Islamización y aculturación en la época de ʻUmar II (717-720)

ʻUmar II’s vast correspondence with governors is examined for the discussion of Islamization and acculturation. From the caliph’s point of view, these two processes had to be regulated and the dilemma was how to formulate a policy that was both in line with Islamic ethics and, at the same time, controlling Islamization by setting a high entrance bar for the converts. The struggle against acculturation attempted to preserve Muslim political dominance by controlling the administration.La vasta correspondencia de ʻUmar II con los gobernantes es examinada para la discusión de la islamización y la aculturación. Desde el punto de vista del califa, estos dos procesos tenían que ser regulados y el dilema era cómo formular una política que estuviera en línea con la ética islámica y, al mismo tiempo, controlar la islamización estableciendo un alto nivel de entrada para los conversos. La lucha contra la aculturación intentaba preservar el dominio político musulmán controlando la administración

Comparative effectiveness of intensity modulated radiation therapy to 3-dimensional conformal radiation in locally advanced lung cancer: pathological and clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has better normal-tissue sparing compared with 3-dimensional conformal radiation (3DCRT). We sought to assess the impact of radiation technique on pathological and clinical outcomes in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LANSCLC) treated with a trimodality strategy. METHODS: Retrospective review of LANSCLC patients treated from August 2012 to August 2018 at Sheba Medical Center, Israel. The trimodality strategy consisted of concomitant chemoradiation to 60 Gray (Gy) followed by completion surgery. The planning target volume (PTV) was defined by co-registered PET/CT. Here we compare the pathological regression, surgical margin status, local control rates (LC), disease free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) between 3DCRT and IMRT. RESULTS: Our cohort consisted of 74 patients with mean age 62.9 years, male in 51/74 (69%), adenocarcinoma in 46/74 (62.1%), stage 3 in 59/74 (79.7%) and chemotherapy in 72/74 (97.3%). Radiation mean dose: 59.2 Gy (SD ± 3.8). Radiation technique : 3DCRT in 51/74 (68.9%), IMRT in 23/74 (31%). Other variables were similar between groups.Major pathological response (including pathological complete response or less than 10% residual tumor cells) was similar: 32/51 (62.7%) in 3DCRT and 15/23 (65.2%) in IMRT, p=0.83. Pathological complete response (pCR) rates were similar: 17/51 (33.3%) in 3DCRT and 8/23 (34.8%) in IMRT, p=0.9. Surgical margins were negative in 46/51 (90.1%) in 3DCRT vs. 17/19 (89.4%) in IMRT (p=1.0).The 2-year LC rates were 81.6% (95% CI 69-89.4%); DFS 58.3% (95% CI 45.5-69%) and 3-year OS 70% (95% CI57-80%). Comparing radiation techniques, there were no significant differences in LC (p=0.94), DFS (p=0.33) and OS (p=0.72). CONCLUSION: When used to treat LANSCLC in the neoadjuvant setting, both IMRT and 3DCRT produce comparable pathological and clinical outcomes. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: This study validates the real-world effectiveness of IMRT compared to 3DCRT

Identification of Widespread Ultra-Edited Human RNAs

Adenosine-to-inosine modification of RNA molecules (A-to-I RNA editing) is an important mechanism that increases transciptome diversity. It occurs when a genomically encoded adenosine (A) is converted to an inosine (I) by ADAR proteins. Sequencing reactions read inosine as guanosine (G); therefore, current methods to detect A-to-I editing sites align RNA sequences to their corresponding DNA regions and identify A-to-G mismatches. However, such methods perform poorly on RNAs that underwent extensive editing (“ultra”-editing), as the large number of mismatches obscures the genomic origin of these RNAs. Therefore, only a few anecdotal ultra-edited RNAs have been discovered so far. Here we introduce and apply a novel computational method to identify ultra-edited RNAs. We detected 760 ESTs containing 15,646 editing sites (more than 20 sites per EST, on average), of which 13,668 are novel. Ultra-edited RNAs exhibit the known sequence motif of ADARs and tend to localize in sense strand Alu elements. Compared to sites of mild editing, ultra-editing occurs primarily in Alu-rich regions, where potential base pairing with neighboring, inverted Alus creates particularly long double-stranded RNA structures. Ultra-editing sites are underrepresented in old Alu subfamilies, tend to be non-conserved, and avoid exons, suggesting that ultra-editing is usually deleterious. A possible biological function of ultra-editing could be mediated by non-canonical splicing and cleavage of the RNA near the editing sites

The Enigma of the Baḥrīyah and the Political Legacy of Sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb (1240–49)

I have discussed the transition from the Ayyubids to the Mamluks elsewhere. In this article I offer a more thorough reading of volume six of Ibn Wāṣil’s (1208–98) history of the Ayyubids with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century historiography at the fore of the discussion. Ibn Wāṣil’s chronicle is a huge text, with many autobiographical references. Although his focus is on political history and military campaigns, battles are not described and other relevant military details are seldom mentioned. I will also use Makīn ibn al-ʿAmīd’s (1205–73) text and the annotated French translation. Additionally, I will refer to Ibn Khallikān’s (1211–82) text to argue that, in political terms, the period between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries constituted an unbroken continuum