Single Level Lumbar Disk Herniation: Conventional Discectomy versus Interbody Fusion with Bilateral Pedicular Fixation

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to compare between the conventional discectomy and the interbody fusion with bilateral pedicular screw fixation in the management of single level lumbar disk herniation. METHODS: This is a prospective study done on 50 patients (25 in each group) at Cairo University Hospitals in the period between October 2018 and June 2019 fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Diagnosis was made clinically with history (low back pain and sciatica),examination (motor power assessment, straight leg raising test), and radiological findings (MRI, CT and X-ray lumbar spine). The pain status (VAS) was pre and postoperatively evaluated and followed up every 3 months for 1 year. RESULTS: The study included 50 patients (25 in each group) (mean age 40.4 years old) with slight female predominance. The most common clinical findings presented at diagnosis were low back pain followed by lower limb pain in the form of claudication and sciatica. L5-S1 disk prolapse was the most common level affected in both groups followed by L4-5 level. Regarding the clinical outcome, there was statistical significance in the VAS of low back pain at 9 months and 1-year follow-up favoring the fusion group with mean VAS 0.40 and 1.32 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Clinical outcome was excellent in both groups. However, the reduction in low back pain after surgery was greater in the fusion group (p < 0.05). The rate of recurrent disk herniation at the surgical level in the nonfusion group was higher, but intraoperative blood loss, operation time, length of hospital stay, and total cost of procedure were all less in the patients undergoing discectomy alone. Although there is still controversy regarding the pros and cons of fusion in association with disk excision without instability, fusion results were highly favorable

The Representation of Women in Street Songs: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Egyptian Mahraganat

The study investigates the representation of male and female gender identities in Egyptian street songs called Mahraganat. The study discusses the issue with reference to two common songs spreading among young commoners. Since the songs are written by writers who descend from low-standard social group, the analysis exhibits both cultural and societal notions related to how males and females are portrayed in such kind of music. This study attempts to describe how males describe their social group in comparison to the social group to which the women belong. It, thus, constructs the social identity of males and females through the lyrics of this new genre of music.  The findings from such an analysis answer the question about such genre within its social context and the ideologies by which it is dominated reflecting the discursive construction representation of gender and sexual identity.Keywords: gender, identity construction, genre, ideologie

Text me! Interpersonal Discourse Analysis of Egyptian Mobile Operators’ SMSs

The present study examines the discourse of a number of Short Messaging Service (SMS). The selected data is analyzed according to the lexico-grammatical choices reflected in the interpersonal metafunction. Results are, then, interpreted for the purpose of deciding how service providers use language to convince a large number of customers of their digital products. Such accomplishment is conditioned by how much they succeed in persuading their audience that they are capable of providing them useful products and how these products, in turn, meet their communicative demands. The study assure that the selection of the lexico-grammatical tools is crucial in enabling senders to perform a number of functions such as constructing social relations, exercising power or maintaining solidarity with the receivers.Keywords: service provider, mood, pronouns, tense, discourse, lexico-grammatical

Recovering from cultural blindness: multimodal Positive Discourse Analysis of metaphors in hand-drawn sketches about Islam

This paper extends Nartey’s model of Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA), examining the visual metaphors (VM) in the representations of Islamic identity. The paper highlights how hand-drawings operate as a positive discourse resisting negative accusations in hegemonic discourses about Islam. This PDA study is an intellectual proximity between semiotics, VMs and cultural studies. Through the constructed framework, I argue that PDA can utilize VMs to construct/construe homogeneity and inclusiveness. Through the findings of this study, we can construe the imageries as a reflection of the physical and cultural environments whose cognition is attained by examining how semiotic signs reflect and are reflected by conscious awareness and perception. A major criticism of PDA is its lack of contextual framing, that’s why this paper provides a contextual framing mixing semiotic visuality and the sociocultural construal of discursive representation of Muslim identity. The interpretation of the findings is contextualized after the adaptation of the philosophical view of Molyneux’s question, the issue of blindness from birth, and the capability of seeing things properly if someone, hypothetically, gains his sight again

Murder in the Consulate: The Grammar of Transitivity in the Headlines of News Reports about Jamal Khashoggi

The present study explicates the nature of the lexicogrammatical choices made in journalistic discourse about the death of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The case is internationally represented in the mostly circulated newspapers. The online versions of the four newspapers Arab News (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Hürreyat Daily News (Turkey), New York Times (United States of America) and Tehran Times (Iran) are selected for the study. Proceeding within the framework of the transitivity system, the paper intends to expound how the four newspapers express the stances and viewpoints about the case. The analysis positions the newspapers writing technique within an ideological bifurcation of the legitimized US and the delegitimized THEM. The use of the transitivity system as an approach for analysis of the headlines unveils how journalists’ attitudes steer readers toward the opinions preferred by the national policies of their countries

Text me! Interpersonal Discourse Analysis of Egyptian Mobile Operators’ SMSs

The present study examines the discourse of a number of Short Messaging Service (SMS). The selected data is analyzed according to the lexico-grammatical choices reflected in the interpersonal metafunction. Results are, then, interpreted for the purpose of deciding how service providers use language to convince a large number of customers of their digital products. Such accomplishment is conditioned by how much they succeed in persuading their audience that they are capable of providing them useful products and how these products, in turn, meet their communicative demands. The study assure that the selection of the lexico-grammatical tools is crucial in enabling senders to perform a number of functions such as constructing social relations, exercising power or maintaining solidarity with the receivers.Keywords: service provider, mood, pronouns, tense, discourse, lexico-grammatical

Coquetting Females versus Males of Manners: Critical Discourse Analysis of Egyptian Street Songs

The study explores gender differences and the role of the ideological background in portraying the roles of the males and the females. Socio-economic statuses affect the description of gender differences and this is proclaimed within the analysis of a recent phenomenon of poor quality street songs. The study represents a detailed description of male and female relationship, so as to spot the light on the literary and societal implications of this newly propagated genre. The study analyses two common songs spreading among commoners distorting the woman’s image predefined in the Egyptian culture. Negative cultural and societal conceptions are explicitly mentioned about the relation between males and females.Keywords: gender, media representation, discourse analysi

Note à la section technique. Cautionnement versé par les entreprises

Simaïka Marcus H., Sayed Metoualli, Verrucci Ernesto, Falaky Khalil Mahmoud el-. Note à la section technique. Cautionnement versé par les entreprises. In: Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe. Fascicule 36, exercice 1930-1932, 1936. p. 19

Coquetting Females versus Males of Manners: Critical Discourse Analysis of Egyptian Street Songs

The study explores gender differences and the role of the ideological background in portraying the roles of the males and the females. Socio-economic statuses affect the description of gender differences and this is proclaimed within the analysis of a recent phenomenon of poor quality street songs. The study represents a detailed description of male and female relationship, so as to spot the light on the literary and societal implications of this newly propagated genre. The study analyses two common songs spreading among commoners distorting the woman’s image predefined in the Egyptian culture. Negative cultural and societal conceptions are explicitly mentioned about the relation between males and females.Keywords: gender, media representation, discourse analysi