THE EMERGENCE OF DEATH REPRESENTATIONS IN VISUAL ARTS: STEREOTYPES AND SOCIAL REALITIES

This article will investigate the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the contemporary practices of today's artists. Therefore, this investigation will lead to an analogy between the visual representations created by the artist and the representations created by the various forms of ICT. Accordingly, do the artists in this regards critique the stereotypical representations of images or do they copy what they see, the artwork may appear in different visualizations, but the concept is the same. What is the role of the artist in telling the real story behind the fake image created by media? The contemporary artists in some cases created clear distinctions between media and art. The images of death and terror in global media created a strong impact on the global art scene, where some artists copied those images without investigating the real situation on ground. They became another tool controlled by false messages. However, other contemporary artists started to investigate the social reality of media messages and analyse it in their art. Some artists led significant role in criticizing the common stereotypes, which the global media had established in the late few years

Painting the Odalisque: Reclaiming the Hierarchies of Aesthetics by Trans-Modern Critique

This article critiqued western aesthetics, which manipulated the representations of the oriental social reality in Modern Painting. Western aesthetics created an illusionistic link between the oriental society and occidental audience when modern artists from western cultures painted the orient and exaggerated the images of its people, landscape and visual cultures. The phenomenon of painting the odalisque was one of the stereotypical imagery made on the oriental cultures. This requires a trans-modern critique as well as trans-aesthetic rethinking to translate the real oriental realities to the western audience. Furthermore, such critique illustrates a clearer picture of the oriental trans-modernity and its cultural connections. The cliché of the odalisque is the subject of this critical article while rethinking the structures of western aesthetics through post-colonial as well as multicultural critique is its purpose. This article contributes to the critical literature that investigates the oriental cultures from global and trans-aesthetic perspectives. Keywords: Trans-Modernity, Contemporary Aesthetics, Orient, the Art of Painting. DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/43-06 Publication date:September 30th 201

Painting the Oriental Landscape and the Narratives of Modern Artists

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to critique the phenomenon of representing the Orient in western modern painting. In this context, the author negotiates the iconographies of the Orient and its conceptual constructions from critical perspectives. Painting the Orient, as an artistic practice in the modern era, is a consequent result of the cultural impacts that occurred between the west and the east when the modern painters traveled across the seas to North African and Arab landscapes to explore new warm colors within the oriental panoramas. Such cross-cultural experimentation evoked novel representations in the Art of Modern Painting, where the oriental fashions, scenes as well as urban and rural backdrops manifested in the modern movements of western art. Therefore, the orient appeared in the western painting as a new visual discovery in the pictorial composition through its vibrant colors and wide-open landscapes. The simple compositions of such painting practices manifested new waves of abstract art in the painting experimentations and delivered new realms of painting expressions. Furthermore, this paper presents an argumentation between scholars on the subject such as Clarke and Said, not to evoke any political, cultural or social bias toward any western or eastern ideology, but to present the notion of academia in contextualized manners toward the criticism of the creative practices of the art of modern painting. Keywords: The Art of Painting, Modern Art, the Orient, the Development of Modern Painting Movements. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-7-11 Publication date:March 31st 202

THE ENVIRONMENT REPRESENTATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY ARAB ART FROM THE RURAL TO THE URBAN

This article located three artists from three different Arab countries, who represented environment by producing different art production. They portrayed, installed, and composed images that belong to rural or urban environments where they selected landscapes that represent certain places. They portrayed certain objects that symbolize rural or urban environments. The investigated artworks are made by artists who had different collective and cultural backgrounds as well as different social realities. Therefore, this article investigates the concepts of representing places and environments in the Arab Contemporary Arts, where the artists analysed and installed the urban and rural images in their current social situations. The images as well as the belongings of the Arab contemporary urban and rural places appear in visual arts strongly through different forms of art such as installation art, abstraction, realism, or semi-realism; those artworks can be viewed in galleries, art fairs, and biennales.&nbsp

The Aesthetics of Arab Identities in Contemporary Visual Arts: The Painting Practices of Alia Al-Farsi

Note from the correspondent author: This paper was conducted as a teamwork assignment under the supervision of the correspondent author Assistant Prof. Dr. Mohammed Baker Mohammed Al-Abbas during    the undergraduate course INTRODUCTION TO ART part of Visual Arts Bachelor Degree Program. Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the painting practices of the Omani artist Alai Al-Farsi in connecting feminine, cultural and Arab influences in her artworks. And to reveal the significance of such connections with contemporary Arab art from global perspectives in delivering cultural connotations. The present study contributes to visual arts research through further understanding of women's creativity according to cultural developments in Arab countries. The main outcomes of this research reveal the practices of contemporary Arab artists in selecting their subjects to express aesthetic thoughts addressing the cultural concerns of common people. Artists manipulate their artistic practices into the exhibition's spaces to resemble cultural identities in their artworks and endeavor to establish an advanced understanding of the contemporary visual cultures in the local Arab communities. In this case, they reflect on feminism, and they bring feminine subjects as well as assorted ideas that provide a more comprehensive range of iconographies to represent women and their belongings. The artistic representations of women in the painting practice show human dimensions and draw into consideration many cultural components to interpret and analyze the artwork. This investigation concentrated on the visual culture issues expressed by the Omani artist Alia Al-Farsi in her contemporary artworks. Also, the study utilizes the methodology of qualitative analysis to investigate the layers and the elements of feminine iconographies in the Arab contemporary arts to unveil the connections between being a woman, being an artist, and being an Arab. The significance of this critique rests on the objective outcome that reflects women-made art as feminine, cultural, folkloric and social. Nevertheless, the practices, themes, and activities create the feminine aesthetics connected through concurrent art practices manifested in global art functions. Keywords: Contemporary Arab Art, Painting, Visual Culture, A/R/Tography, Practical Research. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-3-21 Publication date: January 31st 202

Self-Reflections in a Personal Space: Investigating the Process of Self-Portrait Painting by Academic Research

The purpose of this practice-based paper is to investigate the artistic reflections and self-aesthetics into the process of artwork making. Every stage of this process represents a particular significance from the initial stage to the finishing stage. Furthermore, this exploration aims to develop the employment of practical research in the field of Visual Arts on personal, communal and institutional levels. In this exploration, the methodology is the vehicle that transforms the research into reality. Making the artwork itself is the methodology, and this process is the primary reference of the present research. Therefore, the author presents the synthesis of the artwork making rather than the analysis of its aftermath, the focus in this context is the construction of the artwork. This is the result of this research, the artwork itself. Regarding the employability aspects of this approach, it involves the practitioners and researchers in the fields of the visual arts toward further realizations of the actual creative process. This employability takes place into the signs of progress on different levels through academic and artistic practices in schools, universities as well as higher learning and teaching institutions. The present practical paper is significant because it investigates reflections of the cultural identity as well as the narratives of personal memory into academic research. In the multicultural present temporality, research-oriented artists highlight the diversity of their societies and represent significantly personal aesthetics as themes in their artworks. This approach would elevate the mutual understanding among people from different aesthetical backgrounds; people's trends enhance multicultural perceptions, harmony, and coexistence. In addition, artists in this regard illustrate such an approach in their visual art when they compose practice and research with the symbolic content, which reflects social motives. Artists practice such art to critique the violent content in communication media and educate people that media may fake reality to create more audience and viewers. This study focused on the significance of subjective representations in contemporary arts, and the impact of such representations on the mutual understanding among people of multicultural societies. Keywords: Contemporary Art Practice, Studio-Based Methodology, Practice-Based Research, Hybrid Painting Techniques, Multimedia, Mixed media, Photography. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-12-18 Publication date: April 30th 202

People’s Reflections in the City: Exploring the Painting Practices of Figurative Expressionism by Academic Research

This paper is a practical outcome of a multidisciplinary research project conducted by the authors on the contemporary and modern practices of the Improvisation in Arts. All the authors are research-oriented practitioners in the fields of visual arts, performance arts, multimedia, Information and communication technologies as well as vocational training. Furthermore, the drawings, paintings, and sketches are all made by the correspondent author Assistant Professor Dr. Mohammed Baker Mohammed Al-Abbas as part of his research-oriented artistic practice through the hybrid painting techniques. Abstract The present studio-based paper aims to explore the creative reflections of the aesthetics of otherness within the practical phases of the painting production. This paper represents an experimental endeavor to create a two-dimensional artwork, which is a hybrid painting technique on canvas with mixed media and acrylic paints. Within such a specific practice-based context, each phase of this practical approach outlines a critical significance from the first phase of creating that painting to the completing phase. The practical methodology is the tool that converts the researcher's/artist's vision into creative academic production. The process of creating the painting on the canvas is the methodology; such manner turns to be a primary reference for the present exploration. There is a significant paradigm in this approach, which focuses on the artwork as a morphological creature being created by the researcher/artist rather than a consequent result that only exists as a finished/complete/polished outcome. The outcome of this research is the record of the artwork production itself. This record presents visual references of the artwork progress as well as a textual reflective narrative to describe this process with written words. This research-oriented artistic attempt introduces the artists and researchers in the domains of the Fine Arts to integrate the process of art-making into the methodologies of academic research. It is an academic text, reflective text as well as sequential images recording the artwork making. This studio-based experimentation is significant because it examines the aesthetics of the otherness into the expressive figurative abstraction in painting. Furthermore, the impact of such a studio-based approach manifests on advancing applications of the artistic oriented research in the field of Fine Arts globally on curatorial and academic levels. Keywords: Contemporary Art Practice, Studio-Based Methodology, Practice-Based Research, Hybrid Painting Techniques, Multimedia, Mixed media, Photography DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-10-08 Publication date: April 30th 202

The global burden of adolescent and young adult cancer in 2019 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background In estimating the global burden of cancer, adolescents and young adults with cancer are often overlooked, despite being a distinct subgroup with unique epidemiology, clinical care needs, and societal impact. Comprehensive estimates of the global cancer burden in adolescents and young adults (aged 15-39 years) are lacking. To address this gap, we analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, with a focus on the outcome of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), to inform global cancer control measures in adolescents and young adults. Methods Using the GBD 2019 methodology, international mortality data were collected from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, and population-based cancer registry inputs modelled with mortality-to-incidence ratios (MIRs). Incidence was computed with mortality estimates and corresponding MIRs. Prevalence estimates were calculated using modelled survival and multiplied by disability weights to obtain years lived with disability (YLDs). Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated as age-specific cancer deaths multiplied by the standard life expectancy at the age of death. The main outcome was DALYs (the sum of YLLs and YLDs). Estimates were presented globally and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintiles (countries ranked and divided into five equal SDI groups), and all estimates were presented with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). For this analysis, we used the age range of 15-39 years to define adolescents and young adults. Findings There were 1.19 million (95% UI 1.11-1.28) incident cancer cases and 396 000 (370 000-425 000) deaths due to cancer among people aged 15-39 years worldwide in 2019. The highest age-standardised incidence rates occurred in high SDI (59.6 [54.5-65.7] per 100 000 person-years) and high-middle SDI countries (53.2 [48.8-57.9] per 100 000 person-years), while the highest age-standardised mortality rates were in low-middle SDI (14.2 [12.9-15.6] per 100 000 person-years) and middle SDI (13.6 [12.6-14.8] per 100 000 person-years) countries. In 2019, adolescent and young adult cancers contributed 23.5 million (21.9-25.2) DALYs to the global burden of disease, of which 2.7% (1.9-3.6) came from YLDs and 97.3% (96.4-98.1) from YLLs. Cancer was the fourth leading cause of death and tenth leading cause of DALYs in adolescents and young adults globally. Interpretation Adolescent and young adult cancers contributed substantially to the overall adolescent and young adult disease burden globally in 2019. These results provide new insights into the distribution and magnitude of the adolescent and young adult cancer burden around the world. With notable differences observed across SDI settings, these estimates can inform global and country-level cancer control efforts. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe