Journal articles on the topic 'Chapter (house)'

This article consists of two chapters. The first one presents an outline of the history of the convent in Czarnowąsy and objects of historical value situated therein. In the second chapter, the author mentions several issues related to the convent (which used to belong to the Norbertines) that still offer open fields for studies: the historical value of the short story “Uparte mniszki” by Zofia Kossak; Paweł Szotarewicz’s dedication to Baltazar Gerbert, the architect of the so-called House of Nuns; and the hypothetical visit of the then 29-year-old King Frederick the Great to this “House of God”.

York Minster is the largest medieval Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, renowned for its magnificent architecture and its stained glass windows. Both acoustic measurements and simulation techniques have been used to analyse the acoustic environment of its Chapter House, which dates from the 13th-century and features an octagonal geometry with Gothic Decorated stone walls replete of geometric patterns and enormous stained glass windows, covered by a decorated wooden vault. Measured and simulated room impulse responses served to better understand how their architectural features work together to create its highly reverberant acoustic field. The authors start by analysing its acoustic characteristics in relation to its original purpose as a meeting place of the cathedral’s Chapter, and end by reflecting on its modern use for a variety of cultural events, such as concerts and exhibitions. This work is part of the “Cathedral Acoustics” project, funded by the EC through the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie scheme.

An early rescue excavation in 1900 revealed part of a medieval building of the Dominican friary of Black Friars, London. Further archaeological work in the twentieth century revealed other parts of the building. Here, the authors consider the archaeological and architectural evidence, including a preserved in situ window and two relocated ex situ architectural features. Alfred Clapham suggested in a 1912 article in Archaeologia that the building was the Dominican provincial prior’s house; the present authors instead identify the ground-floor chamber as the late thirteenth-century chapter house. Construction of the friary (the second London Black Friars) began in 1278 or 1279 and the chapter house, funded by a will of 1281, was probably built later in the 1280s. The lower chamber was a well-lit, five-bay undercroft with a quadripartite vault rising from Reigate stone responds and Purbeck marble columns: this was probably the chapter house chamber. The hall-like chamber over was approximately 57ft by 28ft (17.3m × 8.5m) and may have been the library. The building may be the work of Robert of Beverley, the king’s master mason from 1260, perhaps in conjunction with Michael of Canterbury. French royal works of the thirteenth century (such as the lower chapel of the Sainte-Chapelle, Paris) may have served as inspiration.

In 1913 the Russian symbolist poet Viacheslav Ivanov (1866–1949) proposed to the famous patron of the arts Michail Sabashnikov a new Russian translation of Dante’s Vita Nuova for Sabashnikov’s publishing house. Shortly thereafter the poet began this work, which he was never to complete. In Ivanov’s lifetime, the only published evidence of this project was a part of chapter III from the Vita Nuova that he interpolated in his essay “On the Limits of Art” in 1914. Ivanov’s translations from various works of Dante were discussed for the first time by Pamela Davidson in her monograph The poetic imagination of Viacheslav Ivanov: A Russian symbolist’s perception of Dante (1989). Davidson devoted a chapter to Vita Nuova and its significance for the Russian symbolist. Continuing Pamela Davidson’s investigations, we examined all the material preserved in the Russian State Library (Moscow) that allows us to document Ivanov’s translations from the Vita Nuova: the drafts of chapters I and V and of an introduction that the poet planned for his Russian edition of the Vita Nuova. Among other things it was possible to decipher the draft of the masterful translation of the “sonetto doppio” from chapter VII. An addendum to the paper contains chapters XX and XXI from Dante’s Vita Nuova in Ivanov’s translation, likewise found in manuscript form in the Russian State Library.

“Suspend it all,” writes Charles Dickens in the ninth number plan for his novelLittle Dorrit(“Working Notes” 207). Referring to the thirtieth chapter, in which Blandois – formerly Rigaud – arrives on the doorstep of Mrs. Clennam's house, this phrase aptly describes how much the chapter moves the plot forward. Mysteries are gestured toward, but the stakes of the mystery are left blank. Rigaud shows surprise upon seeing Flintwinch, but such surprise is inexplicable until we learn at the end of the novel that Rigaud has met Flintwinch's twin brother abroad. We learn more about the mysterious watch that the dying Mr. Clennam bequeathed to his wife, but not much more than the meaning of the letters “D.N.F.” inscribed within it: “Do not forget.” Dickens suspends so much from the reader that it is hard to feel suspense about anything, a fact that is amplified by Rigaud's insistence on “Secrets!” that can be read as a meta-commentary on the chapter itself: “I say there are secrets in all families,” he tells Flintwinch, adding that the house is “so mysterious” (381–82; bk.1, ch. 30).

The work under review has an important practical value in solving the problems of modern uro-oncology. Chapter I presents a brief review of the literature, reflecting the main directions of preventive measures contributing to the improvement of cystectomy results; Chapter II describes the functional state of the kidneys in patients with bladder neoplasms.

This paper examines the context of two nineteenth-century images of the thirteenth-century statue of the Angel Gabriel in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. One, by John Wykeham Archer, was previously unidentified; the other, by Elizabeth, Lady Palgrave, was misidentified.

Abstract This article examines 2 Chronicles 21 and the description it provides of Jehoram of Judah’s reign, which diverges widely from the parallel in 2 Kings 8. Addressing some of the structural, substantive, and linguistic issues that arise from the text, it suggests that this chapter integrates two perspectives regarding Jehoram, each of which contain different details—that are nonetheless essentially interlinked. The proposal offered herein resolves some of the fundamental questions relating to the text, including the structure of the chapter and the duplications and meaning of the unique phrases it contains. The paper also discusses the Chronicler’s views concerning the family and Israelite kingship and the manner in which the promise to the house of David is presented in the chapter.

In 2014, a prominent radical publishing house released a book about the influential development economist Jeffrey Sachs. The published version was one chapter shorter than the final proofs. This chapter had been removed after the publisher sought legal advice on content pertaining to fieldwork conducted in Uganda on Sachs’s Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an international development programme financed by some of the wealthiest individuals and most powerful corporations in the world. In contrast to the MVP’s remarkable claims of success, the censored chapter documented allegations of mismanagement and corruption, and told the story of the author’s detention, his pursuit by secret police on suspicion of ‘sabotage of development’, and subsequent threats of legal action made against him by the lawyers of Sachs’s philanthropic foundation. This article presents the censored chapter in its entirety, as an example of the stakes involved in transgressing ‘ethical research’ protocols that function to shield power from scrutiny. The chapter is prefaced with a discussion of the MVP and the state-capital-academia nexus, and is followed by a postscript, which sets out the principles of ‘renegade research’.

Gastronomy has been valued as an intangible heritage that contributes to the valorization of tourist destinations. Experiencing gastronomy with other intangible heritages, such as Fado [World Heritage of Unesco], namely in Fado Houses of Lisbon, could enhance the authenticity of the city’s tourist experience. In this context, this chapter aims to analyse the House of Fado managers’ perspective regarding the characteristics of the cultural touristic supply, as well as the main transforming elements of that supply over time. In accordance, it is based on a case study methodology, highlighting the importance of the identity values of Fado and Gastronomy in the construction of cultural-gastronomic experiences.

In the 1855 edition of his guide to Pompeii, the French artist and archaeologist Ernest Breton begins a chapter on the city's houses and shops with a print showing tourists in a grand Pompeian residence (figure 1). At the rear of an atrium with an enormous impluvium, a man contemplates a raised garden while a well-dressed couple approaches from the right. Behind them, in the roofless remains of the house, the garden's ancient sculptural display remains in situ; animals and deities inhabit a landscape dominated by a shrine-like niche, a pool, and pillars painted with trees. Deep shadows and encroaching vegetation set a romantic, melancholic mood. This is the House of Marcus Lucretius (IX.3.5), excavated less than a decade prior and, at the time, one of the ancient city's most famous sights. As is typical of nineteenth-century illustrations of Pompeii, the size of the house is exaggerated: while the decorative scheme and arrangement of the rooms is accurate, the garden is too highly elevated and too large in proportion to the figures. The atrium's disproportionate impluvium is a complete fabrication, the actual impluvium having been dismantled in antiquity. Despite the artistic licence, Breton and his imagined tourists follow the same path as ancient visitors to the house, drawn toward the garden and its sculptures by the manipulation of space and decoration.

On 26 May 1434, the sisters of the Abbaye Saint-Georges de Rennes filed into their chapter house. Their abbess had died two days previously, and following her burial in the abbey church the abbey's prioress had called a meeting to plan the election of a new leader for the community.

The question in 1898 of the recognition by Cambridge University of St Edmund's House, a Roman Catholic foundation, might initially seem to involve questions irrelevant in the modern university. It can, however, be seen to raise issues concerning modernity, the place of religion in the university and the role of the university itself. This article therefore sets this incident in university history in wider terms and examines the ways in which the recognition of St Edmund's House was a chapter in the history of liberalism, in the history of Roman Catholicism, in the history of education and in the history of secularism.

This is the fi rst Polish translation of the full chapter of the only authorized biography of Samuel Beckett entitled Damned to Fame (originally published in English in 1996). The text concentrates on the publication details of Waiting for Godot and Beckett’s private life in the early 1950s. For example, the details concerning building the house in Ussy sur Marne in 1953 are revealed and Beckett’s cooperation with the magazine „Nouvelle revue française” and the publishing house „Merlin” is discussed. On private ground, the origins of Beckett’s intimate relationship with Pamela Mitchell are of much importance at the time.

The historiography of the death of Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his family and retinue has been replenished with a new book. The monograph by famous historian Evgenii Pchelov The Regicide of 1918: Sources, Questions, and Versions published in 2020 by the publishing house of the Russian State University for the Humanities is based on the results of a source analysis of some issues related to the death of the members of the Russian imperial house in the Urals during the Civil War. The book consists of four sections (chapters), which respectively deal with four debatable and insufficiently studied issues within the framework of this topic. The first chapter of the book is dedicated to the mysterious fate of the documents of the White Guard investigation of the case of the murder of the tsar’s family. The author comes to the conclusion that the extant materials from different parts of the world, in general, make it possible to reconstruct the contents of eleven volumes of the case files. The second part of the work deals with the issue of interpretation of the finds made by investigator Nikolai Sokolov in the area of the Ganina Yama mine where the clothes of the victims were burned. The author disagrees with the conclusions of the White investigator about the complete destruction of the Romanovs’ remains. The third section of the book covers the controversial issue of “mysterious” inscriptions in the basement of the Ipatiev House, where the imperial family was shot. Evgenii Pchelov questions the mystical and cabbalistic background of these inscriptions, although he emphasizes that their further scientific study is necessary. In the final chapter, the author proposes a solution to the issue of whether Moscow represented by Vladimir Lenin and Yakov Sverdlov sanctioned the murder of the Romanovs in Yekaterinburg. The researcher comes to a reasonable conclusion about the presence of a tacit permission from the top Bolsheviks to destroy the tsar’s family. The review notes both positive aspects of Evgenii Pchelov’s research and some inaccurate or insufficient conclusions of the author which were caused by ignoring the previous historiography, on the one hand, and by a simplified understanding of the source-study approach as relying solely on “available sources,” on the other hand.

Abstract The article approaches the inspiration of recycling at different levels of understanding. The introduction describes the meanings of the word recycling as it is perceived in relation to architecture. The first chapter approaches recycling through its most common understanding as material reuse, describing how the recycling of materials can inspire architecture. The second chapter takes up recycling in the sense of conversion, pointing out the particular importance of addressing this issue. The chapter mentions four theories dealing with approaches to conversion, which are specified through examples, and points to architectural recycling motivated by idea and by religion. The third chapter discusses architecture is inspired by recycling or reusing architectural elements that become the bearer of the idea of behind a new architectural concept. The fourth chapter reflects on understanding the recycling of architecture as taking on the formal image of historical architectural styles, thus reflected in the historical styles of the 19th century and postmodernism of the 20th century. The fifth chapter “Recycling the idea” seeks recycling at the level of the idea, by incorporating old ideas into modern concepts, referring to the Ideal City of Chaux and to Ricardo Bofill, the motif of the medieval mázhaus and Socrates’ house. In the sixth chapter, entitled “Recycling as a concept”, we read about inspiring architecture that takes on recycling at many levels of meaning, becoming important for objectifying the ideological essence of the work. The conclusion of the paper briefly summarizes the results of the work and its essence, summarizing a subjective evaluation of the issue.

In a sad final chapter of A House at Pooh Corner, Christopher Robin has to desert his friends of the Hundred Aker Wood in order to go to school. The mysterious world of the classroom is just barely alluded to as a vaguely ominous place where it is not possible to do Nothing, the favorite activity of all healthy inhabitants of the wood.

Today, wearable health products play a crucial role in most locations, such as constant wellness monitoring of people, street traffic management, weather forecasting, along with smart house. These sensor devices constantly generate massive amounts of data and are kept in cloud computing. This particular chapter proposes Internet of Things design to store and system scalable sensor information for healthcare apps. Proposed architecture comprises 2 primary architecture, specifically, MetaFog-Redirection and Choosing and Grouping architecture. Though cloud computing offers scalable data storage, effective computing platforms must process it. There's a requirement for scalable algorithms to process the big sensor information and recognize the helpful patterns. To conquer this problem, this particular chapter proposes a scalable MapReduce based logistic regression to process such massive quantities of sensor information. Apache Mahout includes scalable logistic regression to system BDA in a distributed way. This particular chapter uses Apache Mahout with Hadoop Distributed File System to process the sensor information produced by the wearable health units.

Between 1963 and 1966 Emilio Duhart (1917-2006) worked on the design of this single-family house in what used to be the outskirts of Santiago. During this period, a series of younger collaborators worked on the project, transforming it continuously. Now, confronted with the task of refurbishing the house, we trace back and try to understand the project development by researching archival material. However, it is the process of physically dismantling damaged fabric – almost everything, besides the concrete structure – that really reveals the main principles behind the whole design process. A silent dialogue with architects already gone, which provides the guidelines to write just another chapter in the life of this structure.

In the 11th chapter of the second book of Samuel, we read how King David saw Bathsheba in the evening: ‘v.2. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.’

Few incidents in the life of St Francis strike the art historian more than his demolition of the newly constructed chapter-hall in Assisi. As the date of a chapter at S. Maria della Portiuncula was fast approaching and there was no accommodation for the large number of friars expected, the people of Assisi built a house to shelter the incoming friars. Coming across this structure, Francis became so irritated that he climbed the roof and threw down tiles and rafters, and was only stopped when knights interfered and the municipality argued that the building belonged to them. Ironically, this same man had answered God’s call and had repaired the ruined churches of S. Damiano, St Peter, and S. Maria della Portiuncula in Assisi.

This interpretive review draws on a number of Asa G. Hilliard’s Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) writings to examine his conception of educational excellence in ancient Kemet and for African American education today. The review offers an interpretation of Hilliard’s lifelong quest for excellence in education, which is especially revealed in his analysis of the educational implications of Black rulership of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, in the chapter entitled “Waset: The Eye of Ra and the Abode of Maat—The Pinnacle of Black Leadership in the Ancient World.”

Since September 11, American Muslim identities, political views, sensi- bilities, and even private lives have been studied by academics, pollsters, government agencies, and think tank researchers. This renewed interest on the nexus of religious and national identity has produced a vast volume of publications, cross-cutting each social science discipline and thematic re- search area. Some are even available online, such as #islamophobiaisracism syllabus, #BlackIslamSyllabus and ISPU’s Muslim American Experience Bibliography page. What is often lost in this conversation, however, are the nuances that influence everyday lives of American Muslims and their practice of Islam. Situated within religious studies and Islamic studies scholarship and speak- ing to a broad disciplinary array, the edited volume The Practice of Islam in America: An Introduction is a much-needed contribution to the scholarship on Islam and American Muslims. The book’s editor, prolific and prominent scholar and historian of Is- lam in America, Edward Curtis IV, explains the goals of the book in this sentence: “This book is driven by the desire to provide clear answers to es- sential, and basic, questions about how observant Muslim Americans prac- tice Islam…” (2). Importantly, the book delivers on its promise to provide a lived religion perspective (3). While the twelve chapters in The Practice of Islam in America examine distinct practices and themes, the chapters synergize in giving voice to a lived religion perspective on American Muslims’ practices. This approach helps the reader to achieve a healthy distance from the significant but often overly dominant political context that influences discourse on American Muslim life. The book opens with an introductory chapter by Curtis, explaining the rationale and background to the project. The chapter is a good prelude to this rich volume, reflecting Curtis’ years of experience working on Muslim American history and experience. For the non-specialist audience, the in- troductory chapter also provides a broad historical overview of American Muslim history, starting from the slave trade and stretching into contem- porary Islamophobia while covering debates within the diverse American Muslim community. The volume is organized across four thematic parts. Each part includes three chapters, producing a rich, twelve-chapter account. Part I examines prayer and pilgrimage and includes chapters on ṣalāt, dhikr, and ḥajj. Part II explores holidays; individual chapters cover Ramadan and Eid celebra- tions, Ashura, and Milad/Mawlid celebrations. Part III takes the reader into the realm of life cycle rituals with chapters on birth, wedding, and funeral/ death rituals. The concluding Part IV touches on Islamic ethics and reli- gious culture. It examines philanthropy, food practices and engagements with the Qur’an with reference to everyday practices of American Muslims. Curtis explains in his introduction that the volume is intentional in de- veloping a lived religion focus. Moreover, almost all authors give examples for how these practices vary in different branches of Islam (Sunni, Twelver and Isma‘ili/Bohra Shi‘i communities) as well as for multiple ethno-racial demographic groups that make up the deeply pluralistic Muslim American fabric. Contributors should be applauded for producing chapters that are ethnographically rich, thematically diverse, and attentive to multiple sites and dynamics. Chapter 1 moves through multiple vignettes that involve ṣalāt, the Muslim ritual prayer. Rose Aslan’s vivid descriptions of the lives of Ameri- can Muslims and her ability to walk the reader along not only the basics of the prayer but also the nuances among individuals with diverse ethno-racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and the post-September 11 securitization of ṣalāt is refreshing. Rosemary R. Corbett’s chapter on dhikr—“medita- tive and sometimes joyous religious litanies,” to use the definition offered by Curtis in the introductory chapter (6)—is a comparative study of three related groups, each springing from the Turkish Halveti Cerrahi order. The historical account around the creation of these groups is helpful especially because one of these figures, Tosun Bayrak of the Spring Valley Halveti Cerrahi order, recently passed away. In the next chapter, Hussein Rashid skillfully walks the reader through the meaning, rites, and politico-eco- nomic realities surrounding ḥajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudia Arabia. His chapter helps to familiarize the readers with complexities of ḥajj. Part II of the book begins with Jackleen Salem’s nuanced and vivid account of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha. In testament to the volume’s attention to inclusivity, Michael Muhammad Knight’s chapter on Ashura is a vivid and informative account of this most popular Shi‘i commemoration. This chapter is less ethnographically driven than other chapters preceding it, perhaps to the advantage of the common reader who learns a great deal about early Muslim history and the background to the Sunni-Shi‘i split. The same is true also for Marcia Hermansen’s chapter on Milad/Mawlid celebrations recognizing Prophet Muhammad’s birth. The chapter strikes a balance between academic information on the subject and a thick description of these ceremonies. She provides a superb account of major debates and disagreements within the Muslim community sur- rounding these celebrations for the benefit of the uninitiated reader. In the first chapter of Part III, Maria Curtis explores birth rituals ranging from baby-showers to naming a child to postpartum complexities faced by moms within the American Muslim community. Her chapter is noteworthy in producing a much-needed addition to these underexplored topics. Juliane Hammer’s chapter on weddings is an exploration of not only ceremonial aspects of marriage but also legal approaches to marriage in America through a rich ethnographic account of three distinct weddings. She gives due attention to textual and Qur’anic interpretations on love and mercy by American Muslims. Her chapter is among those that provide the common reader with a nuanced view of the scholarship on the theme that is under exploration. The same is true for Amir Hussain’s chapter on Muslim funerals. Speaking from within a few funeral processions in southern Cali- fornia, as well as a brief description of the funeral ceremony of Muhammad Ali, Hussain explores the rites of death and burial in the American Muslim landscape.The first chapter of Part IV, by Danielle Witman Abraham, examines philanthropy and social giving in the American Muslim community. The chapter explains the norms in Sunii and Shi‘i communities, including concerns about domestic vs. international giving. Chapter 11, by Magfirat Dahlan, delves into American Muslims’ food consumption choices. She explores the fluid categories of permissible and impermissible food as well as ethical vs. non-ethical food as perceived by her respondents. The final chapter of the book is by Mona Ali and focuses on the Qur’an and how American Muslims engage with Islam’s holy book. Her approach provides a concise and effective summary of the Qur’an’s role in life cycles, identity formation and internal conversations among American Muslims. While the individual chapters’ focus on specific contexts and ethno- graphic accounts is very helpful, some chapters leave the reader with a sense of incompleteness due to the brief attempt to cram information on the broader context in the last two pages of each chapter. For example, in Chapter 1, Rose Aslan invokes the American Muslim debate around cre- ating gender equity in mosques and the third space wave but cannot do justice to the multifaceted conversations and developments around this issue. Chapter 4 by Jackleen Salem also suffers from trying to deliver too much. Salem’s concluding section, “Eid as an American Holiday,” fails to mention the heated debates that defined the “White House Iftar” dinners during President Obama’s presidency. These kinds of omissions create a kind of wedge between the complexities that arise in the everyday practice of Islam and the volume’s broader reflections. Chapter 9, by Amir Hussain, details Muhammad Ali’s funeral but does not fully engage with the debates and choices that marked the funeral. One wonders too if inclusion of other dhikr practices adapted by American Muslim followers of the Tijaniyya or the Ba‘Alawi sufi networks could have been helpful to give voice to dhikr practice in Chapter 2, out- side the Halveti Jerrahi context. Another theme that is neglected lies in the chapter on philanthropy, which does not mention what are often heated debates within American Muslim communities on the jurisprudence (fiqh) of giving to non-Muslims as well as whether certain service organizations (such as those serving students or social justice needs) are zakāt-eligible.There are practices that are left out as well. Du‘a Kumayl, practiced by Shi‘i Muslims on Thursday evenings similar to mawlid ceremonies, is not mentioned in the text. It would have been enriching to include this practice of reading a prayer that is traced to Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and one of the four great caliphs, Imam Ali. Finally, the choice to not cite online resources with their full web ad- dresses seems like an odd choice for a volume this rich in content. The lack of a full pathway in many instances makes it difficult for researchers to access information. These slight omissions notwithstanding, The Practice of Islam in Amer- ica: An Introduction is a great resource for instructors to use in introducto- ry courses in religious studies and American Muslim studies programs, as well as a good supplementary text for anyone teaching Islam in interfaith contexts. It delivers on its promise to provide rich narratives on what Is- lam looks like as a lived religion in America. It is highly relevant for those teaching not only on Islam but also on religion generally. The editor as well as the authors deserve recognition for producing a nuanced and insightful volume.
 Ahmet Selim TekeliogluAli Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic StudiesGeorge Mason University

Since September 11, American Muslim identities, political views, sensi- bilities, and even private lives have been studied by academics, pollsters, government agencies, and think tank researchers. This renewed interest on the nexus of religious and national identity has produced a vast volume of publications, cross-cutting each social science discipline and thematic re- search area. Some are even available online, such as #islamophobiaisracism syllabus, #BlackIslamSyllabus and ISPU’s Muslim American Experience Bibliography page. What is often lost in this conversation, however, are the nuances that influence everyday lives of American Muslims and their practice of Islam. Situated within religious studies and Islamic studies scholarship and speak- ing to a broad disciplinary array, the edited volume The Practice of Islam in America: An Introduction is a much-needed contribution to the scholarship on Islam and American Muslims. The book’s editor, prolific and prominent scholar and historian of Is- lam in America, Edward Curtis IV, explains the goals of the book in this sentence: “This book is driven by the desire to provide clear answers to es- sential, and basic, questions about how observant Muslim Americans prac- tice Islam…” (2). Importantly, the book delivers on its promise to provide a lived religion perspective (3). While the twelve chapters in The Practice of Islam in America examine distinct practices and themes, the chapters synergize in giving voice to a lived religion perspective on American Muslims’ practices. This approach helps the reader to achieve a healthy distance from the significant but often overly dominant political context that influences discourse on American Muslim life. The book opens with an introductory chapter by Curtis, explaining the rationale and background to the project. The chapter is a good prelude to this rich volume, reflecting Curtis’ years of experience working on Muslim American history and experience. For the non-specialist audience, the in- troductory chapter also provides a broad historical overview of American Muslim history, starting from the slave trade and stretching into contem- porary Islamophobia while covering debates within the diverse American Muslim community. The volume is organized across four thematic parts. Each part includes three chapters, producing a rich, twelve-chapter account. Part I examines prayer and pilgrimage and includes chapters on ṣalāt, dhikr, and ḥajj. Part II explores holidays; individual chapters cover Ramadan and Eid celebra- tions, Ashura, and Milad/Mawlid celebrations. Part III takes the reader into the realm of life cycle rituals with chapters on birth, wedding, and funeral/ death rituals. The concluding Part IV touches on Islamic ethics and reli- gious culture. It examines philanthropy, food practices and engagements with the Qur’an with reference to everyday practices of American Muslims. Curtis explains in his introduction that the volume is intentional in de- veloping a lived religion focus. Moreover, almost all authors give examples for how these practices vary in different branches of Islam (Sunni, Twelver and Isma‘ili/Bohra Shi‘i communities) as well as for multiple ethno-racial demographic groups that make up the deeply pluralistic Muslim American fabric. Contributors should be applauded for producing chapters that are ethnographically rich, thematically diverse, and attentive to multiple sites and dynamics. Chapter 1 moves through multiple vignettes that involve ṣalāt, the Muslim ritual prayer. Rose Aslan’s vivid descriptions of the lives of Ameri- can Muslims and her ability to walk the reader along not only the basics of the prayer but also the nuances among individuals with diverse ethno-racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and the post-September 11 securitization of ṣalāt is refreshing. Rosemary R. Corbett’s chapter on dhikr—“medita- tive and sometimes joyous religious litanies,” to use the definition offered by Curtis in the introductory chapter (6)—is a comparative study of three related groups, each springing from the Turkish Halveti Cerrahi order. The historical account around the creation of these groups is helpful especially because one of these figures, Tosun Bayrak of the Spring Valley Halveti Cerrahi order, recently passed away. In the next chapter, Hussein Rashid skillfully walks the reader through the meaning, rites, and politico-eco- nomic realities surrounding ḥajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudia Arabia. His chapter helps to familiarize the readers with complexities of ḥajj. Part II of the book begins with Jackleen Salem’s nuanced and vivid account of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha. In testament to the volume’s attention to inclusivity, Michael Muhammad Knight’s chapter on Ashura is a vivid and informative account of this most popular Shi‘i commemoration. This chapter is less ethnographically driven than other chapters preceding it, perhaps to the advantage of the common reader who learns a great deal about early Muslim history and the background to the Sunni-Shi‘i split. The same is true also for Marcia Hermansen’s chapter on Milad/Mawlid celebrations recognizing Prophet Muhammad’s birth. The chapter strikes a balance between academic information on the subject and a thick description of these ceremonies. She provides a superb account of major debates and disagreements within the Muslim community sur- rounding these celebrations for the benefit of the uninitiated reader. In the first chapter of Part III, Maria Curtis explores birth rituals ranging from baby-showers to naming a child to postpartum complexities faced by moms within the American Muslim community. Her chapter is noteworthy in producing a much-needed addition to these underexplored topics. Juliane Hammer’s chapter on weddings is an exploration of not only ceremonial aspects of marriage but also legal approaches to marriage in America through a rich ethnographic account of three distinct weddings. She gives due attention to textual and Qur’anic interpretations on love and mercy by American Muslims. Her chapter is among those that provide the common reader with a nuanced view of the scholarship on the theme that is under exploration. The same is true for Amir Hussain’s chapter on Muslim funerals. Speaking from within a few funeral processions in southern Cali- fornia, as well as a brief description of the funeral ceremony of Muhammad Ali, Hussain explores the rites of death and burial in the American Muslim landscape.The first chapter of Part IV, by Danielle Witman Abraham, examines philanthropy and social giving in the American Muslim community. The chapter explains the norms in Sunii and Shi‘i communities, including concerns about domestic vs. international giving. Chapter 11, by Magfirat Dahlan, delves into American Muslims’ food consumption choices. She explores the fluid categories of permissible and impermissible food as well as ethical vs. non-ethical food as perceived by her respondents. The final chapter of the book is by Mona Ali and focuses on the Qur’an and how American Muslims engage with Islam’s holy book. Her approach provides a concise and effective summary of the Qur’an’s role in life cycles, identity formation and internal conversations among American Muslims. While the individual chapters’ focus on specific contexts and ethno- graphic accounts is very helpful, some chapters leave the reader with a sense of incompleteness due to the brief attempt to cram information on the broader context in the last two pages of each chapter. For example, in Chapter 1, Rose Aslan invokes the American Muslim debate around cre- ating gender equity in mosques and the third space wave but cannot do justice to the multifaceted conversations and developments around this issue. Chapter 4 by Jackleen Salem also suffers from trying to deliver too much. Salem’s concluding section, “Eid as an American Holiday,” fails to mention the heated debates that defined the “White House Iftar” dinners during President Obama’s presidency. These kinds of omissions create a kind of wedge between the complexities that arise in the everyday practice of Islam and the volume’s broader reflections. Chapter 9, by Amir Hussain, details Muhammad Ali’s funeral but does not fully engage with the debates and choices that marked the funeral. One wonders too if inclusion of other dhikr practices adapted by American Muslim followers of the Tijaniyya or the Ba‘Alawi sufi networks could have been helpful to give voice to dhikr practice in Chapter 2, out- side the Halveti Jerrahi context. Another theme that is neglected lies in the chapter on philanthropy, which does not mention what are often heated debates within American Muslim communities on the jurisprudence (fiqh) of giving to non-Muslims as well as whether certain service organizations (such as those serving students or social justice needs) are zakāt-eligible.There are practices that are left out as well. Du‘a Kumayl, practiced by Shi‘i Muslims on Thursday evenings similar to mawlid ceremonies, is not mentioned in the text. It would have been enriching to include this practice of reading a prayer that is traced to Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and one of the four great caliphs, Imam Ali. Finally, the choice to not cite online resources with their full web ad- dresses seems like an odd choice for a volume this rich in content. The lack of a full pathway in many instances makes it difficult for researchers to access information. These slight omissions notwithstanding, The Practice of Islam in Amer- ica: An Introduction is a great resource for instructors to use in introducto- ry courses in religious studies and American Muslim studies programs, as well as a good supplementary text for anyone teaching Islam in interfaith contexts. It delivers on its promise to provide rich narratives on what Is- lam looks like as a lived religion in America. It is highly relevant for those teaching not only on Islam but also on religion generally. The editor as well as the authors deserve recognition for producing a nuanced and insightful volume.
 Ahmet Selim TekeliogluAli Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic StudiesGeorge Mason University

In this chapter, John Markoff notes that although the European Union has a strong formal commitment to democratic values, for example in the tests it applies to new entrants, and although civic freedoms are strong throughout the EU, this body nevertheless poses a challenge to democratisation. This is because the development of democratic freedoms and political practices has, since the eighteenth century, been accompanied by the activities of social movements that have placed pressure ‘from below’ upon government bodies, making them accountable to the people. As more governmental power drifts upwards, above the level of the national state, the capacity of social movements to exercise influence decreases. Paradoxically, while the EU supports democracy within its member states, it remains relatively free of effective democratic control itself. During the nineteenth century, social movements reoriented themselves from local power structures to national states but they have been less effective in reorienting themselves yet again to the suprastate level.

The Cistercian abbey of St. Mary of Fountains has been the subject of extensive antiquarian and archaeological study for some two centuries, begining with John Martin's excavation of the chapter house in 1790–91. Three major studies in the nineteenth century, starting with the excavations of 1848–54 overseen by J. R. Walbran, who also began the analysis of the extensive documentary archive relating to the house, enhanced by a remarkably complete survey of the ruins begun in 1873 by J. A. Reeve, and culminating with an authoritative summary by Sir William St. John Hope, established the historical and archaeological development of the abbey and demonstrated the importance of the ruins. More recently, a detailed reappraisal by the first writer and limited excavation by Roger Mercer followed the placing of the ruins into the guardianship of what is now the Department of the Environment in 1966, and it was assumed that there was little more to be learned about the historical development of the house.

Campylobacter is a fastidious organism that is capable of surviving in wide range of environments and potentially can cause serious infection in human and animal which can commonly available in the different sources of water used for daily purpose. This research was conducted to figure out the prevalence of the thermophilic Campylobacter in the water used in various slaughter houses of Kathmandu and Ruphendehi district of Nepal. So a cross sectional study was conducted and 200 water samples (100 for each district) was collected aseptically and submitted to Bacteriological Unit for the confirmation. Isolation and identification of Campylobacter was being done as described by OIE Terrestrial Manual, 2004, Chapter 2.8.10. Laboratory finding was done to confirm the positive cases. The study revealed the prevalence status of Campylobacter in water used in the slaughter house of Ruphendehi district is 12% and Kathmandu Valley is 0.00%. Thus, Ruphendehi has comparatively more prevalence of Campylobacter than Kathmandu. The water samples tested were all from actual or potential water sources for the use in slaughter house, so there are clear implications for the transmission of Campylobacter spp. to human and animal suggesting further expanded research is required in this area.
 Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 7(1): 75-80

The Kaʿba has central role in Islamic culture. It orients Muslims both physically and perceptually in their daily lives and worship. Recognising its obscurity in extant scholarship on Islamic art and architecture, Simon O'Meara seeks to understand how the Kaʿba works in the Islamic world. Inspired by Erwin Panofsky’s iconological method, he looks to the indigenous documents of the Islamic tradition, including the textual, visual and architectural. He extracts six different orientations of the Kaʿba (as qibla, navel, substructure, beloved, holder, and dwelling), with one chapter devoted to each. The first of its kind, O’Meara’s monograph is a highly original study which has paved the path for not only for future studies of the Kaʿba but also for all studies of Islamic art and architecture that are grounded in Islamic culture and tradition.

I review the book, Geoffrey W. Sutton, A house divided: Sexuality, morality, and Christian cultures (Pickwick, 2016). After identifying the main premise as helping people understand the variety of positions (and what are behind them) on sexual issues, I summarize each chapter. Then, while I approve of promoting more understanding, I suggest that cognitive psychology shows that understanding alone will probably not promote societal peace or peace among Christians. Rather, unconscious and intuitive factors must also be considered.

In the first part of this review, I describe the concepts used in the book. Next, the paper follows the four periods of institutionalization and evolution of national sociological thinking from a historical and didactic perspective. Each period is characterized by the contributions of its representative authors. In another chapter, the author describes the teaching staff and the graduates from the Faculty of Philosophy, specialization Sociology at the University of Bucharest. Finally, a gallery of sociologists with their achievements is presented. This review captures the value and usefulness of the book for understanding the history of Romanian sociological thinking.

ABSTRACTThis book provides a summary of the various possibilities available on the American market to house the elderly: 13 major solutions are put forth, ranging from a retirement community, to inverted mortgages to social housing, all analysed in great detail. The 11 chapters, which include the proposed housing solutions, are all divided in the same manner: presentation of the solution, general characteristics, clients reached, principal advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, after some time, this type of chapter construction serves to reduce your interest in reading the book. However, the author does prove that he took great pains in classifying housing solutions and in searching for pertinent documentation. This work should help anyone who is not familiar with this subject to take stock of the situation. Nevertheless, it does not offer any perspective for the future, since the author endeavours to give prominence to the main inconveniences of the proposed solutions, thus offsetting the few known advantages of the latter. In the end, you find yourself wondering what can actually be done and suggested to this clientele, since unfortunately nothing substantial has been proposed.

The Palitra-L Publishing House translated the Great Visual Encyclopedia into Georgian and published it, in the presentation of which we read that "part of the terms and definitions have been changed with new ones, the meaning of some has increased. It is possible to check the meaning of a specific word by checking relevant illustration" – say the authors of the book, who gathered specialists in terminology, linguists, scientists when creating the encyclopedia. It would be better if the publishing house had invited the relevant specialists of the field as well. The part of the Georgian translation of the encyclopedia that I consider in the article (Book 4, Chapters XVII and XVIII) does not seem to have been reviewed by the appropriate specialists of the field and technical terminology. Moreover, the terms and definitions used in the illustrations are not related and completely inconsistent with their functional purpose. Chapter XVII, Trucks, considered: dumping truck; cranes; container, etc. Chapter XVIII, Robust Mechanisms, considered: bulldozer; wheeled loader; hydraulic excavator; scraper; grader; land roller, etc. Obviously, the question arises as to the meaning of the term Robust and why it does not combine a particular mechanism, even trucks. Most of the concepts, terms and definitions used in the translation differ from the concepts and terms adopted and established in Georgian technical terminology, and their inconsistency is obvious. Also, captions for illustrations are often grammatically and meaningfully incorrect and absurd. For example, according to the Georgian translation of the encyclopedia, the blade -"lapoti" in the bulldozer is a "metal concave device", and in the scraper – "bowl, ladle, hopper". In fact, the bulldozer is equipped with dozer blade, while the scraper is equipped with a bucket, and the term blade – "lapoti" is not found at all in Georgian technical terminology. For example, "hook – a piece of hard metal", as well as "gooseneck connection" and others. The fact that hook is not a piece of metal does not require any special education, as for the "gooseneck connection" – it is a complete curious thing. I would recommend translators of the above discussed sections of the encyclopedia to use the explanatory dictionary of “Hoist transport, road construction machines and equipment" published by us as well as the existing Georgian technical terminological dictionaries.

<p>The article is devoted to the role of the image-symbol of a bird in "Notes from the Dead House" by F.M. Dostoevsky — a tragic story of convicts in Omsk prison. The image of a bird is symbolic and mainly expresses the fragile dream of prisoners about freedom. The eagle, which is repeatedly found in the text, in particular in the chapter “Akulkin’s husband”, is especially significant in the aspect of freedom.</p>

Rapid development of electronic technologies at the beginning of this century resulted in intensive changes in urbarchitectonic formation of fa?ade planes and physical structures. Advent of LED lights and LED panels made possible that the physical structures in urban agglomerations worldwide, old or new, have opened a new chapter for strategic urbarchitectonic design and different cultural illumination diversity of houses in space. The user relationship towards activities in physical environment, exterior and interior has been changed, and new visual-esthetic living style has been established, a new and more dynamic form of social communication behavior towards the identity of a place and total evaluation of environment characteristics. A new orientation in ivisual and functional creation of urbarchitectonic forms was born, in redefining of a concept of culture of walls, culture of house facades and in general of facade planes, whose life is active not only during daytime by around the clock.

Dance is a traditional element of cultural-psychophysiological homeostasis. The chapter approves the role of dance in maintaining mental and bodily health. As dance is deeply cultural by its nature, it is worth extending its framework of healing from social-psychophysiological towards the cultural. The chapter explores the cultural, social, psychological, and bodily benefits and homeostatic functions of dance in an age of sedentary lifestyle. Sedentarism proved to be a silent killer responsible for increased cardiovascular, oncological morbidity and mortality; therefore, one should explore the lifestyle medical gains of dance along the whole life course. We explore the PNI-related and neurological aspects of endocrine functions of active muscle and its role in the prevention of chronic diseases and ageing. Dance also proved to be beneficial in mental health problems. We pay special attention to Hungarian folk dance revival, the so-called Táncház (Dance House) movement, and its practical potential in physical and psychological health protection, social skill development, gender socialization, and personal development.