A story about the Daughter of Ka‘b from the Masnavi Ilahi-nameh by Farid ad-Din ‘Attar: the romance narrative within the mystical context

The article discusses the problem of author’s interpretation of conventional patterns of the romance “genre” in the Tale about daughter of Ka‘b from the Ilahinameh by Farid ad-Din ‘Attar. In particular, it deals with the so-called “standard situations” (e.g. falling in love without seeing the partner, exchange of love letters or poems, etc.) as well as key components of structure (dialogues, monologues, descriptive portraits of main heroes). The analysis is based on the comparison of canonic elements of romance narrative in the Tale about daughter of Ka‘b with their analogies in the texts of the same “genre” of the earlier periods, including the “standard” romances by Nizami. This research reveals the influence of the ‘Uzri lyrical and narrative tradition with regard to the structure of plot of the “romance” and the ways of building up and composition of the features of the chief personage. On this background were analyzed the literary functions of the “inferior” personages, e.g. the nurse (or wet-nurse). The article is based on the translation and commentary of the Story about daughter of Ka‘b by Layla G. Lahuty.

3. What shapes epidemics?

‘What shapes epidemics’ investigates links between HIV/AIDS and certain biological, socioeconomic, and behavioural factors. The main biomedical drivers of HIV/AIDS (after contact with the virus) are the subtype of the viral strain, and the health status and genetic makeup of the exposed individual. Key behavioural factors are the age of sexual debut, sexual practices, number of partners, frequency of partner exchange, concurrency, and mixing patterns including intergenerational sex. People’s behaviour may determine their risk of infection, but behaviours result from the environment in which people live and operate, which is dependent on economics, politics, and culture. Despite the improving technical and biomedical responses, the real challenge is to reduce risk.

An anthropologically based model of the impact of asymptomatic cases on the spread of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) remains a serious burden in many high-sexual-activity, undertreated populations. Using empirical data from a 2009 study of GC burden among pastoralists in Kaokoveld, Namibia, we expand the standard gonorrhoea transmission model by using locally derived sexual contact data to explore transmission dynamics in a population with high rates of partner exchange and low treatment-seeking behaviour. We use the model to generate ball-park estimates for transmission probabilities and other parameter values for low-level (i.e. less than approx. 1200 copies/20 µl PCR reaction) asymptomatic infections, which account for 74% of all GC infections found in Kaokoveld in 2009, and to describe the impact of asymptomatic, low-level infections on overall prevalence patterns. Our results suggest that GC transmission probabilities are higher than previously estimated, that untreated infections take longer to clear than previously estimated and that a high prevalence of low-level infections is partially due to larger numbers of untreated, asymptomatic infections. These results provide new insights into the natural history of GC and the challenge of syndromic management programmes for the eradication of endemic gonorrhoea.

DUET SONGS OF THE SIAMANG, HYLOBATES SYNDACTYLUS: II. TESTING THE PAIR-BONDING HYPOTHESIS DURING A PARTNER EXCHANGE

It has repeatedly been suggested for several duetting bird and primate species that duetting might act as a reinforcement of the pair bond. Until now, it has apparently not been demonstrated that the premises underlying the pair-bonding hypothesis are met by any duetting species. Siamangs (Hylobates syndactylus) are monogamous apes which produce long and complex duet songs. This study analyses the changes in duet structure in two pairs of siamangs during a forced partner exchange. The duet songs of the siamangs underwent many notable changes during partner exchange. Of 33 different variants of the great call sequence, 29% in one pair and 21% in the other were restricted to the first stage just after the partner exchange. Some of these changes were certainly due to individualistic traits of the new partner, and for some other changes, this possibility cannot be reliably excluded. At least two changes, however, can only be interpreted in terms of a learning effort by which one partner adapts its duetting behaviour to that of its new mate. The two newly formed pairs of this report appear to be the first documented cases to fulfil the requirements underlying Wickler's (1980) pair-bonding hypothesis: The animals under study were showing a stable song pattern with pair-specific traits. After the partner exchange, new pair-specific traits occurred, some of them obviously achieved through a partner-directed effort of one or both individual(s). Moreover, the pair-bonding hypothesis appears to be one of the few biological functions suggested so far which could explain a high degree of duet-complexity as adaptive. However, the loudness of the siamang song alone suggests that other functions are also involved. These are most probably related to territorial advertisement, pair bond advertisement and (possibly) mate attraction.

Meiosis in triploid Lolium. I. Synaptonemal complex formation and chromosome configurations at metaphase I in aneuploid autotriploid L. multiflorum

A spreading technique for synaptonemal complexes (SCs) was applied to pollen mother cells of two aneuploid genotypes of autotriploid Lolium multiflorum (2n = 3x + 1 = 22). In the earliest nuclei analyzed the axial elements are in six groups of 3 and one group of 4. Most groups have formed multivalents with from one to five pairing partner exchanges, but there are also groups that have formed bivalents and univalents. Some axial elements have formed triple associations, in one case for the length of the trivalent. Unsynapsed axial elements remain aligned with their homologous SCs into pachytene, but this alignment is abolished as these axes pair heterologously among themselves until the entire axial element complement is synapsed. At metaphase I most chromosomes are associated as trivalents and quadrivalents.Key words: Lolium, triploid, pairing partner exchange, chiasma, multivalent.

Pachytene pairing and metaphase I configurations in a tetraploid somatic Lycopersicon esculentum × L. peruvianum hybrid

In the tetraploid somatic hybrid between the diploid Lycopersicon species L. esculentum (tomato) and L. peruvianum, synaptonemal complexes formed quadrivalents in 73 of the 120 sets of four chromosomes (60.8%) in 10 cells studied in detail at pachytene. Of these, 43 had one pairing partner exchange, 22 had two, and 8 had three, very close to a Poisson distribution. The points of pairing partner exchange were concentrated at the middle of the two arms. The frequency per arm corresponded with physical arm length. There was a sharp drop around the centromere, and pericentric heterochromatin had a slightly lower probability of being involved in pairing partner exchange than euchromatin. The chromosomes align before pairing and there are several points of pairing initiation, with concentrations at or near the ends and the centromere. From zygotene to late pachytene the quadrivalent frequency decreased considerably. At late pachytene it was lower than expected with the observed high frequency of pairing partner exchange. Pairing affinity between species was only slightly lower than affinity within species, in spite of considerable genetic differentiation. The frequency of recombination nodules increased from early to late zygotene and then decreased strongly to full pachytene. There is a highly significant negative correlation between percent pairing and SC length. At metaphase I the frequency of quadrivalents was 0.444, and branched quadrivalents were rare, probably caused by interference and restriction of chiasma formation to distal euchromatin. Metaphase I quadrivalent frequency is a relatively good indication of pairing affinity in this material.Key words: Lycopersicon, tetraploid hybrid, synaptonemal complex, pairing partner exchange, diakinesis/metaphase I.