B. Reviews: general

AN INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM. By GERHARD ENDRESS. Translated by CAROLE HILLENBRAND. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1988. ix + 293pp. H/B £29.95, P/B £9.50.

A HISTORY OF ISLAMIC SOCIETIES. By IRA M. LAPIDUS. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 1002pp. £35.00.

THE GREAT POWERS AND THE MIDDLE EAST 1919–1939. Edited by URIEL DANN. (Collected Papers Series of the Dayan Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University.) New York and London, Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc., Africana Publishing Company, 1988. 434pp. $59.50 cloth.

THE RENTIER STATE. Edited by HAZEM BEBLAWI and GIACOMO LUCIANI. London, Croom Helm for Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome, 1987. 240pp.

DEVELOPMENT, ADMINISTRATION AND AID IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By GERD NONNEMAN. London and New York, Routledge, 1988. 203pp. Figures, tables. £25.00.

DOMESTIC POLITICS AND REGIONAL SECURITY: JORDAN, SYRIA AND ISRAEL. THE END OF AN ERA? By VALERIE YORKE. Aldershot, Brookfield ISA, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Gower. 1988. Published for the International Institute for Strategic Studies. 432pp. £35.00

THE BIRTH OF THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEE PROBLEM. By B. MORRIS. Cambridge, Cambridge U.P., 1988. 400pp. £30.00.

ETHNIZITÄT UND MACHTKONKURRENZ IN INTER‐ARABISCHEN BEZIEHUNGEN: DER SYRISCH‐IRAKISCHE KONFLIKT UNTER DEN BA'ATH‐REGIMEN. By EBERHARD KIENLE. Berlin, Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1988. 63pp.

THE SHATT‐AL‐ARAB BOUNDARY QUESTION: A LEGAL REAPPRAISAL. By KAIYIN HOMA KAIKOBAD. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1988. xix, 142pp. 10 maps and figures, table of legal cases. £25.00.

IRAN AND IRAQ AT WAR. By S. CHUBIN and C. TRIPP. London, I.B. Tauris, 1988. 328pp. £19.50.

THE ARAB GULF AND THE ARAB WORLD. Edited by BRIAN R. PRIDHAM. London, Croom Helm, 1988. xv, 302pp. £35.00.

THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL: RECORD AND ANALYSIS. By R.K. RAMAZANI. Charlottesville, University Press of Virginia, 1988. 256pp. $45.00.

SAUDI ARABIA IN THE OIL ERA—REGIME AND ELITES: CONFLICT AND COLLABORATION. By MORDECHAI ABIR. London, Croom Helm, 1988. xix, 247pp. £25.00.

THE IMAMATE TRADITION OF OMAN. By J.C. WILKINSON. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1987. xii, 415pp. £40.00.

MUSADDIQ, IRANIAN NATIONALISM AND OIL. Edited by JAMES A. BILL and ROGER LOUIS. Austin, University of Texas Press & London, Tauris, 1988. 358pp.

STATE, DEMOCRACY AND THE MILITARY: TURKEY IN THE 1980s. Edited by METIN HEPER and AHMET EVIN. Berlin and New York, Walter de Gruyter, 1988. 265pp.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE: THE ENLIGHTENED THINKERS AND AN ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE. By ALI SHARI'ATI. Edited and annotated by FARHANG RAJAEE; Foreword by JOHN L. ESPOSITO. Houston, Texas, Institute for Research and Islamic Studies, 1986. xix, 181pp. $25.95 (hardback), $11.95 (paperback).

THE QUR'AN IN ISLAM: ITS IMPACT AND INFLUENCE ON THE LIFE OF MUSLIMS. By ‘ALLAMAH SAYYID M.H. TABATABA'I. Translated by ASSADULLAH AD‐DHAAKIR YATE; Foreword by SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR. London and Blanco, Texas, Zahra Publications, 1987. 118pp. $14.95.

ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY: 1. FOUNDATIONS. Edited by SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR. (World Spirituality; an Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest, vol. 19.) London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987. xxix, 450pp. 35 monochrome illustrations. £39.50.

THE MANTLE OF THE PROPHET: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN IRAN. By ROY MOTTAHEDEH. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Peregrine Books, 1987. 418pp. £6.95.

EL PALACIO OMEYA DE AMMAN I. LA ARQUITECTURA. By ANTONIO ALMAGRO GORBEA. Madrid, Instituto Hispano‐Arabe de Cultura, 1983. 207pp., including an English and an Arabic summary (30pp., unnumbered), 63 plates, 52 figures, 39 loose‐leaf drawings.     

Eating out: The experience of eating in public for the “overweight” woman

This article focuses on the experience of eating in public for the “overweight” woman. It is concerned with the problems and anxieties associated with the prospect of eating in public for many “overweight” women. Public eating refers to eating in both formal and informal settings. Formal settings take the form of settings such as weddings and eating in restaurants, while informal settings include eating at work, with friends, and at home. Both are considered as they constitute “public eating” in that the women are not alone when they eat. The article is the result of ongoing research that involved correspondence and interviews with approximately 195 women who consider themselves to have “weight problems.”     

Camels and gnats: The malthusian fundamentalism insurgency

His research has included the use of census microdata to profile important but relatively unstudied sectors of the older population. He has served as a reviewer of research proposals funded by the National Institute on Aging; and he is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Gerontology, Research on Aging, Comprehensive Gerontology,and the Journal of Applied Gerontology.     

Validation of a 16-locus fluorescent multiplex system

STR multiplexes have been indispensable for the efficient genotyping of forensic samples. The PowerPlex 16 System contains the coreCODIS loci, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, CSF1PO, FGA, THOI, TPOX, vWA, the sex determinant locus, amelogenin, and two pentanucleotide STR loci, Penta D and Penta E. This multiplex satisfies the locus requirements for most national databases and is the most efficient currently available system due to its single PCR amplification. To provide the groundwork for judicial acceptance, including the publication of primer sequences, and to evaluate laboratory-to-laboratory variation, a developmental validation for casework on this commercially available system was performed in 24 laboratories and produced the following conclusions. Amplification was reliable on a variety of thermal cyclers and product could be analyzed on either an ABI PRISM 310 Genetic Analyzer or an ABI PRISM 377 DNA Sequencer. Genotyping using single source samples was consistent between 0.25 and 2 ng of input DNA template with a few laboratories obtaining complete genotypes at 0.0625 ng. However, heterozygote allele imbalance (<60% peak height balance) caused by stochastic effects was observed at a rate of 13% with 0.125 ng DNA and 22% at 0.0625 ng DNA. Mixture analyses were done using a total of 1 ng of DNA template. Most alleles were detected in mixtures of 4 to 1 and some minor alleles were detected in mixtures of 19 to 1. Optimum amplification cycle number was dependent on the sensitivity of the detection instrument used and could also be adjusted to accommodate larger amounts of DNA on solid supports such as FTA paper. Reaction conditions including volume, annealing temperature, and concentrations of primer, AmpliTaq Gold, and magnesium were shown to be optimal yet robust enough to withstand moderate variations without affecting genotype analysis. Environmental, matrix and standard source analyses revealed an ability to obtain complete genotypes in all sample types except those exposed to 80 degrees C for 12-48 days. Finally, comparison of genotype results from the PowerPlex 16 System with other commercially available systems on non-probative reference and forensic samples showed consistent results.     

Estimation of body exposure to explosion

An ordnance-disposal expert was killed while disposing of a cache of explosives. The likely position of the body was reconstructed by modeling the explosion as an omnidirectional emission of particles from a model of the explosion site and noting the distribution of particles on a model of a human. The applications and limitations of this method in reconstructing the events and correlation with the injuries noted at autopsy are discussed.     

Besprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Fiscal Illusion and Political Accountability: Theory and Evidence from Two Local Tax Regimes in Britain

Local tax reform in Britain in 1993 (reinstating a propertytax) may have reversed some intended fiscal illusion reducing,and ``accountability'' improving, features of the poll tax(itself a reform introduced in 1990 with the specific aim ofpromoting accountability). We formalize these features withina median voter model of the demand for local publicexpenditure that distinguishes between accountability andfiscal illusion effects. The model shows that a prioriaccountability effects on expenditures are ambiguous.Available data for England and Wales are used to test themodel. We find strong evidence of grant illusion (the flypapereffect), similar across tax regimes, with evidence of renterillusion and of less accountability under the property tax.The degree of local income inequality appears to affectexpenditure levels only with the property tax.     

Drug-related deaths among recently released prisoners in the Strathclyde Region of Scotland

Drug abuse and its consequences are everyday problems encountered globally, and Scotland is no exception. During a study of drug-related deaths in the Strathclyde region of Scotland it was noted that known drug users who had recently been released from prison were at high risk of dying from a drug overdose. The majority of deaths occurred within one week of the release date and polydrug use was prevalent. Morphine was the most frequently encountered drug and this was found in combination with benzodiazepines in a significant number of cases. This paper highlights the dangers of resuming drug consumption following a period of abstinence.