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To monitor adrenocortical activity in zoo-housed species, we propose using physiological and behavioral indicators that are non-invasive and practical to implement. We explore this model in the southern three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus; armadillo), which is a near-threatened species commonly found in zoos. We aimed to (1) deploy food patches to quantify foraging behavior (via giving-up densities, GUDs); (2) determine the effects of food patch and environmental modifications on individuals’ GUDs and adrenocortical activity (via fecal glucocorticoid metabolites, FGMs); and (3) examine the relationship between GUDs and FGMs. Three males and four females received food patches under varying experimental conditions at the Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL, USA). Fecal samples were collected before, during, and after foraging experiments to examine FGMs. Armadillos did not respond to patch modifications but did forage more when given increased cover. Individual mean FGMs and GUDs were highly variable, and individuals had consistent FGM and GUD ranks across experiments. FGMs and GUDs did not vary across the experiments nor did they relate to each other. Armadillos and species with a limited behavioral repertoire (i.e., constant movement) can benefit from this multi-trait model to determine the effect of environmental modifications on individuals and provide meaningful information about adrenocortical activity.

In 2015, the Resident Education Committee of the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology published the Long Curriculum in Resident Education to provide educators with a comprehensive document to be used in postgraduate medical education. The original curriculum was designed to meet the resident learning objectives for the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Board of Pediatrics, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and to provide a more intensive, broader learning experience. The curriculum was updated in 2018. This Committee Document is the third updated version (3.0) of the Long Curriculum in Resident Education.

Uncertainty over what the future holds can be a source of anxiety and worry, and people use a variety of coping strategies in response to this distress. However, limited research has examined whether and how interpersonal factors might influence how exactly people choose to cope with uncertainty. In the current studies, we explore how perceptions of a romantic partner’s strategy-specific support behaviors (e.g., support for bracing for the worst, support for maintaining optimism) relate to the coping strategies used by the person facing stressful uncertainty. Study 1 recruited doctoral students on the academic job market and found that those on the job market (support recipient) reported greater use of particular coping strategies to the extent that they perceived their partner (support provider) as supporting the use of that coping strategy. In Study 2, we built on those findings by recruiting law school graduates and their romantic partners as they awaited the law graduate’s bar exam result. We largely replicated the pattern of findings from Study 1 when looking at law graduates’ perceptions of their partner’s support attempts; however, partners’ reports of their support efforts were unassociated how law graduates coped, despite finding no mean-level differences between the two parties’ perceptions of support efforts. Further analyses revealed that, depending on the coping strategy, either partners’ own coping efforts or their perceptions of the law graduate’s coping efforts predicted the type of support they provided. We discuss implications of these findings for relationship functioning and interpersonal support.

With this his ninth novel, 1 Boualem Sansal takes on the extraordinary task of rewriting the Book of Genesis in and for the modern age. Abraham ou La cinquieme Alliance follows the meanderings of a...

Although Amar 404 specifically refers to the censorship of political activism on social media during the Ben Ali era, Louatah's title appears to run contrary to the spirit of Amar 404 His novel recounts the creation of a fictitious Internet application, '404', by a Franco-Algerian math prodigy, Allia, to prevent online content from going viral - an application that would have certainly impeded the popular uprisings in the early 2010s Given these socio-political consequences of Allia's application, readers are not surprised when Kader later uses 404 and his 5G network, Wilaya, to create a national counter-history [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Journal of North African Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )

David Kunzle, Cham: The Best Comic Strips and Graphic Novelettes, 1839–1862 (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2019). 566 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4968-1618-4 ($90)Tatiana Prorokova and Nimrod Tal, eds, Cultures of War in Graphic Novels: Violence, Trauma, and Memory (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018). 237 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8135-9095-0 ($29.95)Stephen E. Tabachnick, ed., The Cambridge Companion to The Graphic Novel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). 244 pp. ISBN: 978-1-107-51971-8 (£21.99)Louie Dean Valencia-García, Antiauthoritarian Youth Culture in Francoist Spain: Clashing with Fascism (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018). 248 pp. ISBN: 978-1-350-03847-9 ($114)

Maissa Bey’s latest novel, Nulle autre voix, finds resonance in the era of #MeToo. Originally founded in 2006 by black civil rights activist Tarana Burke, the MeToo movement (sans hashtag) went vir...

After Alger, le cri (Editions Barzakh, 2013), Samir Toumi revisits Algeria’s national metanarrative in his latest novel, L’effacement, in which a strange ailment plagues the unnamed narrator. One y...

Gynecology in the Time of CoronavirusJennifer O. Howell3009 Old Clinic BuildingCampus Box 7570Chapel Hill, NC 27599919-966-5280 (p)johowell@med.unc.eduHealthcare delivery has undergone a rapid transformation as we grapple with reality in the time of the novel coronavirus. I daresay, regardless of specialty, we are all adapting new models to care for our patients, mitigate contagion, and preserve resources. Every day we structure a measured response to the number of new cases, the amount of personal protective equipment on hand, as well as the projections of lost revenue. The response of modern medicine to this pandemic is astounding. The sheer volume of e-mail memoranda, power point presentations, web-based tools, and other electronic weapons amassed against this disease cannot be underestimated. Indeed, we have a duty to treat. Can we fulfill this duty as obstetrician/gynecologists in present times without further endangering our patients, or depleting the healthcare workforce?To answer this question, it may be useful to reflect on the practice of our vocation during past pandemics. In the 14thcentury, the Black Plague caused by the bacillus Yersinia Pestiskilled twenty million people in Europe. Those who cared for the sick had only crude treatments such as bloodletting, burning incense, and bathing brows in rosewater or vinegar. Doctors commonly refused the care of patients, priests avoided burying the dead, and family members were forced to abandon their loved ones in desperation. The cause was unknown, but divine retribution was suspected. Thus, instead of advocating wearing facemasks in public, displays of self-flagellation were encouraged as protective.During the influenza pandemic of 1918, fifty million people perished worldwide. While we then understood the concepts of antisepsis and microbiology, we had little but ourselves to offer. There were still no diagnostic tests, no antibiotics, no effective vaccines, nor mechanical ventilators. There was basic ‘PPE’ to don while administering aspirin, epinephrine, and oxygen by face mask. Fortunately, the healthcare ethical code during the 1918 pandemic was robust. Patient welfare came first, even in the face of a serious risk to physician health. Public health measures such as mass closures, quarantines, and masks were in effect. There is documentation of doctors, hospitals, and morgues being overwhelmed in certain ‘hot spots,’ but there are no stories of the medical establishment closing shop. This was still the age when doctors came to your house – and by all accounts, they continued to do this work.In our work as OBGYNs, we treat many hidden conditions which require relatively invasive exams to properly assess and diagnose. Surely, there must be something in our technologic armamentarium that will allow us to persevere in the digital pandemic age. While I may not know what it was like to be healer during the Black Plague, or a doctorduring the “Spanish” flu, I am learning quickly how to be ahealth care provider during COVID-19. I introduce to you a new framework that will be adopted in the OBGYN department at our institution. I welcome all to adapt as you see fit in your local facilities. We simply must marry safety and duty. And while naturally money is a secondary concern, we simply must keep our fiscal heads above water. Our patients depend on us.______________________________________________________________________________VIRTUAL Gynecologic visitsDocument for workflow in the Ambulatory Environment.Approved by the Sub-committee of Ambulatory Operations, the Taskforce for Increasing Virtual Visits, and the Gynecology Working Group.As many of you have now heard the good news, reimbursements for “virtual” visits will be at the same rate as “in-person” appointments during COVID-19. Therefore, effective immediately please adopt this new 9-step protocol.Patients may now obtain a speculum for home use with a provider’s prescription. An updated e-tip sheet will be forthcoming on the durable goods pharmacies that are providing this service including the 10 easy steps you must follow for getting this equipment mailed to our patients.Must use only approved electronic platforms for these transactions given the sensitive patient information to be transmitted. Providers and nurses must watch an e-learning module entitled “Oh Yes We Can: Handling Sensitive Information 2.0 - Privacy Concerns, Questions, and the Law”Action item: It is expected you will watch the module in the next 24 hours!Schedulers will call the patient and inform them of their “virtual speculum tutorial.” This is a new visit type available on the last update of our EMR – called SPEC TUT, 20-minute slot. Write in notes section on the schedule tab – “patient agrees to home speculum teaching.”Patient instructed to sign up for ‘MyChart’ app and message provider directly when home equipment has arrived. We understand that many of our patients speak other languages and this may be difficult. Thanks for the incredible work you do. Kudos to our Personnel Support Managers for putting together this helpful resource entitled “My speculum has arrived” in 19 languages – click this hyperlinkmi especulo casero ha llegado to access.Nurses will then call the patient from a private location and perform a demonstration using the ‘MySpeculum’ app which can be downloaded in 5 easy steps. An e-tip sheet from your EEP (Embedded Electronic Medical Record Professional) will be forthcoming. Nurse will then write in Notes section: “patient successful” initials, date, timeOn the day of the video pelvic exam visit, there will be a light-up speculum icon on the schedule that will turn green when your patient is “checked in” for the visit. Click the wrench icon on the schedule bar to get this notification column to appear if you do not see it. E-tip sheet coming – stay tuned.Providers – Be on time for your visit, introduce yourself, and make sure you know your patient’s location. They must be in a state, province, county, district, and territory where your medical license is valid. This is changing rapidly so in order to protect you from litigation we ask you to go to this website to check on licensing reciprocity www.incredibleamountsofbureaucracy.com. In addition, you must ensure patient location is not a fast-food drive through before connecting the camera.After the patient has placed the speculum and positioned the camera correctly – be sure to use the verbiage: “I am all done looking now.” The patient will then know they can take the speculum out.As always, be sure to properly document and use this e-smart phrase which has all the billing embedded: .COVIDDIDVIRTUALPAP______________________________________________________________________________By now the astute reader has guessed that this ‘modest proposal1’ for virtual pelvic exams is not for implementation. Instead this perspective is offered as a wry critique of our increasingly technocratic response to the crisis. A response, which I believe, has drastically changed the standard of care in our field. We must recognize that we are delaying or divorcing needed care from the laying on of hands unencumbered by evidence that this will result in acceptable outcomes. When I think of something as ludicrous as a virtual gynecologic assessment, I am haunted by yet one other epidemic not yet mentioned.Whether justified or not, the mythology of the medical establishment’s early response to HIV is not flattering. Reports abound of medical professionals dodging the ‘duty to treat’ ethos. Physicians and nurses were assured transmission would be unlikely with a bloodborne pathogen. Yet, anxious perceptions kindled debate over the long-embraced professional code of self-sacrifice. Ultimately, our better selves prevailed. Medical societies worldwide issued guidance in the 1990’s reaffirming our obligation to care for contagious patients. And now we find ourselves in an ever more bureaucratic and entrepreneurial healthcare landscape. Just how will history view our retrenchment to care via computer screen for a virus spread by droplets? Surely, the spread between two masked individuals taking proper precautions during a medical visit must be quite low. Shall we stand by our commitment to care with a human (gloved) touch and a physical exam as the gold standard? Indeed, I stand ready to wipe my patient’s brow with rosewater and vinegar, however ineffectual.If perhaps you smiled as you recognized your institution in this satire’s looking glass, then I am satisfied. Presently, it may be that humor is the best medicine we have. Perhaps laughter will lower the viral transmission rate. I will wager it is at least as effective as self-flagellation, and better than bloodletting. I will end this reflection to return to my screen with a sense of urgency – there are workflows and memos to attend to. Afterall, leadership expects this protocol to be in place next week to achieve our triple aim: reduced exposure, maximum reimbursement, and operational efficiency in these unprecedented times. You are all heroes. Thank-you for all that you do. Stay safe!

Algerian writer Ryad Girod’s third novel, Les Yeux de Mansour, is a profound reflection on the contemporary Arab-Islamic world, in which modernity and religious fundamentalism are made to coexist. ...

At just nineteen years old, Faiza Guene published her first novel, Kiffe kiffe demain (Hachette Litteratures, 2004). With more than 400,000 copies sold, Guene's remarkable literary debut recounts w...

If the insistence on Vietnamese culinary practices in contemporary literatures of the Vietnamese diaspora establishes writers/artists such as Kim Thuy and Clement Baloup as members of the Viet Kieu community, these practices also serve an important narrative function. Food acts as a stimulus for memory, connecting past and present, host country and country of origin, migrant and transnational space. From this perspective, foodways provide spatiotemporal continuity while revealing the historical foundations of culture produced during the everyday interactions of cooking and eating. Yet unlike writers of the post-1.5 generation who engage with a more generic representation of Vietnamese cuisine, writers of the 1.5 generation like Kim Thuy distinguish among Vietnam's regional culinary traditions. The resulting narrative, of which Man (2013) is an example, recognizes and respects the diversity of Vietnamese identity that simultaneously resists and embraces cross-cultural contact and exchange. In light...

Le pays des autres is the first volume of Leila Slimani’s proposed fictional trilogy on Moroccan national history. Spanning nearly a decade and two continents, the novel follows Mathilde (French) a...

BACKGROUND The majority of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States are not meeting the recommended guidelines for regular physical activity. Behavior change techniques (eg, goal setting and action planning) that are framed within the principles of the social cognitive theory (self-efficacy and self-regulation) have the potential to enhance physical activity behavior. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to develop and test the usability of an electronic learning (e-learning) program for improving social cognitive factors related to physical activity behavior among people with SCI. METHODS The program was created through an iterative process of development and refinement, using a modification of a similar methodology used to develop evidence-informed guidelines in health promotion for people with disabilities (Guidelines, Recommendations, and Adaptations Including Disability; GRAIDs framework). The study included 4 phases: (1) initial product creation, (2) national survey, (3) expert review, and (4) usability testing. Usability testing included both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses. RESULTS The review of the program by an expert panel (n=5) and the results from a national survey (n=142) led to several refinements. Usability testing demonstrated that the program could be completed in a timely manner ( CONCLUSIONS This study incorporated an evidence-based framework for developing a brief 30-min e-learning program for increasing the physical activity behavior among people with SCI. The Exercise Strategies Through Optimized Relevant Interactive E-learning Storytelling (e-STORIES) program could be completed in a timely manner and was reported by participants as valuable and useful for enhancing intent-to-perform physical activity in individuals with SCI. The program has the potential to be applied in a variety of settings, but feasibility testing is required before implementing in a larger trial.

Background: People with physical disabilities (PWD) experience several unique challenges that prevent them from participating in onsite exercise programs. Although mobile apps can provide a ubiquitous channel for delivering convenient exercise services within the community, no exercise apps have been designed for people with disabilities who experience certain functional limitations. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the usability of a mobile exercise app in PWD. Methods: A sequential explanatory mixed-method design was used to holistically test usability in 4 core areas: effectiveness (ie, ease of use), efficiency (ie, operation speed), perceived satisfaction, and usefulness. Participants completed 7 face-to-face usability tasks and 1 structured interview. Equipment included a computer tablet that came preinstalled with the exercise app. The app included exercise videos that focused on several components of fitness: aerobic capacity, muscular strength, functional strength or balance, and range of motion. The app contained 3 different versions of the exercise program: (1) a program for people with the ability to use the upper and lower limbs, (2) a seated program for people with the ability to use only upper limbs, and (3) a program designed for people with hemiparesis. The app also included educational resources in the form of infographics aimed at addressing key social cognitive theory constructs included social support, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, and barriers or facilitators to exercising. Participant characteristics and quantitative usability data were descriptively reported. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: A total of 12 PWD tested the usability of the exercise app and completed 96% (69/72) of the usability tasks on the first attempt. Operation speed varied among users, which prompted the development team to make minor revisions to the app. Qualitative results demonstrated 3 overarching themes: facilitates exercise adoption, positive experiences of videos, and easy to learn. Participants noted that the app circumvented several barriers to exercise associated with leaving the home (eg, inclement weather conditions, exacerbations of health conditions or disability symptoms, difficulties with transportation, and social support). Conclusions: The mobile exercise app provided a simple platform that was effective, useful, and appreciated by PWD. Participants also perceived the app as easy to use and felt it was a valuable tool for assisting PWD to obtain regular exercise. Study findings also offered insight into the participants’ preferences for mobile exercise apps that can aid future research and development projects. Future exercise trials are needed to determine the true impact of mobile app technology on lifestyle physical activity in people with disabilities. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03024320; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03024320 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/75hNLgRFH).

The complexes [Ru(2,2′-dipicolylamine)(OH2)3](OTf)2 and [Ru(6,6′-bis(aminomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine)(OH2)2](OTf)2 can be prepared by reaction of 2,2′-dipicolylamine or 6,6′-bis(aminomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine with [RuIII(DMF)6](OTf)3 in aqueous medium. During the reaction an in situ reduction from a paramagnetic RuIII to a diamagnetic RuII-complexes occurs with one equivalent of DMF acting as the reducing agent for two ruthenium centres by its reaction with water and decomposition to dimethylammonium triflate and CO2 generating an additional equivalent of HOTf in the process. The complex solutions are active as catalysts for the hydrogenation of 2,5-hexanedione and 2,5-dimethylfuran to 2,5-hexanediol and 2,5-dimethyltetrahydrofuran with both complexes realizing very high yields (>95% combined yield of the two products with the selectivity determined as a function of added acid co-catalyst). The 2,2′-dipicolylamine complex is stable to 150 °C, while the 6,6′-bis(aminomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine complex is stable to 200 °C allowing the in situ hydrolysis of 2,5-dimethylfuran to the 2,5-hexanedione and thus direct conversion to the same products in up to 78% combined yield. The effects of co-solvents, acid co-catalysts and temperature on catalyst activity, decomposition and stability are explored.

Some estimates indicate that as many as 7000 people have been reported missing in Algeria since 1992. While Islamists are responsible for some of these abductions, the majority can be attributed to the Algerian state. Human rights organisations have since called for the investigation of ‘enforced disappearances’ or the denial of individual freedoms in the form of state-sanctioned abductions, detentions, or executions. To put pressure on a government favourable to national reconciliation and the concealment of collective trauma, women continue to gather in front of the capital's administrative offices with photos of their missing so as to demand the identification of bodies and the restitution of memory. Yet, to state officials, the recurrence of this symbolic, pacifist act constitutes a threat to the Algerian republic, as it attempts to re-emerge unscathed from the ashes of a civil war without confronting its tumultuous past. Aware of the dangers inherent to such policies, Omar D (photographer) an...

Readers will find in Malika Wagner’s latest novel an innovative perspective on what it means to be the ‘Other’ in contemporary French society. Unlike the central protagonists of the 1980s Beur nove...

We report that using a high/low p-type junction anode structure results in improved hole injection over a uniformly-doped p-anode layer in GaN pin junction diodes. Quasi-vertical diodes with a 20 nm thick, magnesium concentration of 2 × 1020 cm−3 layer on top of a 480 nm thick layer with a magnesium concentration of 1018 cm−3 show greatly increased forward current density – >100× higher – than those with a 500 nm thick uniformly 3 × 1019 cm−3 Mg-doped p-layer. Forward knee voltage and ideality factor are reduced by a factor of more than two, and reverse leakage current density is also reduced. Additionally, the specific differential series resistance is reduced significantly. With photoluminescence measurements, we found that these improvements are largely due to improved p-GaN material quality of the high/low junction sample with lower average Mg concentration.

BACKGROUND People with physical disabilities (PWD) experience several unique challenges that prevent them from participating in onsite exercise programs. Although mobile apps can provide a ubiquitous channel for delivering convenient exercise services within the community, no exercise apps have been designed for people with disabilities who experience certain functional limitations. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the usability of a mobile exercise app in PWD. METHODS A sequential explanatory mixed-method design was used to holistically test usability in 4 core areas: effectiveness (ie, ease of use), efficiency (ie, operation speed), perceived satisfaction, and usefulness. Participants completed 7 face-to-face usability tasks and 1 structured interview. Equipment included a computer tablet that came preinstalled with the exercise app. The app included exercise videos that focused on several components of fitness: aerobic capacity, muscular strength, functional strength or balance, and range of motion. The app contained 3 different versions of the exercise program: (1) a program for people with the ability to use the upper and lower limbs, (2) a seated program for people with the ability to use only upper limbs, and (3) a program designed for people with hemiparesis. The app also included educational resources in the form of infographics aimed at addressing key social cognitive theory constructs included social support, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, and barriers or facilitators to exercising. Participant characteristics and quantitative usability data were descriptively reported. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS A total of 12 PWD tested the usability of the exercise app and completed 96% (69/72) of the usability tasks on the first attempt. Operation speed varied among users, which prompted the development team to make minor revisions to the app. Qualitative results demonstrated 3 overarching themes: facilitates exercise adoption, positive experiences of videos, and easy to learn. Participants noted that the app circumvented several barriers to exercise associated with leaving the home (eg, inclement weather conditions, exacerbations of health conditions or disability symptoms, difficulties with transportation, and social support). CONCLUSIONS The mobile exercise app provided a simple platform that was effective, useful, and appreciated by PWD. Participants also perceived the app as easy to use and felt it was a valuable tool for assisting PWD to obtain regular exercise. Study findings also offered insight into the participants’ preferences for mobile exercise apps that can aid future research and development projects. Future exercise trials are needed to determine the true impact of mobile app technology on lifestyle physical activity in people with disabilities. CLINICALTRIAL Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03024320; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03024320 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/75hNLgRFH).

While universalism constitutes the foundation of French republicanism, public discourse and changes in immigration law have revealed that racial and/or ethnic discrimination and exclusion are necessary for cultural assimilation and for the protection of France's ‘universalist’ model. Studies have also shown that at least 40% of the French population is of foreign origin. So how has France justified the reconciliation of universalism and particularism (now referred to as communitarianism) in certain instances but not others? Christophe Dabitch's collaborative comic-book project, Immigrants (2010), aims to deconstruct the French republican narrative of universalism by using a popular medium that is both transcultural and transnational. An effective collage of visual styles, reproduced testimony and scholarship on immigration in France, Dabitch's album proposes writing an alternative French history of immigration and invites readers to question founding mythologies which have erected France as the country of...

As American colleges and universities move towards diversifying and internationalising curricula through the expansion of current course offerings, placing special emphasis on ‘non-Western’ regions...