bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Desire and Denial: Sacred and Profane Spaces in ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Jawdat al-Saḥḥār's Novel "In the Caravan of Time"
Authors: Szyska Christian
Published: March 2019

Throughout the 20th century contributions of Egyptian writers have been instrumental in the processes of mapping, or remapping, the world. Through their writings they have contributed to the production of rural, urban, and national spaces. This paper scrutinizes the narrated spaces in ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Jawdat al-Saḥḥār’s realist novel In the Caravan of Time. The study analyses the position of al-Saḥḥār’s work within Egyptian literary discourse. Drawing on anthropological theories, it shows how the novel’s protagonist experiences the  negotiation of spaces and their boundaries during the transition to modernity. Furthermore the study demonstrates that this transition takes on the form of an initiation of which the underlying force is desire. It turns out that desire and its repression are essential factors which contribute both to the redefinition of the self and the Other and to the remapping of the world.
Religion, Identities, and Politics: Defining Muslim Discourses in the Nuba Mountains of the Sudan
Authors: Manger Leif Ole
Published: March 2019

The author discusses the increased importance of Islam in religious and social life in the Sudan, exemplified by a discussion of the interplay between an indigenous, non-Arab, non-Islamized Sudanese people, the Lafofa Nuba, and their interaction with the Arab and Islamic traditions of Sudanese society at large. An understanding of this interaction will require types of analysis that deal with issues of belief as well as broader issues of identity management. People do not take over Islam as one unified system and in one process of conversion; rather they take up Muslim customs and practices that become symbols of such a conversion. The process of conversion must therefore be linked to the socio-economic and political status of the people involved. The author points out that theoretical contributions by Talal Asad on Islam as a “discursive tradition” and Robert Launay on Muslim communities as “moral communities” provide interesting avenues for exploring this complexity.
Individuality Lost, Fun Gained: Some Recurrent Motifs in Late Twentieth-Century Arabic and Turkish Novels
Authors: Guth Stephan
Published: March 2019

Starting from an alternative description, based mainly on German literature, of what has come to be called ‘postmodernism’, the present study re-examines Arabic and Turkish novels from the 1980s and 1990s in the light of this description. It is argued that the descriptive categories developed on the basis of European texts also make sense for texts from the Middle East and North Africa, suggesting that the way life is perceived in these regions at the end of the twentieth century does not differ fundamentally from how it is experienced in a Western country − there is a global discursive community with similar outlooks on life on both sides, rather than a ‘clash of civilizations’. The alternative description also assigns many ‘postmodern’ features their place in a ‘structure of meaning’, which sheds some new light on the inner architecture of the period in question and on the function of the parts in a complementary whole.
From Theocracy to Democracy? Towards Secularisation and Individualisation in the Policy of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan
Authors: Roald Anne Sofie
Published: March 2019

There is a common assumption that ‘Islam’ has an inherent opposition between the sacred and the secular which obstructs the secularisation process witnessed in western societies. This study argues that Weber’s notion of Protestant religion as a driving force in the rationalisation of society might be an indicator of how political Islam in itself in the end might lead to a differentiation between the religious and the secular sphere; an individualisation and a secularisation of the Islamic message and thereby to a privatisation of religion. The political experience of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan is analysed in view of western theories of secularisation, particularly Steve Bruce’s study on secularisation in British society. As Islamists work within the democratic system, there seems to be a transformation from being a radical organisation towards becoming ‘just another comfortable denomination’, as expressed in Bruce’s claim that ‘the sectarian project’ is ‘largely self-defeating’.
The Notion "Weapon" in Arabic Idioms
Authors: Torlakova Ludmila
Published: March 2019

This study presents a group of Arabic idioms that have as at least one of their components a word denoting a weapon. Handling and using weapons together with exploring their potential is one of the primary experiences people have had. Thus it is worthwhile to investigate how ‘weaponry’ idioms contribute to expanding figuratively the world picture included in the realm of Arabic phraseology. Weaponry idioms are considered here within the framework of general cognitive linguistics and ‘conventional figurative language theory’ as developed by Dmitri Dobrovol’skij and Elisabeth Piirainen. An attempt is made to test whether this framework can accommodate semantic analysis of Arabic idioms containing the concept weapon. Selected phrasemes denoting situation and behavior are examined in order to look into their semantic structure and type of motivation. Since the majority of the idioms studied have been collected from dictionaries, an attempt is made to present a contemporary evaluation and assessment of their use in Modern Standard Arabic based on Internet sources.
Conscience in Arabic and the Semantic History of "Ḍamīr"
Authors: Leirvik Oddbjørn
Published: March 2019

With regard to research on the notion of ḍamīr in the religious and philosophical works of some modern Muslim writers in Egypt, this article investigates the semantic history of the word. Classical Islamic usages are examined as well as medieval and modern Bible Arabic. The author finds that in the coining of ḍamīr as the preferred word for conscience in modern Arabic, Islamic and Christian impulses have interacted – with developments in Christian Arabic in the nineteenth century as a major influence.
"Nahḍa" Epistolography: al-Shartūnī’s "al-Shihāb" and the Western Art of Letter-Writing
Authors: Patel Abdulrazzak
Published: March 2019

Letter-writing represents one of the most important modes of communication in Islamic and Western societies. Arabic manuals on epistolography and collections of model letters abound throughout the medieval period and continued to be written right up to modern times. The research to date, however, has tended to focus on works of the pre-modern periods which rooted in the Islamic tradition cater primarily for a Muslim audience. Little is known about manuals produced in the Arab nahḍa and it is not clear what factors might have influenced them. Moving into the largely uncharted territory of nahḍa letter-writing manuals, this article takes a detailed look at al-Shartūnī’s manual on epistolary theory and model letters, al-Shihāb al-thāqib. An analysis of this work reveals it as a significant attempt by al-Shartūnī to appropriate elements of the Western ars dictaminis (the art of letter-writing) into his manual for the benefit of an Arab-Christian audience in the nahḍa.
The Role of the Biographer in Constructing Identity and Doctrine: Al-ʿAbbādī and his "Kitāb Ṭabaqāt al-fuqahāʾ al-shāfiʿiyya"
Authors: Opwis Felicitas
Published: March 2019

This paper explores the role of the biographer in compiling a biographical dictionary, focusing on al-ʿAbbādī’s (d. 458/1066) work on the Shāfiʿī ‘school’ of law. The paper argues that al-ʿAbbādī straddles a fine line of faithful transmission of school doctrines and artful arrangement of the materials in order to shape the identity, authority structures, and doctrines of the school according to his vision. To highlight al-ʿAbbādī’s role in constructing the identity and authority structures of the school the paper focuses on three areas: first, how al-ʿAbbādī lays out his vision of the school in the entry of the eponym of the school by delineating the areas of law that distinguish al-Shāfiʿī from other founders of schools of law; second, how al-ʿAbbādī deals with contradictory positions held among members of the school; third, how he gives the school of law also a theological identity (Ashʿarism) by discussing such topics as free will, the createdness of the Qurʾān, and the definition of faith (īmān). The paper details the author’s range of editorial hints and techniques of presentation that guide his audience to the ‘correct’ Shāfiʿī doctrine. It presents reasons why al-ʿAbbādī takes recourse to these measures and points to the effects of his presentation of school doctrines.
Notes on a Private Library in Fourth/Tenth-Century Baghdad
Authors: Osti Letizia
Published: March 2019

Studies on medieval Arabic bibliophilia have mainly focussed on public and semi-public institutions, for some of which we have detailed information. Less is known about private libraries and their physical arrangement. This paper looks at the library of Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī (d. 335/947), which is described by the sources in unique terms, contextualising it with al-Ṣūlī’s own words on collecting and organizing books.
"Catching the Eel" - Documentary Evidence for Concepts of the Arabic Book in the Middle Period
Authors: Hirschler Konrad
Published: March 2019

This article reflects on the concept of the ‘book’ in the Middle Period(fifth/eleventh to early tenth/sixteenth centuries). On the basis of a seventh/thirteenth-century library catalogue from Damascus it discusseshow contemporaries faced the challenge of defining what a book actuallywas. Focusing on the catalogue’s section on composite manuscripts(majāmīʿ) it suggests that this document’s writer employed two—ultimately irreconcilable—definitions of a book: the book as a discrete textual item (taking the title as the main criterion) and the book as defined by its physical shape. This writer’s cataloguing practices illustrate the fluid nature of the ‘book’ well beyond the Formative Period between the first/seventh and the fourth/tenth century.
Der Gottesstaat des Esad Bey: Eine Muḥammad-Biographie aus der Sicht eines jüdischen Konvertiten zum Islam unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Dimension des Politischen
Authors: Hafez Farid
Published: March 2019

Esad Bey’s theocratic state. A Muḥammad biography from the perspective of a Jewish convert to Islam with special consideration for the political dimension.This paper analyses the political dimension of the Muḥammad biography written by Esad Bey (1905–1942), a.k.a. Leo Noussimbaum, a Jewish convert to Islam, who lived and worked as a writer in Berlin/Germany. Esad Bey, a Baku-born (Azerbaijan) Jew, who became a Muslim in an early stage of his life, had written 16 books at the age of 30, one of which became a world-bestseller. Esad Bey was a mostly unkown public figure until Tom REISS finished the first well researched biography in 2008; yet he still continues to relatively unkown to Muslim audience. The biography of Muḥammad was the second biography of Esad Bey, following his initial biography on Stalin.The biography, that was published in 1932 in German language, is highly influenced by it’s time, the concurring ideologies of fascism and communism as well as the pan-Islamist thinking of Esad Bey. In a time of social assimilation of Jews, Esad Bey chose to emphasize his Muslim identity inwardly as well as outwardly through wearing the traditional Ottoman Fez. The biography Mohammed is the product of a sīrah influenced by the traditional writing of Muslims and that of Orientalists. On one side, Esad Bey tries to make his Western readership of the 1930s more sympathetic to Islam, while on the other side it reads very much as a cry to Muslim political renewal. Focus of his narration is the state that is characterized in many different ways (theocratic, despotic, socialist, democratic, etc.). This papers aims at analyzing his under-standing of the theocratic democratic Islamic state as told in his biographical writing.
Contemporary Emirati Literature: Its Historical Development and Forms
Authors: Tijani Olatunbosun Ishaq
Published: March 2019

This article provides a general survey of Emirati literature—poetry, drama, the short story and novel—tracing the history of the development of these genres in the periods before and after the formation of the UAE federation in 1971. While the UAE has now become famous as the commercial and tourist hub of the contemporary Middle East, very little is known in the English speaking world about the country’s literary and cultural productions within the context of the wider modern Arabic literary tradition. The article constitutes a preliminary report of an on-going project on the topic in which I am arguing that, contrary to the general perception in academia (East and West), contemporary Emirati literature is not inferior to its counterparts in the Gulf and wider Arab region; and that Emirati women are as active as their male compatriots in literary production.Key words: Arabic, literature, Emirati, contemporary, history, criticism
The Twelfth-century documents of St. George’s of Tròccoli (Sicily)
Authors: Von Falkenhausen Vera , Jamil Nadia , Johns Jeremy
Published: March 2019

This study publishes for the first time six authentic and original documents from mid-twelfth-century Nor-man Sicily. Three are bilingual, written in Greek and Arabic, and three are Arabic. All were issued by the multilingual dīwān of King Roger de Hauteville and relate to the lands and Muslim peasants held of the crown by the Greek monastery of St. George’s of Tròccoli, near Caltabellotta. These documents are of particular interest in four principal ways. First, they permit the reconstruction in unusual detail of the inter-nal administrative processes of the royal dīwān. Second, they preserve the toponymy and describe the topography of the lands of St. George’s that lay in a district of Norman Sicily until now poorly documented. Third, they record the remarkable phenomenon of the immigration to Norman Sicily of Muslims, who apparently commended themselves into the service of a Christian monastery as villeins, in order to escape deprivation and famine in Ifrīqiyya. And fourth, they add to the small corpus of Arabic documents from Norman Sicily, contributing much new evidence for their diplomatic form, language and palaeography.Key words: Administration, Arabic documents, Berbers, Greek church, Greek documents, Norman Sicily.
Three Arabic Novels of Expatriation in the Arabian Gulf Region: Ibrāhīm Naṣrallāh’s "Prairies of Fever", Ibrāhīm ʿAbdalmagīd’s "The Other Place", and Saʿūd al-Sanʿūsī’s "Bamboo Stalk"
Authors: Elayyan Hani
Published: March 2019

Once oil revenues started pouring in the Gulf region by the 1950s, many Arab citizens from Egypt and the Levant moved there for work. A number of Arab novels have delineated the expatriation experience and highlighted the discrepancy between the expats’ expectations of brotherhood, which emanated from their belief in the dominant pan-Arab ideology, and the reality of existence in societies that had social configura-tions that did not necessarily privilege Arab expats. This paper explores the perceived gap in the socio-political projects of the Gulf countries on the one hand, and the Levant and Egypt on the other. By compar-ing two novels by two Arab expat writers, Ibrāhīm Naṣrallāh’s Prairies of Fever and Ibrāhīm ʿAbdal-magīd’s The Other Place with a novel by a Gulf writer, Saʿūd al-Sanʿūsī’s Bamboo Stalk, this article argues that despite the pre- and postcolonial forces that have shaped Gulf Societies into a different cultural region, the project that Gulf novels engage in is similar to the rest of the Arab World, namely, nation state building, with increasing awareness of hyphenated identities and subaltern people.Key Words: Arabic Fiction, Arabian Gulf Writers, Realism, Nationalism, The Bamboo Stalk, Prairies of Fever, The Other Place.
La conception ğāḥiẓienne de l’"adab" d’après son épître "Ṣināʿāt al-quwwād"
Authors: Natij Salah
Published: March 2019

Cet article est consacré à l’étude de la conception ğāḥiẓienne de l’adab. Notre objectif y est double : d’une part, tenter d’examiner la manière dont al-Ğāḥiẓ conçoit, définit et entend exercer la pensée de l’adab, et, d’autre part, mettre à contribution cette conception ğāḥiẓienne de l’adab pour enrichir notre compréhension du régime épistémique propre à la pensée de d’adab. Car, en effet, si al-Ğāḥiẓ fut et est encore considéré comme le plus grand représentant de l’adab, c’est parce qu’à travers le travail de son oeuvre, l’adab est venu à prendre conscience de lui-même à la fois comme concept et comme un champ de pensée constitué et possédant sa vision épistémique propre. Pour étayer cette hypothèse, nous tentons une reconstruction de la conception ğāḥiẓienne de l’adab en nous appuyant sur la présentation et l’analyse des vues et idées déve-loppées par al-Ğāḥiẓ dans son épître intitulée Risāla fī ṣināʿāt al-quwwād. This article is dedicated to the study of the ğāḥiẓian conception of adab. Our objective is twofold: on the one hand, we try to examine the way al-ğāḥiẓ conceives, defines, and intends to exercise an ‘adab way of thinking’; on the other hand, we will use the ğāḥiẓian conception of adab to enrich our understanding of the ‘epistemology of adab’. For, if al-ğāḥiẓ was and is still considered as the greatest representative of adab, it is because through his writings that adab became aware of itself both as a concept and as a system of thought, possessing its own epistemic vision. To support this hypothesis, we try to reconstruct the ğāḥiẓian conception of adab based on the presentation and the analysis of the views and ideas the author develops in his epistle entitled Risāla fī ṣināʿāt al-quwwād.Key words: Adab, Ṣināʿa, al-Jāḥiẓ / al-ğāḥiẓ, Adab thinking, Epistemology of adab, Adῑb vs. ṣāniʿ .
What Makes the Qurʾānic Narratives Cohesive? Systemic Functional Linguistics-Based Analysis of Reference Role: Some Reflections
Authors: Alamiri Zaid , Mickan Peter
Published: March 2019

The present study aims to analyse reference, as a cohesive device, in some of the Qurʾānic narratives of Abraham and Moses in ten suras. The study is based on, and limited to, HALLIDAY & HASAN’s concept of cohesion as a semantic relationship realized through grammatical and lexical devices. Such cohesive role of reference is implicitly treated and discussed within the topic of pronouns antecedents in the Arabic linguis-tic tradition. Reference resources in the Qurʾān are diverse but the scope of this study was confined to only the personal and demonstrative components of reference. The analysis showed that personal reference (of the third person forms) was the most frequently used in these narratives. Its salient features, of multiple referents and cumulative effect, contributed to the economy of language use and finally enabled the cohe-sion of the text. The demonstrative reference was less frequent, yet it provided, through its function of connecting various text parts, an additional contribution to the narratives’ cohesion. In general, reference, as one element of the textual metafunction, has played a major role in the text creation in terms of cohesion and coherence.Key words: Reference, Cohesion, Qurʾānic narrative, Systemic Functional Linguistics
a - Introduction: "Living 2016" and the "In 2016" Project
Authors: Guth Stephan
Published: March 2019

This introduction presents the idea as well as the theoretical, methodological and ethical background of the In 2016 project, a research project that looks into the realities of everyday life and other post-revolutionary lifeworlds (Lebenswelten) in Egypt and Tunisia. Its aim is to provide a kind of ‘encyclopedia of 2016’ that enables users, in a snapshot portrait of one year, to ‘jump right into’ and move around (via crossreferences) in post-revolutionary Arab realities; a tool that allows readers to approximate the experience of ‘how it feels/felt’ to live in these countries in this period of transition and historic change that the Arab World is currently going through. Taking its inspiration from Hans Ulrich GUMBRECHT’s In 1926, an “essay on historical simultaneity,” the project focuses on two key fields of cultural production where salient issues and ‘the meaning of life’ are regularly discussed and from where reflections of bodily experiences, emotions and affects can be collected: fiction and social media.The present dossier spécial emerged from a first, exploratory workshop connected to the In 2016 project. The dossier’s objective is twofold: while the introduction will give the reader an idea of background of the project in general, the contributions will mirror a first stage in the project group’s experience: the collection of an overwhelmingly huge amount of fresh relevant material, its ‘close reading’ or ‘thick description’, and the individual researchers’ first, preliminary attempts to find the “arrays”, “codes” and “collapsed codes” that seem to be typical of living the ‘2016 experience’.Key words: Historiography of the ‘Arab Spring’, social media, fiction
f - Twenty-Three Recent Arabic Films Impressions from two film festivals (Oslo and Tübingen, 2016)
Authors: Guth Stephan
Published: March 2019

(No abstract available)
i - Deciphering the Binary Code “Egyptian versus Foreigner” in Egyptian Cinema
Authors: Pages-El Karoui Delphine
Published: March 2019

In 2016, emigration is more than ever a massive phenomenon in Egypt which both strongly affects the everyday lives of Egyptians and is central in Egyptian cultural production. This article aims to explore how the Egyptian cinema contributes to forging a binary code that differentiates between “Egyptian” and “For-eigner”. It argues that Egyptians who live abroad may also be perceived as potential foreigners for those left in Egypt. After briefly describing the corpus of seven emigration films, the article sketches a cartog-raphy of the geographic imaginaries of migration, which is paradoxically more oriented toward the West, while in fact the majority of Egyptians abroad are in the Gulf. Finally, it demonstrates how movie directors have produced a very pessimistic vision of emigration, in a manner that is equally critical of the countries of arrival as of Egyptian society. Their discourse on the theme of the migrant’s identity, on the personal, familial and national levels, resonates with the social imaginary concerning migration, which is dominated by a nationalist paradigm. Are we nevertheless witnessing the emergence of a transnational cinema, that is, one that envisages the possibility of an identity that is simultaneously of here and elsewhere?Key words: Egypt, cinema, migration, transnational, foreigner
Subversive Writing: Mona Prince’s ‘Laughing Revolution’ from pre- to post-2011 Egypt
Authors: Zanelli Patrizia
Published: March 2019

Although it may seem absurd, it is no exaggeration to say that humour is a very serious matter in Egypt, where dozens of intellectuals have analysed this phenomenon, often linking it to their national identity. This article presents various opinions on Egyptian satire to introduce a 2015 novel by Mona Prince, one of the Egyptian writers of the 1990s generation. In 2012, the author published a memoir of the January 25 Revolution. This study tries to explain the relationship between her political activism and her literary career; the role of humour in her œuvre; and how she deals with gender and religious issues in her 2015 work, which is also autobiographic. Moreover, since the novelist wrote the text between 2008 and 2014, this article offers some notes on satiric literature in pre- and post-2011 Egypt.Key words: Egyptian writers, fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, humour, satire, subversion, revolution.
(b) Ibn al-Qaṭṭāʿ et la métrique arabe en Sicile entre le XIe et le XIIe siecle
Authors: Capezio Oriana
Published: March 2019

Ibn al-Qaṭṭāʿ (d. 515/1121), well known for his anthology of the Sicilian poets, Kitāb  al-Durra al-ḫaṭīra, spent his life between Sicily, Andalus and Egypt. In his Kitāb al-Bāriʿ he analysed the fifteen meters codified by al-Ḫalīl. The manuscripts of this work were widely disseminated and today are kept in libraries between Yemen and Andalus, thus showing its large diffusion. Kitāb al-Bāriʿ was conceived as a continuation of the oriental tradition and contributed to the formation of a scientific corpus in the Western part of the Muslim empire. Despite the absence of a Sicilian metrical school, his work fits into a larger tradition of that era’s metrical works. There are, however, some noteworthy differences that appear in the verses used as šawāhid, in the kitāba ʿarūḍiyya and in the graphic representation of the circles. Following my previous paper on Kitāb al-Bāriʿ, I would like to present in this contribution a case study on the ṭawīl metre.
(c) The "ism" in the Arabic Grammatical Tradition: Reflections on Its Origin and Meanings
Authors: Olivieri Simona
Published: March 2019

This article aims to present an overall reconstruction of the debate on the definition and etymology of Arabic ism (‘noun’, ‘substantive’), by discussing and comparing texts from the Arabic linguistic tradition. The first part deals with the definition of the grammatical element and its functions, while the second is fully dedicated to the examination of the etymological issues, focusing on the two assumed roots of derivation for ism (namely s-m-w and w-s-m). The arguments are presented through the collation of the opinions of the relevant Arabic grammarians, examining both the wider debate between the early grammatical schools of Baṣra and Kūfa (2nd/8th–3rd/9th centuries), and the reports of the arguments as described by later scholars.Key words: Arabic linguistic tradition, Arabic grammar, Arab grammarians, Root, Philosophy of language
(k) Satire (in YouTube channels)
Authors: Mohamed Mohab
Published: March 2019

No Abstract available.
Ibn Taymiyya on the Incoherence of the Theologians’ Universal Law: Reframing the Debate between Reason and Revelation in Medieval Islam
Authors: El-Tobgui Carl Sharif
Published: March 2019

This article analyzes the overarching themes and goals of Ibn Taymiyya’s roughly forty arguments against the philosophers’ and theologians’ “Universal Law” for the figurative interpretation of scripture, to which he dedicates approximately 500 pages of his 10-volume Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa’l-naql. While Ibn Taymiyya himself presents these arguments in a disjointed and seemingly random fashion, this study demonstrates that by carefully breaking down, regrouping, and reconstructing them, we can discern a coherent attempt on Ibn Taymiyya’s part to reconfigure the very terms of the debate between reason and revelation in medieval Islam in several important ways. Firstly, he deconstructs what it means for reason to “ground” our knowledge of revelation. Next, he redefines the opposition at stake not as one of “reason vs. revelation,” but as a purely epistemological question of certainty vs. conjecture, with both reason and revelation serving as potential sources of both kinds of knowledge. Finally, he builds on this insight to replace the dichotomy “sharʿī-ʿaqlī,” in the sense of “revelational vs. rational,” with the dichotomy “sharʿī-bidʿī” in the sense of “scripturally validated vs. scripturally non-validated,” arguing that revelation itself both commends and exemplifies the valid use of reason and rational argumentation. By this move, Ibn Taymiyya attempts to introduce a new paradigm in which it is the epistemic quality of a piece of knowledge alone that counts, simultaneously subsuming reason itself into the larger category of “sharʿī,” or revelationally validated, sources of knowledge.
Open-Top Light-Sheet Microscopy Image Atlas of Prostate Core Needle Biopsies
Authors: Reder Nicholas P. , Glaser Adam K. , McCarty Erin F. , Chen Ye , True Lawrence D. , Liu Jonathan T. C.
Published: March 2019

Context.—

Ex vivo microscopy encompasses a range of techniques to examine fresh or fixed tissue with microscopic resolution, eliminating the need to embed the tissue in paraffin or produce a glass slide. One such technique is light-sheet microscopy, which enables rapid 3D imaging. Our pathology-engineering collaboration has resulted in an open-top light-sheet (OTLS) microscope that is specifically tailored to the needs of pathology practice.

Objective.—

To present an image atlas of OTLS images of prostate core needle biopsies.

Design.—

Core needle biopsies (N = 9) were obtained from fresh radical prostatectomy specimens. Each biopsy was fixed in formalin, dehydrated in ethanol, stained with TO-PRO3 and eosin, optically cleared, and imaged using OTLS microscopy. The biopsies were then processed, paraffin embedded, and sectioned. Hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemical staining for cytokeratin 5 and cytokeratin 8 was performed.

Results.—

Benign and neoplastic histologic structures showed high fidelity between OTLS and traditional light microscopy. OTLS microscopy had no discernible effect on hematoxylin-eosin or immunohistochemical staining in this pilot study. The 3D histology information obtained using OTLS microscopy enabled new structural insights, including the observation of cribriform and well-formed gland morphologies within the same contiguous glandular structures, as well as the continuity of poorly formed glands with well-formed glands.

Conclusions.—

Three-dimensional OTLS microscopy images have a similar appearance to traditional hematoxylin-eosin histology images, with the added benefit of useful 3D structural information. Further studies are needed to continue to document the OTLS appearance of a wide range of tissues and to better understand 3D histologic structures.
Association Between Treatment Facility Volume, Therapy Types, and Overall Survival in Patients With Stage IIIA Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Kommalapati Anuhya , Tella Sri Harsha , Appiah Adams Kusi , Smith Lynette , Ganti Apar Kishor
Published: March 2019

Background: There is significant heterogeneity in the treatment of stage IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study evaluated the therapeutic and survival disparities in patients with stage IIIA NSCLC based on the facility volume using the National Cancer Database. Methods: Patients with stage IIIA NSCLC diagnosed from 2004 through 2015 were included. Facilities were classified by tertiles based on mean patients treated per year, with low-volume facilities treating ≤8 patients, intermediate-volume treating 9 to 14 patients, and high-volume treating ≥15 patients. Cox multivariate analysis was used to determine the volume–outcome relationship. Results: Analysis included 83,673 patients treated at 1,319 facilities. Compared with patients treated at low-volume facilities, those treated at high-volume centers were more likely to be treated with surgical (25% vs 18%) and trimodality (12% vs 9%) therapies. In multivariate analysis, facility volume was independently associated with all-cause mortality (P<.0001). Median overall survival by facility volume was 15, 16, and 19 months for low-, intermediate-, and high-volume facilities, respectively (P<.001). Compared with patients treated at high-volume facilities, those treated at intermediate- and low-volume facilities had a significantly higher risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.07–1.11] and 1.11 [95% CI, 1.09–1.13], respectively). Conclusions: Patients treated for stage IIIA NSCLC at high-volume facilities were more likely to receive surgical and trimodality therapies and had a significant improvement in survival.
Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in Childhood and Young Adult Cancer Survivors Previously Treated With Radiotherapy
Authors: Thorsness Stefanie L. , Freites-Martinez Azael , Marchetti Michael A. , Navarrete-Dechent Cristian , Lacouture Mario E. , Tonorezos Emily S.
Published: March 2019

Background: Radiotherapy (RT) is a risk factor for nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), specifically basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but whether features, histology, or recurrence of NMSC after RT resemble those observed in the general population is unknown.Methods: A retrospective review (1994–2017) was performed within the Adult Long-Term Follow-Up Program and Dermatology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Demographics, clinical features, histology, treatment, and recurrence were collected for this patient cohort that was under close medical surveillance. Pathology images were reviewed when available.Results: A total of 946 survivors (mean age, 40 years [SD, 13]) were assessed for NMSC. The mean age at first cancer diagnosis was 16 years (range, 0–40 years [11]), and the most common diagnosis was Hodgkin lymphoma (34%; n=318). In 63 survivors, 281 primary in-field lesions occurred, of which 273 (97%) were BCC and 8 (3%) were SCC. Mean intervals from time of RT to BCC and SCC diagnosis were 24 years (range, 2–44 years) and 32 years (range, 14–46 years), respectively. The most common clinical presentation of BCC was macule (47%; n=67), and the most common histologic subtypes were superficial for BCC (48%; n=131) and in situ for SCC (55%; n=5). Mohs surgery predominated therapeutically (42%; n=117), the mean duration of follow-up after treatment was 6 years (range, 12 days–23 years), and the 5-year recurrence rate was 1% (n=1).Conclusions: Most NMSCs arising in sites of prior RT were of low-risk subtypes. Recurrence was similar to that observed in the general population. Current guidelines recommend surgical intervention for tumors arising in sites of prior RT because they are considered to be at high risk for recurrence. These findings suggest that an expanded role for less aggressive therapy may be appropriate, but further research is needed.
Guidelines Insights: Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, Version 1.2019
Authors: Tempero Margaret A. , Malafa Mokenge P. , Chiorean E. Gabriela , Czito Brian , Scaife Courtney , Narang Amol K. , Fountzilas Christos , Wolpin Brian M. , Al-Hawary Mahmoud , Asbun Horacio , Behrman Stephen W. , Benson Al B. , Binder Ellen , Cardin Dana B. , Cha Charles , Chung Vincent , Dillhoff Mary , Dotan Efrat , Ferrone Cristina R. , Fisher George , Hardacre Jeffrey , Hawkins William G. , Ko Andrew H. , LoConte Noelle , Lowy Andrew M. , Moravek Cassadie , Nakakura Eric K. , O’Reilly Eileen M. , Obando Jorge , Reddy Sushanth , Thayer Sarah , Wolff Robert A. , Burns Jennifer L. , Zuccarino-Catania Griselda
Published: March 2019

The NCCN Guidelines for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma discuss the diagnosis and management of adenocarcinomas of the exocrine pancreas and are intended to assist with clinical decision-making. These NCCN Guidelines Insights discuss important updates to the 2019 version of the guidelines, focusing on postoperative adjuvant treatment of patients with pancreatic cancers.
Minimum inhibitory concentration of nano-silver bactericides for beneficial microbes and its effect on Ralstonia solanacearum and seed germination of Japanese Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
Authors: Sotoodehnia Poopak , Mazlan Norida , Mohd Saud Halimi , Samsuri Wahid A. , Habib Sheikh Hasna , Soltangheisi Amin
Published: March 2019

Background

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are highly promising biofertilizers that contribute to eco-friendly sustainable agriculture. There have been many reports on the anti-microbial properties of nanoparticles (NPs). Toxic effects of NPs under laboratory conditions have also reported; however, there is a lack of information about their uptake and mobility in organisms under environmental conditions. There is an urgent need to determine the highest concentration of NPs which is not detrimental for growth and proliferation of PGPR.

Methods

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to measure the size and shape of NPs. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of nano-silver on selected beneficial microbes and Ralstonia solanacearum were measured using the microdilution broth method. The percentage of seed germination was measured under in vitro conditions.

Results

NPs were spherical with a size of 16 ± 6 nm. Nano-silver at 12–40 mg l−1 inhibited the growth of bacteria. Seed application at 40 mg l−1 protected seeds from R. solanacearum and improved the rate of seed germination.
Effect of Extracting Solvents on the Phyto-chemical Properties of Fermented Pawpaw (Carica papaya L.) Seed
Authors: Adesola M. O. , Akande E. A.
Published: March 2019

Fruit seeds contain several phytochemical compounds which have been reported to show antiviral, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti tumor and antioxidant activities. Due to the varied chemical properties of these seeds, different solvents are used in the extraction. Therefore, this research was aimed at evaluating the effect of extracting solvents on the yield, phytochemical compounds and selected chemical properties of fermented pawpaw (Carica papaya) seed. Extracts from fermented T-solo variety of pawpaw seeds were obtained using petroleum ether, n-hexane and hot aqueous solvents using standard method. Analysis was carried out to determine some qualitative and quantitative phyto-chemical and some selected chemical composition (Peroxide Value PV and Thiobarbituric Acid Value TBA. Extracts’ yield were 26.00, 23.30 and 19.51% for petroleum ether, n-hexane and hot aqueous solvent, respectively. The result of quantitative analysis shows that all the phytochemicals were more abundant in petroleum ether extract. The PV and TBA of n-hexane, petroleum ether and hot water extract were 5.32, 4.52, 0.00 meq/kg and 0.87, 0.16, 0.09 μg/kg respectively. The PV and TBA obtained for petroleum ether extract were relatively low and         this implied that the extract will undergo little or no autoxidation or oxidative deterioration when used.
Determinants of Profitability and Problems Encountered by Women Palm Oil Processors in Ogbomoso Agricultural Zone of Oyo State, Nigeria
Authors: Ajibade Y. E. , Folayan J. A.
Published: March 2019

Aims: The study described the socio-economic characteristics, examined the determinants of profitability and identified the problems encountered by respondents during palm oil processing.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Ogo- Oluwa, Surulere and Oriire Local Government Areas, Ogbomoso agricultural zone, Oyo State, Nigeria between March 2016 and June, 2016.

Methodology: A multistage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and twenty respondents from Ogo-Oluwa, Surulere and Oriire Local Government Areas in Ogbomoso Agricultural zone. Structured questionnaire coupled with interview schedule were used to elicit data. Analytical tools were descriptive statistics and linear regression.

Results: The findings showed that 69.16% of the respondents fell within 20-50 years, about 87.5% were married and 72.50% had formal education. About 83.00% had their source of capital from personal savings and 96.66% engaged in other occupation. Selected variables determined profitability as shown by regression analysis.

Conclusion: Highest qualification, membership of association, ownership of oil palm plantation and quantity of palm oil produced determined profitability while water scarcity, transportation, finance and market instability were the problems faced by respondents.
Adaptive Control of a Four-Dimensional Hyperchaotic System
Authors: Li Xuxia , Fan Xinghua , Yin Jiuli , Zhang Ying , Lv Xiangxiang
Published: March 2019

This paper concerns the application of adaptive control method in a four-dimensional hyperchaoticsystem. Firstly, we carry out a systematic dynamic analysis including the properties of equilibriumpoint, stability, dissipation, Lyapunov exponent spectrum, and bifurcation. Both the existenceof two positive Lyapunov exponents and the Lyapunov dimension value show the hyperchaotic property of the system. Based on Lyapunov stability theorem, we then construct an adaptive controller and the adaptive law to suppress hyperchaos to the origin, which is an unstable equilibrium point under a certain parameter set. The effectiveness of the adaptive control is veried by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. We nally brie y demonstrate the control eciency of self-linear feedback control and misaligned feedback control. For the fourdimensional hyperchaotic system, the adaptive control outperforms them from the view of control speed.
Random Attractor for Non-Autonomous Stochastic Extensible Plate Equation on Unbounded Domains
Authors: Yao Xiaobin
Published: March 2019

We study the asymptotic behavior of solutions to the non-autonomous stochastic extensible plate equation driven by additive noise defined on unbounded domains. We first prove the uniform estimates of solutions, and then establish the existence of a random attractor.
Effect of Temperature on Mineral Precipitation Sequence of Lake Katwe Brine during Evaporation
Authors: Lwanyaga Joseph Ddumba , Kasedde Hillary , Kirabira John Baptist
Published: March 2019

The effect of temperature on the mineral precipitation sequence during evaporation of the natural brine from lake Katwe was studied. Laboratory isothermal evaporation experiments at temperatures (30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 ) using the original Katwe surface brine were undertaken. PHREEQC, a solubility software was used to predict the crystallization paths at the different study temperatures. The mineralogy and morphology of the precipitates were determined by the XRD and SEM techniques, respectively. The precipitation sequence majorly started with sulphates followed by chlorides and lastly carbonates at all temperatures after precipitation of the calcium-magnesium carbonates. Halite emerged the most dominant mineral, with thernadite, trona and glaserite following respectively. Thenardite, glaserite and burkeite precipitation flourished at lower temperatures (30 and 40 ) whereas soda ash precipitation flourished at higher temperatures (60 and 70 . Halite equally precipitated at all temperatures thus not showing a temperature preference in this study.  Temperature variation is a key design parameter in the extraction of mineral salts from the Brines of Lake Katwe.
Bioremediation Potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 on Crude Oil Spill Polluted Marshland and Terrestrial Soil Treated with Oil Spill Dispersant
Authors: Nrior Renner Renner , Inweregbu Augusta Ogechi
Published: March 2019

Aim: To investigate bioremediation potentiality of Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 on crude oil Polluted Marshland and Terrestrial Soil treated with oil spill dispersant

Study Design: The study employs experimental design, statistical analysis of data and interpretation.

Place and Duration of the Study: Soil samples were collected from K-Dere, Gokana L.G.A, and were transported to the Microbiology Laboratory of Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria for analyses while Oil spill dispersant (OSD/LT and OSD/Seacare) were from Barker and Hughes Nig Ltd (formally mil park Nigeria limited), all in Rivers state, Nigeria. This investigation study lasted for 28 days and sampling was done every 7day period.

Methodology: Eight experimental set up were carried out using Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 as the bio-augmenting organism in terrestrial and marshland soil contaminated with two Oil spill dispersant (OSD/LT and OSD/Seacare) separately. Controls for the two soil types were made without organism and treatment. Its bioremediation potential on the pollutants and two types of soil were monitored for 28 days. The setup was tilled twice a week to provide moisture and more oxygen for the organisms to thrive. Analysis of pH, Temperature, Moisture content, Total Hydrocarbon Content, Total Heterotrophic Bacteria, Dispersant Utilizing Bacteria was carried out at weekly intervals.

Results: The pH of both soils ranged from 5.75 to 7.37; temperature from 270C to 340C; moisture content 03 to 0.6 across the soil samples. Total Hydrocarbon Content (THC) showed a steady decline from day 1 – 28. The percentage (%) bioremediation rates of polluted soils were as follows: Terrestrial soil+OSD/Seacare+Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 69.4% > Terrestrial soil+OSD/LT+ Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 65.9% > Marshland soil+OSD/Seacare+ Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 52.6% > Marshland soil+OSD/Seacare+ Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 47.6%. Dispersant utilizing bacterial count in marshland and terrestrial soil ranged from 6.013 to 7.338 log10Cfu/g and 6.045 to 7.301 log10Cfu/g respectively from Day 1 to 28.

Conclusion:  From the investigation, it revealed that Oil spill dispersants are more degradable in terrestrial soil than marshland soil. OSD/Seacare is more biodegradable than OSD/LT in both terrestrial and marshland soil augmented with Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570. Thus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa KX828570 have been found to be a potential bioremediation agent in oil spill dispersant polluted marshland and terrestrial soil.
Outcome of Micropulse Laser in Treatment of Open Angle Glaucoma in a Peripheral Hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria: Our Initial Experience
Authors: Awoyesuku Elizabeth A. , Fiebai Bassey
Published: March 2019

Aims: To determine the Intraocular Pressure (IOP) and visual acuity changes before and after Micropulse laser treatment among patients with open angle glaucoma.

Study Design: A quasi-experimental study design.

Place and duration of Study: The Ophthalmic Specialists, a peripheral ophthalmologist group practice in Rivers State between February 2018 and December 2018.

Methodology: Twelve eligible patients with moderate and advanced open angle glaucoma on medical (topical) treatment were recruited after they gave informed consent. Baseline visual acuity (VA) and intra ocular pressure (IOP) were obtained prior to the use of the micropulse laser treatment. Following the laser treatment, VA and IOP were assessed at one day, one week, one month and 6 month post laser. p=.05 was regarded as statistically significant.

Results: A total of 12 patients were followed up for 6 months. Mean age was 37.42±7.00 years. Age range was 24-46 years with M: F ratio =1.4:1. Mean change in visual acuity across the time periods was statistically significant (p=0.0001). Mean IOP change over 6 months was 10.46mmHg (38.20%, p=0.0001). Median number of drugs used by participants dropped from 3 to 1. (P=0.002)

Conclusion: Micropulse Trans- scleral cyclophotocoagulation is a safe and effective way of managing glaucoma. It caused a mean drop in IOP of 10.46mmHg (38.20%) over 6 months in our study.