Back to the future : the Arab uprisings and state (re)formation in the Arab world

This article contributes to debates that aim to go beyond the “democratization” and “post-democratization” paradigms to understand change and continuity in Arab politics. In tune with calls to focus on the actualities of political dynamics, the article shows that the literatures on State Formation and Contentious Politics provide useful theoretical tools to understand change/continuity in Arab politics. It does so by examining the impact of the latest Arab uprisings on state formation trajectories in Iraq and Syria. The uprisings have aggravated a process of regime erosion – which originated in post-colonial state-building attempts – by mobilizing sectarian and ethnic identities and exposing the counties to geo-political rivalries and intervention, giving rise to trans-border movements, such as ISIS. The resulting state fragmentation has obstructed democratic transition in Syria and constrained its consolidation in Iraq.PostprintPeer reviewe

LE DAMIER COLONIAL DE BISKRA OU L’HISTOIRE DE LA MARGINALISATION D’UN CENTRE VILLE

L'apparition des espaces marginalisés au niveau de la ville ne se limite pas à certaines zones géographiquementdéfavorisées et/ou de création relativement récente (les grands ensembles, la banlieue, les nouveaux quartiers…), mais elle concerne aussi des espaces historiquement prestigieux : les centres historiques. Ces derniers dontla centralité est souvent multiples: urbaine, historique, sociale, culturelle, identitaire et économique, sont parfoisaussi des territoires urbains qui ont subi, à travers leur évolution, des changements sociaux et économiques telsqu’ils ne sont plus aptes à subvenir aux besoins nouveaux. Notre intervention s'intéresse à ces territoires souventlaissés pour compte et tente de reconnaître les différentes formes de leur marginalité. Il s'agira, notamment,d’identifier les causes qui ont été à la source du déclin de ses entités urbaines et qui ont engendré une situationambiguë, quant à leur appropriation par leurs utilisateurs, se manifestant par des phénomènes socioculturelsgraves (paupérisation, insécurité, qualité de la vie en deçà des ambitions des populations, exclusion, perted’identité…).Notre intervention se basera sur une étude de cas : le damier colonial de Biskra. Cet intérêt pour le centrecolonial répond aux objectifs d'un projet de recherche en cours qui tente de définir les outils permettant de sauverce qui reste de cette ville coloniale en la considérant comme patrimoine locale. la situation de ce centrehistorique est, en effet, assez problématique: territoire exclu des circuits principaux des échanges et des activités,soumis parfois à la destruction de son patrimoine, défiguré et bazardisé, souffrant cruellement d'un manqued'animation, subissant un dépeuplement massif. Ce sont là des constatations générales, mais néanmoins réellesqui attestent d'une marginalisation assez avancée de cette entité urbaine et que l'on se propose de présenter etd'analyser dans le cadre de ce travail

Performing the Egyptian revolution : origins of collective restraint action in the Midan

This research was supported by a Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland grant.In January/February 2011, the world watched with admiration the Egyptian revolution that toppled President Housni Mubarak. The demonstration in Midan al-Tahrir (Liberation Square in central Cairo), which was the nucleus of the revolution, highlighted a largely spontaneous, civil and peaceful political performance. However, this performance was temporary, contradicting subsequent bloody conflicts in post-revolutionary Egypt. This article examines the socio-political origins of the Midan performance. It argues that the demonstrators exercised collective restraint, which was temporary but necessary, in order to topple Mubarak. Building on Norbert Elias’ civilising process theory and social movements literature, it is argued that the origins of this performance are found in a collective knowledge of regime strategy and narrative, Egyptian socio-political values and existing repertoires of contention. Drawing on primary sources and semi-structured interviews, the article contends that the demonstrators exercised collective restraint to reframe regime narrative and draw public support for the revolution.PostprintPeer reviewe

Humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 infection among liver transplant recipients

Objective Immunosuppressive agents are known to interfere with T and/or B lymphocytes, which are required to mount an adequate serologic response. Therefore, we aim to investigate the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in liver transplant (LT) recipients after COVID-19. Design Prospective multicentre case-control study, analysing antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein, spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and their neutralising activity in LT recipients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19-LT) compared with immunocompetent patients (COVID-19-immunocompetent) and LT recipients without COVID-19 symptoms (non-COVID-19-LT). Results Overall, 35 LT recipients were included in the COVID-19-LT cohort. 35 and 70 subjects fulfilling the matching criteria were assigned to the COVID-19-immunocompetent and non-COVID-19-LT cohorts, respectively. We showed that LT recipients, despite immunosuppression and less symptoms, mounted a detectable antinucleocapsid antibody titre in 80% of the cases, although significantly lower compared with the COVID-19-immunocompetent cohort (3.73 vs 7.36 index level, p<0.001). When analysing anti-S antibody response, no difference in positivity rate was found between the COVID-19-LT and COVID-19-immunocompetent cohorts (97.1% vs 100%, p=0.314). Functional antibody testing showed neutralising activity in 82.9% of LT recipients (vs 100% in COVID-19-immunocompetent cohort, p=0.024). Conclusions Our findings suggest that the humoral response of LT recipients is only slightly lower than expected, compared with COVID-19 immunocompetent controls. Testing for anti-S antibodies alone can lead to an overestimation of the neutralising ability in LT recipients. Altogether, routine antibody testing against separate SARS-CoV-2 antigens and functional testing show that the far majority of LT patients are capable of mounting an adequate antibody response with neutralising ability.Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Une Méthode de Parallelisation des Algorithmes de traitement d'Images

L'évolution rapide des techniques de traitements de l'information et des technologies de communication a permis la mise au point des systèmes multiprocesseurs. Pour la classe de machines MIMD, une formulation en tâches du problème est adéquate. Le découpage en tâches du traitement détermine le parallélisme potentiel que l'on peut atteindre; seulement une mise en œuvre du parallélisme est délicate car au niveau développement on ne dispose pas d'outils de parallélisation automatique des applications. Dans le présent travail nous proposons une méthode de parallélisation d'algorithmes séquentiels du traitement d'images. Les algorithmes parallèles de ce dernier se heurtent aux problèmes de la perte d'efficacité liée notamment à un accroissement des communications inter processeurs lorsque le nombre de processeurs augmente. L'approche utilise donc un graphe détaillé des dépendances entre les tâches de l'algorithme et détermine celles qui seront candidates à exécution simultanée. Mots- clés: Parallélisation/ Image/ Algorithme/ Graphe des Dépendances/ Tâche. Revue d'Information Scientifique & Technique Vol.9(2) 1999: 49-7

Dilemmas of late formation : international system and state survival in the Middle East : case studies : Saudi Arabia and Iraq

This thesis is a theory-proposing and theory-testing study that examines the conditions of state survival in the Middle East. In contrast to the predominant Political Culture and Political Economy approaches, which focus on domestic factors to account for state survival in the Middle East, this thesis suggests that, more than the individual characteristics of states themselves, state survival in that region is a function of the anarchic state system. This thesis examines states as a ‘process’ situating them in time and place. It shows that Middle Eastern states are at once in the early phases of state formation as well as late comers to the international state system. This ontological status contributes to the vulnerability of these states to systematic forces, which in turn shapes their internal development. A major dilemma facing the late-forming state is between regime survival and political incorporation. The first part of this thesis examines the literatures on the state, the Middle East state, and state survival. The second part proposes a Historical Structuralism model and then examines the ontology of the state in the Middle East, specifying the conditions and variables of state survival. The third part presents an empirical examination of the cases of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A generic multi agents system for multi criteria optimized allocation of applications on heterogeneous architectures

International audienc

Ft Infrared-spectra of Clcn Between 1200 and 5000 Cm(-1) and Global Rovibrational Analysis of the Main Isotopomers

High-resolution Fourier transform spectra of ClCN in the 1200-2140 and 4000-5000 cm(-1) spectral regions have been recorded to measure the line positions for the nu(1) + 2 nu(2), 2 nu(1), 4 nu(2), nu(3) - nu(2), 2 nu(3), and nu(2) + 2 nu(3) bands and some associated hot bands. A total of 13 bands have been observed for (ClCN)-Cl-35-C-12-N-14, and 6 for (ClCN)-Cl-37-C-12-N-14. We report also the analysis of 20 new bands identified in previously studied regions (8 for (ClCN)-Cl-35-C-12-N-14, 9 for (ClCN)-Cl-37-C-12-N-14, and 1 each for (ClCN)-Cl-35-C-12-N-15, (ClCN)-Cl-37-C-13-N-14, and (ClCN)-Cl-37-C-12-N-15). A global analysis has been applied to (ClCN)-Cl-35-C-12-N-14 and (ClCN)-Cl-37-C-12-N-14 on the basis of all data (microwave, radiofrequency, and infrared) available for energies in their electronic ground state. A statistical agreement is obtained with the whole set of data and a set of 80 molecular parameters have been determined for the two isotopomers. Effective constants and their uncertainties have been calculated up to the eighth order in J(J + 1) for vibrational levels up to more than 5000 cm(-1). (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc