Management research in the Arab World: What is now and what is next?

Given the significant political and socio-economic transformations occurring in the challenging yet under-researched Arab world nowadays, this study seeks to (1) systematically review the literature in the leading mainstream management journals; and (2) develop a future research agenda that would enhance our understanding of the region. To do this, we conducted a systematic review of 176 published management studies (2000–2016). Our thematic analysis revealed three overarching themes. These were (1) avenues for economic development and improved performance, (2) leveraging and adapting to changing local institutional contexts and (3) overcoming legitimacy concerns/barriers in the Arab world. Our recommendations on the future research agenda of these themes were intended to provide key insights for researchers and managers interested in proactively contributing to the development of a timely research agenda for these promising markets

Eco-Islam: Beyond the Principles of Why and What, and Into the Principles of How

A growing body of literature has thought to draw the link between Islamic ethics and environmental stewardship to explain the foundational principles of why humans should care about the environment, which gave rise to the coining of the term “Eco-Islam”. But only recently have we started to witness the birth of empirical examinations of the Eco-Islam concept, going beyond the why principles and so explaining what is meant by the environment, the role of humans towards it, and its regard as explained in the holy book of Muslims—the Qur’an. However, these foundational (why and what) principles do not suggest specific behavioural actions. This study conceptually and methodologically advances the existing literature from the belief (why and what) level of Islamic teachings about the environment to the action level by addressing questions such as: how can we take our belief of “Eco-Islam” to actually guide behaviours and outcomes? And in which business contexts are these behavioural principles more immediately applicable? To achieve this, we have undertaken qualitative research to analyse the content (i.e. verses) of the holy Qur’an. Our findings yield a framework that proposes key behavioural application principles (how) of Eco-Islam. Examples of pra

Expression of Mesothelioma-Related Markers in Meningiomas: An Immunohistochemical Study

Background. Meningiomas are common intracranial tumors. Recently, histogenetic and phenotypic similarities between meningiomas and mesotheliomas have been proposed. We were interested in whether these similarities are reflected on the immunohistochemical level, which would add new potentially diagnostic markers for meningiomas. Methods. The expression of mesothelioma-related markers (D2-40, Calretinin, Keratin 5/6, WT1, and Methotheioma-Ab1) was investigated in 87 cases of meningiomas and compared to EMA expression. Results. 73.6% of meningioma cases were grade I, 20.7% were grade II, and 5.7% were grade III. 83.9% of meningioma cases were classical and 16.1% had special nonmeningothelial features. D2-40 was expressed in 37.9% of cases and was significantly restricted to classical meningiomas. Calretinin and WT1 were negative while Keratin 5/6 and Mesothelioma-Ab1 were weakly expressed in classical variants (5.7% and 3.4%, resp.). EMA was consistently expressed in all cases. Its expression was significantly higher than that of mesothelioma-related markers; this held true also when D2-40 expression was considered separately. Conclusions. Mesothelioma-related markers are not extensively expressed in meningiomas, a finding that argues against their proposed histogenetic and phenotypic similarities. Compared to EMA, the significantly lower expression of mesothelioma-related markers and their restricted expression to classical meningioma variants hamper their potential future use as diagnostic markers for meningioma

Chemoembolization follow-up of hepatocellular carcinoma with diffusion-weighted MR imaging

Purpose: To assess the treatment response of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transarterial chemoembolization with diffusion weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with a 1.5 T system. Materials and methods: Thirty patients with 30 HCC focal lesions were prospectively evaluated for early treatment response after transarterial chemoembolization using dynamic contrast enhanced MRI and diffusion weighted MRI before and after the procedure. Diameter of arterially enhancing portions and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of lesions were recorded. The significance of differences between ADC values of completely responding and partially responding lesions was calculated. Results: Tumor ADC value increased from 1.2 + 0.1 × 103 mm2/s to 1.49 + 0.3 × 103 mm2/s after treatment (p < 0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between the percent change in the mean ADC and the percent change in the diameter of the enhancing tumor tissue after chemoembolization. The best predictive cutoff value for differentiation between complete and partial response was 24% change in the mean ADC. Conclusion: Responding HCC lesions exhibited decreases in arterial enhancement and increases in ADC values. Percent change in the mean ADC values was predictive of response to chemoembolization

Value of central vein sign in discriminating multiple sclerosis plaques from other white matter lesions

Introduction: Susceptibility weighted (SW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can visualize the vein/s around which multiple sclerosis (MS) plaques are centered. This study's purpose was to assess the ability of the central vein sign (CVS) to differentiate MS plaques from non MS white matter lesions (WMLs). Methods: Out of 18 patients, 9 had MS, 3 had systemic lupus erythematosus, 4 had hypertensive microangiopathy and 2 had Behcet’s disease. 3 T MRI examination was performed to obtain fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and the SW images. Lesions more than 3 mm were identified and analyzed for location and existence of the CVS. Results: Out of 572 MS lesions, 281 lesions were positive for the CVS, while only 66 out of 279 non MS lesions were CVS positive with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.001). As regards the percentage of perivenous lesions per patient; using a cutoff value of 30%, MRI accurately segregated all patients with MS and 8/9 non MS patients. Conclusion: Though the CVS is not found solely in MS lesions it is more frequent in MS WMLs as compared to non MS WML and thus is reliable adjunctive tool in differentiation of MS plaques from WMLs of alternative etiologies. Keywords: Central vein sign, Multiple sclerosis, Susceptibility weighted imaging, White matter lesion