A Critical Study of Ibn-Ma'een's Remark "He Is Nothing" Concerning Hadith Narrators

This research studies Ibn-Ma'een's use of the remark "He is nothing" when describing some Haidth narrators. It attempts to show the remark's meaning, and if it indicates the small number of Hadiths narrated or the narrator's unreliability. The research aims to establish what Ibn-Ma'een meant by the remark and to investigate the arguments for interpreting it as other than stating a narrator's unreliability. The research follows an analytical deductive-inductive approach. The following are its most important findings: Al-Haakim was the first to interpret Ibn-Ma'een's remark "He is nothing" as meaning the narrator narrated a small number of Hadiths, not meaning the unreliability of the narrator. Al-Haakim was followed by Ibn-Al-Qattaan Al-Faassy, then by Ibn-Hajar, through whom that interpretation was spread. Al-Haakim's interpretation was not based on well-established evidences. In fact, evidences from the study of the narrators in question supported the interpretation as an unreliability judgment. Only a small number of narrators were criticized by Ibn-Ma'een as having narrated few Hadiths; he just mentioned the number of Hadiths they narrated or how small the number of Hadiths was, without remarking any as being "nothing". Ibn-Ma'een's use of the remark in context could be only interpreted as an expression of narrators' "unreliability". This was the meaning understood by his students, none of whom interpreted it as a reference to the small number of narrated Hadiths. The research recommends that the terms and expressions used by Hadith critics in establishing reliability or unreliability of narrators should be thoroughly studied so that their meanings can be properly understood

Estimation of three-dimensional intrinsic dosimetric uncertainties resulting from using deformable image registration for dose mapping

Purpose: This article presents a general procedural framework to assess the point-by-point precision in mapped dose associated with the intrinsic uncertainty of a deformable image registration (DIR) for any arbitrary patient

A distance to dose difference tool for estimating the required spatial accuracy of a displacement vector field

Purpose: To introduce a tool, termed distance to dose difference (DTD), which estimates the required spatial accuracy of displacement vector fields (DVFs) used for mapping four dimensional dose values

Cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways in mast cell dependent-neurogenic inflammation induced by electrical stimulation of the rat saphenous nerve

1. We investigated the role of arachidonic acid metabolism and assessed the participation of mast cells and leukocytes in neurogenic inflammation in rat paw skin. We compared the effect of lipoxygenase (LOX) and cyclo-oxygenase (COX) inhibitors on oedema induced by saphenous nerve stimulation, substance P (SP), and compound 48/80. 2. Intravenous (i.v.) pre-treatment with a dual COX/LOX inhibitor (RWJ 63556), a dual LOX inhibitor/cysteinyl-leukotriene (CysLt) receptor antagonist (Rev 5901), a LOX inhibitor (AA 861), a five-lipoxygenase activating factor (FLAP) inhibitor (MK 886), or a glutathione S-transferase inhibitor (ethacrynic acid) significantly inhibited (40 to 60%) the development of neurogenic oedema, but did not affect cutaneous blood flow. Intradermal (i.d.) injection of LOX inhibitors reduced SP-induced oedema (up to 50% for RWJ 63556 and MK 886), whereas ethacrynic acid had a potentiating effect. 3. Indomethacin and rofecoxib, a highly selective COX-2 inhibitor, did not affect neurogenic and SP-induced oedema. Surprisingly, the structurally related COX-2 inhibitors, NS 398 and nimesulide, significantly reduced both neurogenic and SP-induced oedema (70% and 42% for neurogenic oedema, respectively; 49% and 46% for SP-induced oedema, respectively). 4. COX-2 mRNA was undetectable in saphenous nerves and paw skin biopsy samples, before and after saphenous nerve stimulation. 5. A mast cell stabilizer, cromolyn, and a H(1) receptor antagonist, mepyramine, significantly inhibited neurogenic (51% and 43%, respectively) and SP-induced oedema (67% and 63%, respectively). 6. The co-injection of LOX inhibitors and compound 48/80 did not alter the effects of compound 48/80. Conversely, ethacrynic acid had a significant potentiating effect. The pharmacological profile of the effect of COX inhibitors on compound 48/80-induced oedema was similar to that of neurogenic and SP-induced oedema. 7. The polysaccharide, fucoidan (an inhibitor of leukocyte rolling) did not affect neurogenic or SP-induced oedema. 8. Thus, (i) SP-induced leukotriene synthesis is involved in the development of neurogenic oedema in rat paw skin; (ii) this leukotriene-mediated plasma extravasation might be independent of mast cell activation and/or of the adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium; (iii) COX did not appear to play a significant role in this process