"Stony the Road" to Change: Black Mississippians and the Culture of Social Relations

"Stony the Road" to Change: Black Mississippians and the Culture of Social Relations. Marilyn Thomas-Houston. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 213 pp.     

Additional records of the River Limpet,Ancylus fluviatilis,from the Middle East

Abstract

The variation of 21 morphological parameters was investigated in populations of Atyaephyra desmaresti desmaresti and A. desmaresti orientalis in order to find differences between the sexes and to assess the degree of infraspecific variation. Differences between the sexes were found in three proportional characters of A. desmaresti desmaresti and in five characters of A. desmaresti orientalis. Also, the difference in one meristic character was found to be significant in both subspecies.     

River Dan,headwater of the Jordan,an aquatic oasis of the Middle East

River Dan is the largest of the headwater rivers of the Jordan. The karstic exsurgence of the Dan has a seasonally stable output, a long stretch of strongly turbulent flow, stable temperature around 15.5°C and high oxygen saturation. A total of 156 taxa, mainly at the species level, were identified from the river. These species are almost exclusively of Palearctic origin. About half of the species are limited to the northernmost part of Israel. The faunal complex described, does not present any longitudinal zonation for the 5 kilometers of turbulent flow; neither does it present seasonal changes in species composition. River Dan is considered to be a post-Pleistocenic river which has an important function of refugium for a wide area of aquatic water-bodies in the area, including the presently drained Lake Hula. It is suggested that in the Illies scheme of stream classification, River Dan might represent a type of stream belonging to a ‘pseudorhithral’ along with other stenothermic warm water torrents of the tropical-subtropical climatic belt.     

Unity of Heart: Culture and Change in a Polynesian Atoll Society

Unity of Heart: Culture and Change in. Polynesian Atoll Society. Keith Chambers and Anne Chambers. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 2001. xx. 283 pp.     

Leishmaniasis in the Middle East: Incidence and Epidemiology

Leishmaniasis is a major health problem worldwide, with several countries reporting cases of leishmaniasis resulting in loss of human life or a lifelong stigma because of bodily scars. The Middle East is endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis, with countries like Syria reporting very high incidence of the disease. Despite several countries establishing national control programs for containing the sandfly vector and treatment of infection, the disease continues to spread. In addition to the endemicity of the region for leishmaniasis, the Middle East has seen a great deal of human migration either for earning of livelihood or due to political upheaval in the region. These factors contribute to the spread and proliferation of the causative species Leishmania and its sandfly host. This review discusses the current epidemiological scenario in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, emphasizing the number of cases reported, vector species, Leishmania species, and treatment available. The data is primarily from WHO reports for each country and current and old literature.     

中东以外地区最大一次中东呼吸综合征暴发,韩国,2015

2015年5月11日至12月23日在韩国由一名从中东返回的旅行者引发了中东呼吸综合征暴发。186人发病,38人死亡。年龄偏大和存在基础性疾患是病人死亡的危险因素。这是中东以外地区最大一次中东呼吸综合征暴发,具有以下流行病学特征:(1)医院感染是最重要的暴发原因,但大量受攻击的是非护理人员(154/184);(2)家庭感染少见,无社区感染,传播呈多中心性;(3)呈现多代型继发感染病例,第1代感染者26例,第2代120例,第3代22例,第4代5例;(4)传播方式主要是微滴传播,直接接触传播仅约10%,大多数感染发生于和病人相处同一护理环境,最大可能是污染物传播。此外,中国发现由韩国输入的一例中东呼吸综合征病例。韩国暴发期间的MERS-COV有较高的遗传变异性和突变率。     

Mass Mediations: New Approaches to Popular Culture in the Middle East and Beyond; New Media in the Muslim World: The Emerging Public Sphere

Mass Mediations: New Approaches to Popular Culture in the Middle East and Beyond. Walter Armbrust. ed. Berkeley. University of California Press, 2000. 378 pp.
New Media in the Muslim World: The Emerging Public Sphere. Dale Eickelman and Jon W. Anderson. eds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. 213 pp.