And We cast upon his throne a mere body: A Historiographical Reading of Q. 38:34

This paper focuses on Q. 38:34 from the perspective of early and medieval works of Islamic historiography and collections of tales of the prophets: the early tenth century works of 'Umara b. Wathima and Tabari, the eleventh century Tales of the Prophets by Tha'labi, the twelfth century folkloric collection of Kisa'i, along with Ibn 'Asakir's History of Damascus, the thirteenth century world history by Ibn al-Athir, and the fourteenth century historiographical work by Ibn Kathir. These various works are viewed not as any particular stage in the development of a genre, but as variations on a (Qur'anic) theme, and the avenue of medieval historiographers and storytellers is utilised as a bridge to explore various possible interpretations of the Qur'anic passage. Historiographers and storytellers provide us with an illustration of how lessons of admonition implied in the Qur'anic text were perceived in medieval Islamic society. They also, as will become clear, provide a picture of Solomon that is consistent with the Qur'anic figure as a whole

Neutrino Mass from R-parity Violation in Split Supersymmetry

We investigate how the observed neutrino data can be accommodated by R-parity violation in Split Supersymmetry. The atmospheric neutrino mass and mixing are explained by the bilinear parameters $\xi_i$ inducing the neutrino-neutralino mixing as in the usual low-energy supersymmetry. Among various one-loop corrections, only the quark-squark exchanging diagrams involving the order-one trilinear couplings $\lambda'_{i23,i32}$ can generate the solar neutrino mass and mixing if the scalar mass $m_S$ is not larger than $10^9$ GeV. This scheme requires an unpleasant hierarchical structure of the couplings, e.g., $\lambda_{i23,i32}\sim 1$, $\lambda'_{i33} \lesssim 10^{-4}$ and $\xi_i \lesssim 10^{-6}$. On the other hand, the model has a distinct collider signature of the lightest neutralino which can decay only to the final states, $l_i W^{(*)}$ and $\nu Z^{(*)}$, arising from the bilinear mixing. Thus, the measurement of the ratio; $\Gamma(e W^{(*)}) : \Gamma(\mu W^{(*)}) : \Gamma(\tau W^{(*)})$ would provide a clean probe of the small reactor and large atmospheric neutrino mixing angles as far as the neutralino mass is larger than 62 GeV.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, version submitted to JHE

Korea matters for America / America matters for Korea

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/This publication, produced in partnership with The Asan Institute for Policy Studies, displays the broad-based connections of the U.S.-South Korea partnership. Click here to see a full map of all congressional district exports to Korea

Does ethnic conflict impede or enable employee innovation behavior? The alchemic role of collaborative conflict management

Purpose The main objective of the study is to investigate whether a societal context of ethnic conflict influences employee innovation behavior in the work domain, and whether a collaborative conflict management style adopted by supervisors plays a moderating role. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the conflict, organizational behavior and innovation literature, the study examines the main and interaction effects of employee sensitivity to ethnic conflict, organizational frustration, and collaborative conflict management style of supervisors on employee engagement with colleagues to innovate products, services, and job processes. Hypotheses are tested using hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for ethnic diversity in workgroups. Findings Employee innovation behavior is greatest when employee sensitivity to ethnic conflict is high, organizational frustration is low, and when supervisors are perceived to be highly collaborative in managing conflict, regardless of whether the workgroup is ethnically homogenous or diverse. Research limitations/implications The research findings expand our knowledge of the effects of sociopolitical conflict on employee behavior and the role of collaborative conflict management. Future research can address limitations including self-reports, cross-sectional design, and single country setting. Practical implications The findings suggest that employee innovation behavior can be enhanced through developing collaborative conflict management skills of those in leadership positions. Originality/value This is the first study to empirically examine the influence of ethnic conflict on employee innovation behavior, and is of value to businesses operating in conflict settings

Occupational Respiratory Cancer in Korea

Malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer are representative examples of occupational cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and the incidence of malignant mesothelioma is expected to increase sharply in the near future. Although information about lung carcinogen exposure is limited, it is estimated that the number of workers exposed to carcinogens has declined. The first official case of occupational cancer was malignant mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure in the asbestos textile industry in 1992. Since then, compensation for occupational respiratory cancer has increased. The majority of compensated lung cancer was due to underlying pneumoconiosis. Other main causative agents of occupational lung cancer included asbestos, hexavalent chromium, and crystalline silica. Related jobs included welders, foundry workers, platers, plumbers, and vehicle maintenance workers. Compensated malignant mesotheliomas were associated with asbestos exposure. Epidemiologic studies conducted in Korea have indicated an elevated risk of lung cancer in pneumoconiosis patients, foundry workers, and asbestos textile workers. Occupational respiratory cancer has increased during the last 10 to 20 yr though carcinogen-exposed population has declined in the same period. More efforts to advance the systems for the investigation, prevention and management of occupational respiratory cancer are needed

Retinopathy of prematurity screening at ≥30 weeks: urinary NTpro-BNP performance

Aim: Urinary N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide NTproBNP levels are associated with the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in infants <30 weeks of gestation. The incidence of ROP in more mature infants who meet other ROP screening criteria is very low. We therefore aimed to test whether urinary NTproBNP predicted ROP development in these infants. Methods: Prospective observational study in 151 UK infants ≥30 + 0 weeks of gestation but also <32 weeks of gestation and/or <1501 g, to test the hypothesis that urinary NTproBNP levels on day of life (DOL) 14 and 28 were able to predict ROP development. Results: Urinary NTproBNP concentrations on day 14 and day 28 of life did not differ between infants with and without ROP (medians 144 vs 128 mcg/mL, respectively, p = 0.86 on DOL 14 and medians 117 vs 94 mcg/mL, respectively, p = 0.64 on DOL28). Conclusion: The association previously shown for infants <30 completed weeks between urinary NTproBNP and the development of ROP was not seen in more mature infants. Urinary NTproBNP does not appear helpful in rationalising direct ophthalmoscopic screening for ROP in more mature infants, and may suggest a difference in pathophysiology of ROP in this population

Successful Treatment of Mycobacterium celatum Pulmonary Disease in an Immunocompetent Patient Using Antimicobacterial Chemotherapy and Combined Pulmonary Resection

Mycobacterium celatum is a nontuberculous mycobacterium that rarely causes pulmonary disease in immunocompetent subjects. We describe the successful treatment of M. celatum lung disease with antimicobacterial chemotherapy and combined pulmonary resection. A 33-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with a 3-month history of a productive cough. Her medical history included pulmonary tuberculosis 14 years earlier. Her chest X-ray revealed a large cavitary lesion in the left upper lobe. The sputum smear was positive for acid-fast bacilli, and M. celatum was subsequently identified in more than three sputum cultures, using molecular methods. After 1 year of therapy with clarithromycin, ethambutol, and ciprofloxacin, the patient underwent a pulmonary resection for a persistent cavitary lesion. The patient was considered cured after receiving 12 months of postoperative antimycobacterial chemotherapy. There has been no recurrence of disease for 18 months after treatment completion. In summary, M. celatum is an infrequent cause of potentially treatable pulmonary disease in immunocompetent subjects. Patients with M. celatum pulmonary disease who can tolerate resectional surgery might be considered for surgery, especially in cases of persistent cavitary lesions despite antimycobacterial chemotherapy

Unexplained Deaths and Critical Illnesses of Suspected Infectious Cause, Taiwan, 2000–2005

We report 5 years’ surveillance data from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control on unexplained deaths and critical illnesses suspected of being caused by infection. A total of 130 cases were reported; the incidence rate was 0.12 per 100,000 person-years; and infectious causes were identified for 81 cases (62%)

Clinical Effectiveness of Urinary Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Related Protein (hCGRP) Quantification for Diagnosis of Ectopic Pregnancy

We detected pregnancy related new molecule, human chorionic gonadotropin related protein (hCGRP) in the urine of a pregnant women by using a monoclonal antibody against the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This study examined the effectiveness of urinary hCGRP quantification in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy. This study included 40 normal pregnant women and 25 patients with ectopic pregnancy. Patients' serum and urinary intact whole hCG (i-hCG) and hCGRP concentrations were measured using sandwich ELISA and the ratio of hCGRP to i-hCG was calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) 10.0. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the cut-off value to discriminate ectopic pregnancies from normal intrauterine pregnancies. Urinary hCGRP and hCGRP/i-hCG ratio in ectopic pregnancy group (14±6.6 ng/mL, 4.6±1.9%, respectively) were significantly lower than those of normal pregnancy group (149±10.2 ng/mL, 29.7±1.9%, respectively; p<0.001). Based on ROC curve analysis, a cut-off point of urinary hCGRP/i-hCG ratio <16.2% discriminated between ectopic pregnancy and normal pregnancy with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 92.0%, 90.0%, 32.6%, and 99.5%, respectively. Urinary hCGRP/i-hCG ratio measurement may be effective in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy