bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pilot study of an Alzheimer's disease risk assessment program in a primary care setting
Authors: Korthauer Laura E. , Denby Charles , Molina David , Wanjiku Janet , Daiello Lori A. , Drake Jonathan D. , Grill Josh D. , Ott Brian R.
Published: February 2021

Introduction

The goal of this study was to pilot a referral‐based cognitive screening and genetic testing program for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk assessment in a primary care setting.

Methods

Primary care providers (PCPs; N = 6) referred patients (N = 94; M = 63 years) to the Rhode Island Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Registry for apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotyping and cognitive screening. PCPs disclosed test results to patients and counseled them about risk factor modification.

Results

Compared to the Registry as a whole, participants were younger, more likely to be non‐White, and had lower cognitive screening scores. Mild cognitive impairment participants correctly reported a higher perceived risk of developing AD. Patients who recalled being counseled about modifiable risk factors were more likely to report positive health behavior changes.

Discussion

A referral‐based program for cognitive and genetic AD risk assessment in a primary care setting is feasible, acceptable to patients, and yielded a more demographically diverse sample than an AD prevention registry.
Nesting, brood rearing, and summer habitat selection by translocated greater sage‐grouse in North Dakota, USA
Authors: Lazenby Kade D. , Coates Peter S. , O’Neil Shawn T. , Kohl Michel T. , Dahlgren David K.
Published: February 2021

Human enterprise has led to large‐scale changes in landscapes and altered wildlife population distribution and abundance, necessitating efficient and effective conservation strategies for impacted species. Greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage‐grouse) are a widespread sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) obligate species that has experienced population declines since the mid‐1900s resulting from habitat loss and expansion of anthropogenic features into sagebrush ecosystems. Habitat loss is especially evident in North Dakota, USA, on the northeastern fringe of sage‐grouse’ distribution, where a remnant population remains despite recent development of energy‐related infrastructure. Resource managers in this region have determined a need to augment sage‐grouse populations using translocation techniques that can be important management tools for countering species decline from range contraction. Although translocations are a common tool for wildlife management, very little research has evaluated habitat following translocation, to track individual behaviors such as habitat selection and fidelity to the release site, which can help inform habitat requirements to guide selection of future release sites. We provide an example where locations from previously released radio‐marked sage‐grouse are used in a resource selection function framework to evaluate habitat selection following translocation and identify areas of seasonal habitat to inform habitat management and potential restoration needs. We also evaluated possible changes in seasonal habitat since the late 1980s using spatial data provided by the Rangeland Analysis Platform coupled with resource selection modeling results. Our results serve as critical baseline information for habitat used by translocated individuals across life stages in this study area, and will inform future evaluations of population performance and potential for long‐term recovery.
Influence of renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system inhibitors on plasma levels of angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2
Authors: Zimmermann Tobias , Walter Joan Elias , Lopez‐Ayala Pedro , Strebel Ivo , Amrein Melissa , Koechlin Michael , Honegger Ursina , Mueller Christian ,   BASEL VIII Investigators
Published: February 2021

Aims

Concern has been raised that treatment with angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers may increase the expression of angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which acts as the entry receptor for SARS‐CoV‐2, and lead to an increased risk of death from SARS‐CoV‐2. We aimed to address this concern by evaluating the in vivo relationship of treatment with ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) with circulating plasma concentrations of ACE2 in a large cohort of patients with established cardiovascular disease (n = 1864) or cardiovascular risk factors (n = 2144) but without a history of heart failure.

Methods and results

Angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 was measured in 4008 patients (median age 68, 33% women, 31% on ACE‐inhibitors, 31% on ARB) using the SOMAscan proteomic platform (SomaLogic Inc, Colorado, USA). Plasma concentration of ACE2 was comparable in 1250 patients on ACE inhibitors (mean 5.99) versus patients without ACE inhibitors (mean 5.98, P = 0.54). Similarly, plasma concentration of ACE2 was comparable in 1260 patients on ARB (mean 5.99) versus patients without ARB (mean 5.98, P = 0.50). Plasma concentration of ACE2 was comparable in 2474 patients on either ACE inhibitors or ARB (mean 5.99) versus patients without ACE inhibitors or ARB (mean 5.98, P = 0.31). Multivariable quantile regression model analysis confirmed the lack of association between treatment with ACE inhibitors or ARB and ACE2 concentrations. Body mass index showed the only positive association with ACE2 plasma concentration (effect 0.015, 95% confidence interval 0.002 to 0.028, P = 0.024).

Conclusions

In a large cohort of patients with established cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors but without heart failure, ACE inhibitors and ARB were not associated with higher plasma concentrations of ACE2.
Quantifying the relationship and contribution of mitochondrial respiration to systemic exercise limitation in heart failure
Authors: Knuiman Pim , Straw Sam , Gierula John , Koshy Aaron , Roberts Lee D. , Witte Klaus K. , Ferguson Carrie , Bowen Thomas Scott
Published: February 2021

Aims

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) induces skeletal muscle mitochondrial abnormalities that contribute to exercise limitation; however, specific mitochondrial therapeutic targets remain poorly established. This study quantified the relationship and contribution of distinct mitochondrial respiratory states to prognostic whole‐body measures of exercise limitation in HFrEF.

Methods and results

Male patients with HFrEF (n = 22) were prospectively enrolled and underwent ramp‐incremental cycle ergometry cardiopulmonary exercise testing to determine exercise variables including peak pulmonary oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak), lactate threshold (V̇O2LT), the ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide (V̇E/V̇CO2LT), peak circulatory power (CircPpeak), and peak oxygen pulse. Pectoralis major was biopsied for assessment of in situ mitochondrial respiration. All mitochondrial states including complexes I, II, and IV and electron transport system (ETS) capacity correlated with V̇O2peak (r = 0.40–0.64; P < 0.05), V̇O2LT (r = 0.52–0.72; P < 0.05), and CircPpeak (r = 0.42–0.60; P < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that combining age, haemoglobin, and left ventricular ejection fraction with ETS capacity could explain 52% of the variability in V̇O2peak and 80% of the variability in V̇O2LT, respectively, with ETS capacity (P = 0.04) and complex I (P = 0.01) the only significant contributors in the model.

Conclusions

Mitochondrial respiratory states from skeletal muscle biopsies of patients with HFrEF were independently correlated to established non‐invasive prognostic cycle ergometry cardiopulmonary exercise testing indices including V̇O2peak, V̇O2LT, and CircPpeak. When combined with baseline patient characteristics, over 50% of the variability in V̇O2peak could be explained by the mitochondrial ETS capacity. These data provide optimized mitochondrial targets that may attenuate exercise limitations in HFrEF.
Effects of corona virus disease‐19 control measures on air quality in North China
Authors: Zheng Xiangyu , Guo Bin , He Jing , Chen Song Xi
Published: February 2021

Corona virus disease‐19 (COVID‐19) has substantially reduced human activities and the associated anthropogenic emissions. This study quantifies the effects of COVID‐19 control measures on six major air pollutants over 68 cities in North China by a Difference in Relative‐Difference method that allows estimation of the COVID‐19 effects while taking account of the general annual air quality trends, temporal and meteorological variations, and the spring festival effects. Significant COVID‐19 effects on all six major air pollutants are found, with NO2 having the largest decline (−39.6%), followed by PM2.5 (−30.9%), O3 (−16.3%), PM10 (−14.3%), CO (−13.9%), and the least in SO2 (−10.0%), which shows the achievability of air quality improvement by a large reduction in anthropogenic emissions. The heterogeneity of effects among the six pollutants and different regions can be partly explained by coal consumption and industrial output data.
Seismic response and failure mechanism of underground frame structures based on dynamic centrifuge tests
Authors: Xu Chengshun , Zhang Zihong , Li Yang , Du Xiuli
Published: February 2021

During the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan, the Daikai subway station suffered total collapse, which made the research on the seismic failure mechanism of underground frame structures become a hot topic. The author has carried out a lot of research on earthquake failure mechanism of underground frame structures based on numerical method. To validate and further study the seismic failure response and mechanism of underground frame structures, a series of comparative dynamic centrifuge tests were carried out. The research conclusions are as follows. The vertical earthquake action significantly increased the axial pressure on the columns of an underground frame structure, reducing their horizontal deformation capacity. The columns subjected to high axial compression were prone to brittle damage under a relatively strong horizontal earthquake, which led to the overall collapse of an underground frame structure. The areas near the intersection of the ceiling slab and the sidewalls were the weak part of the underground frame structure and were vulnerable to tensile cracks under earthquake. The columns' top and bottom were the fragile parts and were prone to concrete cracking or even shear failure under an earthquake. If the columns could remain intact and effectively provided vertical support under a strong earthquake, it was beneficial to reduce the risk of the overall collapse of an underground frame structure.
MYB rearrangements and over‐expression in T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Bardelli Valentina , Arniani Silvia , Pierini Valentina , Pierini Tiziana , Di Giacomo Danika , Gorello Paolo , Moretti Martina , Pellanera Fabrizia , Elia Loredana , Vitale Antonella , Storlazzi Clelia Tiziana , Tolomeo Doron , Mastrodicasa Elena , Caniglia Maurizio , Chiaretti Sabina , Ruggeri Loredana , Roti Giovanni , Schwab Claire , Harrison Christine J , Almeida André , Pieters Tim , Van Vlierberghe Pieter , Mecucci Cristina , La Starza Roberta
Published: February 2021

We investigated MYB rearrangements (MYB‐R) and the levels of MYB expression, in 331 pediatric and adult patients with T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T‐ALL). MYB‐R were detected in 17 cases and consisted of MYB tandem duplication (tdup) (= 14) or T cell receptor beta locus (TRB)‐MYB (= 3). As previously reported, TRB‐MYB was found only in children (1.6%) while MYB tdup occurred in both age groups, although it was slightly more frequent in children (5.2% vs 2.8%). Shared features of MYB‐R T‐ALL were a non‐early T‐cell precursor (ETP) phenotype, a high incidence of NOTCH1/FBXW7 mutations (81%) and CDKN2AB deletions (70.5%). Moreover, they mainly belonged to HOXA (=8), NKX2‐1/2‐2/TLX1 (=4), and TLX3 (=3) homeobox‐related subgroups. Overall, MYB‐R cases had significantly higher levels of MYB expression than MYB wild type (MYB‐wt) cases, although high levels of MYB were detected in ~ 30% of MYB‐wt T‐ALL. Consistent with the transcriptional regulatory networks, cases with high MYB expression were significantly enriched within the TAL/LMO subgroup (P = .017). Interestingly, analysis of paired diagnosis/remission samples demonstrated that a high MYB expression was restricted to the leukemic clone. Our study has indicated that different mechanisms underlie MYB deregulation in 30%‐40% of T‐ALL and highlighted that, MYB has potential as predictive/prognostic marker and/or target for tailored therapy.
Patient Determinants for Histologic Diagnosis of NAFLD in the Real World: A TARGET‐NASH Study
Authors: Barritt A. Sidney , Watkins Stephanie , Gitlin Norman , Klein Samuel , Lok Anna S. , Loomba Rohit , Schoen Cheryl , Reddy K. Rajender , Trinh Huy Ngoc , Mospan Andrea R. , Vos Miriam B. , Weiss L. Michael , Cusi Kenneth , Neuschwander‐Tetri Brent A. , Sanyal Arun J.
Published: February 2021

Much of the current data on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are derived from biopsy‐based studies that may introduce ascertainment and selection bias. Selection of patients for liver biopsy has implications for clinical practice and the reported epidemiology of NAFLD. The aim of this study was to determine patient factors predictive of histologic versus empiric clinical diagnosis of NAFLD in real‐world practice. Adults from TARGET‐NASH were included in this study. Descriptive statistics are provided for the cohort and compare the characteristics of histologic NAFLD versus patients with clinically diagnosed NAFLD, followed by logistic regression and machine‐learning models to describe predictors of liver biopsy. The records of 3,474 subjects were analyzed; median age was 59 years, 59% were female, 75% were White, and median body mass index was 32 kg/m2. Using histologic and/or clinical criteria, a diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis was made in 37%, and cirrhosis in 33%. Comorbid conditions included cardiovascular disease (19%), mental health diagnoses (49%), and osteoarthritis (10%). Predictors of a biopsy diagnosis included White race, female sex, diabetes, and elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT). ALT increased the odds of liver biopsy by 14% per 10‐point rise. Machine‐learning analyses showed non‐White patients with ALT <69 had only a 0.06 probability of undergoing liver biopsy. ALT was the dominant variable that determined liver biopsy. Conclusions: In this real‐world cohort of patients with NAFLD, two‐thirds of patients did not have a liver biopsy. These patients were more likely to be non‐White, older, with a normal ALT, showing potential gaps in or knowledge about this population.
Changes in connexin 43 in inflammatory skin disorders: Eczema, psoriasis, and Steven‐Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis
Authors: Tan Mandy L. L. , Kwong Hui L. , Ang Chia C. , Tey Hong L. , Lee Joyce S. S. , Becker David L.
Published: February 2021

Background

Connexin 43 (Cx43) plays a central role in the inflammatory response and wound healing. Targeting Cx43 expression reduces inflammation in a variety of injuries. The expression pattern of Cx43 has not been described for many inflammatory skin diseases.

Objectives

To describe the expression patterns of Cx43 in eczema, psoriasis, Steven‐Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Methods

Archival skin biopsies from patients with eczema, psoriasis, and Steven‐Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrosis were identified and examined, with sister sections stained for Cx43 and imaged by confocal microscopy. All samples were compared to age and site‐matched normal skin controls.

Results

Epidermal Cx43 is reduced in acute eczema, absent in regions of spongiosis, and is highly elevated in subacute and chronic eczema. In plaque psoriasis, Cx43 is overexpressed in areas with psoriasiform hyperplasia with a fish‐scale‐like appearance but is lost in regions surrounding neutrophil microabscesses. Cx43 staining is strong in the neutrophils within these microabscesses. In SJS/TEN, Cx43 expression is elevated in areas bordering normal tissue but is rapidly lost in areas of keratinocyte necrosis.

Conclusions

Dynamic changes in Cx43 levels are seen in inflammatory skin diseases and may represent future potential therapeutic targets.
Irrigation schedule optimization based on the combination of an economic irrigation quota and the AquaCrop model*
Authors: Zhao Yong , Li Fawen , Jiang Rengui
Published: February 2021

Currently, with the shortage of agricultural water resources, research on water‐saving irrigation is of great significance for the improvement of water productivity. In this research, the economic irrigation quotas for summer maize in years with different precipitation levels were determined according to the growth function of summer maize, aiming to maximize the net benefit of water consumption units. Based on the economic irrigation quotas, the irrigation schedule of summer maize was optimized by the AquaCrop model. The results show that in wet years, summer maize does not need irrigation. In normal years, summer maize only needs to be irrigated once at the seedling stage and once at the jointing stage to reach a maximum yield of 7.23 t/ha and a water productivity of 2.25 kg/m3, with an irrigation quota of 25 mm and a total irrigation amount of 50 mm. In dry years, summer maize needs to be irrigated once at the seedling stage, jointing stage, and flowering stage, with an irrigation quota of 46.6 mm and a total irrigation amount of 140 mm. Under this condition, the summer maize yield reaches a maximum of 7.20 t/ha, and the water productivity is 1.99 kg/m3.
Virtual Dasein: Ethnography in Cyberspace
Authors: Martin Varisco Daniel
Published: February 2021

The cyberculture created by individuals who enter cyberspace is a fieldsite only recently visited by anthropologists. In this essay I argue that one way of approaching the ethnography of cyberspace is to treat it as virtual Dasein, in which the issue becomes being there in something-like-a-world yet still being in the world. Ethnographers now need to consider the impact of the Internet on the people they study, even in the remotest villages. The promise and potential peril of virtual reality calls for critical assessment of the economic and political consequences of cyberspace development. Finally, our own involvement with the Internet demands a reflexivity that goes beyond musing over the mutant prospect of becoming cyborgs to assessing a new combination of humans, technology and information.
Surfing the App Souq: Islamic Applications for Mobile Devices
Authors: Bunt Gary R.
Published: February 2021

This article introduces issues associated with Islamic apps for mobile devices, and surveys some of the products that have emerged into the market. It considers the potential impact of mobile phone interfaces in relation to interpretations of Islam and the use of Islamic resources, given that mobile devices have widened potential audiences for online materials in various forms, especially in areas where other forms of digital access may be more problematic. The article also explores some of the religious and ethical concerns associated with mobile phone use.
Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Internet and Political Mobilization in Egypt and Tunisia
Authors: Kuebler Johanne
Published: February 2021

The potential of the Internet as a political tool intrigues scientists and politicians alike. Particularly in the Middle East, the most frequent narrative is that the mere availability of alternative sources of information will empower political actors that are marginalized by the traditional media controlled by authoritarian regimes. Indeed, the protest movements in authoritarian countries interact creatively with this new medium to get their message across in an environment marked by censorship and repression. Comparing the patterns of Internet use for political mobilization in Egypt and in Tunisia, this article shows how the Internet as a relative free space can be a vital factor in opening windows and expanding the realm of what can be said in public. However, the Internet as such appears not to be sufficient to radically transform the society as a whole. Instead, the case of Egypt shows how traditional media such as the press can serve as a bridge to the general public sphere, helping to operate results of discussions online and to transform the newly acquired space of discussion into actual power on the street.
New Media and Social‐political Change in Iran
Authors: Sohrabi-Haghighat Mohammad Hadi
Published: February 2021

The increasing penetration of new communication technologies into everyday life has attracted a growing interest in the social, economic and political implications of these technologies. Most studies have looked at Western democratic societies and the literature on the developing countries is unfortunately small in comparison. In 2009 Iran witnessed a political upheaval in the aftermath of the presidential election in which the Internet was utilized effectively by the political opposition. News and videos of police brutality and repression were uploaded online, including onto social networking sites, in what was called the ‘Twitter Revolution’. Expectations rose on the capacity of new media to bring about democratic change in Iran. Later developments, however, showed that ‘mouse clicks’ alone do not produce profound political changes. In this article we look at the role of the new media and the social and political functions it took on in the post election period. We suggest that, firstly, new media has helped ordinary citizens and the political opposition challenge the government's monopoly of information. Secondly, we suggest that new media have paved the way for the emergence of a global public sphere for Iranians across the globe. This article also looks at the social and cultural impacts of the satellite channels which have been an ongoing source of concern for the Iranian conservative regime. Finally we take a critical stance and analyze the effects of new communication technologies in light of the ‘digital divide’ and ‘the radicalization of the Green Movement’.
Affinities of Dissent: Cyberspace, Performative Networks and the Iranian Green Movement
Authors: Rahimi Babak
Published: February 2021

This paper argues that the role of Internet activism in the Green Movement, a social protest movement that emerged after the contested 2009 presidential elections in Iran, lies in the creative configuration of complex networks that primarily interact through meaning-laden performances that carve out spaces of dissent. For social movements, especially under authoritarian rule like the Green Movement, cyberspace presents a kind of social space wherein imaginaries of self and other, resistance and power shape bonds of interactivity. Such bonds are described here as “social affinities” that are about contentious performances, actions that display intense emotions and narratives of protestation against power. Accordingly, the notion of “performative networks” underlines how the Iranian Green Movement, especially since the state repression that followed the elections, has compromised an interactive network organized around dramatic discourses and practices of contestation. In terms of structure, the paper is divided into three sections. (1) The first section shows how an electoral campaign was put together through loosely networked associations that (partly) operated through computer-mediated-communication that facilitated logistical resources for the actors. In the pre-election period, Internet played a prominent role in promoting and mobilizing a decentralized movement through offline and online shifting network connections, a phase of cyberactivism that is identified here as self-promoting networks. (2) The second section looks at what followed after the election results were announced, after which the regime unleashed its security forces to crackdown on the street protests. Cyberspace emerged as a set of other-offensive performative actions, contentious strategies like organization of street-demonstrations, hackactivism and website defacements that identified a more belligerent and aggressive strategy aimed at directly challenging state power, both offline and online. (3) The third and final phase compromises self-maintaining performative actions that largely revolves around memorial and mythical narratives for the maintenance of social affinities in light of state crackdowns in both physical and cyberspaces. The paper finally argues that Internet activism in the context of social movements involves dramatic performances of affective nature that form network associations and vibrant informal public spheres.
Speaking of Invasion: Narratives over Arabs in Eksi Sozluk, a Virtual Community in Turkey
Authors: Oguz Zeynep
Published: February 2021

Since the day it was founded, Eksi Sozluk (sour dictionary) has been one of the most popular virtual communities in Turkey, fostering cultural and political discussions and acting as a public sphere. This paper examines contested narratives of hostility and hospitality over Arabs in Eksi Sozluk in order to trace the making of subjectivities in Turkey. I illustrate the ways Arab tourists are orientalized through the narratives of Eksi Sozluk authors who mark Arabs as dirty, disgusting, uncivilized, and backward. Next, I show contrary narratives that claim to welcome and embrace Arab tourists in Istanbul. I argue that a supposedly welcoming discourse towards Arabs also functions under the same ontological presuppositions of Orientalist fantasy. Finally, based on the conceptual framework of “Occidentalist fantasy,” I argue that the othering of Arabs in contemporary Turkey functions to create the illusion of a unified, sovereign subjectivity under the imagined Western gaze.
Political Activism 2.0: Comparing the Role of Social Media in Egypt's “Facebook Revolution” and Iran's “Twitter Uprising”
Authors: El-Nawawy Mohammed , Khamis Sahar
Published: February 2021

Social media, particularly blogging, Facebook and Twitter, have played a key role in instigating, accelerating and even organizing some of the uprisings and revolutions that have been taking place all over the Middle East. This role has been effective in galvanizing the youth and empowering them in their fights against repressive regimes and their plight for more freedom and independence. This study looks into the social media role in the so-called “Facebook revolution,” which took place in Egypt in January 2011 and the so-called “Twitter uprising,” which took place in Iran in June 2009. The Egyptian revolution did succeed in toppling the regime, while the Iranian uprising failed. Why did the calls for political change that started in the virtual world lead to actual change in the real world in Egypt but not in Iran? This study addresses this question by providing a critical analysis of the available literature and interviews with online activists in Egypt and Iran. The authors used the SPIN model (Segmentation, polycentrism, integration and networking) as a theoretical framework and concluded that the model helped social media succeed in Egypt, but not in Iran.
Egyptian uprising: Redefining Egyptian political community and reclaiming the public space
Authors: Youssef Mervat , Kumar Anup
Published: February 2021

The purpose of this paper is to understand and explain the emergence of a public sphere and the articulation of a new Egyptian identity. We argue that the Egyptian revolution, catalyzed by the social media, was possible because the young men and women succeeded in reclaiming the public space from the apparatuses of the post-colonial state. There was a contest between the protesters and the regime over the meaning of Egyptian identity and what it means to be an Egyptian. The protesters were able to redefine the Egyptian public sphere and redraw its contour. Through a semiotic and discourse analysis of the repertoires of protest, the symbols, the slogans and the images at Tahrir Square and on social media sites, we hope to show how the youth-led massive social mobilization redefined and reconstructed the civil society and the Egyptian national political community (identity).
The Earth Is Your Mosque (and Everyone Else's Too): Online Muslim Environmentalism and Interfaith Collaboration in UK and Singapore
Authors: Irving Lisa Siobhan
Published: February 2021

The environmentalist group Wisdom in Nature (WIN) and the online network Project ME: Muslims and the Environment have been chosen for analysis, from the UK and Singapore respectively, to illustrate examples of Muslim environmentalists who use the Internet, as a complement to community-based activism, to raise awareness of environmental concerns among both Muslims and non-Muslims. I will explore how WIN and Project ME seek to promote an interpretation of Islamic practice that is both environmentally responsible and open to close collaboration with non-Muslims as a consequence of being holistically protective of all in existence, both human and otherwise. In so doing, I hope to demonstrate how the Internet is used to facilitate the introduction of interested Muslims and non-Muslims into practical, off-line environmentalism, seen as an emotional community (Hetherington 1998), by minimizing the differences in culture, communication styles or religious belief that could otherwise pose difficulties.
Telling the Truth about Islam? Apostasy Narratives and Representations of Islam on WikiIslam.net
Authors: Enstedt Daniel , Larsson Göran
Published: February 2021

This article analyses six apostasy narratives published on WikiIslam.net and examines how Islam is represented and understood in them. The narratives contain self-referential and autobiographical components, and the truth-claims made in them are often based on the narrator's own experiences as a former Muslim. From the six testimonies it is clear that Islam is presented in a negative and biased way, as summed up in the following three points: (1) Islam is an irrational, illogical way of thought; the beliefs that Islam holds to be true are false; (2) Islam is not about peace, high standards and God; Islam is an evil, selfcentered and morally corrupt religion, and Muslims are hypocrites; (3) Islam is an oppressive, misogynist and violent religion, and is negative for its followers, especially women. These views on Islam, expressed in the apostasy narratives, articulate several themes found in islamophobic discourses and the so called New Atheist movement.
“I Am Malcolm X” – Islamic Themes in Hip‐hop Video Clips Online
Authors: Ackfeldt Anders
Published: February 2021

The Internet provides a space for new interpretations and conversations concerning religious practices to take place without the direct interference of religious authorities. The intention of this article is to highlight one vivid aspect of this development, Islamic themed hip-hop video clips distributed online. The visual aesthetics, the selection of pictures (or no pictures), themes and storylines supplementing the musical message can be used to mobilize and promote different traditions of interpretation of Islam. They can also convey interesting insights in the negotiations and compromises of Muslim identities in the consumer culture logic of the modern society. Lastly, they can provide a route to analyze the articulations of alternative interpretations of Islam often, but not always, rooted in a deep social-justice activism that connects marginalized communities within and beyond the Middle East
Global Story
Authors: LeVine Mark
Published: February 2021

Hiphop has long been described as a quintessentially globalized music. Similarly, it has been understood as a unique window into the lives’, fears and dreams of young people across the Arab and larger Muslim worlds for most of the post-September 11 era. Since young Tunisians revolted against long time dictator Zine El Abidin Ben Ali to the music of El General (or so the story goes), the music has been considered equally central to understanding the dynamics underlying the revolutionary upheavals that have shaken the Arab world during the last three years. This article reviews the history of hiphop across the region and attempts to provide a theoretical grounding for the role of artistic production in the revolutions using the work of Frankfurt School theoreticians Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin on the production, circulation and consumption of culture.
Gendering the February 20th Movement: Moroccan Women Redefining: Boundaries, Identities and Resistances
Authors: Abadi Houda
Published: February 2021

The Arab Spring opened up social and political spaces for women to make demands for gender quality, political and social reform, human rights, and equality. It has produced, changed and reinvigorated contestations around space, citizenship, femininity, religion, and sense of belonging, as women played an increasingly significant role in the revolutionary processes and developments in the region. This article will analyze the online and offline communication strategies that the February 20th Movement employed to answer the following three questions: a) What is the nature of gendered based demands and how are they articulated in February 20th movement?; b) How did the movement's activists discursively construct the gendered subjects and what are the material effects of the discourse; and lastly, c) What forms of expression, tools, and channels were used by Moroccan women activists to ensure the inclusion of gender-related issues and demands in political movement? To answer these questions, this qualitative study will take into account the prevailing political, social and economic contexts of Morocco, in an attempt to interpret Moroccan women activists’ experiences, demands, opportunities and constraints and how they contribute to redefining these women's identities, subjectivities and resistances differently. It uses textual and visual analysis of mediated communication materials obtained from the February 20th movement digital campaign videos and website to document not only women's representation within the February 20th movement but also explores the various ways subjects are materially and discursively constituted and circumscribed.
Reflections on Oral History: Four Cities on the Social History of Telephone Technology in Turkey
Authors: Çelik Burçe , Tarbuck Derya Gurses
Published: February 2021

Throughout the history of the Turkish Republic, the telephone has collectively been perceived as a technology of modernity, progress, wealth and cultural capital. Yet due to a deteriorated infrastructure, which has hindered penetration of the telephone to the entire country, only a small segment of society was able to install a telephone in their private dwellings as well as in their place of business. This article discusses the results of an oral history research, based on in-depth interviews with telephone users (and non-users) in Istanbul, Ankara, Kayseri and Diyarbakir, conducted during 2011–2012. Essentially, this article argues, that technology transfer does not necessarily translate itself into modes of social life as modernity, at least not uniformly so. On the contrary, our oral history study displays a variety of “modernities”, which existed side by side.
Visual Representation, Propaganda and Cyberspace: The Case of the Palestinian Islamist Movements
Authors: Kovacs Attila
Published: February 2021

The article analyzes the changing position of the visual representation in the context of Islam from the starting point set up in the Qur'an and more specifically in the prophetic tradition to the theoretical positions of Islamic reformism and radicalism and the practice of Islamism movements. To understand this changing relationship is crucial for the research of ideology and propaganda of the contemporary Islamist movement. In the second part, the article illustrates this new position of images in the visual representations of Palestinian Islamist movements, specifically of Hamas — The Islamic Resistance Movement and its military wing the Brigades of the Martyr ‘Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and its military wing the Phalanges of Jerusalem and finally the Popular Resistance Committees and its military wing the Victorious Salah al-Din Brigades.
Presenting the Glossy Look of Warfare in Cyberspace – The Islamic State's Magazine Dabiq
Authors: Günther Christoph
Published: February 2021

Since Ramadān 1435 (June/July 2014), the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (dawlat al-islāmiyya, IS), the ‘State of the Caliphate’ (dawlat al-khilāfa), publishes a periodic magazine entitled Dabiq. This glossy outlet, produced and distributed by al-Hayāt, one of the movement's media organizations, is widely disseminated on the Internet and forms part of IS's advancement in the field of the media. Published in English and other European languages, it allows the movement to spread its messages to an international audience. This article analyzes and evaluates four issues of Dabiq published in English between June and October 2014.It argues that three aspects are crucial for framing the ideological justification of the movement's warfare and help to rally support for their state-building project: the development and establishment of images of the enemy, the notion of ‘strangeness,’ and the call for emigration. Within this framework, the magazine intertwines textual and visual accounts of the movement's physical and virtual battlefields and mediates these to a non-Arab speaking public. Thus, Dabiq is – chronologically, technologically, and ideologically – the most recent and very well elaborated attempt of the Islamic State at winning support among the broadest public possible on a global level. The article concludes that the magazine at large and the abovementioned aspects reflect both the ideological structure of the movement and its current situation in Iraq and Syria. Utilizing derogative images of their enemies helps the Islamic State both to maintain its claim for legitimacy and to position their adherents and opponents within a dichotomous ideological framework. On this basis, it calls its followers to immigrate to the land of the two rivers and the Levant in order to support the establishment of an Islamic State and eradicate nation state borders.
Online Social Research in Iran: A Need to Offer a Bigger Picture
Authors: Honari Ali
Published: February 2021

Given the limits of in-country and survey research in closed societies, the World Wide Web - in particular online forums - offers an alternative field for observing and understanding these societies and their development. However, the praise given to the Internet's role in bringing about political change in Arab uprisings and the 2009 elections post protests has resulted in a tendency in the existing literature to focus on very narrow political discussions and behaviors on partisan online forums. Consequently, various areas of interest to Iranian users have been neglected or ignored. The aim of this review is to identify the major online spheres of the Iranian web, the most important online forums in each sphere, the issues being discussed, and the characteristics of the users of each sphere and forum. By doing so it recognizes the theoretical and methodological drawbacks of existing online research on the Iranian Web. This review concludes with some suggestions for further online social research in Iran.
2011 Tahrir Square Demonstrations in Egypt: Semantic Structures That Unify And Divide
Authors: Khatib Hakim
Published: February 2021

While literature has focused on political, economic and social indicators to understand the shifts, or rather the fragmentationsof the political scene in Egypt, the role of semiotic constructions was significantly if not totally neglected. This article investigates whether the demands and messages produced by protesters of Tahrir Square in January 2011 have played a role in processes of unification and fragmentation of Egyptians. Following Roland Barthes’ (2006) and Chris Barker's (2011) methods of linkage to define the meanings suggested by the commentaries that appeared on the banners during the demonstrations of 2011 in Egypt, this article argues that the demands, messages and meanings produced and suggested throughout the demonstrations of 2011 in Egypt have not been responded to accordingly; therefore they have created a complicated transformational process that is replete with polarization. The messages, which brought people to collectively act against authoritarianism, are the same messages that have outflanked them. An Egyptian profound debate to define the signified meanings at Tahrir Square has not occurred in Egypt leaving a tremendous space for interpretations and conflicting perceptions.
Youth Activism and Social Networks in Egypt
Authors: Tohamy Ahmed
Published: February 2021

The arrival of the Internet-based technologies has made the work of professional activists much more effective and has attracted the attention of society and observers, if only because their internal and external communications became much cheaper and harder to be monitored. The new social networking technologies have provided the youth with new channels for participation and empowerment. This became true in a part of the world where the older generations, in either government or opposition, controlled the traditional political and cultural arena and dominated the public sphere. However, the younger generations gradually launched creative initiatives using online media in recent years. The younger generations have engaged in public affairs by peaceful means to bring about a change and to influence the decision-making processes and policies. In this regard, the new social media played a facilitating role in the long wave of continuous politics in Egypt, although it is not a causal role. It basically helped in the mobilization and framing process aiming to delegitimize the regime and demoralize its policies. The ideas and ideologies spread in the public sphere, and, in addition to grievances, enabled the young activists to present new claims and to behave in ways that fundamentally challenged the authorities. Indeed the social media impact could not lead to real change without physical offline action in society. In this respect the most notable actions, such as the April 6 Strike in El Mahala 2008 and January 25 revolution, were triggered by the marriage between online and offline activism, particularly when activists moved smartly between online and offline activities to create real challenges to the regime and to escape from police repression.
Behind the Screen: the Syrian Virtual Resistance
Authors: Brownlee Billie Jeanne
Published: February 2021

Six years have gone by since the political upheaval that swept through many Middle East and North African (MENA) countries begun. Syria was caught in the grip of this revolutionary moment, one that drove the country from a peaceful popular mobilisation to a deadly fratricide civil war with no apparent way out. This paper provides an alternative approach to the study of the root causes of the Syrian uprising by examining the impact that the development of new media had in reconstructing forms of collective action and social mobilisation in pre-revolutionary Syria. By providing evidence of a number of significant initiatives, campaigns and acts of contentious politics that occurred between 2000 and 2011, this paper shows how, prior to 2011, scholarly work on Syria has not given sufficient theoretical and empirical consideration to the development of expressions of dissent and resilience of its cyberspace and to the informal and hybrid civic engagement they produced.
Transnational Religious Practices on Facebook
Authors: Hosseini Seyedehbehnaz
Published: February 2021

Access to cyberspace by Yezidi populations has given this group a platform for rebuilding their religious identity, which, in turn, has enabled them to challenge existing geographic, political and cultural constraints in Iraq. The Yezidi in Iraq have to live with the threat of discrimination and even violence. On the Internet, self-identification as Yezidi is done much more freely. The rise of the Yezidi in Iraqi media and in foreign media (via the diaspora) is closely interconnected. Experiences of persecution and of persistent libel and prejudice by the Muslim majority has forced the Yezidi to adopt distinctive religious practices due to forced migration to foreign countries. This article is an exploration of whether notions of sacred spaces and perceptions and practices of religious rituals are transformed in digital media, i.e. when moving from physical to virtual spaces. I will do this by applying visualization through visual imagery and virtual ethnography. This paper represents a theory on the Internet and religion: asking what implications the Internet holds for spiritual identities, worship and sense of ethno-religious community.
Authoritarianism, Digital Dissidence and Grassroots Media in the Middle East and North Africa region
Authors: Wessels Josepha
Published: February 2021

As an introduction to this special issue of CyberOrient, this text provides an insight into ongoing research in studies of digital layers of revolutions, digital communication, and dissidence in the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region. Providing a short overview of the latest developments of uprisings and street demonstrations in the region, the text reflects on similarities and differences between the various revolts currently taking place. Digital dissidence is part and parcel of these revolts. Zooming in on the Syrian case, this article assesses how the Syrian revolution and its digital components developed into the humanitarian crisis it has become after nine years of violence. The article then shortly reflects on the Sudanese revolution of 2019, which is seemingly the most successful uprising in the Arab world thanks to a strong digital component, as noted in the words of its own revolutionaries. This text then introduces two contributions to this special issue focused on, respectively, Egypt and the occupied Palestinian territories. The contest between what Layla Shereen Sakr calls “techies on the ground” and repressive regimes is compared to that of a race between a hare and a turtle, in which the techies continuously circumvent the attempts by the repressive regimes to curtail their means of digital communication and capacity for organizing collective action.
Slamming the “Continuing” Moroccan Revolution: Noussayba Lahlou's Bittersweet Verses
Authors: Tazi Maha
Published: February 2021

In this article, I am interested in looking at women's current mobilization techniques in Post-Arab Spring North Africa. To do so, I draw from the existing literature on the case of Egypt which identifies women's contemporary resistance in creative disobedience patterns – that is women's art activism that advocates, concomitantly, for social justice and gender equality. In my attempt to fill an existing gap in the literature, I investigate the existence of such resistance patterns in Morocco, as well as their main characteristics and country specificities. Because (slam) poetry is a traditionally resistant genre in the Arab region, I take as a case study Noussayba Lahlou's slam poetry to explore the political potential of women's slams to advocate for women's rights and sociopolitical liberties in post-Arab Spring Morocco. To do so, I conducted a virtual interview with the artist by administering a structured online questionnaire, alongside a content analysis of eight of her most recent and salient slams. A 24-years-old slam poet from Morocco, Noussayba's revolutionary verses tackle widespread regime abuse and corruption, alongside women's rights and many other social woes in the country.