Intermarriage and French Cultural Persistence in Late Spanish and Early American New Orleans

This paper examines the survival of French culture in late Spanish and early American New Orleans by considering Catholic marriages in that city between 1790 and 1839. The white Creoles proved far from insular in allying themselves through marriage with immigrants from France and refugees from Saint Domingue. Thus French remained the language of the majority of the white population until the 1830s. Non-white Creoles were able to maintain their language and their numbers, as against the English-speaking free Blacks arriving from other American states, because of their natural increase and the contribution of refugees from Saint Domingue. La survivance d’une culture française à la Nouvelle-Orléans sous les dominations espagnole et américaine est examinée à la lumière des mariages catholiques dans cette ville entre 1790 et 1839. Loin d’être insulaires, les Créoles blancs étaient liés par un système particulier d’alliances exogames avec les immigrants de France et les réfugiés de Saint-Domingue. Grâce à ces apports, la langue française resta majoritaire dans la population blanche jusque dans les années 1830. D’autre part, l’apport des réfugiés de Saint-Domingue et l’accroissement naturel des Créoles de couleur permirent à ceux-ci de se maintenir face à la venue des Noirs libres de langue anglaise en provenance d’autres États américains

Intermarriage and French Cultural Persistence in Late Spanish and Early American New Orleans

This paper examines the survival of French culture in late Spanish and early American New Orleans by considering Catholic marriages in that city between 1790 and 1839. The white Creoles proved far from insular in allying themselves through marriage with immigrants from France and refugees from Saint Domingue. Thus French remained the language of the majority of the white population until the 1830s. Non-white Creoles were able to maintain their language and their numbers, as against the English-speaking free Blacks arriving from other American states, because of their natural increase and the contribution of refugees from Saint Domingue. La survivance d’une culture française à la Nouvelle-Orléans sous les dominations espagnole et américaine est examinée à la lumière des mariages catholiques dans cette ville entre 1790 et 1839. Loin d’être insulaires, les Créoles blancs étaient liés par un système particulier d’alliances exogames avec les immigrants de France et les réfugiés de Saint-Domingue. Grâce à ces apports, la langue française resta majoritaire dans la population blanche jusque dans les années 1830. D’autre part, l’apport des réfugiés de Saint-Domingue et l’accroissement naturel des Créoles de couleur permirent à ceux-ci de se maintenir face à la venue des Noirs libres de langue anglaise en provenance d’autres États américains

L’annonce d’un décès au service des urgences : une étude qualitative

Nous cherchions à explorer les compétences que les intervenants du service des urgences (SU), des médecins et des infirmières travaillant en équipe dans des rôles complémentaires, ont développées dans la divulgation d‘un décès, pour éclairer l‘apprentissage de cette compétence de « Communicateur ». Nous avons utilisé des entrevues semi-dirigées et un échantillonnage non probabiliste de 8 intervenants. Nous avons analysé les entrevues à l‘aide de méthodes qualitatives reconnues. Le nombre total de présences de nos intervenants à une divulgation est estimé supérieur à 2000. Notre analyse a démontré qu‘ils utilisent une structure de divulgation uniforme. Néanmoins, ils repoussaient l‘utilisation d‘un protocole, parce que jugé trop rigide. La flexibilité et l‘empathie se sont révélées des qualités essentielles pour les intervenants. Nous représentons la visite de la famille comme un épisode de désorganisation/dysfonction qui se résorbe partiellement durant le séjour au SU. Nous proposons un modèle pédagogique qui est basé sur nos résultats.We explored the competencies that Emergency Department (ED) healthcare providers (HPs), physicians and nurses working as team members with complementary roles, have developed through notifications of death, to inform the teaching of this ‘Communicator‘ competency. We used semi-structured interviews on a non-probabilistic sample of 8 HPs. We analyzed the interviews using recognized qualitative methods. The total self-estimated number of death notifications attended by our HPs is superior to 2000. Analysis showed that experienced HPs use a uniform structure to death notification in ED. In spite of this, the use of a protocol for notification was considered inappropriate because it was deemed too rigid. Flexibility and empathy emerged as essential qualities for HPs. We submit that the family‘s ED visit is an episode of disorganization/dysfunction that gets partially resolved during their stay. Based on our results, we propose an educational model for teaching delivery of news of death in the ED

Evolving antibiotics against resistance : a potential platform for natural product development?

To avoid an antibiotic resistance crisis, we need to develop antibiotics at a pace that matches the rate of evolution of resistance. However, the complex functions performed by antibiotics—combining, e.g., penetration of membranes, counteraction of resistance mechanisms, and interaction with molecular targets— have proven hard to achieve with current methods for drug development, including target-based screening and rational design. Here, we argue that we can meet the evolution of resistance in the clinic with evolution of antibiotics in the laboratory. On the basis of the results of experimental evolution studies of microbes in general and antibiotic production in Actinobacteria in particular, we propose methodology for evolving antibiotics to circumvent mechanisms of resistance. This exploits the ability of evolution to find solutions to complex problems without a need for design. We review evolutionary theory critical to this approach and argue that it is feasible and has important advantages over current methods for antibiotic discovery

Mental work stimulates cardiovascular responses through a reduction in cardiac parasympathetic modulation in men and women

Mental Work (MW) stimulates Cardiovascular (CV) functions in healthy adults and a reduction in cardiac parasympathetic modulation could be one mechanism involved in such a response. The influence of sex on these CV responses remains ambiguous. The aim of the study was to evaluate CV impacts of MW in healthy individuals and whether sex influences CV responses induced by MW. The impact of a 45-min reading and writing session vs. a control condition, on Blood Pressure (BP), Heart Rate (HR), and Heart Rate Variability (HRV), was evaluated in 44 healthy adults with the use of a randomized crossover design. The influence of sex on those variables was then evaluated. Diastolic BP (74 ± 1 vs. 69 ± 1 mmHg; p < 0.05) and mean arterial pressure (MAP; 87 ± 7 vs. 83 ± 8 mmHg; p < 0.005), HR (68 ± 1 vs. 62 ± 1 bpm; p < 0.0001) and low frequency/high frequency ratio (2.8 ± 0.1 vs. 2.0 ± 0.1; p < 0.0001) were higher, while global HRV (SDNN: 84 ± 3 vs.104 ± 3 ms; p < 0.0001) and cardiac parasympathetic activity were lower during MW (p < 0.0001) vs. the control condition in the whole sample. During both experimental conditions, HR was higher (p < 0.0001), while BP, rMSSD, pNN50 and low frequency component of HRV were lower in women compared to men (all p < 0.05). The intensity of the cognitive demand and its influence on CV variables were comparable between men and women. These results support that MW increases BP and HR through decrement in cardiac parasympathetic modulation in healthy subjects and suggest that sex does not influence CV responses induced by cognitive demand of similar intensity

Mental work stimulates cardiovascular responses through a reduction in cardiac parasympathetic modulation in men and women

Mental Work (MW) stimulates Cardiovascular (CV) functions in healthy adults and a reduction in cardiac parasympathetic modulation could be one mechanism involved in such a response. The influence of sex on these CV responses remains ambiguous. The aim of the study was to evaluate CV impacts of MW in healthy individuals and whether sex influences CV responses induced by MW. The impact of a 45-min reading and writing session vs. a control condition, on Blood Pressure (BP), Heart Rate (HR), and Heart Rate Variability (HRV), was evaluated in 44 healthy adults with the use of a randomized crossover design. The influence of sex on those variables was then evaluated. Diastolic BP (74 ± 1 vs. 69 ± 1 mmHg; p < 0.05) and mean arterial pressure (MAP; 87 ± 7 vs. 83 ± 8 mmHg; p < 0.005), HR (68 ± 1 vs. 62 ± 1 bpm; p < 0.0001) and low frequency/high frequency ratio (2.8 ± 0.1 vs. 2.0 ± 0.1; p < 0.0001) were higher, while global HRV (SDNN: 84 ± 3 vs.104 ± 3 ms; p < 0.0001) and cardiac parasympathetic activity were lower during MW (p < 0.0001) vs. the control condition in the whole sample. During both experimental conditions, HR was higher (p < 0.0001), while BP, rMSSD, pNN50 and low frequency component of HRV were lower in women compared to men (all p < 0.05). The intensity of the cognitive demand and its influence on CV variables were comparable between men and women. These results support that MW increases BP and HR through decrement in cardiac parasympathetic modulation in healthy subjects and suggest that sex does not influence CV responses induced by cognitive demand of similar intensity