Middle–Upper Jurassic marine gastropods from central Saudi Arabia

Ferrari, M., El-Hedeny, M., Zakhera, M., El-Sabbagh, A. & Al Farraj, S., May 2018. Middle?Upper Jurassic marine gastropods from central Saudi Arabia. Alcheringa.

A total of 68 gastropod specimens are reported from the Middle?Upper Jurassic sedimentary successions exposed at central Saudi Arabia. The studied material comes from the Tuwaiq Mountain and Hanifa formations at the Khashm al Qaddiyah, Dirab, Jabal al Abakkayn and Maáshabah sections. Thirteen species are identified, described and illustrated. Among them, a new Aporrhais species (A. sauditica sp. nov.) is introduced. In addition, two further possible new Pseudomelania species from the same strata are mentioned. Other members of the assemblage include Kosmomphalus? sp. aff. K. reticulatus Fischer, Bourguetia? sp. aff. B. saemanni (Oppel), Bourguetia? sp., Ampullospira sp., Globularia? sp. cf. G. bajociana Fischer, Purpuroidea sp. aff. P. glabra Morris and Lycett, Purpuroidea sp., Cossmannea sp. aff. C. desvoidyi (d’Orbigny), Cryptoplocus sp. aff. C. depressus (Voltz) and Actaeonina? sp. Stratigraphically, seven species of this gastropod assemblage were only reported from the Middle Jurassic, whereas the other six ones are extending from the Middle to the Upper Jurassic of the studied succession. As compared with their gastropod content, the Khashm al Qaddiyah represents the richest section (33 out of 68 specimens, 48.5%), whereas the Maáshabah section showed an impoverished gastropod assemblage (only three specimens, 4.4%). The species reported here show paleobiogeographical affinities with coeval gastropod assemblages from India, east Africa, Middle East (Israel, the Sinai of Egypt) and western Tethys. The identified species confirm three depositional settings: open shelf lagoon, shoal/fore-shoal and open marine environments. The lower degree of fragmentation, poor sorting and scarcity of abrasion indicate a parautochthonous faunal assemblage.

Mariel Ferrari [mferrari@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar] Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología (IPGP-CCT CONICET-CENPAT), Bvd. Brown 2915, U9120CD, Puerto Madryn?Chubut, Argentina; Magdy El-Hedeny* [mmelhedeny@gmail.com] Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21568, Egypt; Mohamed Zakhera? [zakhera40@yahoo.com] Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Aswan University, Aswan 81528, Egypt; Ahmed El-Sabbagh [ah.elsabbagh@gmail.com] Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21568, Egypt; Saleh Al Farraj [salfarraj@hotmail.com] College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 12371, Saudi Arabia. *Also affiliated with Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. ?Also affiliated with Vice Rectorate for Development and Quality, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.     

The Langkawi Global Geopark: local community’s perspectives on public education

The study reported in this paper represents one of the first attempts at exploring the perspectives of the local communities on the designation of Langkawi Island in Malaysia as a UNESCO Global Geopark. It is premised on the widely acknowledged assertion that the local communities constitute an important group of stakeholders in the planning and implementation of development activities. Hence, the communities living in the geopark areas in Langkawi are considered important stakeholders who play a crucial role in the development of heritage tourism in Langkawi Global Geopark. This paper examines their views on their appreciation of the geopark as heritage, the interpretation of their shared values, the benefits and opportunities afforded by the geopark, and the extent of their involvement in the implementation of geopark activities. The findings point to the need for more support for public education programmes, and awareness initiatives aimed not only at ensuring community engagement with the development of Langkawi Geopark but also at generating stewardship actions from the community.     

Pious Way to Politics: The Rise of Political Salafism in Post‐Mubarak Egypt

The Arab Spring has reshaped the Islamist landscape in the Middle East drastically. After decades of repression and exclusion, Islamist parties have taken power in Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco. However, the startling rise of Salafism (Salafiyya) remains the most visible feature of the new Islamist scene in the region. After decades of eschewing politics for theological and political reasons, Salafi movements and groups have rushed into electoral politics enthusiastically. They became keen to form political parties, contest elections, and vie for power. In Egypt, the Salafi parties fared well in the post‐revolution parliamentary elections and are a key player in drafting Egypt's new constitution. This article explores the rise of Salafism after Mubarak and examines its effects on the democratic transition in Egypt. It investigates the ideological and theological stance of Salafi movements and parties on politics and democracy in particular. The argument put forward is that the extraordinary political openness in Egypt after the revolution has pushed Salafis into everyday politics. Subsequently, Salafis have become more inclined to adopt a pragmatic and practical discourse. Based on field research, this article provides a thematic analysis of Egyptian Salafism and assesses its political future.     

Challenging a Terrorist Tag in the Media: Framing the Politics of Resistance and an Iranian Opposition Group

Scholars have shown that media framing has a powerful effect on citizen perception and policy debates. Research has provided less insight into the ability of marginalized actors to promote their preferred frames in the media in a dynamic political context. The efforts of an exiled Iranian opposition group to get its name removed from official terror lists in the United States, United Kingdom, and EU provides a valuable platform to examine this problem. Using content analysis, I explore how the group promoted its frames in the opinion sections of major world news publications over nine years (2003–2012). I then examine the extent to which journalists aligned to its frames, as opposed to rival official frames, over time in the larger arena of news. The results support research showing that by nurturing small opportunities, marginalized political actors can expand media capacity and influence, but these effects are mediated at least in part by critical or focusing events that make rival frames less salient. The study sheds light on the complex relationship between activists, the government, and the media. It has implications for the ability of marginalized political actors to get their frames into public discourse. It also has implications for terror tagging and media coverage of other controversial issues.     

The politics of area conservation in Cairo

The historic core of the Arab‐Islamic city has always played an integral role in the formation of the identity of the contemporary Arab city. It serves as the reference for the city’s character. This is especially so in Cairo, where historic quarters still act as the city’s most influential social and cultural source of inspiration. Today, many forces of neglect and deterioration have diminished this role. While attempts have been launched to confront this situation, they have focused mainly on restoring the historic city of Cairo, itself a World Heritage Site. This paper probes the actual reasons for the deterioration of the historic core of Cairo, as well as those that dominate the current efforts for revitalisation. In these processes it is the political dimension that is the most influential in the decision‐making affecting the proposed urban changes in historic Cairo.1 The present inquiry was supported by a workshop organised by the author to examine the attitude of the professionals representing different organisations involved in conservation in historic Cairo. This workshop was held on 12 and 13 September 2001 at the Italian Archaeological Centre in Cairo as part of the empirical work of the author’s PhD research.      

Yaḥyā Dawlatābādī’s Contribution to Persian Poetic Modernity

In 1912, Ya?yā Dawlatābādī composed two poems, the form of which diverged greatly from the canonical rules of tradition. Both poems were based on syllabic meters. Critics and historians of modern Persian literature have given these poems little consideration, and discussed them merely from the point of view of metrics. When compared to the great modernist endeavors in the poetry of the time, these pieces were judged severely, or altogether disavowed. This paper aims to show that, beyond mere metrical audacity, Ya?yā Dawlatābādī’s syllabic poems were in fact innovative. As the article argues, they were born out of the same quest for fresh poetic forms that induced contemporaneous modernists to create new, individualized poetic patterns.     

The Determinants of Political Cleavages in Jordan,Tunisia, and Yemen: An Analysis of Political Attitudes Structure in the Arab World

This article investigates the determinants of political cleavages composing the structure of political attitudes in Jordan, Tunisia, and Yemen following the Arab Spring. Further, it tests whether political cleavages carry predictive weight on ordinary citizens’ electoral choices in general elections. Using the Sixth Wave of the World Values Survey, discriminant analysis was conducted to generate the dimensionality, type, and structure of political attitudes in the three nations. Findings suggest that the structure of political attitudes in Jordan, Tunisia, and Yemen is multidimensional: the Islamic‐Secular division, a conflict along economic policy visions and an emerging divisive dimension concerning political reform. Evidence indicates that political cleavages do not possess significant predictive power in determining voters’ choice at elections booths. This research also points to the significance of social transformation processes such as modernization and globalization in causing a shift in values among ordinary citizens in the Arab World. This research argues that in countries where the effects of modernization and globalization are higher, a weakening of the Islamic‐Secular division is witnessed. This research is important since it paves the way for further empirical analysis on political ideology in the Middle East. It shatters conjectures concluding that Arab polities are only divided by a single hierarchical dimension: Islamic‐Secular. It contributes to comparative research on the dimensionality of political ideology by showing that the Arab World is similar to the industrialized world in the dimensionality, nature, and structuration of political ideology.     

The impact of mobile augmented reality in geography education: achievements,cognitive loads and views of university students

Augmented reality (AR) technology is commonly used in education. AR offers a combination of the virtual and real world; thus, it can help students in learning abstract and complex subjects. The purpose of the current study was to determine the impact of mobile AR technology on achievement, cognitive load levels and views of 95 first-year university students (40 in the experimental group and 55 in the control group) enrolled in a geography course in the social sciences education department of the education faculty of a university in Turkey. A sequential explanatory design, a mixed method type of research, was used. The data were collected using an achievement test, a cognitive load scale, and a semi-structured interview form. The results of the study showed that AR increases students’ achievement and decreases their cognitive load levels, and the students’ views about AR technology were positive. Consequently, it can be stated that mobile AR technology is a useful tool for teaching geography, especially geomorphology topics.