Iran's eleventh presidential election revisited: the politics of managing change

The election of Hassan Rouhani to the Presidency of the Islamic Republic in 2013 signalled for many a popular rejection of the politics of confrontation endorsed by his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and support for greater liberalism at home and internationalism abroad. With his first term coming to an end and an agreement reached on Iran’s nuclear programme, this paper revisits the 2013 presidential election campaign and argues that the process retained much of the intricate management of previous elections. A willingness to ‘believe the rhetoric’ of the campaign has resulted in a dangerous mismanagement of expectations.1 This paper follows on from an earlier book: Ali Ansari, Iran, Islam and Democracy: The Politics of Managing Change, (London: Chatham House, 2006)

Secondary anchor targeted cell release system

The lack of diagnostic tools that can probe individual heterogeneities in patient’s cell receptor expression limits advancement in personalized medicine. These individual differences in receptor quantities can give rise to both intrinsic and acquired resistances to therapeutics, which result in reduced treatment efficacy. In diseases like cancer, where therapeutics have many adverse side effects, noting which drugs have reduced efficacy means the difference between remission and death. Current chemical and physical cell separation methodologies may result in disruption of physiological receptor quantities. These changes in receptor quantities and expression may hide changes that give diagnostic information about tumor progression and environment. Thus separation techniques which hide these changes in receptor expression would be sub-optimal diagnostic tools. Here we describe a functionalization process that facilitates gentle cell capture with subsequent cell release via a secondary, surface-anchoring mechanism. The cellular capture system consists of glass functionalized with APTES, d-desthiobiotin and streptavidin, which when coupled with biotinylated antibodies, such as mCD11b and hIgG, are used to capture mouse macrophages (RAW 264.7) and human breast cancer (MCF7-GFP) cell lines, respectively. Cell release is facilitated through the introduction of biotin, allowing for the enrichment of the cells of interest captured by the surface. This release is done through the targeting of the secondary moiety desthiobiotin, which results in a much more gentle release paradigm. This reduction in harsh reagents and shear forces reduces changes in cellular expression. The functionalized surface captures up to 80% of cells in a single cell mixture and has demonstrated 50% capture in a dual-cell mixture. This engineering advancement is a critical step towards achieving cell isolation platforms for personalized medicine

The curious case of the nuclear company of Britain and Iran

In February 1977, on a routine visit to Tehran, Sir Walter Marshall, the chief scientist at the department of Energy and deputy chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, was made a seemingly impromptu “radical proposal” by the then head of the Atomic Energy Organisation, Dr Akbar Etemad for a strategic collaboration between the emergent nuclear industry of Iran and that of the UK which faced an uncertain future. Etemad’s proposal envisioned Iranian capital combining with British expertise in the form of a joint company that would be the salvation of both and mark a definitive new era in British–Iranian relations. Eighteen months of tough negotiations ended, failing to yield the desired commitment. But the encounter, largely ignored by historians sheds important new light on the politics of development in both Iran and the UK, along with the complexities of policy-making, and not least, the subtleties of the British–Iranian relationship in what would turn out to be the twilight of the Pahlavi dynasty.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

\u3ci\u3eA short sketch, historical and traditional, of the Musalman races found in Sind, Baluchistan and Afghanistan\u3c/i\u3e

Musalman races found in Sind, Baluchistan and Afghanistan, their genealogical sub-division, together with an ethnological and ethnographical account

Taqizadeh and European civilisation

The leading Iranian intellectual and nationalist Hasan Taqizadeh has been roundly condemned by posterity for his call to Iranians to embrace European civilisation in its entirety without qualification or compromise. Taqizadeh himself later conceded that the form of words he had used were injudicious, but he added that his intention had been to galvanise Iranians out of their self-destructive political stupor and it remains a reality that many of Taqizadeh's contemporaries were supportive of his call to arms. This paper reassesses Taqizadeh's position in the context of his historical and intellectual environment, which it is argued drew heavily from a “Whig” reading of the Enlightenment progress. It shows that Taqizadeh was not alone in drawing on this narrative while maintaining an important distinction between the positive aspects of British political thought and the shortcomings of British policy.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The Emergence of Irish National Drama: A Brief History

In spite of the rich potential, the emergence of drama in Ireland was very late. Till the 19th century there was no drama, either in Irish or in English language in Ireland. It was due to the sincere efforts of the poet-dramatist, W.B.Yeats and his friends, the drama in Ireland came into existence with the establishment of The Abbey Theatre in 1903 in Dublin. But the development of the Abbey  was not smooth. Even after the emergence of drama in Ire land talents, playwrights or actors, were not attracted towards this profession because there was not any established tradition of theatrical activities in Ire land. It was W.B.Yeats who pursued many Irish talents, living in other countries, like J.M.Synge  to return to Ireland and write drama based on Irish themes and culture. In this paper we propose to trace the history of emergence and development of Irish drama and the famous Abbey Theatre and the manifold crisis faced by it. We will also briefly discuss the role of important dramatists in the development of drama in Ireland. Keywords: Irish drama, They Abbey Theatre, Irish Literary Movement, Irish folklore, Gaelic