Shaykh Mâlʹaynîn et les composantes de lʹidentité musulmane dans lʹouest saharien (fin 19e-début 20e siècles)ʺ, in Pratiques et stratégies identitaires au Sahara, Rabat, Publications de lʹInstitut des Etudes Africaines, 2001, 153-190. Resumen de Ángela Hernández

El presente texto es un resumen del artículo de C. Hames en el que, a través de un análisis detallado de la personalidad de Chej Maelainin, nos muestra las formas de identidad musulmana presentes en la figura del Chej. En este análisis constata que algunas de estas identidades son una constante en el noroeste africano, el dirigente de la cofradía, el personaje santo y el santo guerrero, pero apunta una dimensión que no se ha tratado apenas, la del sabio musulmán. Una cuestión pendiente que es preciso descubrirThis text is a summary of the article by C. Hames in which, through a detailed analysis of the personality of Chej Maelainin, differents forms of Muslim identity related to the figure of Cheij are shown . This analysis concludes that some of these identities are constant in northwest part of Africa, the leader of the brotherhood, the holy figure and holy warrior, but points to a dimension that has not been studied, the wise Muslim. One outstanding question to be discovere

The Impact Of Audit Quality On Earnings Management To Achieve User Reference Points In EPS

Prior research (Thomas, 1989; Das and Zhang, 2003; Jordan et al., 2008a) presents evidence that managers manipulate income to round up earnings per share (EPS) to key user reference points when unrounded EPS fall only slightly below these breakpoints.  In the U.S., studies on audit quality suggest that, relative to small audit firms, large CPA firms provide higher quality audits and, as such, more aggressively constrain their clients’ attempts to manage earnings in general (e.g., see Francis and Krishnan, 1999; Krishnan, 2003).  However, research outside the U.S. finds no consistent audit quality differential based on auditor size (e.g., see Piot and Janin, 2007; Maijoor and Vanstraelen, 2006).  The current study examines whether audit quality, as proxied by auditor size, in the U.S. constrains earnings management to effect user reference points in EPS.  Using the Big 4 versus non-Big 4 dichotomy as the measure of auditor size and audit quality, results suggest that audit quality significantly restricts management’s attempts at rounding up EPS as clients of Big 4 firms show no major signs of this manipulative behavior while non-Big 4 auditees appear to round up the first digital position right of the decimal point in EPS across zero to increase the digit immediately left of the decimal point by one

Scenario modelling of basin-scale, shallow landslide sediment yield, Valsassina, Italian Southern Alps

International audienceThe SHETRAN model for determining the sediment yield arising from shallow landsliding at the scale of a river catchment was applied to the 180-km2 Valsassina basin in the Italian Southern Alps, with the aim of demonstrating that the model can simulate long term patterns of landsliding and the associated sediment yields and that it can be used to explore the sensitivity of the landslide sediment supply system to changes in catchment characteristics. The model was found to reproduce the observed spatial distribution of landslides from a 50-year record very well but probably with an overestimate of the annual rate of landsliding. Simulated sediment yields were within the range observed in a wider region of northern Italy. However, the results suggest that the supply of shallow landslide material to the channel network contributes relatively little to the overall long term sediment yield compared with other sources. The model was applied for scenarios of possible future climate (drier and warmer) and land use (fully forested hillslopes). For both scenarios, there is a modest reduction in shallow landslide occurrence and the overall sediment yield. This suggests that any current schemes for mitigating sediment yield impact in Valsassina remain valid. The application highlights the need for further research in eliminating the large number of unconditionally unsafe landslide sites typically predicted by the model and in avoiding large overestimates of landslide occurrence

Modelling the impact of forest loss on shallow landslide sediment yield, Ijuez river catchment, Spanish Pyrenees

International audienceThe SHETRAN model for simulating the sediment yield arising from shallow landslides at the scale of a river catchment was applied to the 45-km2 Ijuez catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees, to investigate the effect of loss of forest cover on landslide and debris flow incidence and on catchment sediment yield. The application demonstrated how such a model, with a large number of parameters to be evaluated, can be used even when directly measured data are not available: rainfall and discharge time series were generated by reference to other local records and data providing the basis for a soil map were obtained by a short field campaign. Uncertainty bounds for the outputs were determined as a function of the uncertainty in the values of key model parameters. For a four-year period and for the existing forested state of the catchment, a good ability to simulate the observed long term spatial distribution of debris flows (represented by a 45-year inventory) and to determine catchment sediment yield within the range of regional observations was demonstrated. The lower uncertainty bound on simulated landslide occurrence approximated the observed annual rate of landsliding and suggests that landslides provide a relatively minor proportion of the total sediment yield, at least in drier years. A scenario simulation in which the forest cover was replaced by grassland indicated an increase in landsliding but a decrease in the number of landslides which evolve into debris flows and, at least for drier years, a reduction in sediment delivery to the channel network

Sex differences in spatial abilities: Methodological problems in Hoffman et al.

Hoffman et al. (1) claimed to provide evidence that “nurture” (i.e., residing in a patrilineal vs. matrilineal tribe in India) critically affects sex differences in spatial abilities. Unfortunately, their conclusion is undermined by major problems with their measures of spatial ability and sex equality. The first and biggest problem is with their measure of spatial abilities. “Spatial abilities” are a complex cognitive domain, with facets ranging from location memory (favoring women) to navigation in 3D virtual space (favoring men) (2). The puzzle used by Hoffman et al. (1) is similar to the Object Assembly subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (3); sex differences on this task are extremely small (d = 0.10), at least 10-fold smaller than those found for spatial measures showing the largest sex differences. It is odd that Hoffman et al. (1) chose to investigate sex differences with this kind of sex-insensitive task. The second problem is the lack of a control task. The insensitivity of the task used by Hoffman et al. (1) suggests that their finding that men outperform women in a patrilineal tribe but not a matrilineal tribe is not related to sex differences in spatial abilities per se but to other factors instead. Education, as they noted, is likely one of these. The use of a cognitive control task tapping nonspatial abilities would have allowed for an assessment of the specificity of the effect, but, unfortunately, such a task was not included. Third, defining sex equality as matrilineality is problematic, because cross-cultural studies generally show that equality (a multidimensional construct) is not systematically correlated with descent system (4). From the descriptions of Hoffman et al. (1), it appears that women in the matrilineal Khasi have more economic power and better education, but this ignores other sex equality dimensions, such as positions of political and religious leadership, domestic authority, and autonomy. Without such measures, it is unclear whether the Khasi are, in fact, more sexegalitarian than the Karbi. Furthermore, a recent 53-nation cross-cultural study has shown that sex differences favoring men on validated, reliable, multi-item spatial measures are positively associated with United Nation indices of sex development and empowerment (5), a pattern opposite to that reported by Hoffman et al. (1). For all these reasons, the study by Hoffman et al. (1) failed to support their conclusions

Automated detection of actinic keratoses in clinical photographs

Backgroun

Protein interactions in Xenopus germ plasm RNP particles

Hermes is an RNA-binding protein that we have previously reported to be found in the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles of Xenopus germ plasm, where it is associated with various RNAs, including that encoding the germ line determinant Nanos1. To further define the composition of these RNPs, we performed a screen for Hermes-binding partners using the yeast two-hybrid system. We have identified and validated four proteins that interact with Hermes in germ plasm: two isoforms of Xvelo1 (a homologue of zebrafish Bucky ball) and Rbm24b and Rbm42b, both RNA-binding proteins containing the RRM motif. GFP-Xvelo fusion proteins and their endogenous counterparts, identified with antisera, were found to localize with Hermes in the germ plasm particles of large oocytes and eggs. Only the larger Xvelo isoform was naturally found in the Balbiani body of previtellogenic oocytes. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) experiments confirmed that Hermes and the Xvelo variants interact in germ plasm, as do Rbm24b and 42b. Depletion of the shorter Xvelo variant with antisense oligonucleotides caused a decrease in the size of germ plasm aggregates and loosening of associated mitochondria from these structures. This suggests that the short Xvelo variant, or less likely its RNA, has a role in organizing and maintaining the integrity of germ plasm in Xenopus oocytes. While GFP fusion proteins for Rbm24b and 42b did not localize into germ plasm as specifically as Hermes or Xvelo, BiFC analysis indicated that both interact with Hermes in germ plasm RNPs. They are very stable in the face of RNA depletion, but additive effects of combinations of antisense oligos suggest they may have a role in germ plasm structure and may influence the ability of Hermes protein to effectively enter RNP particles