant Tunneling Diode (RTD). We designed three prototype device examples. The first one consists of one cell with short circuit at the beginning of the cell between ground and patch, and 50 Ω load resistance were added at the end of the cell between ground and patch. The second one is similar to the first prototype but with open circuit at the beginning of the cell instated of short circuit. The third prototype consists of one cell with two 50 Ω load resistances added between ground and patch at the beginning and at the end of the cell. The proposed VCO models are capable of generating oscillations at frequencies between 4.87- 14.9 GHz. In our simulations, we used OrCAD and ADS software to analyze the proposed circuit.
Dynamic gene expression profiles during postnatal development of porcine subcutaneous adipose
Authors: Zhang Jie , Ma Jideng , Long Keren , Jin Long , Liu Yihui , Zhou Chaowei , Tian Shilin , Chen Lei , Luo Zonggang , Tang Qianzi , Jiang An’an , Wang Xun , Wang Dawei , Jiang Zhi , Wang Jinyong , Li Xuewei , Li Mingzhou
Published: March 2016

A better understanding of the control of lipogenesis is of critical importance for both human and animal physiology. This requires a better knowledge of the changes of gene expression during the process of adipose tissue development. Thus, the objective of the current study was to determine the effects of development on subcutaneous adipose tissue gene expression in growing and adult pigs. Here, we present a comprehensive investigation of mRNA transcriptomes in porcine subcutaneous adipose tissue across four developmental stages using digital gene expression profiling. We identified 3,274 differential expressed genes associated with oxidative stress, immune processes, apoptosis, energy metabolism, insulin stimulus, cell cycle, angiogenesis and translation. A set of universally abundant genes (ATP8,COX2,COX3,ND1, ND2,SCDandTUBA1B) was found across all four developmental stages. This set of genes may play important roles in lipogenesis and development. We also identified development-related gene expression patterns that are linked to the different adipose phenotypes. We showed that genes enriched in significantly up-regulated profiles were associated with phosphorylation and angiogenesis. In contrast, genes enriched in significantly down-regulated profiles were related to cell cycle and cytoskeleton organization, suggesting an important role for these biological processes in adipose growth and development. These results provide a resource for studying adipose development and promote the pig as a model organism for researching the development of human obesity, as well as being used in the pig industry.
H2-saturation of high affinity H2-oxidizing bacteria alters the ecological niche of soil microorganisms unevenly among taxonomic groups
Authors: Piché-Choquette Sarah , Tremblay Julien , Tringe Susannah G. , Constant Philippe
Published: March 2016

Soil microbial communities are continuously exposed to H2diffusing into the soil from the atmosphere. N2-fixing nodules represent a peculiar microniche in soil where H2can reach concentrations up to 20,000 fold higher than in the global atmosphere (0.530 ppmv). In this study, we investigated the impact of H2exposure on soil bacterial community structure using dynamic microcosm chambers simulating soil H2exposure from the atmosphere and N2-fixing nodules. Biphasic kinetic parameters governing H2oxidation activity in soil changed drastically upon elevated H2exposure, corresponding to a slight but significant decay of high affinity H2-oxidizing bacteria population, accompanied by an enrichment or activation of microorganisms displaying low-affinity for H2. In contrast to previous studies that unveiled limited response by a few species, the relative abundance of 958 bacterial ribotypes distributed among various taxonomic groups, rather than a few distinct taxa, was influenced by H2exposure. Furthermore, correlation networks showed important alterations of ribotype covariation in response to H2exposure, suggesting that H2affects microbe-microbe interactions in soil. Taken together, our results demonstrate that H2-rich environments exert a direct influence on soil H2-oxidizing bacteria in addition to indirect effects on other members of the bacterial communities.
An exploration of key issues and potential solutions that impact physician wellbeing and professional fulfillment at an academic center
Authors: Schrijver Iris , Brady Keri J.S. , Trockel Mickey
Published: March 2016

Background.Physician wellness is a vital element of a well-functioning health care system. Not only is physician wellness empirically associated with quality and patient outcomes, but its ramifications span individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels. The purpose of this study was to explore academic physicians’ perceptions about their work-related wellness, including the following questions: (a) What are the workplace barriers and facilitators to their wellness? (b) What workplace solutions do theythinkwouldimprove their wellness? (c)What motivates their work? and (d) What existing wellness programs are they aware of?

Methods.A multi-method design was applied to conduct a total of 19 focus group sessions in 17 clinical departments. All academic faculty ranks and career lines were represented in the 64 participating physicians, who began the sessions with five open-ended survey questions pertaining to physician wellness in their work environment. Participants entered their answers into a web-based survey program that enabled anonymous data collection. The initial survey component was followed by semi-structured focus group discussion. Data analysis of this qualitative study was informed by the general inductive approach as well as a review of extant literature through September 2015 on physician wellness, professional fulfillment, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, burnout and work-life.

Results.Factors intrinsic to the work of physicians dominated the expressed reasons for work motivation. These factors all related to the theme of overall contribution, with categories of meaningful work, patient care, teaching, scientific discovery, self-motivation and matching of career interests. Extrinsic factors such as perceptions of suboptimal goal alignment, inadequate support, restricted autonomy, lack of appreciation, and suboptimal compensation and benefits dominated the risk of professional dissatisfaction.

Discussion.Our findings indicate that the factors that enhance professional fulfillment and those that precipitate burnout are distinct: motivation and quality of work performed were supported by domains intrinsic to the work itself, whereas external dysfunctional work aspects resulted in frustration. Thus, it can be anticipated that optimization of physician wellness would require tailored approaches in each of these dimensions with sustained funding and support for wellness initiatives. Physicians identified the availability of resources to enable them to thrive and provide excellent patient care as their most important wellness-enhancing factor.
From commensalism to parasitism in Carapidae (Ophidiiformes): heterochronic modes of development?
Authors: Parmentier Eric , Lanterbecq Déborah , Eeckhaut Igor
Published: March 2016

Phenotypic variations allow a lineage to move into new regions of the adaptive landscape. The purpose of this study is to analyse the life history of the pearlfishes (Carapinae) in a phylogenetic framework and particularly to highlight the evolution of parasite and commensal ways of life. Furthermore, we investigate the skull anatomy of parasites and commensals and discuss the developmental process that would explain the passage from one form to the other. The genusCarapusforms a paraphyletic grouping in contrast to the genusEncheliophis, which forms a monophyletic cluster. The combination of phylogenetic, morphologic and ontogenetic data clearly indicates that parasitic species derive from commensal species and do not constitute an iterative evolution from free-living forms. Although the head morphology ofCarapusspecies differs completely fromEncheliophis,C. homeiis the sister group of the parasites. Interestingly, morphological characteristics allowing the establishment of the relation betweenCarapus homeiandEncheliophisspp. concern the sound-producing mechanism, which can explain the diversification of the taxon but not the acquisition of the parasite morphotype.Carapus homeialready has the sound-producing mechanism typically found in the parasite form but still has a commensal way of life and the corresponding head structure. Moreover, comparisons between the larval and adult Carapini highlight that the adult morphotype “Encheliophis” is obtained by going beyond the adult stage reached byCarapus. The entrance into the new adaptive landscape could have been realised by at least two processes: paedomorphosis and allometric repatterning.
Direct dating of Pleistocene stegodon from Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara
Authors: Louys Julien , Price Gilbert J. , O’Connor Sue
Published: March 2016

Stegodons are a commonly recovered extinct proboscidean (elephants and allies) from the Pleistocene record of Southeast Asian oceanic islands. Estimates on when stegodons arrived on individual islands and the timings of their extinctions are poorly constrained due to few reported direct geochronological analyses of their remains. Here we report on uranium-series dating of a stegodon tusk recovered from the Ainaro Gravels of Timor. The six dates obtained indicate the local presence of stegodons in Timor at or before 130 ka, significantly pre-dating the earliest evidence of humans on the island. On the basis of current data, we find no evidence for significant environmental changes or the presence of modern humans in the region during that time. Thus, we do not consider either of these factors to have contributed significantly to their extinction. In the absence of these, we propose that their extinction was possibly the result of long-term demographic and genetic declines associated with an isolated island population.
Prediction Error After Lens Implantation in Children With Axial Length Less than 22 mm Below 2 Yrs
Authors: Gupta Reena , Ganesh Suma , Singh Chekitaan , Khurana A.K
Published: March 2016

Purpose:

To compare the accuracy of IOL power calculation in children less than 2 years of age with axial length less than 22 mm using the SRK-T, SRK-II, and Hoffer-Q formulae.

Design:

Retrospective comparative study.

Methods:

We retrospectively analysed 68 eyes of 39 children below 2 years of age with axial length less than 22 mm who underwent cataract surgery with primary IOL implantation. We assessed the accuracy of predicted refraction using SRK-T, SRK-II and Hoffer-Q formulae in each of the eyes by calculating and comparing mean prediction error and mean absolute prediction error with each formula. Children with a minimum follow up of 6 weeks were enrolled to study the absolute prediction error.

Results:

Mean absolute prediction error was significantly different among the three formulae used for IOL power calculation in each eye (Friedman test, p-value=0.0009). There also existed statistically significant difference between SRK-T and SRK-II, SRK-T and Hoffer-Q, SRK-II and Hoffer-Q (Signed rank test, p-value= 0.0001). Absolute prediction error was minimum with SRK-II (1.85± 1.85) while it was maximum with Hoffer-Q (3.70± 4.01). Mean absolute prediction error with SRK-T was 2.09± 2.73. The clinical accuracy of absolute prediction error within ± 0.5D and ± 1 D was seen in 22 % and 40% of the eyes respectively with SRK-T while it was seen in 19 % and 38% of the eyes with SRK-II. Pearson correlation coefficient showed strong negative correlation between mean absolute prediction error with each of the three formulae and age at the time of surgery and also axial length. Lesser the age at surgery, more is the absolute prediction error. The shorter the axial length, more is the prediction error. There was no correlation of any of the formulae with mean keratometry reading. There existed positive correlation of SRK-II, Hoffer-Q and IOL power implanted. Higher the IOL power, more is the prediction error.

Conclusion:

The accuracy of SRK-T and SRK-II was comparable in calculating IOL power in children with axial length less than 22 mm and below 2 years of age
Intense submesoscale upwelling in anticyclonic eddies
Authors: Brannigan L.
Published: March 2016

Observations from around the global ocean show that enhanced biological activity can be found in anticyclonic eddies. This may mean that upwelling of nutrient‐rich water occurs within the eddy, but such upwelling is not captured by models that resolve mesoscale processes. High‐resolution simulations presented here show intense submesoscale upwelling from the thermocline to the mixed layer in anticyclonic eddies. The properties of the upwelling are consistent with a process known as symmetric instability. A simple limiting nutrient experiment shows that this upwelling can drive much higher biological activity in anticyclonic eddies when there is a high nutrient concentration in the thermocline. An estimate for the magnitude of upwelling associated with symmetric instability in anticyclonic eddies in the Sargasso Sea shows that it may be of comparable magnitude to other processes, though further work is required to understand the full implications for basin‐scale nutrient budgets.
Neodymium‐Based Stoichiometric Ultrasmall Nanoparticles for Multifunctional Deep‐Tissue Photothermal Therapy
Authors: del Rosal Blanca , Pérez‐Delgado Alberto , Carrasco Elisa , Jovanović Dragana J. , Dramićanin Miroslav D. , Dražić Goran , de la Fuente Ángeles Juarranz , Sanz‐Rodriguez Francisco , Jaque Daniel
Published: March 2016

Nanoparticle‐mediated photothermal therapy (NP‐PTT) constitutes a flexible, highly selective, cost effective, and accurate tool for cancer treatment alone or in combination with other therapies such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The future application of NP‐PTT in real life mainly depends on the design and synthesis of novel multifunctional nanoparticles that could overcome the current limitations of NP‐PTT such as limited penetration depth and absence of therapy control. In this work, ultrasmall (≈2.4 nm) NdVO4 stoichiometric (100% constituent Nd3+ ions) nanoparticles are reported, which are capable of in vivo sub‐tissue localized heating under 808 nm optical excitation while providing, simultaneously, the possibility of high penetration near‐infrared fluorescence imaging. Ultrasmall stoichiometric NdVO4 nanoparticles have evidenced a superior light‐to‐heat conversion efficiency. This is explained in terms of their large absorption cross‐section at 808 nm (consequence of the particular spectroscopic properties of neodymium ions in NdVO4 and of the high neodymium content) as well as to their ultrasmall size that leads to large nonradiative decay rates. Results included in this work introduce ultrasmall, NdVO4 stoichiometric nanoparticles to the scientific community as multifunctional photothermal agents that could be considered as an alternative to traditional systems such as metallic, organic, or carbon‐based nanoparticles.
Impact of early postoperative platelet count on volumetric liver gain and perioperative outcomes after major liver resection
Authors: Margonis G A , Amini N , Buettner S , Besharati S , Kim Y , Sobhani F , Kamel I R , Pawlik T M
Published: March 2016

Background

Although perioperative platelet count has been associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality, its impact on liver regeneration has not been examined directly. This study sought to determine the impact of platelet count on liver regeneration after major liver resection using cross-sectional imaging volumetric assessment.

Methods

Patients who underwent major liver resection between 2004 and 2015 and had available data on immediate postoperative platelet count, as well as preoperative and postoperative CT images, were identified retrospectively. Resected liver volume was subtracted from total liver volume (TLV) to define postoperative remnant liver volume (RLVp). The liver regeneration index was defined as the relative increase in liver volume within 2 months ((RLV2m – RLVp)/RLVp, where RLV2m is the remnant liver volume around 2 months after surgery). The association between platelet count, liver regeneration and outcomes was assessed.

Results

A total of 99 patients met the inclusion criteria. Overall, 25 patients (25 per cent) had a low platelet count (less than 150 × 109/l), whereas 74 had a normal–high platelet count (at least 150 × 109/l). Despite having comparable clinicopathological characteristics and RLVp/TLV at surgery (P = 0·903), the relative increase in liver volume within 2 months was considerably lower in the low-platelet group (3·9 versus 16·5 per cent; P = 0·043). Patients with a low platelet count had an increased risk of postoperative complications (72 versus 38 per cent; P = 0·003), longer hospital stay (8 versus 6 days; P = 0·004) and worse median overall survival (24·5 versus 67·3 months; P = 0·005) than those with a normal or high platelet count.

Conclusion

After major liver resection, a low postoperative platelet count was associated with inhibited liver regeneration, as well as worse short- and long-term outcomes. Immediate postoperative platelet count may be an early indicator to identify patients at increased risk of worse outcomes.
Relaxation Dynamics and Magnetic Anisotropy in a Low‐Symmetry DyIII Complex
Authors: Lucaccini Eva , Briganti Matteo , Perfetti Mauro , Vendier Laure , Costes Jean‐Pierre , Totti Federico , Sessoli Roberta , Sorace Lorenzo
Published: March 2016

The magnetic behaviour of a Dy(LH)3 complex (LH− is the anion of 2‐hydroxy‐N′‐[(E)‐(2‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)methylidene]benzhydrazide) was analysed in depth from both theoretical and experimental points of view. Cantilever torque magnetometry indicated that the complex has Ising‐type anisotropy, and provided two possible directions for the easy axis of anisotropy due to the presence of two magnetically non‐equivalent molecules in the crystal. Ab initio calculations confirmed the strong Ising‐type anisotropy and disentangled the two possible orientations. The computed results obtained by using ab initio calculations were then used to rationalise the composite dynamic behaviour observed for both pure DyIII phase and YIII diluted phase, which showed two different relaxation channels in zero and non‐zero static magnetic fields. In particular, we showed that the relaxation behaviour at the higher temperature range can be correctly reproduced by using a master matrix approach, which suggests that Orbach relaxation is occurring through a second excited doublet.
Amitriptyline protects against TNF‐α‐induced atrophy and reduction in synaptic markers via a Trk‐dependent mechanism
Authors: O'Neill Eimear , Kwok Billy , Day Jennifer S. , Connor Thomas J. , Harkin Andrew
Published: March 2016

Neuritic degeneration and synaptic loss are features of both neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative disease. The tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline has neurotrophic and anti‐inflammatory properties and acts as a novel agonist of the neurotrophin Trk receptors. Primary cortical neurons were treated with amitriptyline, nortriptyline and NGF and tested for neuronal complexity by Sholl analysis, protein expression by Western immunoblotting, and synapse number by colocalization of pre and postsynaptic makers. Amitriptyline (500 nmol/L) and its active metabolite nortriptyline (50 nmol/L) are found to induce neurite outgrowth in rat primary cortical neurons. Amitriptyline‐induced neurite outgrowth is blocked by inhibition of Trk signaling using Trk antagonist K252a (200 nmol/L) but not by the neurotrophin inhibitor Y1036 (40 μmol/L), indicating that amitriptyline binds directly to the Trk receptor to initiate neurite outgrowth. MEK inhibitor PD98059 (10 μmol/L) also blocks amitriptyline‐induced neurite outgrowth, implicating activation of the MAPK signaling pathway downstream of Trk receptor activation. Furthermore, pretreatment of primary cortical neurons with amitriptyline and nortriptyline prevents the effects of the proinflammatory cytokine TNF‐α (10 ng/mL) on neurite outgrowth and colocalization of synaptic proteins. These findings suggest that amitriptyline and nortriptyline can exert neurotrophic effects in primary cortical neurons via activation of a Trk/MAPK signaling pathway. These compounds therefore have significant potential to be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions where atrophy and loss of synaptic connections contribute to progression of disease.
Photosynthesis and primary production in Lake Kasumigaura (Japan) monitored monthly since 1981
Authors: Takamura Noriko , Nakagawa Megumi
Published: March 2016

This study reports the primary production of phytoplankton determined with a 13C tracer, and their related variables, in Lake Kasumigaura, a shallow, hyper‐eutrophic lake, and the second largest lake in Japan. Measurements were conducted monthly from August 1981 to December 2013 at four stations within the lake. Monitoring was a component of the Lake Kasumigaura Long‐term Environmental Monitoring program, conducted by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) since 1977. The program collects data on water quality, and plankton and benthic communities. Lake Kasumigaura is registered as a core site of the Japan Long‐term Ecological Research Network (JaLTER), which is a member of the International Long‐term Ecological Research Network (ILTER). This dataset includes daily primary production (Pzd gC m−2 d−1) and the six parameters required to calculate Pzd: maximum photosynthesis rate (Pmax gC gC−1 h−1); light irradiance at the junction of the initial slope (α (gC gC−1 h−1) (μmol photon m−2 s−1)−1) and Pmax of the photosynthesis vs. irradiance (P vs. E) curve (Ek μmol photon m−2 s−1); attenuation coefficient of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) (KPAR m−1); water depth at each sampling station (Zb, m); dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC mgC L−1) and particulate organic carbon concentrations (POC gC m−3); and chlorophyll a amounts (Chl.a μg L−1). Daily primary production was calculated by obtaining a P vs. E curve over a short‐term incubation (approximately 1 h) in a water tank using in situ water temperature in the laboratory, based on the field conditions of the sampling date. The dataset has been used for ecological studies as well as for management studies on water quality and ecosystems. This dataset is unique among the available published papers concerning lakes or primary production in various ecosystems, collected over a long period of time and freely available.
CAEP 2015 Academic Symposium: Current State and Recommendations to Achieve Adequate and Sustainable Funding for Emergency Medicine Academic Units
Authors: Lang Eddy S. , Artz Jennifer D. , Wilkie Ryan D. , Stiell Ian G. , Topping Claude , Belanger François P. , Afilalo Marc , Renouf Tia , Crocco Anthony , Wyatt Kelly , Christenson Jim
Published: March 2016

Objectives

To describe the current state of academic emergency medicine (EM) funding in Canada and develop recommendations to grow and establish sustainable funding.

Methods

A panel of eight leaders from different EM academic units was assembled. Using mixed methods (including a literature review, sharing of professional experiences, a survey of current EM academic heads, and data previously collected from an environmental scan), 10 recommendations were drafted and presented at an academic symposium. Attendee feedback was incorporated, and the second set of draft recommendations was further distributed to the Canadian Association Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Academic Section for additional comments before being finalized.

Results

Recommendations were developed around the funding challenges identified and solutions developed by academic EM university-based units across Canada. A strategic plan was seen as integral to achieving strong funding of an EM unit, especially when it aligned with departmental and institutional priorities. A business plan, although occasionally overlooked, was deemed an important component for planning and sustaining the academic mission. A number of recommendations surrounding philanthropy consisted of creating partnerships with existing foundations and engaging multiple stakeholders and communities. Synergy between academic and clinical EM departments was also viewed as an opportunity to ensure integration of common missions. Education and networking for current and future leaders were also viewed as invaluable to ensure that opportunities are optimized through strong leadership development and shared experiences to further the EM academic missions across the country.

Conclusions

These recommendations were designed to improve the financial circumstances for many Canadian EM units. There is a considerable wealth of resources that can contribute to financial stability for an academic unit, and an annual networking meeting and continuing education on these issues will facilitate more rapid implementation of these recommendations.
A Report on the Available Recordings of Middle Eastern Music in the United States
Authors: Sakata Lorraine , Albright Charlotte F. , Racy A. Jihad , Schuyler Philip
Published: March 2016

Recordings of Middle Eastern music are too numerous to list and discuss individually here, but certain exemplary recordings and labels will be noted in this report.

Generally speaking, there are two types of recordings of Middle Eastern music available in the United States. One type is intended for general audiences and includes popular music sung by internationally known singers such as Um Kalthum and Fairuz, and orchestral ensembles playing what has become known as “Belly dance” or “Oriental dance” music. Intended for relatively easy listening, very little information is offered about the performances; the main attraction being the artists themselves or the accompaniment to dance. The second type of recording is generally more informative and concentrates on the music as well as the musicians. The division between the two types is certainly not clear cut and many recordings may be described as a little of each.
Islamic Numismatics, Sections 1 and 2
Authors: Bates Michael L.
Published: March 2016

Every student of pre-modern Islamic political, social, economic, or cultural history is aware in a general way of the importance of numismatic evidence, but it has to be admitted that for the most part this awareness is evidenced more in lip service than in practice. Too many historians consider numismatics an arcane and complex study best left to specialists. All too often, historians, if they take coin evidence into account at all, suspend their normal critical judgement to accept without question the readings and interpretations of the numismatist. On the other hand, numismatists, in the past especially but to a large extent still today, are often amateurs, self-taught through practice with little or no formal historical and linguistic training. This is true even of museum professionals in charge of Islamic collections, no matter what their previous training: The need to deal with the coinage of fourteen centuries, from Morocco to the Philippines, means that the curator spends most of his time working in areas in which he is, by scholarly standards, a layman. The best qualified student of any coin series is the specialist with an expert knowledge of the historical context from which the coinage comes. Ideally, any serious research on a particular region and era should rest upon as intensive a study of the numismatic evidence as of the literary sources. In practice, of course, it is not so easy, but it is easier than many scholars believe, and certainly much easier than for a numismatist to become a fully qualified historian in every field of Islamic civilization.
The Exact Sciences in Medieval Islam: Some Remarks on the Present State of Research
Authors: King David A.
Published: March 2016

During the millennium which followed the introduction of mathematics and astronomy from Indian, Sasanian and Hellenistic sources to the vigorous cultural scene of Abbasid Iraq in the eighth and ninth centuries, Muslim scientists compiled a remarkably rich and varied corpus of literature relating to their subject. Some of this literature survives in the manuscript libraries of the Near East, Europe and the United States, and a very small number of scholars have turned their attention to a small fraction of this material during the past 200 years. Catalogs of varying quality exist for some of these libraries, but there are many important collections which are not yet cataloged at all. Valuable lists of authors, titles and available manuscripts have been prepared by H. Suter, C. Brockelmann, C. A. Storey and, most recently, by F. Sezgin.
Iranian Publishing in the Post-Pahlavi Era: at Home and Abroad
Authors: Behn Wolfgang
Published: March 2016

This discussion is concerned with political, non-commercial publications rather than with the trade publications or the government, documents put out by the Ministry of National Guidance and the Iranian embassies in various Western countries. It must also be stated at the outset that such a survey cannot be entirely comprehensive due to the unreliability of information coming out of revolutionary Iran. Who can claim to have complete bibliographic information at a time of unsurpassed printing activities by all sorts of political groups within Iran, as well as the opposition abroad? However, the events surrounding the overthrow of the Shah must have convinced everyone of the importance of knowing about the current situation so as to formulate an informed opinion. It is futile to speculate what relations with Iran would be like if the decision-makers in the West had taken seriously the publications listed in the writer’s bibliography. The Iranian Opposition in Exile (Wiesbaden, 1979). One is flabbergasted to hear from Western Iranists that “by the 1970s opposition within Iran was dwindling to insignificant proportions and an open, organized form was nonexistent” [Iran under the Pahlavis, ed. C. Lencz-kowski (Stanford, 1978), p. 461]. The misinterpretation of the post-Pahlavi era comes from the failure to realize the adverse effect of Chinese and Soviet support for the Shah.
The Theatrical Movement of the Arabs
Authors: Cachia Pierre
Published: March 2016

In the immense corpus of pre-19th-century Arabic literature, the only dramatic works extant are three shadow plays by Shams ad-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Dāniyāl (1248–1311), an oculist turned both popular and court entertainer.

To explain this paucity, conjectures have been offered ranging from the contention that Islam (whose very name implies the total submission of man to the will of Cod) leaves no room for tragic conflict to the argument that Arabs remained attached to a literary ideal born in nomadism, whereas the theater can arise only in a settled community.
Drama and Theater of the Russian East: Transcaucasus, Tatarstan, Central Asia
Authors: Allworth Edward
Published: March 2016

This article continues “The Bibliography of the Theatrical Movement of Western Asia and North Africa,” Peter V. Chelkowski, editor, started In the MESA Bulletin XVI.1 (July 1982), pp. 9–23 with P. Cachia, “The Theatrical Movement of the Arabs,” and continued in XVI. 2 (December 1982) pp. 14–20 with F. Rokem, “Theatrical Movement in the Hebrew Theater.”

On the dramaturgical map of western Asia, the huge section long held by Czarist and Soviet Russia deserves attentive scrutiny. Theatrical life has been especially rich in the multi-ethnic Transcaucasus and, to a lesser degree, in the Tatar homelands and Central Asia, at least since medieval times. In certain respects the area leads the entire Middle East in this field. Theater in the region is abundant as well as versatile in form. It has given to both players and audiences literary religious performances, a secular neoclassical drama, folk comedy, modern European-style stage works, and ideologically-committed theater, as well as numerous plays translated or adapted from West and East. But how far the modern dramas may be identified either as local Asian or international Western remains a serious question for every specialist.
Freedoms and Ideology: The Current State of Political Thought in the Middle East
Authors: Awad Louis
Published: March 2016

Mr. Moderator, ladies, and gentlemen: I should like to begin by thanking MESA profoundly for this kind invitation. I must not forget to say that I was surprised to find that the general title of the colloquium today was “The Post-Liberal Age in the Middle East,” which sounds like a gruesome epitaph on a certain period. I personally belong to the school which holds fast to the liberal democratic tradition and I shall try to point out in the few lines which I have put down—which I will read out now—why I still belong to that school which believes in liberal democracy and secularism.

It is very difficult to trace the concept of Freedom or to analyse its theoretical content across Egyptian history up to 1798, the date of Bonaparte’s Expedition in Egypt.
Research Facilities in Tunisia—Part II
Authors: Clancy-Smith Julia
Published: March 2016

This article is intended to update an earlier one by Michelle Raccagni and John Simmons that appeared in the MESA Bulletin of February 1972 (vol. 6, pp. 30–36). Much of the information contained in it is still valid today, but as might be expected, the continuing emphasis in Tunisia on social science research has resulted in the creation of several new centers and institutes during the past few years.
Research Facilities in the Arabian Gulf: Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates
Authors: Crystal Jill
Published: March 2016

Social Science Research, especially foreign research, in and on the smaller states of the Arabian Gulf is a very new phenomenon. Only a few serious works on the area have been published in English, leaving an almost limitless opportunity for new research. There is, however, a common misconception that access to these states, at least for American nationals, is strictly limited as it is in neighboring Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. This is not really the case in the sheikhdoms, although it is true that all five states are somewhat wary of research, especially social science research, and the working atmosphere varies from one of relative openness to considerable skepticism. Still, a surprising amount of eminently rewarding research is possible here if one arranges it carefully in advance.
German Geography of the Middle East: Trends and Prospects
Authors: Ehlers Eckart
Published: March 2016

In Recent Years and on several occasions Eugen Wirth (1977; 1983a; 1983b), probably the leading German geographer on the Near and Middle East, has given critical evaluations and assessments of German geography related to the Near and Middle East. One of his findings, published in a volume by the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), on the state of art of research in the Federal Republic of Germany reads as follows: “Thus one may possibly say that the geographical Middle East research of the Federal Republic of Germany in terms of number and breadth, as well as in terms of contents and depth of its publications, may be considered internationally leading” (Wirth 1983a; translated by E. E.).
Survey Research among Middle Eastern Immigrant Groups in the United States: Iranians in Los Angeles
Authors: Bozorgmehr Mehdi , Sabagh Georges
Published: March 2016

Immigration research poses special problems, but survey researchers studying immigrant groups rarely write about the problems they encounter in the design and conduct of their surveys (Hurh and Kim 1984). Three areas of particular importance are: (1) securing the approval of community leaders or persons of influence; (2) identifying adequate frames for relatively small immigrant populations, from which random samples can be selected; and (3) conducting the fieldwork, including recruiting and training interviewers fluent in immigrant languages.

The main objective of this paper is to describe various stages of our recently completed survey of Iranians in Los Angeles (see Figure 1). We pay particular attention to the problems we have faced in carrying out this study, and how resolving some of them reshaped our original research design.
The Ottoman Fiscal Calendar
Authors: Rose Richard B.
Published: March 2016

One of the daunting aspects of studying the Middle East is the confluence of several, often unrelated, languages, each with its own alphabet. Having gained some control over these, the student then comes up against a jumble of calendars. While many of these complications are lessened when focusing on a particular region or period of time, the cosmopolitan nature of the Ottoman Empire evolved a dense fabric of interwoven languages (Persian, Turkish, and Arabic) and of calendars, which were not only in use alongside each other, but were blended to create new subspecies! Handbooks and concordances have existed for a long time to enable the scholar to translate solar, lunar, agricultural, and urban time reckonings into modern calendars. We are most familiar with the standard Gregorian/Hijra guides, as Europeans were once deeply involved in concordances of Old Style (Julian) and New Style (Gregorian) conversion tables.

The Ottoman fiscal calendar is one of the more peculiar challenges which must be attended to, in order to control adequately the immense store of documents from the last centuries of the Turkish Empire. This calendar was employed particularly in the State’s fiscal and trade sectors; hereafter it is identified by the code SM, for sene-i-maliye, the fiscal year. It is a solar calendar, first put into use in AD 1676, and adopted by more areas of trade and administration until it becanle the official standard calendar of the empire in AD 1839. The supremacy of SM usage then lasted until AD 1917, when it was first modified to accord with Gregorian NS reckoning over Julian OS. Finally, SM usage was discontinued entirely in December of AD 1925, and replaced by the “Western” Gregorian calendar.
Albert Hourani, 1915–1993
Authors: Khalidi Rashid
Published: March 2016

It is not easy to sum up, and considerably harder to assess, the life’s work of a scholar as influential and prolific as Albert Hourani. It is harder still to do with any precision when he was a man whose influence was exercised as much through his teaching, his lectures and his erudite conversation and commentary as it was through the broad range of his scholarly writings on the modern Middle East.

That Hourani was prolific is evidenced by the eight books he wrote, seven works he edited, the 157 articles and shorter pieces and over 100 book reviews he produced over a scholarly career spanning nearly five decades. Among them were writings of great importance to the field. These included the seminal Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1789–1939, which has gone through two editions and numerous reprints, and may be one of the most widely read works in modern Middle Eastern history. Among his articles, “Ottoman Reform and the Politics of the Notables,” originally published in the volume Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East: The Nineteenth Century in 1968 and reissued in 1981, has provided a concept—that of “the politics of the notables”—which has helped a generation of historians to better understand the society and politics of the modern Middle East.
Research Facilities and Document Collections in the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah
Authors: Vandewalle Dirk
Published: March 2016

The political and economic upheaval in the Libyan Jamahiriyah since 1969 had a profound impact on the country’s educational institutions, its research facilities and the local academic community as well. Revolutionary Committees at the local universities and the relocation of ministries and research institutes led to the dispersal and sometimes destruction of research and data collections. This was exacerbated by a general suspicion of Western-style research and by the forced return of scores of young scholars as the Qadhdhafi regime increased its confrontation with the West.
Coffeehouse-Communism to Dārā: The Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VI, Fascicles 1-6
Authors: Dale Stephen F.
Published: March 2016

Readers normally assume that encyclopedias will be, well, encyclopedic, but they probably do not usually expect that a particular encyclopedia will function as a forum for advancing the state of knowledge in a field. Those who are familiar with Volumes I-V of the Encyclopaedia Iranica already know that its editor, Professor Ehsan Yarshater, has not only insisted that this encyclopedia would be exceptionally comprehensive, but that he has also encouraged many of his contributors to submit essays that represent innovative and original scholarship in Iranian studies. In fascicles 1-6 of Volume VI Professor Yarshater and his distinguished board of editors have maintained the exceptionally high standards of the first five volumes. Occasionally—but just occasionally—they have commissioned articles that seem to have marginal importance for the field, but ultimately scholars will appreciate and even delight in such entries which, in a sense, are a distinguishing trait of the editors’ ambitions and success.
The Concept of Evil in Muslim Theology
Authors: von Grunebaum Gustave E.
Published: March 2016

Cultural studies in the West are trying more and more to present a truly individualized portrait of the alien cultures with which they deal. Refinements in observation may be credited with some of our advance but true progress is mostly due to a refinement in analytical method. This in turn hinges on our ability to enter into the intimacy of alien thinking and feeling by selecting key concepts and key experiences which allow us to obtain documented insights into the less accessible ideas and attitudes. Certain theological concepts as crystallization points of reflections and emotions and, on a different level, the examination of dreams lend themselves as divining rods when it comes to probing the more recondite layers of Muslim mentality in the classical age.
Recent Recordings of Traditional music from the Arabian Gulf and Saudi Arabia
Authors: Campbell Kay Hardy
Published: March 2016

The music of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf flourishes predominantly within its own regional boundaries, a function of both the fragmented music distribution channels in the Middle East and the deep imprint that local traditional cultures have left on it. While the music’s popularity is strictly regional, it is full of vitality, supporting an array of male and female song stars whose audiences eagerly await performances and recordings.

The distinct sound of Gulf music echoes the internal and external historic influences on the region, interwoven with the highly syncopated rhythms and the stark unaccompanied songs of the Bedouin. Pilgrims brought foreign music influences to Mecca and Medina and left their mark on the musical ensembles of the Arabian cities in rhythms and maqāmāt. The trading and pearling towns on the coasts and in the Peninsula’s interior also saw foreigners come and go, who left their music and songs behind. As a result, a rich and varied yet distinctly Arabian/Khalījī sound developed, echoing the voices and instrumental music of East Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
The Effects of International Labor Migration on the Maghrib
Authors: Michalak Laurence
Published: March 2016

International Labor migration has powerful consequences for Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Economically, migration affects Maghribi foreign currency earnings, balance of payments, employment rates, entrepreneurship and national economic development generally. Politically, it affects both Maghribi internal politics and relations with Europe. The sociocultural effects of migration are perhaps the most profound, touching aspects of North African life such as dress, music, architecture and nutrition, as well as deeper levels of beliefs and values, such as family structures, child-rearing practices and gender roles—aspects of culture that have generally been thought to be resistant to change.
Religion and Politics: The Complex Relationship between Islamism and the State
Authors: Zeghal Malika
Published: March 2016

Since The Early 1980s, a vast literature has developed on Islamism, a phenomenon that can be defined as “the recourse to the vocabulary of Islam, used in the postcolonial period to express within the state, or more often against it, an alternative political program that uses the heritage of the West as a foil, but allows nevertheless the re-appropriation of its principal references”. Its intellectual roots and the socio-economic reasons for its emergence are now examined in detail by scholars. Those studies have also illuminated the diversity of Islamism across the Middle East, thereby de-homogenizing an object too often thought of as monolithic.
The Information Revolution and Political Opposition in the Middle East
Authors: Green Jerrold D.
Published: March 2016

Since the Appearance over 40 years ago of Daniel Lerner’s The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle East, some observers of Middle East regional politics have ascribed great, if largely unexplained, societal significance to the role of information and communications in this rapidly changing and invariably hard to read region. Those persuaded by the profound if uncertain sociopolitical role of communications were both rewarded and analytically challenged by the Iranian revolution of 1978-1979. This upheaval may be characterized as the first political revolution in the Middle East, or anywhere else, that might not have succeeded had it not been for the information revolution. Although those of us who witnessed this cataclysmic event first hand did not as yet have the term “information revolution” as part of our conceptual tool-kit, we did document in rich if unsystematic detail the crucial and central role played by the accoutrements of communications in Iran’s upheaval.
The Quality of Theory and the Comparative Disadvantage of Area Studies
Authors: Lustick Ian S.
Published: March 2016

The 1990s were not kind to area studies. They were particularly cruel to Middle East specialists, and even more particularly, perhaps, to social scientists. The job market has slumped as relevant departments have lost positions. Departures and retirements were only irregularly replaced. Foundation officers and other officials in other grant-making agencies who promote guidelines and programs stressed thematics, policy-relevance, and cross-cultural comparisons. Publishers came to avoid monographic studies and seemed increasingly allergic to single-country studies (of most countries). Rashid Khalidi’s Presidential Address to the 1994 MESA conference is only the best known of a host of warnings, jeremiads, and even eulogies offered with respect to current prospects for Middle East studies.
Mainstreaming Middle East Gender Research: Promise or Pitfall?
Authors: Roded Ruth
Published: March 2016

From The Advent Of Middle Eastern Studies, the ‘status of the Muslim woman’ was a major subject of interest, not to say fascination. Women in Middle Eastern society were depicted as invisible, downtrodden figures, whiling away their time in harems, ignorant of anything but the most frivolous matters, and prone to childlike behavior. A handful of outstanding, unique women were portrayed either as ideal paragons or as evil shrews.

In the wake of the feminist movement of the 1960s, Middle Eastern ‘women’s history’ gradually began to modify these stereotypes. During the last two decades, new research has revealed the varied roles women have played in the economic, social, and cultural life of the Middle East. Quantitative studies of economic records have produced provocative findings on the ownership and management of property by women.