Improving Nutrition through Agriculture : Viewing agriculture-nutrition linkages along the smallholder value chain

This report is a synthesis of existing global knowledge on improving nutrition through agriculture using a smallholder value chain approach. The smallholder value chain model used by the desk review concentrates on both producers and consumers and is centred around three pathways: improved nutrition resulting from increased production for own consumption, improved nutrition through increased income from selling agricultural products, and improved nutrition through increased income resulting from farmers’ involvement in local or regional procurement programs. The report identifies key conditions for agricultural interventions to significantly contribute to nutrition as well as important knowledge gaps pertaining to agriculture-nutrition linkages

The islamic statute of the Mudejars in the light of a new source

The present article aims at analyzing and evaluating the data of a new source concerning the legal views of Muslim scholars about the Islamic statute of the Muslim communities living under Christian rule in the Iberian Peninsula from the 12th up till the early 16th centuries. We are dealing here with (1) and unpublished fatwā of the Andalusian scholar Ibn Rabī‛ (d. 719/1320) and (2) unpublished fatwās of the Chief Judges of the four Sunnite madhhabs in Cairo around the year 1510 A.D. In all probabiUty, the first fatwā was closely related to the events following the Mudejar revolt in Murcia in 1265 and the Christian reconquest of the city in 1266» This fatwā stresses that Muslims living under Christian rule are absolutely obliged to perform the duty of emigration (hijra) to Islamic territory. A much more pragmatic view was, however, defended by the Chief Judges of the four madhhabs in Cairo during the early 16th century. The questions to which these fatwās provide the answers, seem to have been posed by Muslims from Valencia, stopping over in Cairo, on their way to or from the hajj. In conclusion, the authors argue that from the early 12th century onwards two different types of legal views about the statute of Islam under Christian rule in the Iberian Peninsula coexisted, viz. (1) a pragmatic view, tantamount to a de facto recognition of Islam under Christian rule, and (2) a rejectionist view, stressing the duty to emigrate from Christian Spain to Dār al-Islām. The changing impact of these different lines of legal thought deserves to be studied more closely within the context of the complex and changeable political relations between Christendom and Islam during the period concerned.El trabajo expone, analiza, y evalúa los datos de una nueva fuente sobre las visiones jurídicas de los ‛ulamā’ con respecto al estatuto islámico de las comunidades islámicas bajo dominio cristiano en la Península Ibérica desde el siglo XII hasta el siglo XVI. Se trata de (1) una fetua desconocida e inédita del sabio andalusí Ibn Rabī‛ (m. 719/1320) y (2) fetuas desconocidas de los principales cadíes de los cuatro madhabs sunníes en El Cairo hacia 1510 A.D. Muy probablemente, hay que relacionar la primera fetua con los acontecimientos en Murcia tras la sublevación mudejar de 1265 y la reconquista cristiana de la ciudad en 1266. El muftí subraya que los musulmanes que viven bajo dominio cristiano están imperativamente obligados a emigrar a territorio islámico. Los principales cadíes de los cuatro madhabs sunníes en El Cairo al principio del siglo XVI, sin embargo, defienden un modo de ver mucho más pragmático. Probablemente, las preguntas fueron planteadas por mudejares de Valencia, que estaban en El Cairo camino de la peregrinación. Finalmente, los autores plantean que hay que distinguir dos tipos coexistentes de visiones con respecto al estatuto del Islam bajo dominio cristiano en la Península Ibérica desde principios del siglo xii; (1) una visión pragmática, equivalente a un reconocimiento de facto del Islam bajo dominio cristiano, y (2) una visión «de rechazo», que asume la obligación de emigrar de la España cristiana a Dār al-Islām. El impacto variable de estas visiones jurídicas merece un estudio más profundo dentro del ambiente histórico de las complejas y cambiantes relaciones políticas entre Islam y Cristiandad en esa época

An appeal of the Moriscos to the Mamluk sultan and its counterpart to the Ottoman court: Textual analysis, context, and wider historical background

The present article deals with a shorter and different version of the poem containing a Morisco appeal to the Ottoman Empire, studied by James Monroe in Al-Andalus 31 (1966), 281-303. The shorter version proves that there had been another, similar appeal for help by the Moriscos which was directed, not to the Ottoman court, but to the Mamluk Sultan in Cairo. A close examination of the Mamlūkī and the Ottoman versions shows that the shorter version, directed to the Mamluk Sultan, was the original one. The present article contains (I) a comparative analysis of the Mamluk and the Ottoman versions of the qaṣīda, (II) a sketch of the wider historical framework of the international relations between the Christian and Muslim kingdoms of Spain on the one hand, and the Mamluk and Ottoman empire on the other hand, and (III) a discussion of the date of both versions of the qaṣīda (in the beginning of 1500 and first half of 1501, respectively) and of its authorship. It seems likely that the we have to look for the author of the qaṣīda in circles of Granadan Muslims who had belonged to the ruling class and, having accepted Christian rule, decided to accept administrative responsibility, such as for example several members of the al-Baqannī family (el Pequeñí in the Christian sources), some of whom who had first emigrated with Ibn al-Azraq to North Africa, but had returned and became members of the ruling Mudejar class.Este artículo tiene por objeto dar una versión diferente y más breve del poema que contiene una demanda morisca de ayuda al Imperio Otomano, poema estudiado por James Monroe en Al-Andalus XXXI (1966), 281-303. Esta versión indica que había habido otra demanda similar por parte de los moriscos al sultán mameluco de El Cairo, y que ésta era la original. El artículo contiene: 1) un análisis comparativo de las versiones de la casida dirigidas a los mamelucos y a los otomanos, 2) el marco histórico de las relaciones entre los reinos cristianos y musulmanes de la Península Ibérica por un lado y los territorios mameluco y otomano por otro, y 3) una discusión de la fecha de las dos versiones de la casida (comienzos de 1500 y primera mitad de 1501, respecfivamente), así como su autoría. Parece probable que el autor de la casida perteneciera a círculos de musulmanes granadinos que habían formado parte de las clases dirigentes de Granada y que luego habían aceptado puestos en la administración cristiana de la ciudad, como son, por ejemplo, varios miembros de la familia al-Baqannī (el Pequeñí en las fuentes cristianas), algunos de los cuales habían emigrado con Ibn al-Azraq al Norte de África, pero regresaron para integrarse en los grupos dirigentes mudéjares

The role of hospital midwives in the Netherlands

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most midwives in the Netherlands work in primary care where they are the lead professionals providing care to women with 'normal' or uncomplicated pregnancies, while some midwives work in hospitals ("clinical midwives"). The actual involvement of midwives in maternity care in hospitals is unknown, because in all statistics births in secondary care are registered as births assisted by gynaecologists. The aim of this study is to gain insight in the involvement of midwives with births in secondary care, under supervision of a gynaecologist. This is done using data from the PRN (The Netherlands Perinatal Registry), a voluntary registration of births in the Netherlands. The PRN covers 97% to 99% of all births taking place under responsibility of a gynaecologist.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All births registered in secondary care in the period 1998-2007 (1,102,676, on average 61% of all births) were selected. We analyzed trends in socio-demographic, obstetric and organisational characteristics, associated with the involvement of midwives, using frequency tables and uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses. As main outcome measure the percentage of births in secondary care with a midwife 'catching' the baby was used.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proportion of births attended by a midwife in secondary care increased from 8.3% in 1998 to 26.06% in 2007, the largest increase involving spontaneous births of a second or later child, on weekdays during day shifts (8.00-20.00 hr) from younger mothers with a gestational age (almost) at term. After 2002, parallel to the growing numbers of midwives working in hospitals, the percentage of instrumental births decreased.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In 2007 more midwives are assisting with more births in secondary care than in 1998. Hospital-based midwives are primarily involved with uncomplicated births of women with relatively low risk demographical and obstetrical characteristics. However, they are still only involved with half of the less complicated births, indicating that there may be room for more midwives in hospitals to care for women with relatively uncomplicated births. Whether an association exists between the growing involvement of midwives and the decreasing percentage of instrumental births needs further investigation.</p

The Parchment of the "Torre Turpiana ": the original document and its early interpreters

The present contribution deals with the famous parchment found in 1588 in the old minaret of the former Friday Mosque of Granada, with texts in Arabic, Spanish, and Latin. Together with the Lead Books, discovered in various caves in the outskirts of Granada in the years 1595-1600, the parchment stood at the beginning of an important national cult. After being transferred to the Vatican at the beginning of the seventeenth century and following their anathematization in 1682 the parchment and the Lead Books were kept in Rome until the year 2000 when they were returned to the Archbishopry of Granada. The article presents an analysis of the layout and script of the parchment (2) followed by a survey of translations and transcripts by early (Christian and Muslim) eyewitnesses (3.1). The data of these early eyewitnesses are critically compared with the main elements of the parchment (3.2) Then follows a discussion of the palaeographic comments made by a few (Christian and Muslim) eyewitnesses (4). In the final conclusions, the authors argue that the document under discussion is indeed the original parchment as found in 1588 notwithstanding the incomprehensibility of its Arabic texts and the many inconsistencies and corruptions of its Spanish and Latin texts (5.1). According to the authors, there is no evidence for the interpretation of the parchment as a pro to-Islamic document, as we are dealing here with a Roman Catholic message heralding the destruction of Islam. At the same time, however, the document also contained a symbolic message, viz. in stipulating that the first-century Granadan Christians, including the well-known figure of Cecilius, wrote Arabic and Spanish, just as many Moriscos did. In other words: even though Islam had to be extirpated, Arabic as a language could harmoniously accompany a genuine Christian life.Este artículo está dedicado al famoso pergamino encontrado en 1588 en el antiguo minarete de la que había sido mezquita aljama de Granada, con textos en árabe, latín y castellano. Junto con los libros plúmbeos descubiertos en diversas cuevas a las afueras de la ciudad entre 1595 y 1600, el pergamino está en los orígenes de un importante culto nacional. El artículo presenta un análisis de la composición y escritura del pergamino (2) y pasa revista a las trascripciones y traducciones que se hicieron por testigos cristianos y musulmanes (3.1). Éstas se comparan críticamente con los principales elementos del pergamino (3.2) y se discuten los comentarios paleográfícos hechos por estos testigos contemporáneos (4). Como conclusión, los autores mantienen que el documento transferido desde el Vaticano en el año 2000, es el original encontrado en 1588 a pesar de lo incomprensible de los textos árabes y de la corrupción de los textos castellano y latino (5.1) Según los autores, no hay base para considerar al pergamino como documento proto-islámico, puesto que se trata de un mensaje católico romano anunciando la destrucción del islam. Al mismo tiempo, el documento incluye un mensaje simbólico al mostrar que los cristianos granadinos del siglo I, incluyendo a Cecilius, escribían árabe y castellano, lo mismo que hacían los moriscos. Así, aunque el Islam había de ser extirpado, la lengua árabe se podía armonizar con una vida genuinamente cristiana

Utility of Vivosonic Integrity™ ABR system as a hearing screening device for children who are difficult to test

Hearing screenings are an important tool to determine when an individual is at a higher risk of having hearing loss. It is especially important to identify at risk individuals in the pediatric population, due to the significant impact that undetected hearing loss may have on language and educational development. Currently, methods exist to effectively screen most typically developing children. However, there is a lack of screening methods for children who are difficult to test, such as those with developmental disabilities. The current study compared referral rates from hearing screenings of preschool and school-aged children in a program that used traditional behavioral methods alone, with one using the Vivosonic Integrity™ ABR device in conjunction with behavioral methods. The study demonstrated that use of the Vivosonic Integrity™ ABR device as a hearing screener for difficult-to-test children results in significantly fewer referrals for comprehensive audiologic evaluation. The availability of a valid screening device for this population has the potential to save resources and provide valuable information on a child’s hearing status that may otherwise be unavailable. Further research is indicated to assess the reliability and validity of the Vivosonic Integrity™ as a hearing screener for difficult-to-test children

A Game of Attribute Decomposition for Software Architecture Design

Attribute-driven software architecture design aims to provide decision support by taking into account the quality attributes of softwares. A central question in this process is: What architecture design best fulfills the desirable software requirements? To answer this question, a system designer needs to make tradeoffs among several potentially conflicting quality attributes. Such decisions are normally ad-hoc and rely heavily on experiences. We propose a mathematical approach to tackle this problem. Game theory naturally provides the basic language: Players represent requirements, and strategies involve setting up coalitions among the players. In this way we propose a novel model, called decomposition game, for attribute-driven design. We present its solution concept based on the notion of cohesion and expansion-freedom and prove that a solution always exists. We then investigate the computational complexity of obtaining a solution. The game model and the algorithms may serve as a general framework for providing useful guidance for software architecture design. We present our results through running examples and a case study on a real-life software project.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, a shorter version to appear at 12th International Colloquium on Theoretical Aspects of Computing (ICTAC 2015