Les États-Unis : à la fois trop près et trop loin

L’américanité des Québécois conditionne la politique internationale du Québec. Comparativement aux relations France-Québec, les relations Québec-États-Unis soulèvent de nombreuses difficultés. Le Québec consacre peu de ressources à ce domaine où les problèmes à résoudre sont nombreux, les enjeux variés et le système politique difficile à cerner. Ce texte démontre qu’aux problèmes organisationnels s’ajoutent des facteurs sociaux qu’un sondage récent a permis de mieux connaître : les Québécois estiment que les États-Unis leur sont trop familiers pour pousser leur gouvernement à mieux les y représenter.Quebec's international policy is conditioned by the "Americaness" of Quebecers. Compared to Quebec-France relations, Quebec-US relations have encountered numerous difficulties. The Quebec government allows very limited resources to be spent south of the border, although the problems to solve are numerous, the stakes are varied, and the complete political system difficult to grasp. This article demonstrates that Quebec's policy suffers not only from institutional deficiencies, but also due to social factors, which a recent poll brought to the fore—that Quebec's public opinion takes the U.S. for granted and does not pressure the government to improve its representation vis-a-vis its most crucial export market

The Policy Analytical Capacity of the Government of Quebec: Results from a Survey of Officials

This article complements the work of Howlett et al. on the capacity of Canadian governments for public policy-making. The new public management wave was driven by the notion of a need for improved service delivery to the population. A number of authors, including Metcalfe, pointed out that the government was then neglecting management in favour of "policy advice." It was fashionable to show interest in policy but not in management. After decades spent seeking greater efficiency, have we gone too far in the other direction? Do governments have the capacity to develop public policy? Have those responsible for developing public policy received the training they require? This article addresses the Quebec portion of a set of Canada-wide surveys on the capacity for public policy-making. It complements the earlier analyses by presenting the results of a survey conducted among public servants in Quebec. We place particular emphasis on education and the training of the public servants who work on developing and formulating public policy

Les complémentarités institutionnelles du modèle québécois de développement

Si le fonctionnement de l’économie québécoise poursuit principalement une logique libérale en raison de sa forte intégration continentale, divers facteurs historiques et culturels ont amené l’État du Québec à intervenir plus largement dans l’économie et à promouvoir un partage des fonctions de régulation avec certains groupes constitués de la société civile. À partir de la théorie des complémentarités institutionnelles, la présente étude cherche à alimenter le débat sur l’avenir du modèle québécois de développement. Refusant une approche manichéenne, cette étude repose sur l’hypothèse selon laquelle la performance économique du modèle québécois de développement serait fonction du degré d’intégration entre les institutions du libre marché et les institutions favorisant la redistribution des richesses et la participation citoyenne à la gouverne.The Quebec economy essentially operates within a liberal framework, due to its strong continental integration. However, various historical and cultural factors have led the Province of Quebec to intervene more in its economy and to promote the sharing of regulatory functions with certain civil society groups. Based on the theory of institutional complementarity, this study aims to contribute to the debate on the future of the Quebec development model. Rather than taking a Manichean approach, the study supports the hypothesis that the economic performance of the Quebec development model depends on the degree of integration between the free market institutions and the institutions that promote the redistribution of wealth and citizen participation in governance

Identification and characterization of the Non-race specific Disease Resistance 1 (NDR1) orthologous protein in coffee

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leaf rust, which is caused by the fungus <it>Hemileia vastatrix </it>(Pucciniales), is a devastating disease that affects coffee plants (<it>Coffea arabica </it>L.). Disadvantages that are associated with currently developed phytoprotection approaches have recently led to the search for alternative strategies. These include genetic manipulations that constitutively activate disease resistance signaling pathways. However, molecular actors of such pathways still remain unknown in <it>C. arabica</it>. In this study, we have isolated and characterized the coffee <it>NDR1 </it>gene, whose <it>Arabidopsis </it>ortholog is a well-known master regulator of the hypersensitive response that is dependent on coiled-coil type R-proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two highly homologous cDNAs coding for putative NDR1 proteins were identified and cloned from leaves of coffee plants. One of the candidate coding sequences was then expressed in the <it>Arabidopsis </it>knock-out null mutant <it>ndr1-1</it>. Upon a challenge with a specific strain of the bacterium <it>Pseudomonas syringae </it>(DC3000::<it>AvrRpt2</it>), analysis of both macroscopic symptoms and <it>in planta </it>microbial growth showed that the coffee cDNA was able to restore the resistance phenotype in the mutant genetic background. Thus, the cDNA was dubbed <it>CaNDR1a </it>(standing for <it>Coffea arabica Non-race specific Disease Resistance 1a</it>). Finally, biochemical and microscopy data were obtained that strongly suggest the mechanistic conservation of the <it>NDR1</it>-driven function within coffee and <it>Arabidopsis </it>plants. Using a transient expression system, it was indeed shown that the CaNDR1a protein, like its <it>Arabidopsis </it>counterpart, is localized to the plasma membrane, where it is possibly tethered by means of a GPI anchor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data provide molecular and genetic evidence for the identification of a novel functional <it>NDR1 </it>homolog in plants. As a key regulator initiating hypersensitive signalling pathways, <it>CaNDR1 </it>gene(s) might be target(s) of choice for manipulating the coffee innate immune system and achieving broad spectrum resistance to pathogens. Given the potential conservation of <it>NDR1</it>-dependent defense mechanisms between <it>Arabidopsis </it>and coffee plants, our work also suggests new ways to isolate the as-yet-unidentified <it>R</it>-gene(s) responsible for resistance to <it>H. vastatrix</it>.</p

The aggregated leapfrogging estimate: a novel approach to defining energy leapfrogging

Energy leapfrogging (i.e., skipping non-renewable grid infrastructures to micro-grid renewable sources) has been promoted by researchers and politicians as a solution in fighting against climate change and for access to electricity in less developed countries. Despite research on its potential, quantitative measurement of leapfrogging is still required to determine those nations who have utilized energy leapfrogging's promise. In this study, we present a quantitative analysis using World Bank Open Database data from 2000 to 2015, creating an aggregated leapfrogging estimate (ALE) through renewable energy consumption (i.e., percentage of total energy consumption) and access to electricity (i.e., percent of total population with access). We defined the ALE by subtracting (renewable consumption % in 2000 / access to electricity % in 2015) from (renewable consumption % in 2015 / access to electricity in 2000). We included only countries whose renewable energy consumption increased during the study interval. Low-income countries collectively leapfrogged more than other income groups. Somalia (48.11), Togo (3.05), Eswatini (2.76), and Timor-Leste (1.04) all had ALE values greater than 1 (range: 1.7 × 10−5–48.11). We then conducted a policy analysis of these countries, confirming that all four had implemented renewable energy policies to create access to electricity. Our ALE accurately determined countries with energy leapfrogging, uniquely incorporating access to electricity, consistent with the fundamental purpose of leapfrogging as a strategy to increase access. Future studies are needed to understand why low-income countries with low ALEs and access to electricity failed to leapfrog in the past. Future studies are also required to design prospective quantitative statistical models predicting the outcomes of leapfrogging strategies

Antioxidant actions of ovothiol-derived 4-mercaptoimidazoles: glutathione peroxidase activity and protection against peroxynitrite-induced damage

Abstract4-Mercaptoimidazoles derived from the naturally occurring antioxidants, ovothiols, were tested for their glutathione peroxidase-like (GSH Px-like) activity and protection against peroxynitrite-induced damage. All the thiol compounds displayed similar significant GSH Px-like activities, which are however weaker than that of the reference compound, ebselen. The inhibitions of the peroxynitrite-dependent oxidation of Evans blue dye and dihydrorhodamine 123 showed that the thiol compounds substituted on position 5 of the imidazole ring were nearly as effective as ebselen while the C-2 substituted ones were less effective. Both assays corroborate the large superiority of mercaptoimidazoles over glutathione as inhibitors of peroxynitrite-dependent oxidation