Who qualifies for citizenship: The political and legal mobilization of Muslims in France

This article aims to deconstruct the monolithic image of Muslims that is often presented in the media, politics, and academia today. Based on interview work completed in 2008 in France with Muslim activists and non-activists, as well as non-Muslim activists on diversity issues, the article explores the complex group affiliations and varying interest formation of Muslims in France. Instead of assuming that being Muslim is simply a religious affiliation that drives political interest formation, I explore the social situatedness of Muslims in France, and how that specific situation produces a multiplicity of group affiliations, all with their own spectrum of political interests, as well as resources and methods for mobilizing on those interests. The article also explores French legal consciousness – what do these Muslim activists and non-activists think of law and courts? I show that some preexisting American political science literature on French legal consciousness may have misunderstood the complex and intense relationship the French have with law

A Start to finish guide to opening a bed & breakfast: The business plan.

Background Beds and breakfast are the small business component of the hotel industry. Like all types of small businesses, many fail due to poor planning or misguided management. As more new entrepreneurs enter the market due to the decline of the economy and the unreliability of corporate America, it is important to identify the proper components of a business plan for beds and breakfast and to outline a successful operations model. A study of business plan and bed and breakfast operation models is included here. Results Existing literature suggests several components of a successful business plan. These include a detailed business description, marketing plan, management model and financial projections. The literature suggests that a successful innkeeper will develop a strong and identifiable brand, focus on a memorable eating experience, execute a successful marketing plan, and enact easily understood rules of the house. A sample business plan for a bed and breakfast currently for sale in Savannah, Georgia is included in this document as a guide to potential innkeepers

Jean Genet : les pouvoirs de l’imposture

À la faveur d'un premier déplacement des enjeux stylistiques vers une scène plus spécifiquement politique, Jean Genet explore dans Pompes funèbres les nombreux pouvoirs de l'imposture. Jouant de la collusion entre les codes sexuel et politique, l'écrivain entend opposer ainsi une mobilité extrême aux positions en apparence les plus immuables

Quantifying discordance between structure and function measurements in the clinical assessment of glaucoma

Objective: The visual field (VF) may be predicted from retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFLT) using a Bayesian Radial Basis Function (BRBF). This study aimed to evaluate a new methodology to quantify and visualise discordance between structural and functional measurements in glaucomatous eyes. Methods: Five GDxVCC RNFLT scans and 5 Humphrey SITA VF tests were obtained from 50 glaucomatous eyes from 50 patients. A best available estimate of the ‘true’ VF was calculated as the point-wise median of these 5 replications. This ‘true’ VF was compared with every single RNFLT-predicted VF from BRBF and every single measured VF. Predictability of VFs from RNFLT was established from previous data. A structure-function pattern discordance map (PDM) and structure-function discordance index (SFDI; values 0 to 1) were established from the predictability limits for each structure-function measurement pair to quantify and visualise the discordance between the structure-predicted and measured VFs. Results: Mean absolute difference (MAD) between the structure-predicted and ‘true’ VFs was 3.9dB. MAD between single and ‘true’ VFs was 2.6dB. Mean of SFDI was 0.34 (SD 0.11). 39% of the structure-predicted VFs showed significant discordance (SFDI>0.3) from measured VFs. Conclusions: BRBF, on average, predicts the ‘true’ VF from RNFLT slightly less well than a measured VF from the 5 VFs compromising the ‘true’ VF. The PDM highlights locations with structure-function discordance, with the SFDI providing a summary index. These tools may help clinicians trust the mutually confirmatory structure-function measurements with good concordance, or identify unreliable ones with poor concordance

Validated prediction of weld residual stresses in austenitic steel pipe girth welds before and after thermal ageing, Part 2: modelling and validation

An extensive finite element simulation campaign was undertaken to examine the complete manufacturing history and high temperature thermal ageing of thick-walled girth-welded austenitic steel pipes fabricated from Esshete 1250 austenitic steel. The simulations examined the impacts of prior quenching of pipe material, fabrication of closely adjacent welds, and axial restraint during welding. The simulations considered both simple isotropic and kinematic hardening behaviour, and a large matrix of Lemaitre-Chaboche mixed isotropic-kinematic hardening material constitutive models, with a focus on examining the most accurate evolutionary hardening behaviour for weld metal. High temperature (650°C) service exposure was modelled using an RCC-MR type creep model, and the sensitivity of the predicted relaxation to variability in the model parameters was assessed. The predicted residual stresses were validated using measurements made with the deep hole and incremental deep hole drilling techniques and the contour method