American Murids: Muslim proponents of nonviolence open alternative conversations about Islam, jihad and immigration

This ethnography of a Senegalese religious community in New York, the Muridiyya, brings into conversation a nonviolent Sufi Muslim witness with an American discourse on Islam, violence and immigration. Murids put into practice the spiritual and ethical values of nonviolence learned from their founder, Shaykh Amadu Bamba. Starting with historical analysis and drawing on primary sources in Wolofal this study analyses what influenced Bamba towards the practices of nonviolence he developed. Then, through participant observation and interviews, the ways his disciples create Murid space in the diaspora and how they relate to the pluralistic non-Muslim context New York are explored. This thesis argues that Murids in post 9/11 New York continue to develop and modify their practices of nonviolence, recasting their founder as a Muslim peacemaker. Analysis of a new youth movement, Ndawi Serigne Touba, shows young Murids negotiating inter-generational tensions as they gain status and social capital in the community through mastery and performance of Muridiyya rituals. These youth see themselves as ambassadors with a mission to renew faith in Islam by serving Shaykh Amadu Bamba and putting his teaching into practice in all areas of life. It is shown that Murids in the diaspora seek to pass on their spiritual, ethical and cultural values to insiders and that they have a contribution to make to other Muslim communities and to the world through advocating their values and practices of peace and nonviolence. This study generates a new theoretical framework for understanding Bamba and the transnational Muridiyya through the lens of nonviolence. It argues that Murid space making is a social mechanism for peaceful relations with non-Muslims. This thesis reveals the emergence of American Murids committed to the spiritual and ethical values of Bamba and capable of adapting these to the American context

Puerperale tubale onderbining met plaaslike verdowing

No Abstrac

A 10-Year Prospective Evaluation of Balloon Tube Tamponade and Emergency Injection Sclerotherapy for Actively Bleeding Oesophageal Varices

During a 10 year study period 234 patients were admitted on 371 occasions with a total of 566 acute variceal bleeding episodes. Of these, 173 patients had 343 variceal bleeds which required balloon tamponade to achieve initial control of bleeding during 229 admissions and were then referred for emergency injection sclerotherapy. Sixty-eight percent of these patients had alcoholic cirrhosis and 42% were poor risk Grade C patients. Injection sclerotherapy was performed initially using the rigid Negus oesophagoscope under general anaesthesia and later using the fibreoptic endoscope under light sedation. Definitive control of variceal bleeding was achieved with sclerotherapy during 197 hospital admissions (92%). Of the 17 failures of emergency sclerotherapy, 4 patients died from uncontrolled bleeding and 13 patients underwent major surgical intervention. Definitive control of variceal bleeding was achieved with a single injection treatment in 138 hospital admissions (70%). Complications were mostly of a minor nature and occurred at a rate of 6% per injection treatment. The overall hospital admission mortality was 36%. The majority of patients died due to liver failure. The mortality in patients who required 4 injection treatments to control variceal bleeding was 71%. Injection sclerotherapy is proposed as the emergency treatment of choice for patients whose variceal bleeding continues or recurs after initial conservative management. Patients whose variceal bleeding is not controlled by 2 injection treatments require more major emergency surgery

Investigating nystagmus in patients with traumatic brain injury: A systematic review (1996 - 2016)

Background. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a health and socioeconomic concern worldwide. In patients with TBI, post-traumatic balance problems are often the result of damage to the vestibular system. Nystagmus is common in these patients, and can provide insight into the damage that has resulted from the trauma.Objective. To present a systematic overview of published literature regarding nystagmus in patients with TBI.Methods. Nine databases and platforms were searched during October 2016 for articles published between 1996 and 2016. Studies of any research design and published in English that focused on nystagmus in patients with TBI were considered for inclusion. A total of 110 articles were screened once duplicates had been removed, and 29 full-text articles were assessed. Eleven articles were included in the quality appraisal phase (using the McMaster tool), after which 10 articles were included in this review.Results. This review describes nystagmus in 713 patients, and all articles reviewed described the type of assessment method that was used. However, the results lacked comprehensive data regarding the assessment, measurement and description of nystagmus in TBI patients, or the possible link and relationship between nystagmus and TBI.Conclusions. This systematic review indicated that: (i) there is a growing body of evidence that benign paroxysmal positional vertigo should be considered during the medical examination of all patients suffering from head trauma; (ii) all patients with TBI should undergo visual (eye movement) and vestibular examination; and (iii) future studies should include quantitative measurements of eye movements and nystagmus.

Long-Term Management After Variceal Bleed — The Current Role of Sclerotherapy

While injection sclerotherapy has been accepted as the treatment of choice for acute variceal bleeding, its role as a definitive long-term treatment modality has not yet been clearly defined. This paper will critically analyse the current status of this technique, now widely used, and a comparison will be made with conventional medical management. The review will be based on the 10 years' Cape Town experience and the published series on this subject. A long-term management strategy will also be discussed

In vitro hardening — the role of supra-optimal sucrose on acclimation stress in Kniphofia leucocephala

Supra-optimal sucrose concentrations (6% and 9%) in vitro resulted in morphological and ultrastructural differences between control and stressed plantlets of Kniphofia leucocephala. Shoot length, in particular, was significantly reduced by increasing sucrose concentrations. Supra-optimal sucrose concentrations did not confer significant benefits on the stressed plantlets after transplanting, indicated by the similar maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem A. However, environmental stresses ex vitro may not have been sufficiently great to elicit different responses from the control and stressed plantlets

Sustainable production of root and tuber crops (potato, sweet potato, indigenous potato, cassava) in southern Africa

Africa, including South Africa, is faced with a problem of increasing rural poverty that leads to increasing urbanisation, joblessness, crime, food insecurity and malnutrition. Root and tuber crops such as sweet potato and potato, as well as cassava and indigenous potato are important crops for food security. The latter are also important due to their tolerance to marginal conditions. Potato and sweet potato are of great economic value in South Africa, with well-organised marketing chains and, for potato, a large processing industry. There is one cassava starch extraction factory in operation in South Africa. A number of diseases are of importance in potato in South Africa: early blight, late blight, bacterial wilt, scab and virus. Insect pests such as tuber moth and leaf miner are also constraints. In sweet potato the occurrence of viruses and weevils, as well as the availability of healthy planting material are the most important limiting factors in production. African Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) caused by a virus, is a problem in growing cassava. Plant biotechnology applications offer a number of sustainable solutions. Basic applications such as in vitro genebanking where large numbers of accessions can be maintained in a small space, meristem cultures to produce virus-free plants and mass propagation of popular cultivars in order to make planting material available for sustainable production. More advanced biotechnology applications that may be of value are molecular marker technology and genetic engineering. The latter can play a role in overcoming virus and potato tuber moth in potato, in resistance to CMD in cassava and possibly in sweet potato to incorporate virus and weevil resistance

The gig economy : challenges for tax systems

Abstract: Online collaborative platforms are disruptive forces, which create challenges for tax systems to effectively administer and collect taxes. The subsets in a tax system, namely the tax administration, the legislator, the taxpayers and third parties, are all influenced by this new way of doing business using online platforms, known as the gig economy. This paper sets out to describe the challenges to tax systems presented by the gig economy by using a systematic literature review of reports, opinions and scholarly articles on the topic of the gig economy. The literature was coded firstly for identifying the subsystem influenced, then codes were assigned to reflect the type of challenge, where after categories or themes were created. The paper describes the challenges using the themes identified for each subsystem of a tax system. The results reflect that the gig economy does present some unique challenges but also create opportunities for being innovative in encouraging compliance with tax laws. The paper is a useful resource on the gig economy’s interaction with tax systems for tax administrations, policy makers and scholars by providing a holistic view on the topic using multiple resources from across the globe