The Matter which may be: Sectarian Dilemmas of Materiality in Bahrain

Abstract

This article discusses different approaches to materiality and material expressions of cultural identity in contemporary Bahrain, a small Arab Gulf state. Various Islamic traditions have different understandings of materiality and its ontological qualities. In the contemporary Gulf this difference is often understood as a sectarian difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, a division that has gained increasing political importance in recent years. In this article I discuss how these traditions view materiality in religion, in particular focusing on the role of material mediation for Shia Muslims, exemplified by the use and meaning of the turba prayer stone. With this as a point of departure I discuss two other forms of materiality—political graffiti and martyr images—that in the wake of the uprising in 2011 have also been imbued with sectarian meanings, but where this is less clear. I therefore argue that vernacular understandings of material culture show ambiguous identifications that challenge the clear dichotomies with which people—locally and analytically —often operate.     

Enhancing urban infrastructure investment planning practices for a changing climate.

Climate change raises many concerns for urban water management because of the effects on all aspects of the hydrological cycle. Urban water infrastructure has traditionally been designed using historical observations and assuming stationary climatic conditions. The capability of this infrastructure, whether for storm-water drainage, or water supply, may be over- or under-designed for future climatic conditions. In particular, changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events will have the most acute effect on storm-water drainage systems. Therefore, it is necessary to take future climatic conditions into consideration in engineering designs in order to enhance water infrastructure investment planning practices in a long time horizon. This paper provides the initial results of a study that is examining ways to enhance urban infrastructure investment planning practices against changes in hydrologic regimes for a changing climate. Design storms and intensity-duration-frequency curves that are used in the engineering design of storm-water drainage systems are developed under future climatic conditions by empirically adjusting the general circulation model output, and using the Gumbel distribution and the Chicago method. Simulations are then performed on an existing storm-water drainage system from NE Calgary to investigate the resiliency of the system under climate change.     

Ecophysiology and niche differentiation of Nitrospira-like bacteria, the key nitrite oxidizers in wastewater treatment plants.

Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria of the genus Nitrospira are key nitrifiers in wastewater treatment plants. Pure cultures of these organisms are unavailable, but cultivation-independent molecular methods make it possible to detect Nitrospira-like bacteria in environmental samples and to investigate their ecophysiology. Comprehensive screening of natural and engineered habitats and of public databases for 16S rRNA sequences of Nitrospira-like bacteria revealed a surprisingly high biodiversity in the genus Nitrospira, which comprises at least four phylogenetic sublineages. All Nitrospira-like bacteria detected in wastewater treatment plants belonged to the sublineages I and II. Subsequently, the population dynamics of different Nitrospira-like bacteria were monitored, by quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization with rRNA-targeted probes, confocal laser scanning microscopy and digital image analysis, during incubation of nitrifying activated sludge in media containing different nitrite concentrations. These experiments showed that Nitrospira-like bacteria, which were affiliated with the phylogenetic sublineages I or II of the genus Nitrospira, responded differently to nitrite concentration shifts. Previously unknown properties of Nitrospira-like bacteria were discovered in the course of an environmental genomics project. Implications of the obtained results for fundamental understanding of the microbial ecology of nitrite oxidizers as well as for future improvement of nutrient removal in wastewater treatment plants are discussed.     

Optimizing the tapping regime on a blast furnace operating at variable speed

The main factors that determine the uniformity with which smelting products are tapped from a blast furnace are the rate of accumulation of the products in the hearth and the tapping rate. The first parameter is in turn determined by the stability of the furnace’s operation and can vary significantly even over the course of 24 h. The second parameter is determined mainly by the condition of the iron notch, the maintenance it receives, any changes that occur in the diameter of the channel of the notch, and the quality of the materials used to form the notch. Recommendations are presented to optimize tapping of the smelting products.     

Reliable eye-diagram analysis of data links via device macromodels

This paper addresses the impact of device macromodels on the accuracy of signal integrity and performance predictions for critical digital interconnecting systems. It exploits nonlinear parametric models for both single-ended and differential devices, including the effects of power supply fluctuations and receiver bit detection. The analysis demonstrates that the use of well-designed macromodels dramatically speeds up the simulation as well it preserves timing accuracy even for long bit sequences.     

Catalytic epoxidation of olefins in the presence of a vanadyl porphyrin complex

It was found that vanadyl porphyrin complexes synthesized from petroleum metal porphyrin concentrates stimulated epoxidation during the olefin oxygenation process. The yields of obtained oxiranes turned out to be 38–75%, depending on the olefin structure. An epoxidation mechanism that suggests the formation of a protonated dioxygen adduct as an intermediate during oxygenation of olefins in the presence of vanadyl porphyrin complexes was proposed. An analogy is drawn between the epoxide formation reaction upon the catalytic oxygenation of olefins and the Prilezhaev reaction.     

Vacuum degassing of chromium-nickel-molybdenum steel at the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine

The Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine has conducted a study of the effect of technological factors on the hydrogen content of chromium-nickel-molybdenum steel after vacuum degassing. It was established that the most important factor is the hydrogen content of the steel before the degassing operation. The study also determined the effects of the circulation coefficient, the duration of the degassing operation, and the vacuum used in the treatment. __________ Translated from Metallurg, No. 7, pp. 68–69, July, 2006.     

Impact on the photothermal emission from single wall nanotubes by some alkali halide salts

We demonstrate that alkali-halide salts, particularly potassium bromide, can reduce the photothermal emission (PTE) from single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). PTE is a prominent spectral feature in Raman spectroscopy when a near infrared laser is used to analyze a dark colored sample. We subsequently show that trapping salts inside SWNT and coating SWNT with the salt has a more pronounced impact on not only reducing PTE, but also enhancing the intensity of the Raman spectral features. The effect, which we have called nanotube enhanced Raman spectroscopy (NERS), has differences and similarities to the widely studied surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).     

Java multimedia telecollaboration

Using Java-based tools in multimedia collaborative environments accessed over the Internet can increase an application's client base. Most operating systems support Java, and its "compile once-run everywhere" architecture is easy to maintain and update. The Java-based tools presented here let users share Internet resources, including resources originally designed for single use.     

Unresolved controversies concerning psychopathy: Implications for clinical and forensic decision making.

At some point in their careers, clinicians who work or consult in forensic and correctional settings will almost certainly encounter individuals who exhibit psychopathic personality features. Because of the widespread use of this disorder to inform legal and clinical decision making, psychologists should be exceedingly familiar with the relevant research literature on this topic before venturing into these settings. This article reviews the empirical bases of several clinically relevant claims and assertions regarding psychopathy and concludes that many areas of research are decidedly more equivocal in their findings than is commonly perceived. Although there is much to be gained by assessing psychopathy in various contexts, clinicians need to be cautious about drawing overzealous and empirically questionable conclusions about an important disorder that also has great potential for abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)