BACK TO KINSHIP III: A GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Back to Kinship III is the third Special Issue of the e-journal, Structure and Dynamics sponsored by the group, Kinship Circle. Each issue is dedicated to current kinship research.There are 5 articles in this Special Issue, covering a wide range of kinship research questions and topics The first two articles, by William Young and Warren Shapiro, respectively, employ ethnographic evidence as the reason for revising previous kinship ideas. The next two articles, by Robert Parkin and Dwight Read, respectively, focus on kinship terminology and revisit theoretical issues. The last article, by Alain Matthey de l’Etang, discusses theorizing by Dwight Read challenging the “received view” of kin terms being derived through a genealogical framework and proposing, in its place, that kin terms are structurally organized through a generative logic for the terminolog

Globalization Weaponized, Dominance Fragmented, World Stability Ruptured

The current Russia-Ukraine military conflict reveals how the laws established by the United Nations to guide “war behavior” need to be realistically reconsidered in light of the changes since WWII that now characterize military conflicts. Today dominant nations circumvent rules of engagement by resorting to new tactics. It also unmasks a prevalent “global dominance by the West” favoring marketplaces for military weapons disguised in humanitarian rhetoric which reveals hypocrisy and double standards. This is reminiscent of how the COVID-19 pandemic has unmasked existing racial and economic inequalities especially in the prosperous West. But whereas the Pandemic was well managed by the United Nations, filtering down to local populations, demonstrating the strength of a globalized, inter-connected world, the current Russia-Ukraine conflict weaponized globalization when it dismantled economic linkages. Also the Pandemic has led to the creation of a vaccine against the virus, whereas the Russia-Ukraine war is yet to lead to a “vaccine”, as it were, against the use of military warfare as a solution to global issues of insecurity. This article suggests possibilities that might lead to a better path for humankind

Veiled Men, Private Women in Arabo-Islamic Culture

Research on the contemporary Islamic movement that emerged in Egypt in the 1970s, after the Ramadan war, revealed a centrality of the dress code adopted by the Islami yyin (Islamic activists), which has spread throughout the Arabic-speaking and Islamic region. The newly constructed dress form was visible and dramatic. Too much focus, however, was on the fact that previously secularly dressed college women had adopted conservative clothing, which includes veiling

Long-term protection of hepatitis B vaccination among Egyptian children

Background: Hepatitis B Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Objective: to detect the long-term immunogenicity of the vaccine in Egyptian children after five and ten years of vaccination. Methods: Two hundreds healthy children were recruited. They were divided into two groups according to their age. Group A included 100 child, around 6 years old, vaccinated 5 years ago. Group `B` included 100 child, around 11 years old, vaccinated 10 years ago. Hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) titre was tested, booster dose of the vaccine was given to children whose HBsAb was < 10 mIU/ml, then one and half month later, they were retested for HBsAb to evaluate the response. Results: Both groups had a wide range of HBsAb (2-1000 mlU/ml), and there was a significant difference in the level of the two groups. Our data proves the decline of antibody titre with time. In group A, 19 children needed a booster dose, 14 of them were vaccinated, and 10 were retested after one and half month. The results showed that 9 (90%) responded by increased level of HBsAb, with six (66.6%) showing an adequate response. In group B, 52 children had antibody titre < 10, 48 of them were vaccinated and 34 were retested one and half months later. Two out of the 34 did not respond and 32 (94.2%) responded by an increase in the antibody titre. Of those who responded, 19 had adequate response (HBsAb ≥ 100) and 13 had hypo-response (HBsAb = 10 -100). Eighty percent (80%) of boys versus 51.7% of girls responded adequately. Conclusion: Hepatitis B vaccine is an effective and successful way for preventing HBV infection. No need for booster dose at least for 5 years after vaccination .Keywords: HBV- HB vaccine- long term immunityEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2011;9(1):35-4

Tuberculosis of the knee

Extrapulmonary manifestations of tuberculosis are reported in less than one in five cases with the knee affected in 8% after the spine and hip. We report a case of isolated highly erosive tuberculosis of the knee presenting in a previously fit Vietnamese woman. The difficulties of diagnosis, modalities of chemotherapeutic management, and surgical treatment are discussed

Some aspects of crop salt tolerance and water management

lrrigation is necessary for intensive erop production in arid and semi-arid areas and may be used to supplement rainfall in temperate and tropical areas. During and immediately following periods of rainfall or irrigation water moves downwards through the soil to the water table. At other times water losses through evapotranspiration may reverse the direction of flow in the soil, so that water moves up from the watertable by capillary rise. Evapotranspiration removes pure water from the soil leaving salts behind