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Consider the nature and function of art and art historical scholarship in the present: Is there still a line—even fine or porous—securing the fragile autonomy of the arts and humanities from commodification in late capitalism? Can art still serve as a negative and critical mirror for reality under the seemingly complete commodification and technological mediation of social life? Is there any real need for art and art historical scholarship even to exist today? Can the arts and humanities serve an emancipatory social agenda, and, if so, how? What role might the humanist ideals once shared by liberals and communists play in the reformulation of art and scholarship today?

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is ranked as the third most prevalent and the second deadliest cancer worldwide. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the number of CRC cases increased over the past decades and will nearly double by 2030. The lack of clear MENA guidelines for the management of patients with CRC represents a step backwards in the fight against this burden. Therefore a panel of 24 MENA experts in the field of gastrointestinal oncology developed, using a Delphi process, the first consensus recommendations for the management of patients with advanced CRC. Forty-seven different statements were formulated in the areas of epidemiology, screening, biomarkers and treatment. These recommendations will guide, standardize and unify the management of this cancer in the MENA region.

DOI: 10.1590/2179-8966/2020/53002 Resumo Discutindo os conceitos de Benjamin de meios puros e violencia divina, este artigo levanta a questao de como podemos pensar em um dominio de politica revolucionaria fora e alem do direito – uma esfera de justica e de violencia nao legal. Para Benjamin, estava claro que havia algo de fundamentalmente “podre no direito” – seja este o direito da monarquia, da democracia ocidental ou de regimes autocraticos. A violencia inerente ao direito contradiz-se a si mesma, uma vez que a aplicacao do direito – por exemplo, pela policia – sempre borra a linha entre a violencia mantenedora e integradora do direito. Por outro lado, a maioria das tentativas de romper o direito e seus poderes de sustentacao conduz ao estabelecimento de um novo direito. Contra a ciclo “mitico” da violencia/poder (“ Gewalt ”) de instauracao e preservacao do direito, Benjamin busca uma violencia nao-violenta, pura, que possa interromper a aplicacao do direito a vida. Esse artigo argumenta que a leitura de Werner Hamacher do ensaio de Benjamin como aformativo oferece uma possivel estrutura para compreender a nocao paradoxal de Benjamin de “meios puros”. Palavras-chave: Abstract Discussing Benjamin’s concepts of pure means and divine violence, this article poses the question of how we can think of a realm of revolutionary politics outside and beyond of the law – a sphere of justice and non-legal violence. For Benjamin, it was clear that there was something fundamentally “rotten in the law” – be it the law of monarchy, western democracy or autocratic regimes. The violence inherent to the law contradicts itself since law enforcement – e.g. the police – always blurs the line between law-preserving and law-making violence. Conversely, most attempts to break the law and its supporting powers lead to the establishment of a new law. Against the “mythic” cycle of law-making and law-preserving violence/power (“ Gewalt ”) Benjamin searches for a nonviolent, pure violence that could interrupt the application of law to life. This article argues that Werner Hamacher’s reading of Benjamin’s essay as “afformative” provides a possible structure to understand Benjamin’s paradoxical notion of “pure means”. Keywords: Law; Pure Means; Walter Benjamin.

As Jordanians celebrate the 100th years (1921–2021) anniversary of the state of Jordan, a centenary of achievements and successes of those populations, which is equivalent to 0.13% of the total world inhabitants (Jordan Population, worldometers.info 2021), cancer burden in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a challenge, as well as a success. Despite several initiatives, Jordan does not have an endorsed National Cancer Control Strategic Plan (NCCP), which is one of the top primacies in the national cancer control issue in Jordan.Cancer care in Jordan is well established and attentive on the treatment section, with more effort needed on other elements of the cancer continuum. Jordan has a national cancer registry. However, it is not enough to collect complete, accurate, and timely cancer data.In Jordan, the government bears the cost of treating cancer patients. Cancer treatment is offered at no cost to all Jordanian citizens holding a national number through public hospitals of the MOH mainly in Al Basheer Hospital. The Royal Medical Services (military), university hospitals, and King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) treat the cancer patients with special arrangements of acquittal health exemption from the royal court or the health insurance administration to cover the cost of the treatment. A full spectrum of treatment is available in the private health sector too.The health care system in Jordan is one of the best reputable and trustworthy prominent health care systems in the MENA region, if not, it is globally well known. Wide-ranging oncology care is available in many public and private hospitals and health care facilities and clinics. Jordan will always be open to all its Arab fellows, at the same time open for new and up-to-date innovations, cooperation, and collaboration with cancer scholars.

BackgroundBurnout (BO) is a recognized challenge among the oncology workforce. It affects both genders with a higher frequency among women. This study examined the factors contributing to the development of burnout among female oncologists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).MethodsAn online cross-sectional survey was distributed to oncology professionals from different countries in the MENA region. The validated Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) of emotional exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DE), and Personal Achievement (PA) plus questions about demography/work-related factors and attitudes toward oncology were included. Data were analyzed to measure BO prevalence and related factors.ResultsBetween 10 February and 15 March 2020, 545 responses were submitted by female oncologists. The responses pre-dated the COVID-19 pandemic emergence in the region. BO prevalence was 71% among female professionals. Women aged 25% on administrative work daily. Nearly half of the respondents (49%) expressed a recurring thought of quitting oncology and 70% had no burnout support or education. Inability to deliver optimal care was reported as distressing for career development in 82%. Factors significantly influencing the BO risk were identified. Marital status, having children, academia and years in practice did not impact the risk of BO among female oncologists from MENA.ConclusionFemale oncologists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were found to have a high prevalence of BO. In this cohort, the majority of women oncology workers were young and in their early to mid-career stages. Burnout was linked to being younger, practicing in North African nations, having a heavy administrative load, and having persistent thoughts of quitting. Practicing a hobby and engaging in oncology communication, on the other hand, reduced the chance of BO. Burnout support and education, specifically for oncology women, is required.

Background: Doxorubicin is a widely used and effective chemotherapy, but the major limiting side effect is cardiomyopathy which in some patients leads to congestive heart failure. Genetic variants in TRPC6 have been associated with the development of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, suggesting that TRPC6 may be a therapeutic target for cardioprotection in cancer patients.Methods: Assessment of Trpc6 deficiency to prevent doxorubicin-induced cardiac damage and function was conducted in male and female B6.129 and Trpc6 knock-out mice. Mice were treated with doxorubicin intraperitoneally every other day for a total of 6 injections (4 mg/kg/dose, cumulative dose 24 mg/kg). Cardiac damage was measured in heart sections by quantification of vacuolation and fibrosis, and in heart tissue by gene expression of Tnni3 and Myh7. Cardiac function was determined by echocardiography.Results: When treated with doxorubicin, male Trpc6-deficient mice showed improvement in markers of cardiac damage with significantly reduced vacuolation, fibrosis and Myh7 expression and increased Tnni3 expression in the heart compared to wild-type controls. Similarly, male Trpc6-deficient mice treated with doxorubicin had improved LVEF, fractional shortening, cardiac output and stroke volume. Female mice were less susceptible to doxorubicin-induced cardiac damage and functional changes than males, but Trpc6-deficient females had improved vacuolation with doxorubicin treatment. Sex differences were observed in wild-type and Trpc6-deficient mice in body-weight and expression of Trpc1, Trpc3 and Rcan1 in response to doxorubicin.Conclusions: Trpc6 promotes cardiac damage following treatment with doxorubicin resulting in cardiomyopathy in male mice. Female mice are less susceptible to cardiotoxicity with more robust ability to modulate other Trpc channels and Rcan1 expression.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents serious challenges to cancer care because of the associated risks from the infection itself and the disruption of care delivery Therefore, many professional societies have published recommendations to help manage patients with cancer during the current pandemic The objective of our study is to assess the national responses of Middle East North Africa (MENA) countries in terms of publishing relevant guidelines and analyse various components of these guidelines Methods: A survey based on the preliminary review of the literature regarding cancer care adaptations has been developed and then completed by a group of oncologists from the following Arab countries affected by the pandemic: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen The survey inquired about COVID-19 cases, national recommendations regarding general measures of COVID-19 prevention and patient care in oncology as well as their implementation about cancer care adaptations during the pandemic Results: Analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic-related guidelines revealed at least 30 specific recommendations that we categorised into seven essential components All included countries had national guidelines except one country Estimated full compliances with all specific category recommendations ranged from 30% to 69% and partial compliance ranged from 23% to 61% Conclusion: There is a very good response and preparedness in the Arab Middle East and North Africa region surveyed However, there are inconsistencies in the various components of the guidelines across the region, which reflects the evolving status of the pandemic in each country as well as the lack of clear evidence-based guidelines for many of the issues in question There is a need for a clear framework on essential components that should be included in these guidelines to assure providing the best guidance to the oncology community Copyright: © the authors;licensee ecancermedicalscience This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons org/licenses/by/3 0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Radiation therapy (RT) for patients with cancer in Jordan began with a small individual effort and has now grown to be one of the most prominent treatment centers in the Middle East. Currently, there are 4 different centers that provide RT not only for the people of Jordan but also for citizens of other neighboring Arab countries. Because Jordan is a developing country, it still faces problems with the insufficient number of RT machines available and their supporting staff (physicists and technologists among others). In this article, we shed light on the history and current status of radiation oncology in Jordan and discuss the challenges we face.

As the proverb has it, ‘tradition is not to preserve the ashes but to pass on the flame’. Taking this image as a starting point, this paper is interested in non-conservative concepts of tradition and (dis)continuity. If the concept of tradition is normally associated with continuity, the concept of tradition poses the question of transmittability. Is there a continuous medium in which narrations, customs, rites or other material practices can be handed down from the past to the present? If the transmittability of tradition is not a given, a commodified object, but subject to historical change, the question of tradition and inheritance is inextricably linked to social and political struggles. The concept of tradition, however, has mostly been theorized by conservative thinkers. In this vein, traditional historical materialism viewed tradition as a counter-progressive retarding force. Walter Benjamin (1940), however, proposed a different concept of historical time and tradition. History is not based on a progressive flow of “homogeneous, empty time” but on disruptive constellations of the present and the past. The past is never fully gone; it can never be fully historicized. The medium in which the present is connected to all lost causes and struggles of those who literally and metaphorically lost their histories is called the “tradition of the oppressed.” Paradoxically, this medium is a discontinuum – its texture is woven out of struggles, empty-spots and disconnected elements which cannot be represented in one transmittable image or inscribed into one multifaceted yet coherent world-history. If the “tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living” (Marx), then the tradition of the oppressed will also haunt all attempts to repress it completely and erase its experience in the linear continuum of “victor’s history.” But how are we to pass on an oppressed tradition? How can the tradition of the oppressed be recalled, actualized and “worked through”?

Multidisciplinary management (MDM) of cancer patients provides better care and is recommended by all authorities and published guidelines. There is very little documentation of MDM practices in low and middle income countries. A survey of 338 practicing oncology specialists from various Arab countries was conducted at four major pan-Arab oncology conferences in the first half of 2010. While 72% of respon- dents reported having an MDM tumor board, only 49% reported that their tumor boards met on a weekly basis. Of those who do not have a tumor board, 57% attend a tumor board meeting at another hospital within their country. 60% of respondents attend tumor board meetings to seek group opinion and help in the management of their patients. 93% of physicians surveyed agreed that tumor boards should be mandatory. The vast majority of physicians agreed that in the absence of all specialties, "mini tumor boards" should be organized between available specialists at all hospitals that treat cancer patients. 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This article discusses Walter Benjamin’s essay on Surrealism (1929) and focuses on three key elements any anthropological-materialist concept of politics has to address: (1) a profane illumination of the capitalist everyday life, (2) the problem of political representation, and (3) the interdependency of body politics and the (im)possible community of political acting. This article is a contribution to the ongoing debate on ‘what is anthropological materialism’ after Benjamin.

This article discusses Walter Benjamin’s messianic thought. Far from being a theological concept proper or a secularized motif of Judeo-Christian religion, the messianic is a complex figure of thought addressing a dimension of profane life that is neither culture nor nature but a ‘weak power’ within history allowing for a messianic standstill of the self-totalizing and self-eternalizing progress of capitalist ‘real-history’. If the messianic is not about religion or political theology but concerns the profane order of the profane, how are we to conceive of it in a non-reductionist way? The underlying question of this article hence is: if the messianic is the theological name for something within the realm of the profane that is neither addressed by political philosophy nor life and social sciences, what is its relevance for a materialist understanding of history, historical time, and revolutionary politics?

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, cancer has many epidemiologic and clinical features that are different from those in the rest of the world. Additionally, the region has a relatively young population and large disparities in the availability of resources at diagnostic and treatment levels. A critical need exists for regional guidelines on cancer care, including those for lymphoid malignancies. A panel of lymphoma experts from MENA reviewed the 2009 version of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) on Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Hodgkin Lymphoma and suggested modifications for the region that were discussed with the United States NCCN Lymphoma Panels. This article presents the consensus recommendations. (JNCCN 2010;8[Suppl 3]:S29–S35)

Published data from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region indicate suboptimal quality of cancer care, while the World Health Organization predicts an increase in cancer cases in developing countries. Major advances in breast cancer management mandate the development of guidelines to improve the quality and efficacy of oncology practice in the MENA region. A Breast Cancer Regional Guidelines Committee was organized and activated, comprising experts from various regional cancer institutions. The multidisciplinary team included 12 medical oncologists, 3 radiation oncologists, 2 radiologists, 2 surgeons, and 1 pathologist. The committee members agreed on adapting the current NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) on Breast Cancer for use in the MENA region to achieve common practice standards for treating patients. The members suggested several modifications to the guidelines, especially those related to risk factor profiles. United States-based NCCN experts reviewed these recommendations before final approval. The MENA-NCCN Breast Cancer Guidelines modification process was the first initiative in the development of common practice guidelines in the region. This project may serve as a foundation for the development of evidence-based practice standards, and improve collaborative projects and initiatives.

Sul significato di questo breve frammento che Walter Benjamin presentò all’amico Adorno nei tardi anni Trenta ma che l’amico Scholem classificò come un prodotto dei primi anni Venti, hanno riflettuto legioni di critici. Adorno gli diede il titolo redazionale di Frammento teologico-politico, perché in quelle scarse due pagine Benjamin rifletteva sulla relazione tesa e paradossale tra piano teologico e piano politico, tra avvento del Messia e felicità dell’uomo, tra felicità e nichilismo. Le questioni che il breve testo solleva sono infatti innumerevoli e innumerevolmente declinate e declinabili; si pone i in tal modo come significativo testo-soglia tra il pensiero giovanile e quello più maturo del filosofo berlinese, tra i suoi inizi speculativi legati all’anarchismo e il periodo successivo segnato da una dimensione più apertamente militante. Si presenta qui una nuova traduzione ragionata del Frammento e soprattutto i risultati di un ciclo di incontri con giovani studiosi italiani e stranieri del pensiero di Benjamin che si sono confrontati con quel testo, cercando nuove domande e nuove risposte in esso; ripercorrendo così una sua attualità che trova sempre, oggi più che mai, l’ora della sua leggibilità.

Nella sua concezione della lingua dei nomi – riflesso, nel loro caratterizzarsi come idee, della parola creatrice di Dio – e delle parole, che hanno fi - nito per comunicare contenuti estrinseci e sono il fondamento dei concetti, Walter Benjamin mostra di essere in piena sintonia con Gershom Scholem e con la sua visione cabbalistica del formalismo del linguaggio della Torah, in cui sono fondamentali il suono, il valore numerico e la forma delle lettere, e non i contenuti e i significati del testo:1 «Non c’è un contenuto della lingua: come comunicazione la lingua comunica un essere spirituale, e cioè una comunicabilità pura e semplice»

Language is at the basis of Benjamin’s critique of knowledge in On Language as Such and on the Language of Man (1916) and the related fragments, in On the Program of the coming Philosophy (1917-1918), in Goethe’s Elective Affinities (1922), and in the Epistemo-Critical Preface to the Baroque German Drama (1925). According to Benjamin, communication is not the ground of language; the essence of language is the pure “form”, language is «a communicability per se». Benjamin’s theory of language is developed in the years 1916-1917 with his friend Gerhard (later Gershom) Scholem, at that time a student of mathematics and philosophy and a scholar of Judaism: they were especially influenced by a peculiar interpretation of the Genesis and of Kabbalah. When Benjamin met Scholem in 1915, he was attracted by Scholem's knowledge of mathematics and judaism, as well as by his anarchist and messianic ideas about politics and history. Benjamin and Scholem were interested in a “mathematical theory of truth”, connected with a concept of identity (A=A), which could explain the world process, in a messianic perspective: the Messia – so Scholem in his Tagebücher – is a mathematician and the “last, first philosopher of language”. According to Scholem, there is a connection between his “mathematical theory of truth” and the internal form of hebrew language: the pure spiritual form (not the empirical content and the meanings) is for both essential. Language is for both, Benjamin and Scholem, at the basis of a messianic structure of world and history, but they have different views of the role of mathematics in this structure.