Into-English translations of Maghrebi fiction, life-writing, and theatre written in Arabic, French and Tamazight

What follows is a list of into-English translations of Maghrebi fiction, life-writing, and theatre written in Arabic, French and TamazightA continuación se presenta una lista de traducciones al inglés de ficción magrebí, autobiografía y teatro escritos en árabe, francés y tamazigh

The Factors Governing the Availability of Maghrebi Literature in English: A Case Study in the Sociology of Translation

The present article draws on a corpus of into-English translations of works by Maghrebi authors working in Arabic and French to study the channels by which they reach an English-language readership and the relative places of the two languages in the target literary and publishing polysystems. It examines the hurdles faced by Arabic-language writers in achieving international visibility, particularly the weakly structured nature of the source publishing sphere and the ethnographic frame that dominates their reception, and challenges chronologies of Arabic-to-English translation which foreground Naguib Mahfouz’s 1988 Nobel Prize win as a turning point. It demonstrates that the driving forces behind into-English translations of Maghrebi writers have rather been the enfranchisement of Maghrebi French writing in the French literary and publishing polysystems, particularly Tahar Ben Jelloun’s 1987 Prix Goncourt win, the rise of Francophone Studies within the Anglo-American academy, and the ethnographic frame that saw a cluster of «terrorism memoirs» translated in reaction to events in Algeria in the 1990s.El presente artículo se basa en un corpus de traducciones hacia el inglés de autores de origen magrebí que trabajan en árabe y francés para estudiar los medios que utilizan para llegar a los lectores angloparlantes y el lugar relativo que ocupan los dos idiomas en los poli-sistemas literarios y editoriales. Se examinaron los obstáculos que enfrentan los escritores de lengua árabe para lograr la visibilidad internacional, en concreto la estructura debilitada de la fuente de la esfera publicada y el marco etnográfico que domina su recepción, y desafía las cronologías del árabe al inglés en el plano de la traducción de Naguib Mahfouz, premio Nobel de 1988, quien marcó un punto de inflexión. Se demostró que la fuerza impulsora detrás de las traducciones de escritores magrebíes había sido la aceptación de la literatura francesa- magrebí en el polisistema literario y editorial, en particular Tahar Ben Jelloun, premio Goncourt 1987, el aumento de estudios de habla francesa en la academia anglo-norteamericana, y el marco etnográfico donde se observó un grupo de “autobiografías terroristas” traducidas en reacción a los acontecimientos sucedidos en Argelia en la década de los 90

New Viverrinae (Carnivora: Mammalia) from the basal Middle Miocene of Arrisdrift, Namibia

A new genus and species of viverrid of modern type, Orangic!is gariepensis, is described from the basal Middle Miocene locality of Arrisdrift in southern Namibia. It is the earliest known representative of the subfamily Viverrinae from Africa. Detailed examination of the mongoose-like carnivores of the early Miocene of Africa, hitherto all assigned to the family Viverridae, reveals that none of them are related to this group.The Council's Research Committee, University of the Witwatersrand; National Research Foundation (NRF); Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust (PAST); Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid DGICYT projects PB 95-0113 and PB95-0014; Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI

How to wage warfare without going to war?

AbstractWhy did the USSR not become involved in the Second World War from autumn 1939, while waging its own wars? Why did France and Britain not declare war on the Soviets when the Red Army crossed the Polish border? The answers lie in breaking down the barriers between diplomatic and military histories of the USSR and reading Stalin’s discourse and practices in autumn 1939 in the wider European context of external policies of intervention and aggression. A compelling argument can be made that the lack of reaction to the Soviet aggression of Poland and its demands on the Baltic states in autumn 1939 arose from the ambiguous situation created by the pact and from the splintered vision of conflict that was characteristic of the interwar period. Those who saw the war in terms of the need to resist two forms of totalitarianism in 1939 were few and far between. In Moscow, theoreticians and practitioners of international relations and law shared much in the way of reading and experience with their European counterparts when it came to observing modes of aggression and conflict resolution. Political differences and ideological struggles across Europe did not hinder the formation of a transnational repertoire of types of discourse and practices understood and called on by the USSR. On the other hand, Moscow did maintain specific policies marked by revolutionary convictions: only when these were publicly held up to legitimise warfare did they meet with overtly hostile reactions, as shown by the Winter War.RésuméPourquoi l’URSS n’a-t-elle pas été impliquée dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale dès l’automne 1939 tout en menant ses propres guerres ? Pourquoi la France et la Grande-Bretagne ne lui ont-elles pas déclaré la guerre quand l’Armée rouge a franchi la frontière polonaise ? Répondre à ces questions impose de décloisonner l’histoire diplomatique et militaire de l’URSS, d’insérer les discours et les pratiques staliniennes de l’automne 1939 dans le contexte contemporain des politiques extérieures d’intervention et d’agressivité européennes. Certes l’ambiguïté de la situation générée par le pacte et la vision morcelée des conflits, caractéristique de l’entre-deux guerres, peuvent expliquer ce manque de réaction à l’agression et aux exigences soviétiques vis-à-vis des États baltes. Par ailleurs ceux qui envisageaient la guerre en 1939 sous l’angle d’une nécessaire résistance aux deux totalitarismes étaient peu nombreux. À Moscou, théoriciens comme praticiens des questions internationales et du droit possédaient bien des ressources de lectures et des expériences en commun avec leurs homologues européens en matière d’observation des modalités d’agression et de résolution des conflits. Les luttes d’idéologie à l’échelle européenne n’empêchaient pas la formation d’un répertoire transnational compris et utilisé à différents moments en URSS. En revanche, Moscou conservait des politiques spécifiques marquées par les convictions révolutionnaires et lorsque celles-ci s’affichaient publiquement comme source de légitimation d’une guerre, elles provoquaient l’hostilité comme on a pu le voir lors de la guerre d’Hiver

Laser Ablation System for Solid Sample Analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

A laser ablation sample introduction system, based on a Nd : YAG laser with an X-Y-Zdirectional sampling head, has been designed and constructed for use with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. A study has been made of a number of parameters which affect the performance of the system to establish the optimum operating conditions. South African Reference Material (SARM) rock samples have been analysed using the system, and the results obtained have been compared with the certificate values. The importance of using closely matrix-matched samples and standards is demonstrated. Precision studies on SARM 5 (pyroxenite) show that both intra- and inter-sample precisions are typically 10% (relative standard deviation )

Novel gene function revealed by mouse mutagenesis screens for models of age-related disease

Determining the genetic bases of age-related disease remains a major challenge requiring a spectrum of approaches from human and clinical genetics to the utilization of model organism studies. Here we report a large-scale genetic screen in mice employing a phenotype-driven discovery platform to identify mutations resulting in age-related disease, both late-onset and progressive. We have utilized N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis to generate pedigrees of mutagenized mice that were subject to recurrent screens for mutant phenotypes as the mice aged. In total, we identify 105 distinct mutant lines from 157 pedigrees analysed, out of which 27 are late-onset phenotypes across a range of physiological systems. Using whole-genome sequencing we uncover the underlying genes for 44 of these mutant phenotypes, including 12 late-onset phenotypes. These genes reveal a number of novel pathways involved with age-related disease. We illustrate our findings by the recovery and characterization of a novel mouse model of age-related hearing loss

Effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery (EPOCH): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial

Background: Emergency abdominal surgery is associated with poor patient outcomes. We studied the effectiveness of a national quality improvement (QI) programme to implement a care pathway to improve survival for these patients. Methods: We did a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of patients aged 40 years or older undergoing emergency open major abdominal surgery. Eligible UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals (those that had an emergency general surgical service, a substantial volume of emergency abdominal surgery cases, and contributed data to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit) were organised into 15 geographical clusters and commenced the QI programme in a random order, based on a computer-generated random sequence, over an 85-week period with one geographical cluster commencing the intervention every 5 weeks from the second to the 16th time period. Patients were masked to the study group, but it was not possible to mask hospital staff or investigators. The primary outcome measure was mortality within 90 days of surgery. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN80682973. Findings: Treatment took place between March 3, 2014, and Oct 19, 2015. 22 754 patients were assessed for elegibility. Of 15 873 eligible patients from 93 NHS hospitals, primary outcome data were analysed for 8482 patients in the usual care group and 7374 in the QI group. Eight patients in the usual care group and nine patients in the QI group were not included in the analysis because of missing primary outcome data. The primary outcome of 90-day mortality occurred in 1210 (16%) patients in the QI group compared with 1393 (16%) patients in the usual care group (HR 1·11, 0·96–1·28). Interpretation: No survival benefit was observed from this QI programme to implement a care pathway for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Future QI programmes should ensure that teams have both the time and resources needed to improve patient care. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme

Effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery (EPOCH): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal surgery is associated with poor patient outcomes. We studied the effectiveness of a national quality improvement (QI) programme to implement a care pathway to improve survival for these patients. METHODS: We did a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of patients aged 40 years or older undergoing emergency open major abdominal surgery. Eligible UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals (those that had an emergency general surgical service, a substantial volume of emergency abdominal surgery cases, and contributed data to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit) were organised into 15 geographical clusters and commenced the QI programme in a random order, based on a computer-generated random sequence, over an 85-week period with one geographical cluster commencing the intervention every 5 weeks from the second to the 16th time period. Patients were masked to the study group, but it was not possible to mask hospital staff or investigators. The primary outcome measure was mortality within 90 days of surgery. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN80682973. FINDINGS: Treatment took place between March 3, 2014, and Oct 19, 2015. 22 754 patients were assessed for elegibility. Of 15 873 eligible patients from 93 NHS hospitals, primary outcome data were analysed for 8482 patients in the usual care group and 7374 in the QI group. Eight patients in the usual care group and nine patients in the QI group were not included in the analysis because of missing primary outcome data. The primary outcome of 90-day mortality occurred in 1210 (16%) patients in the QI group compared with 1393 (16%) patients in the usual care group (HR 1·11, 0·96-1·28). INTERPRETATION: No survival benefit was observed from this QI programme to implement a care pathway for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Future QI programmes should ensure that teams have both the time and resources needed to improve patient care. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme