Joseph Hill
University of Alberta, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- I am an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta with a research focus on Islam—especially Su... moreI am an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta with a research focus on Islam—especially Sufi (mystical) Islam—in contemporary West Africa and globally. I am also the editor in chief of the scholarly journal Islamic Africa.
Some of the themes my research addresses include the performance of religious authority, forms of knowledge and experience, gender, and religious expressive performance (such as chant and music). I am particularly interested in how new or adapted performances of religious practice and authority succeed or fail in establishing themselves as embodying a timeless tradition. For example, I have looked at how women have come to exercise religious authority in new ways, how Hip Hop/rap music has established itself for many believers as a legitimate form of religious expression, and why other performance genres have found less acceptance.
The Fayḍa Tijāniyya
Since 2001, my field research has primarily examined a global Islamic movement, the Fayḍah Tijāniyya, or the spiritual lineage of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (or Ñas) within the Tijani Sufi order. In his home country of Senegal, Shaykh Ibrāhīm is better known to his disciples as “Baay” (“Father” in the Wolof language of Senegal), and his followers often call themselves “Taalibe Baay” (“Disciples of Baay”).
Geographically, my focus has primarily been the Fayḍa Tijāniyya’s place of origin, Senegal. From there, I have branched out to conduct research among members of the movement in Mauritania, other West African countries, the United States, Egypt, and the United Kingdom.
Current Research Projects
Currently, my research and writing most actively focuses on two primary areas:
- Gender and Islamic authority, especially the little-known but growing phenomenon of women Islamic leaders. (See my recent book Wrapping Authority.)
- Religious performance (especially Sufi chant and Hip Hop) and social change
I am currently working on book projects in both areas.edit - Kamari Maxine Clarkeedit
Since around 2000, a growing number of women in Dakar, Senegal have come to act openly as spiritual leaders for both men and women. As urban youth turn to the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Sufi Islamic movement in search of direction and community,... more
Since around 2000, a growing number of women in Dakar, Senegal have come to act openly as spiritual leaders for both men and women. As urban youth turn to the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Sufi Islamic movement in search of direction and community, these women provide guidance in practicing Islam and cultivating mystical knowledge of God. While women Islamic leaders may appear radical in a context where women have rarely exercised Islamic authority, they have provoked surprisingly little controversy. Wrapping Authority tells these women’s stories and explores how they have developed ways of leading that feel natural to themselves and those around them.
Addressing the dominant perceptions of Islam as a conservative practise, with stringent regulations for women in particular, Joseph Hill reveals how women integrate values typically associated with pious Muslim women into their leadership. These female leaders present spiritual guidance as a form of nurturing motherhood; they turn acts of devotional cooking into a basis of religious authority and prestige; they connect shyness, concealing clothing, and other forms of feminine “self-wrapping” to exemplary piety, hidden knowledge, and charismatic mystique. Yet like Sufi mystical discourse, their self-presentations are profoundly ambiguous, insisting simultaneously on gender distinctions and on the transcendence of gender through mystical unity with God.
Addressing the dominant perceptions of Islam as a conservative practise, with stringent regulations for women in particular, Joseph Hill reveals how women integrate values typically associated with pious Muslim women into their leadership. These female leaders present spiritual guidance as a form of nurturing motherhood; they turn acts of devotional cooking into a basis of religious authority and prestige; they connect shyness, concealing clothing, and other forms of feminine “self-wrapping” to exemplary piety, hidden knowledge, and charismatic mystique. Yet like Sufi mystical discourse, their self-presentations are profoundly ambiguous, insisting simultaneously on gender distinctions and on the transcendence of gender through mystical unity with God.
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This conversation with Professor Louis Brenner is third in our series of interviews with foundational scholars in the field of Islamic Studies in Africa. Professor Brenner is Emeritus Professor of the History of Religion in Africa at the... more
This conversation with Professor Louis Brenner is third in our series of interviews with foundational scholars in the field of Islamic Studies in Africa. Professor Brenner is Emeritus Professor of the History of Religion in Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. After receiving his Ph.D. in African History from Columbia University in 1968, Professor Brenner was on the faculty of Boston University from 1967 to 1983. He then moved to SOAS, where he stayed until his retirement in 2002. A large part of Professor Brenner’s research has concerned the transmission and use of various forms of written and oral Islamic knowledge in West Africa within various cultural and historical contexts. Through combining in-depth study of Arabic historical and religious texts with ethnographic interviews and observation, his research has drawn particular attention to the importance of religious experience, thought, and practice in history. This video conversation took place over Skype on July 19, 2018.
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Midwife Rokhaya Thiam joined the Faydạ Tijā niyya Sufi Islamic movement in 2005 and soon became aware of her divine mission to found the Association Mame Astou Diankha. This organization provides free medical services to needy people and... more
Midwife Rokhaya Thiam joined the Faydạ Tijā niyya Sufi Islamic movement in 2005 and soon became aware of her divine mission to found the Association Mame Astou Diankha. This organization provides free medical services to needy people and organizes economic development projects for women. Rokhaya Thiam exemplifies a broader trend of ‘hybrid’ religious subjects in the Faydạ Tijāniyya movement who embed neoliberal notions such as ‘development’ and individual entrepreneurial initiative into mystical notions of selfhood, agency and moral order. Such charismatic disciples seem to approach discipleship in liberal fashion, pursuing an individualized mission in contrast to the classic Sufi disciple who passively follows instructions from the shaykh. However, these disciples defy reduction to individual, neoliberal subjectivity, subsuming their agency under a larger spiritual entity responsible for revealing and realizing their mission. This article asks whether such hybridities may be intrinsic to neoliberal subjecthood, which entails being shaped by neoliberal power and knowledge while domesticating them to other ends, rather than being exceptions that emerge on the still-enchanted edges of neoliberalism.
Research Interests: African Studies, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Women's Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 11 moreWest Africa, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Islamic Studies, Sufism, Islam, NGOs (Anthropology), Senegal, Sociocultural Anthropology, Religious Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and Anthropology of Religion
For many, any alliance between ‘Islam’ and ‘hip-hop’ is an unholy one, whether for bringing hip hop into Islam or vice versa. Yet many of Senegal’s prominent rappers today are committed adherents of the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Sufi (mystical... more
For many, any alliance between ‘Islam’ and ‘hip-hop’ is an unholy one, whether for bringing hip hop into Islam or vice versa. Yet many of Senegal’s prominent rappers today are committed adherents of the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Sufi (mystical Islamic) movement who rap about religious knowledge. Even the Fayḍa’s senior, classically trained authorities tend to accept hip hop as an effective tool to promulgate religious principles and recruit new disciples. The line between rapper and Islamic preacher has become blurred, and several rappers are even formally appointed spiritual guides with their own disciples. This article attributes the success of Sufi hip-hop to aesthetic resonances between global hip-hop culture and the Fayḍa’s self-imagination as an increasingly urban and global esoteric movement. I illustrate with the persona and art of Daddy Bibson, the first and most influential Fayḍa rapper to rap about Sufi knowledge.
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This article examines debates surrounding the proper performance of communal dhikr, or reciting God’s name, within the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Su community in Senegal. The controversial practice of yëngu (‘moving oneself’), or dancing and... more
This article examines debates surrounding the proper performance of communal dhikr, or reciting God’s name, within the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Su community in Senegal. The controversial practice of yëngu (‘moving oneself’), or dancing and drumming during dhikr, has become popular among some Fayḍa youth. Although some Fayḍa leaders condemn yëngu for allegedly mixing God’s sacred name with the profane, yëngu practitioners remain integral to the Fayḍa community. Academic discussions of controversies over Islamic practice have often framed disagreements in terms of competing interpretations of Islamic law (sharī‘a). This article examines several other methods of religious convincing that yëngu proponents invoke, such as mystical experiences and truths that transcend law. Perhaps more than any explicit argument, yëngu’s continuation within the community depends on ‘performative apologetics,’ or demonstrations of exemplary knowledge, piety, and devotion through which one incorporates a potentially controversial practice into one’s self-presentation as a pious Muslim.
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For many, Islamic hip-hop is a contradiction. Yet many prominent rappers in Senegal have joined the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Sufi movement and communicate religious messages through their music. Rappers have contributed significantly to the... more
For many, Islamic hip-hop is a contradiction. Yet many prominent rappers in Senegal have joined the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Sufi movement and communicate religious messages through their music. Rappers have contributed significantly to the Fayḍa's rising popularity among Dakar's youth, popularizing the Fayḍa's esoteric teachings through their lyrics. Although many Muslims reject hip-hop as un-Islamic, the mainstream of Fayḍa adherents and its learned leaders have embraced rappers as legitimate spokespeople for the movement. Scholars discussing change and debate in Islam have often emphasized discursive argumentation that refers to foundational texts, or “sharīᶜa reasoning.” This article examines four other modes of religious reasoning and demonstration that Fayḍa rappers use in addition to sharīᶜa reasoning to present themselves as legitimate representatives of Islam: (1) truths that transcend texts and discursive reasoning; (2) the greater good, which may apparently contravene some prescription; (3) divine inspiration and sanction, for example through dreams and mystical experiences that reveal a rapper's mission and message; (4) and “performative apologetics,” or a demonstration of exemplary piety and knowledge such that a potentially controversial practice can be reconciled with one's religious persona. The article focuses particularly on the case of the rapper Tarek Barham. As productive as Talal Asad's widely accepted conceptualization of Islam as a “discursive tradition“ has been, this article proposes understanding Islamic truth, authority, and experience as founded not just in discourse—especially in reference to foundational texts—but in multiple complementary principles of knowing and demonstrating.
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Gendered metaphors of begetting, birth, milk nursing, maternal nurturing, virility, filial piety, patrilineage, and marital relationships have been central to Sufi imaginations of religious knowledge and authority for over a millennium.... more
Gendered metaphors of begetting, birth, milk nursing, maternal nurturing, virility, filial piety, patrilineage, and marital relationships have been central to Sufi imaginations of religious knowledge and authority for over a millennium. Contemporary adherents of the Fayḍa Tijāniyya Sufi movement in Senegal continue to use these metaphors, picturing changing relations of religious authority in terms of familiar social realities. Although the most widely used metaphors are perhaps those of fatherhood for male leaders and motherhood for female leaders, a range of masculine and feminine metaphors can describe either men or women. The Fayḍa Tijāniyya’s founder, Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, is best known to disciples as “Baay” (“Father”). The paternal metaphor is largely reserved for Shaykh Ibrahim’s unique place in the movement. Yet women leaders overwhelmingly describe themselves in terms of maternal metaphors, presenting religious leadership as growing naturally out of their maternal qualities. At the same time, these women deconstruct gender distinctions using mystical discourses, sometimes presenting all Sufis as “men” and sometimes insisting that gender has no reality. Although some scholars have argued that Sufi gender metaphors value men and masculinity while devaluing women and femininity, this article shows that the effects of a metaphor must be sought in the performative context in which it is invoked. Ancient gender metaphors now serve to imagine new configurations of religious authority, including the growing number and influence of women Sufi leaders.
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Women and gender have very often been marginal or absent in the academic literature on Islam in West Africa. Where the literature has not itself marginalized or completely ignored women, it has often defined women as essentially marginal... more
Women and gender have very often been marginal or absent in the academic literature on Islam in West Africa. Where the literature has not itself marginalized or completely ignored women, it has often defined women as essentially marginal in relation to Islam. Contributors to this special issue of Islamic Africa seek not merely to bring more attention to Muslim women in West Africa but to examine the mutually constitutive relationships between Islamic authority and gendered discourses and practices. This introduction begins by reviewing the emergence of literature on women and gender in Muslim West Africa, pointing out some of the assumptions that have often limited this literature as well as recent attempts to remedy these assumptions. These include the assumption that women are categorically defined as marginal in relation to Islam; that men are to women as the public is to the private; and that “women” and “Islam” can be approached as monolithic objects of analysis. Then we outline several themes that we consider key to an en-gendered study of Islamic authority in West Africa. First, we propose performativity as an organizing concept for understanding how authority is exercised, recognized, reconfigured, and challenged in relation to gender and Islam. For instance, we ask how women present new leadership roles as “felicitous” in relation to gendered norms of piety. Second, we suggest reexamining Islamic knowledge, a key component of performances of Islamic authority, moving beyond binaries such as “scriptural” and “oral” knowledge and examining forms and practices of Islamic knowledge that have often remained hidden from academic studies. Finally, we outline some of the particular ways in which contributions to this issue seek to en-gender the study of Islamic authority. Ultimately, although the contributors to this issue look most specifically at women, our aim is to move toward making gender a central dimension of any study of Islamic authority rather than a specialization of those interested particularly in women. Whether and how one exercises or relates to authority is always shaped by one’s gender, even if this fact is more obvious in the case of women than it is for men.
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In Sufi Islamic groups in West Africa, the position of muqaddam, one appointed as a spiritual guide, is usually held by men. Although Senegalese Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (1900-1975) appointed many Senegalese women as muqaddams throughout his... more
In Sufi Islamic groups in West Africa, the position of muqaddam, one appointed as a spiritual guide, is usually held by men. Although Senegalese Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (1900-1975) appointed many Senegalese women as muqaddams throughout his life, few of his disciples were aware of these appointments. Since the 1990s a growing number of ‘Taalibe Baay’ (disciples of Niasse) women have more openly led active communities of disciples. Several factors have made it possible for these women to act uncontroversially as recognized leaders, including (1) Baye Niasse’s popularization of mystical knowledge and authority, making them available to the general body of disciples, (2) the urbanization of the Taalibe Baay movement and (3) global and local processes raising Muslim women’s visibility as objects of discourse and as active religious and economic actors. While these women sometimes draw on global discourses of gender equality, to a much larger extent they base their religious authority on embodying and performing the interiority and submissiveness conventionally associated with pious women.
Research Interests: Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, West Africa, Urban Studies, and 5 moreWomen, Feminism, Islamic Studies, Islam, and Senegal
This paper shows how religious speeches by leaders of the Taalibe Baay, disciples of the Senegalese Sufi Shaykh Ibrahim Ñas, uphold Islamic knowledge and authority while accommodating competing yet intertwined knowledge regimes. French... more
This paper shows how religious speeches by leaders of the Taalibe Baay, disciples of the Senegalese Sufi Shaykh Ibrahim Ñas, uphold Islamic knowledge and authority while accommodating competing yet intertwined knowledge regimes. French and Arabic enter into Wolof religious discourse in multiple ways through contrasting educational methods, uses, and language ideologies. These three languages are combined and separated in numerous linguistic registers that religious speeches juxtapose: classical Arabic prologues and textual quotations, “deep Wolof” narratives largely excluding loan words, more conversational registers using some French terms, and so on. Although orators typically use French terms sparingly, they sometimes break this pattern and use them liberally, especially when critiquing Western hegemony and secular values. They sometimes incorporate French discourses of “liberty” and “progress” in passages designed to demonstrate Islam’s superiority in achieving these ideals. Orators tend to replace common French terms for morally positive concepts with Arabic terms, yet they usually reinsert the French as a gloss to facilitate comprehension. I discuss these utterances as cases of linguistic “hybridity” in which contrasting voices combine to serve an authorial purpose. These rhetorical patterns fit into a larger pattern of accommodating, contesting, and appropriating hegemonic languages, institutions, and ideas while upholding Islam’s unique authoritativeness.
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Maatamoulana, a predominantly Bedouin village on the edge of the Mauritanian Sahara, was founded as a center of Islamic education and Sufi practice in 1958 and now attracts an increasingly global stream of visitors and new residents.... more
Maatamoulana, a predominantly Bedouin village on the edge of the Mauritanian Sahara, was founded as a center of Islamic education and Sufi practice in 1958 and now attracts an increasingly global stream of visitors and new residents. Maatamoulana's emergence as a global Islamic village hinges on the creative mobilization of the village's position on the periphery of multiple, largely distinct cosmopolitan networks. I describe Maatamoulana as a community of hybrid cosmopolitan subjects who participate, among other things, in a global Sufi movement, the larger Islamic umma, and neoliberal development networks. I present two men who play key roles in the village's globalization. The village's shaykh, Al-Hajj ould Michry, mediates between groups of people who participate in the village in many different capacities. Moulaye ould Khouna directs a non-religious NGO, Terre Vivante, which effectively channels economic resources, disciples, and social contacts into the village. Internationally funded development projects enhance the village's role as an Islamic center while the village's particularities attract development partners. This cosmopolitan Islamic center thus refracts multiple cosmopolitan networks through its own projects.
Research Interests: Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, West Africa, Islamic Studies, Sufism, and 15 moreIslam, Contemporary Sufism, Senegal, Contemporary Islam, Anthropologie, Afrique de l'Ouest, Femmes Musulmanes, Femmes, Etudes Islamiques, Anthropologie Sociale Et Culturelle, Sénégal, Soufisme, Tijaniyya, Histoire des femmes et du genre, and Islam in Senegal
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The term “Sufism” refers to a broad range of practices and concepts that cannot be given a single definition. At its core, “Sufism” is a gloss of a tradition of spiritual practice called “taṣawwuf” in Arabic, which has most often entailed... more
The term “Sufism” refers to a broad range of practices and concepts that cannot be given a single definition. At its core, “Sufism” is a gloss of a tradition of spiritual practice called “taṣawwuf” in Arabic, which has most often entailed the transmission and recitation of litanies, both individually and collectively, through a chain of transmission, usually with the goal of cultivating spiritual experiences of the divine. Additionally, Sufi figures and concepts have come to have cultural significance beyond the circle of people formally initiated into taṣawwuf, such that the Sufi tradition can be understood as including a range of social practices and relationships. This article complicates a number of widespread misconceptions about Sufism. First, whereas many observers have depicted Sufism as marginal to mainstream Islam and have predicted the demise of Sufism as the world modernizes and becomes more educated, Sufism has for centuries been central to mainstream Islam, and it continues to thrive around the world among all social classes. Second, although some Sufis conform to the widespread picture of Sufis as moderate, apolitical, and pacifistic, the reality is far more complex. Throughout history, Sufis have had a wide range of political engagements, and some taṣawwuf practitioners have been behind some of the strictest and most influential Islamist reform movements, such as the Society of Muslim Brothers and Deobandi movement. This article also discusses some more recent changes in Sufi communities, including globalization and the growing number of female Sufi practitioners and leaders.
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“Taalibe Baay,” or Disciples of the Senegalese Shaykh ’Ibrāhīm (Baay) Ñas, form a transnational network throughout and beyond West Africa defined primarily by relations of religious apprenticeship and co-discipleship. Whereas several... more
“Taalibe Baay,” or Disciples of the Senegalese Shaykh ’Ibrāhīm (Baay) Ñas, form a transnational network throughout and beyond West Africa defined primarily by relations of religious apprenticeship and co-discipleship. Whereas several major Islamic adherences in Senegal arose as quasi-political intermediaries between state actors and the population during a crisis of moral authority, Baay Ñas’s followers emerged later and have remained somewhat more disengaged from national religio-political culture. Taalibe Baay have extended diffuse networks of religious authority and community across cultural and national boundaries through cultivating several fields of religious knowledge among disciples. They define themselves primarily by their pursuit of Islamic knowledge, especially their unique access to ecstatic, mystical knowledge of God.
Mystical education (tarbiyyah) aims to cultivate direct experience of the unity of all things in God, revealing the hidden truth that distinctions are illusory. Hidden (bāṭin) truths coexist with the apparent (ẓāhir) truths of textual education and everyday experience. A tendency to juxtapose two apparently contradictory truths through paradox pervades many Taalibe Baay’s daily speech. Paradoxes are not simply linguistic word games but are part of practical repertoires of negotiating multiple imperatives, interests, and points of view.
One particularly productive paradox is the simultaneously equalizing and hierarchizing nature of Taalibe Baay knowledge-authority. Mystical education distributes charismatic experience and knowledge among lay disciples, awakening them to the unity of all beings. Yet religious knowledge comes through a soveriegn node of authority—Baay Ñas—and depends on transmission and validation through authorized channels. Taalibe Baay imaginations and practices of community simultaneously emphasize the unity of common religious experience and the concentration of authority in Baay’s official representatives.
This ethnography examines the role of informal spaces of Islamic education in extending transnational networks of religious authority and community, challenging widespread assumptions about modernity and globalization. Situating epistemic orientations in learned practical repertoires, it undermines modernist teleologies of religious “rationalization” and “secularization,” showing how practitioners cultivate multiple simultaneous approaches to rationality. Disciples engage with and disengage from the secular through cultivating spaces of religious knowledge and authority. This project globalizes religious knowledge through cultivating embodied dispositions through religious apprenticeship.
Mystical education (tarbiyyah) aims to cultivate direct experience of the unity of all things in God, revealing the hidden truth that distinctions are illusory. Hidden (bāṭin) truths coexist with the apparent (ẓāhir) truths of textual education and everyday experience. A tendency to juxtapose two apparently contradictory truths through paradox pervades many Taalibe Baay’s daily speech. Paradoxes are not simply linguistic word games but are part of practical repertoires of negotiating multiple imperatives, interests, and points of view.
One particularly productive paradox is the simultaneously equalizing and hierarchizing nature of Taalibe Baay knowledge-authority. Mystical education distributes charismatic experience and knowledge among lay disciples, awakening them to the unity of all beings. Yet religious knowledge comes through a soveriegn node of authority—Baay Ñas—and depends on transmission and validation through authorized channels. Taalibe Baay imaginations and practices of community simultaneously emphasize the unity of common religious experience and the concentration of authority in Baay’s official representatives.
This ethnography examines the role of informal spaces of Islamic education in extending transnational networks of religious authority and community, challenging widespread assumptions about modernity and globalization. Situating epistemic orientations in learned practical repertoires, it undermines modernist teleologies of religious “rationalization” and “secularization,” showing how practitioners cultivate multiple simultaneous approaches to rationality. Disciples engage with and disengage from the secular through cultivating spaces of religious knowledge and authority. This project globalizes religious knowledge through cultivating embodied dispositions through religious apprenticeship.
There have been many discussions of Islamic schools in West Africa, from colonial accounts to more recent studies contrasting the epistemological and pedagogical orientations of classical or traditional and modern schools. Widely... more
There have been many discussions of Islamic schools in West Africa, from colonial accounts to more recent studies contrasting the epistemological and pedagogical orientations of classical or traditional and modern schools. Widely considered a social problem, itinerant Qur'anic students in West Africa have been the object of government interventions, NGO programs that provide them with social services, and popular discourses that disparage them as delinquents and potential terrorists. Yet before Hannah Hoechner's Quranic Schools in Northern Nigeria, no study looked in depth at the Qur'anic students themselves, known in Hausa as almajirai. Typically boys and young men from impoverished rural backgrounds, almajirai live in Qur'anic schools, where they subsist on begging and low‐paid labor far from their families.
Why do parents of almajirai choose these schools over free modern schools? Do these schools, which emphasize rote memorization, provide useful knowledge? Is there merit to claims that these schools breed delinquency and even Boko Haram terrorism? Based on ethnographic research in Kano city and a nearby village, Hoechner's nuanced account of everyday almajiri life models how a solid anthropological approach can complicate stereotypes and clarify current issues. She shows why, for many poor rural families, these schools may be the best (albeit not a perfect) option economically and socially.
Beyond its content and analysis, Hoechner's research is groundbreaking in its innovative methodologies. For example, she had almajirai record mock radio interviews with one another. More remarkably, she produced a docudrama written, directed, filmed, and acted by almajirai themselves. The award‐winning film, Duniya Juyi Juyi (How Life Goes), provided a forum in which Hoechner was able to discuss various issues with the students. The film is available on YouTube and should be watched alongside reading the book.
Why do parents of almajirai choose these schools over free modern schools? Do these schools, which emphasize rote memorization, provide useful knowledge? Is there merit to claims that these schools breed delinquency and even Boko Haram terrorism? Based on ethnographic research in Kano city and a nearby village, Hoechner's nuanced account of everyday almajiri life models how a solid anthropological approach can complicate stereotypes and clarify current issues. She shows why, for many poor rural families, these schools may be the best (albeit not a perfect) option economically and socially.
Beyond its content and analysis, Hoechner's research is groundbreaking in its innovative methodologies. For example, she had almajirai record mock radio interviews with one another. More remarkably, she produced a docudrama written, directed, filmed, and acted by almajirai themselves. The award‐winning film, Duniya Juyi Juyi (How Life Goes), provided a forum in which Hoechner was able to discuss various issues with the students. The film is available on YouTube and should be watched alongside reading the book.
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Anatomic uterine defects appear to predispose women to reproductive difficulties, including first- and second-trimester pregnancy losses, higher rates of preterm labor and birth, and abnormal fetal presentation. These anatomic... more
Anatomic uterine defects appear to predispose women to reproductive difficulties, including first- and second-trimester pregnancy losses, higher rates of preterm labor and birth, and abnormal fetal presentation. These anatomic abnormalities can be classified as congenital, including müllerian and diethylstilbestrol-related abnormalities, or acquired, such as intrauterine adhesions or leiomyomata. In women with three or more consecutive spontaneous abortions who underwent hysterosalpingography or hysteroscopic examination of their uteri, mullerian anomalies have been found in 8 to 10%. Women with mullerian anomalies may be predisposed to recurrent pregnancy loss because of inadequate vascularity to the developing embryo and placenta, reduced intraluminal volume, or cervical incompetence. The reproductive history of most women with a müllerian anomaly is poor, especially for women with a uterine septum, the most common mullerian anomaly. Recurrent pregnancy losses resulting from a uterine septum, bicornuate uterus, intrauterine adhesions, and fibroids are amenable to surgical correction. Women with müllerian anomaly and a history of second-trimester pregnancy losses may benefit from a prophylactic cervical cerclage.
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There are many arguments to support the hypothesis that there is a causal relationship between the presence of endometriosis and subfertility. These arguments are reviewed in this article and include: (1) an increased prevalence of... more
There are many arguments to support the hypothesis that there is a causal relationship between the presence of endometriosis and subfertility. These arguments are reviewed in this article and include: (1) an increased prevalence of endometriosis in subfertile women compared with women of proven fertility; (2) a reduced monthly fecundity rate (MFR) in baboons with mild to severe (spontaneous or induced) endometriosis compared with those with minimal endometriosis or a normal pelvis; (3) a trend toward a reduced MFR in infertile women with minimal to mild endometriosis compared with women with unexplained infertility; (4) a dose-effect relationship: a negative correlation between the r-AFS stage of endometriosis and the monthly fecundity rate and crude pregnancy rate; (5) a reduced monthly fecundity rate and cumulative pregnancy rate after donor sperm insemination in women with minimal-mild endometriosis compared with those with a normal pelvis; (6) a reduced MFR after husband sperm insemination in women with minimal to mild endometriosis compared with those with a normal pelvis; (7) a reduced implantation rate per embryo after IVF in women with moderate to severe endometriosis compared with women with a normal pelvis; and (8) an increased monthly fecundity rate and cumulative pregnancy rate after surgical removal of minimal to mild endometriosis.
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The present study characterized the products formed from the reaction of amino acids and in turn, proteins, with lignin resulting in cross-coupling. When added to reaction mixtures containing coniferyl alcohol, horseradish peroxidase and... more
The present study characterized the products formed from the reaction of amino acids and in turn, proteins, with lignin resulting in cross-coupling. When added to reaction mixtures containing coniferyl alcohol, horseradish peroxidase and H2O2, three amino acids (Cys, Tyr, and Thr) are able to form adducts. The low molecular weight products were analyzed by HPLC and from each reaction mixture, one product was isolated and analyzed by LC/MS. LC/MS results are consistent with bond formation between the polar side-chain of these amino acids with Cα. These results are consistent with the cross-coupling of Cys, Tyr and Thr through a quinone methide intermediate. In addition to the free amino acids, it was found that the cross-coupling of proteins with protolignin through Cys or Tyr residues. The findings provide a mechanism by which proteins and lignin can cross-couple in the plant cell wall.
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Research Interests: Adolescent, Humans, Child, Neuroradiology, Female, and 18 moreMale, Infant, Differential Diagnosis, Inflammatory disease, Clinical Sciences, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Computerized tomography, X ray Computed Tomography, Abscess, Neurosciences, Orbit, Cellulitis, Medical Treatment, Acute Disease, Child preschool, and Orbital diseases
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... immunosuppressive agents. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Mr. Lynn Lancaster for his technical assistance. REFERENCES Astaldi, G., Gurgio, GR, Krc, J., Genova, R., and Astaldi, AA, Jr. (1969). L-asparaginase and blasto-Hastings ...
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The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of cytokines on human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and its alpha- and beta-subunit release as well as protein synthesis in a trophoblast cell line. The human choriocarcinoma cell... more
The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of cytokines on human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and its alpha- and beta-subunit release as well as protein synthesis in a trophoblast cell line. The human choriocarcinoma cell line, Jar, was used as a trophoblast model. Jar cells were incubated for 24 h with varying concentrations (5 x 10(-4)-40 micrograms/ml) of the following cytokines: Il-1, Il-2, Il-3, Il-4, Il-5, Il-6, IFN-gamma, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, M-CSF and GM-CSF. Supernatants were assayed for hCG and its alpha- and beta-subunits by immunoradiometric methods. Cytotoxic effects were assessed by trypan blue staining. Protein synthesis was measured by [3H]leucine incorporation. The cytokines Il-1 and TNF-alpha significantly stimulated hCG release. The other cytokines had no significant effect on hCG production. Protein synthesis by the Jar cells was not significantly affected by either Il-1 or TNF-alpha. However, IFN-gamma (40 micrograms/ml) significantly suppressed protein synthesis by the Jar cells. Trophoblast viability in the presence of TNF-alpha (10 micrograms/ml) and IFN-gamma (40 micrograms/ml) was only 40% and 50%, respectively. These results suggest that cytokines may be important regulators of trophoblast function. Il-I appears to have a stimulatory effect on trophoblast hCG release, while TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma appear to have cytotoxic effects on trophoblast cells.
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The United States Food and Drug Administration-approved antibiotic doxycycline (DOX) inhibits matrix metalloproteases, which contribute to the development of cardiac hypertrophy (CH). We hypothesized that DOX might serve as a treatment... more
The United States Food and Drug Administration-approved antibiotic doxycycline (DOX) inhibits matrix metalloproteases, which contribute to the development of cardiac hypertrophy (CH). We hypothesized that DOX might serve as a treatment for CH. The efficacy of DOX was tested in two mouse models of CH: induced by the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (ISO) and induced by transverse aortic banding. DOX significantly attenuated CH in these models, causing a profound reduction of the hypertrophic phenotype and a lower heart/body weight ratio (p < 0.05, n >/= 6). As expected, ISO increased matrix metalloprotease (MMP) 2 and 9 activities, and administration of DOX reversed this effect. Transcriptional profiles of normal, ISO-, and ISO + DOX-treated mice were examined using microarrays, and the results were confirmed by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Genes (206) were differentially expressed between normal and ISO mice that were reversibly altered between ISO- and ISO + DOX-treated mice, indicating their potential role in CH development and DOX-induced improvement. These genes included those involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and fate, stress, and immune responses, cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix organization, and cardiac-specific signal transduction. The overall gene expression profile suggested that MMP2/9 inactivation was not the only mechanism whereby DOX exerts its beneficial effects. Western blot analysis identified potential signaling events associated with CH, including up-regulation of endothelial differentiation sphingolipid G-protein-coupled receptor 1 receptor and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, p38, and the transcription factor activating transcription factor-2, which were reduced after administration of DOX. These results suggest that DOX might be evaluated as a potential CH therapeutic and also provide potential signaling mechanisms to investigate in the context of CH phenotype development and regression.
Research Interests: Pharmacology, Cardiac Hypertrophy, Mice, Animals, Male, and 4 moreDoxycycline, Aorta, Isoproterenol, and Cardiomegaly
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The Working Group on Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, appointed by the Editor of the Journal of Electrocardiology, presents the alternative conceptual model for the ECG diagnosis of left ventricular... more
The Working Group on Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, appointed by the Editor of the Journal of Electrocardiology, presents the alternative conceptual model for the ECG diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). It is stressed that ECG is a record of electrical events, not of mechanical events and/ or anatomical characteristics. Considering the electrical characteristics of pathologically changed myocardium should lead to better understanding and improved clinical usefulness of the ECH in the clinical diagnosis of LVH.
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We assessed the outcome of pregnancies in women with uterine leiomyomas (fibroids) documented by sonography in the first trimester of pregnancy. We collected cases of women who had undergone first-trimester sonography and had uterine... more
We assessed the outcome of pregnancies in women with uterine leiomyomas (fibroids) documented by sonography in the first trimester of pregnancy. We collected cases of women who had undergone first-trimester sonography and had uterine fibroids and singleton pregnancies with documented fetal heartbeats. We compared pregnancy loss rates and modes of delivery in these cases to a maternal-age-matched and gestational-age-matched control group of women who had normal uteruses and first-trimester pregnancies with documented fetal heartbeats. Sonograms in patients with fibroids were reviewed to determine the number of fibroids, their sizes, and their locations. Within the group of patients with fibroids, the pregnancy loss rate was also compared based on the number of fibroids and fibroid size and location. Our study population consisted of 143 women with leiomyomas, and our control group comprised 715 patients with a normal uterus. Among patients with fibroids, 14.7% of pregnancies resulted from assisted conception; in the control group, 6.4% of pregnancies resulted from assisted conception. The rate of spontaneous pregnancy loss in women with fibroids was almost twice the rate in women with normal uteruses (14.0% versus 7.6%; p < 0.05), and the loss rate was higher in women with multiple fibroids than in women with a single leiomyoma (23.6% versus 8.0%, p < 0.05). The loss rate was not significantly associated with fibroid size or location. The rate of cesarean-section delivery was higher in patients with fibroids than in patients with normal uteruses (38% versus 28%, p < 0.05). Uterine fibroids are associated with an elevated risk of spontaneous pregnancy loss. The loss rate is higher in patients with multiple fibroids than with a single fibroid. The cesarean-section rate is also higher in patients with fibroids than in patients with a normal uterus.
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The effect of RU 486 [17 beta-hydroxy-11 beta-(4-dimethylamino-phenol)17 alpha-(prop-1-ynyl)estra- 4,9diene-3-one] on [3H]thymidine incorporation into Concanavalin-A-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and its influence on... more
The effect of RU 486 [17 beta-hydroxy-11 beta-(4-dimethylamino-phenol)17 alpha-(prop-1-ynyl)estra- 4,9diene-3-one] on [3H]thymidine incorporation into Concanavalin-A-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and its influence on the suppressive effects of cortisol and progesterone were investigated. Cortisol suppressed lymphocyte thymidine incorporation at 10(-5), 10(-6), and 10(-7) M (17.6%, 20%, and 38% of control, respectively; P less than 0.01). Cortisol-induced suppression was reversed when low concentrations of RU 486 (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) were added. RU 486 at 10(-5) M further suppressed lymphocyte thymidine incorporation when added to cultures with cortisol. Progesterone significantly inhibited lymphocyte thymidine incorporation at 10(-5) M (8.2% of control; P less than 0.01). No reversal of progesterone-induced suppression of thymidine incorporation was seen when RU 486 was added to cultures; rather, further suppression of thymidine incorporation was seen. RU 486 alone in culture at concentrations achieved therapeutically (10(-5) M) significantly inhibited thymidine incorporation (7.2% of control; P less than 0.01). These findings suggest that RU 486 may have dose-dependent mixed agonist/antagonist effects on cortisol-induced immunosuppression. The lack of an antagonist effect of RU 486 on progesterone suggests that progesterone's immunosuppressive effects may not be receptor mediated. Finally, our findings would suggest that some immunosuppression may be seen at currently used doses of RU 486.
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The physical character and amount of mucus secreted by the endocervix changes dramatically during the menstrual cycle to facilitate sperm migration at the time of midcycle ovulation. Mucins are highly glycosylated, high-molecular-weight... more
The physical character and amount of mucus secreted by the endocervix changes dramatically during the menstrual cycle to facilitate sperm migration at the time of midcycle ovulation. Mucins are highly glycosylated, high-molecular-weight proteins, which are the major structural components of the protective mucus gel covering all wet-surfaced epithelia, including that of the endocervix. We have previously demonstrated that the endocervical epithelium expresses messenger RNA (mRNA) of three of the large gel-forming mucins, designated MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC6, with mRNA of MUC5B predominating. Because mucin protein levels may be regulated posttranscriptionally, measurement of MUC5B protein levels with cycle are needed for correlation to mRNA levels. Measurement of specific mucin gene products within mucus secretions has been limited by availability of specific, well-characterized antibodies and by volume requirements of the isolation protocols for mucins, which include CsCl density centrifugation and fraction isolation. To measure MUC5B protein within the cervical mucus through the hormone cycle, we developed a polyclonal antibody specific to the mucin. The antibody, designated no. 799, is to a synthetic peptide mimicking a 19-amino-acid segment of an intercysteine-rich region within the D4 domain in the 3' region of the MUC5B protein. It recognizes native as well as denatured MUC5B on immunoblot, is preadsorbable with its peptide, and binds to apical secretory vesicles of epithelia expressing MUC5B. We used the MUC5B antibody along with a cervical mucin standard cervical mucin isolate in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the relative amount of MUC5B mucin in samples of human cervical mucus taken through the menstrual cycle. We demonstrate a peak of MUC5B mucin in human cervical mucus collected at midcycle, compared with mucus from early or late in the cycle. This peak in MUC5B content coincides with the change in mucus character that occurs at midcycle, suggesting that this large mucin species may be important to sperm transit to the uterus.
Research Interests: Physiology, Research Methodology, Reproduction, Biology, Antibodies, and 20 morePopulation, Humans, Measurement, Female, Clinical, Regression Analysis, Menstrual Cycle, Clinical Sciences, Developed Countries, Immune system, Saliva, Genitalia, Amino Acid Sequence, Luteinizing Hormone, Epitopes, Mucins, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Gene Expression Regulation, Molecular Sequence Data, and Urogenital System
Presented is a comprehensive program designed to isolate human cytokine genes and investigate their relative induction, and to analyze cytokine activities in cell culture, animal tumor models, and human clinical trials. Human cytokine... more
Presented is a comprehensive program designed to isolate human cytokine genes and investigate their relative induction, and to analyze cytokine activities in cell culture, animal tumor models, and human clinical trials. Human cytokine cDNAs have been isolated from a cDNA library made from normal human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) treated with Sendai virus and the relative induction of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), alpha and gamma interferons (IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma), and interleukin-1 beta IL-1 beta) genes has been analyzed. In the Sendai virus-induced PBL system, IL-1 beta mRNA was shown to be approximately twofold higher than TNF or IFN-alpha mRNA whereas IFN-gamma mRNA was 50-100-fold lower than TNF or IFN-alpha mRNA. The cytotoxic activity of TNF was analyzed on several cell lines and IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma were shown to potentiate TNF cytotoxicity about 2-200-fold depending on cell lines. The LD50 for recombinant TNF in BALB/c mice was determined to be 6 X 10(7) U/kg and the therapeutic dose of recombinant TNF in sarcoma 180 bearing BALB/c mice was 3 X 10(5) U/kg, indicating a wide therapetic index. Phase I clinical trials of recombinant TNF given I.V. indicated a tolerated dose of 150,000 U/kg with biphasic half-life (T-1/2) of 2 and 31 min following TNF injection. Phase II trials of TNF and trials of TNF combined with IFN-alpha are in progress. These studies indicate that cytokines such as TNF and IFN-alpha are subject to similar induction systems, potentiate each other's activities, and can be tolerated at specific doses for potential therapeutic use.
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Page 1. L-Asparaginase Therapy for Leukemia and Other Malignant Neoplasms Remission in Human Leukemia Joseph M. Hill, MD, Joseph Roberts, PhD, Ellen Loeb, MD, Amanullah Khan, MD, Ayten MacLellan, MD, and Robert W. Hill, MD ...
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The purpose of this study was to identify the white blood cell populations responsible for Th1 immunity to trophoblast as evidenced in our in vitro assays following trophoblast activation and the timing of this response. Peripheral blood... more
The purpose of this study was to identify the white blood cell populations responsible for Th1 immunity to trophoblast as evidenced in our in vitro assays following trophoblast activation and the timing of this response. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from 32 nonpregnant women with a history of at least three prior first trimester spontaneous abortions of unknown etiology except their PBMC secreted Th1 embryotoxic cytokines in response to trophoblast stimulation. White blood cell populations were separated from PBMC by magnetic immunobeads and cultured with and without a trophoblast antigen extract. Supernatants from these cultures were added to two cell mouse embryos and after four days of culture assessment of blastocyst development was made to determine the white blood cell population responsible for embryotoxicity. In separate experiments trophoblast-activated PBMC culture supernatants were prepared over seven time points and individual Th1 cytokines (IL-2, INF-gamma, TNF-alpha) were measured by ELISA to determine the timing of the response to trophoblast stimulation. The white blood cell (CD45) populations responsible for embryotoxicity in response to trophoblast were T cells (CD3) and NK (CD56) cells. Levels of IL-2 peaked in the first 24 h of culture followed by TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma levels which peaked at 96 h of culture. Our data demonstrated that the white blood cell populations responsible for embryotoxicity in our in vitro assays, were both T and NK cells. The kinetics of the cytokine response to trophoblast found in our study parallels the time course of a typical Th1 cytokine response. The profile of secreted cytokines support our hypothesis that trophoblast can produce Th1 immunity in some women with recurrent pregnancy loss that have embryotoxic effects in vitro.
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A randomized study comparing Crinone 8%∗ and intramuscular progesterone supplementation in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer cycles1 ∗Crinone 8%, Serono Laboratories, Inc., Randolph, Massachusetts. 1The opinions and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and are not intended to r...more
To compare the efficacy of Crinone 8% intravaginal progesterone gel vs. IM progesterone for luteal phase and early pregnancy support after IVF-ET. Randomized, open-label study. Academic medical center. Two hundred and one women undergoing... more
To compare the efficacy of Crinone 8% intravaginal progesterone gel vs. IM progesterone for luteal phase and early pregnancy support after IVF-ET. Randomized, open-label study. Academic medical center. Two hundred and one women undergoing IVF-ET. Women were randomized to supplementation with Crinone 8% (90 mg once daily) or IM progesterone (50 mg once daily) beginning the day after oocyte retrieval. Pregnancy, embryo implantation, and live birth rates. The women randomized to luteal phase supplementation with IM progesterone had significantly higher clinical pregnancy (48.5% vs. 30.4%; odds ratio [OR], 2.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21, 3.87), embryo implantation (24.1% vs. 17.5%; OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.08, 3.30), and live birth rates (39.4% vs. 24.5%; OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.10, 3.70) than women randomized to Crinone 8%. In women undergoing IVF-ET, once-a-day progesterone supplementation with Crinone 8%, beginning the day after oocyte retrieval, resulted in significantly lower embryo implantation, clinical pregnancy, and live birth rates compared with women supplemented with IM progesterone.
Research Interests: Nonparametric Statistics, Randomization, Comparative Study, Pregnancy, Progesterone, and 20 moreHumans, Fertility and Sterility, Female, Ovulation Induction, In Vitro Fertilization, Male, Embryo Transfer, Clinical Sciences, Gels, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Age Factors, Fertilization in Vitro, Department of Defense, Biological activity, Gestation, Embryos, Estradiol, United States Air Force, and Confidence Interval
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Transfer factor potentiates cellular immunity and induces interferon. It was because of these properties that transfer factor was tried in 17 patients with recurrent herpes simplex types 1 and 2. Transfer factor was administered in doses... more
Transfer factor potentiates cellular immunity and induces interferon. It was because of these properties that transfer factor was tried in 17 patients with recurrent herpes simplex types 1 and 2. Transfer factor was administered in doses ranging from 5 to 10 U/m2 i. m. The interval between injections varied from 1 week to 3 months. 16 patients could be evaluated clinically in whom the recurrence rate decreased from 10.7 +/- 6.1 to 2.1 +/- 2.5 (mean SD). The reduction was statistically significant. 8 patients were completely free of disease while the other 8 had reduced number of episodes during the period of observation, 7 patients had abnormal T cell function as reflected by the low number of T cells or low lymphocyte transformation. Statistically significant improvement in the T cell function was observed. Delayed hypersensitivity skin test reactions also improved significantly.