Building Sustainably: Mass Timber (September 2023)

Mass timber is an umbrella term for a class of engineered wood building materials, including those created by layering and bonding wood. The best-known example of mass timber is cross-laminated timber, which can be made from small-diameter or diseased trees to create a strong, lightweight building material. Unlike lumber, which is typically used in traditional stick-frame construction of houses and low-rise buildings, mass timber is strong enough to construct much larger structures. Builders are turning to mass timber because of its multiple benefits. In addition to having a lower carbon footprint than traditional steel and concrete, it is often cost-competitive with them

Seasonality in coastal macrobenthic biomass and its implications for estimating secondary production using empirical models

Macrobenthic secondary production is widely used to assess the trophic capacity, health, and functioning of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Annual production estimates are often calculated using empirical models and based on data collected during a single period of the year. Yet, many ecosystems show seasonal variations. Although ignoring seasonality may lead to biased and inaccurate estimates of annual secondary production, it has never been tested at the community level. Using time series of macrobenthic data collected seasonally at three temperate marine coastal soft-bottom sites, we assessed seasonal variations in biomass of macrobenthic invertebrates at both population and community levels. We then investigated how these seasonal variations affect the accuracy of annual benthic production when assessed using an empirical model and data from a single sampling event. Significant and consistent seasonal variations in biomass at the three study sites were highlighted. Macrobenthic biomass was significantly lower in late winter and higher in summer/early fall for 18 of the 30 populations analyzed and for all three communities studied. Seasonality led to inaccurate and often biased estimates of annual secondary production at the community level when based on data from a single sampling event. Bias varied by site and sampling period, but reached similar to 50% if biomass was sampled at its annual minimum or maximum. Since monthly sampling is rarely possible, we suggest that ecologists account for uncertainty in annual production estimates caused by seasonality.Agência financiadora EDF French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition through the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Agreement French Biodiversity Agency (Agence francaise pour la biodiversite) as part of the CAPANOUR projectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modélisation spatiale multiscalaire de la structure des communautés de poissons lacustres en relation avec les facteurs environnementaux littoraux

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

“Make way for magic!” Continuities and changes in the portrayal of the Refus Global manifesto

In 1948, the Automatist artist group published the Refus Global manifesto, demanding liberation from Québec’s post-war conservatism. This thesis employs a critical cultural studies approach to trace the continuities and changes from 1948 to 1970 in the Refus Global’s portrayal as a site of affirmation and contestation of power by communities of interest, interpretation, and practice. The Refus Global is cast in an alternative media framework, and discourse analysis of archival research with frame analysis depicts its initial institutional repression. Next, this thesis contrasts these institutions’ adoption of the Refus Global in the wake of the Quiet Revolution with alternative media’s continued use of the manifesto as a tactic of resistance. An interview with journalist Françoise de Repentigny recounts her ties to the Automatist group and her firsthand experience of the era as a woman. This thesis concludes that the Refus Global’s portrayal as both a site of affirmation and contestation of power has ensured its longevity and legendary status in Québec today

Les économies de taille en production laitière en Amérique du Nord

Après une période où la valeur des quotas laitiers a été en forte croissance au Québec, un plafond à cette valeur a été fixé à compter de 2007. Ce plafond a eu pour effet de limiter l'offre de quota sur le marché et la croissance de la taille des entreprises laitières québécoises. Cette situation soulève un questionnement sur l’efficience économique, le blocage de la croissance des entreprises les empêchant de bénéficier d’économies de taille, si bien entendu il en existe. En conséquence, cette étude s'intéresse aux économies de taille en production laitière en Amérique du Nord. Les économies de taille des entreprises ont été mesurées à l’aide d’une régression linéaire multiple à partir de certains indicateurs de coût monétaire et non monétaire. Cette analyse comprend quatre strates de taille formées à partir d’un échantillon non aléatoire de 847 entreprises du Québec, de l’État de New York et de la Californie, ainsi qu’à partir d’un groupe d’entreprises efficientes (groupe de tête). Les résultats démontrent l’existence d’économies de taille principalement au niveau des coûts fixes et plus particulièrement des coûts fixes non monétaires. Ils révèlent aussi que les deux indicateurs où l’effet des économies de taille est le plus important sont le coût du travail non rémunéré et l’amortissement. Par ailleurs, lorsque la taille d’une entreprise augmente, les économies de taille supplémentaires réalisées deviennent de moins en moins importantes. Enfin, les résultats indiquent qu’il existe des déséconomies de taille au niveau des coûts d’alimentation. Les résultats obtenus au niveau du groupe de tête vont dans le même sens. Ils confirment également qu’il est possible pour les grandes entreprises efficientes de réaliser des économies de taille pour la plupart des indicateurs de coût. Toutefois, les économies additionnelles que ces entreprises peuvent réaliser sont moins importantes que celles obtenues par les petites entreprises efficientes. Mots clés : Agriculture, production laitière, Amérique du Nord, économies de taille, efficience économique, régression linéaire.After a period during which the value of milk quotas grew significantly in Quebec, a price cap to this value was fixed in 2007. This market constraint limited the quota’s supply and the growth in size of Quebec milk farms. This context and its impact raise questions regarding economic efficiency, the restrained growth of those companies preventing them from benefiting from size economies, if such size economies exist. In this regard, the present study examines the size economies in milk production in North America. The size economies of the concerned companies have been measured using a multiple linear regression (ordinary least squares) from some monetary and non-monetary cost variables. This analysis includes four size strata, established from data of a non aleatory sample of 847 farms from Quebec, the state of New York and California. The same exercise was conducted on a group of efficient farms, named “leading group”. The results demonstrated size economies mainly in fixed costs and particularly in non-monetary fixed costs. It also revealed that the two principal cost variables, regarding the impact of size economies, are non remunerated labor and depreciation cost. Moreover, when the size of a farm increases, the additional size economies realized are gradually less important. Finally, the results revealed important size diseconomies regarding feed costs. Key words: Agriculture, milk production, North America, size economies, economic efficiency, ordinary least squares

Les pratiques évaluatives d'enseignantes de 1re année du primaire à l'égard de la compétence en lecture : portrait d'une commission scolaire québécoise

RÉSUMÉ: En 2001, le ministère de l'Éducation du Québec (MEQ) a instauré une réforme de l'éducation qui a apporté des changements majeurs en évaluation des apprentissages, notamment avec l'arrivée de l'évaluation par compétences. Pour guider les enseignantes dans leurs pratiques évaluatives, de nombreux documents ministériels ont été publiés, dont la nouvelle Politique d'évaluation des apprentissages (MEQ, 2003b) qui a changé considérablement la manière de faire l'évaluation dans les classes. De plus, il apparait que l'apprentissage de la lecture constitue un facteur primordial à la réussite scolaire (MELS, 2005a). Plus de 15 ans après l'arrivée de ladite réforme, à quoi ressemblent les pratiques d'évaluation mises en place par les enseignantes pour évaluer le développement de la compétence en lecture de leurs élèves en début d'apprentissage? Les deux objectifs poursuivis par cette recherche de type enquête sont de documenter les pratiques évaluatives (certificatives et formatives) d'enseignantes de 1re année du primaire à l'égard de la compétence en lecture de leurs élèves et de les comparer, d'une part, aux prescriptions ministérielles, et d'autre part, aux recommandations des chercheurs. Pour ce faire, 20 enseignantes de 1re année de la Commission scolaire des Découvreurs ont répondu à un questionnaire autorapporté. De manière générale, les résultats ont montré que leurs pratiques correspondent aux prescriptions ministérielles et aux recommandations des chercheurs. D'abord, ces enseignantes planifient l'évaluation de la lecture avec leurs collègues de l'équipe-niveau et avec l'orthopédagogue. Afin de recueillir des informations sur le développement de la compétence en lecture de leurs élèves, elles utilisent des outils d'évaluation variés, en lien avec ce qui a été enseigné et qui leur permettent de cibler les forces et les difficultés de leurs élèves. Pour interpréter les données recueillies, elles utilisent principalement les critères d'évaluation du programme de formation. Suite au jugement du développement de la compétence en lecture de leurs élèves, elles discutent des progrès et des difficultés avec l'orthopédagogue et l'orthophoniste pour les élèves suivis. Elles communiquent les résultats de l'évaluation par le biais du bulletin, de productions de l'élève envoyées à la maison et de rencontres avec les parents. Enfin, quelques recommandations pour la pratique et les besoins de formation des enseignantes sont formulées. -- Mot(s) clé(s) en français : pratique évaluative, démarche évaluative, évaluation, lecture, lecteur débutant, début du primaire, première année du primaire, compétence. -- ABSTRACT: In 2001, the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec (MEQ) introduces the education reform, which brought major changes in the evaluation of learning, particularly with the arrival of the competency-based assessment. To guide teachers in their evaluation practices, numerous ministerial documents have been published, including the new Policy on the Evaluation of Learning (MEQ, 2003b), which has considerably changed the way to do evaluation. Moreover, it appears that learning to read is a key factor in student success (MELS, 2005a). More than 15 years after the arrival of the reform, what are the evaluation practices that teachers use to assess the development of their student's reading competency at the beginning of learning? The two purposes of this inquiry-type research is to document the evaluative practices (certificative and formative assessment) of first grade elementary school teachers with regards to the reading competency of their students and to compare them, on the one hand, to the ministerial prescriptions and on the other hand, to the recommendations of the researchers. To do so, 20 first grade teachers from the Commission scolaire des Découvreurs answered a self-reported questionnaire. In general, the results showed that their practices correspond to the ministerial prescriptions and to the recommendations of the researchers. These teachers plan the assessment with their level team colleagues and with the remedial teacher. In order to gather information on the development of their student's reading competency, they use a variety of assessment tools related to what has been taught and which allows them to target the strengths and difficulties of their students. To interpret the data collected, they mainly use evaluation criteria from the education program. Following the judgment step, they discuss progress and difficulties with the remedial teacher and the speech therapist about followed students. They communicate the assessment results through the report card, student productions sent home and meetings with parents. Finally, some recommendations for teachers and for training needs are formulated. -- Mot(s) clé(s) en anglais : evaluation practice, evaluation process, evaluation, reading, beginning reader, early primary education, first grade, competency

RTEL1 contributes to DNA replication and repair and telomere maintenance

Telomere maintenance and DNA repair are important processes that protect the genome against instability. mRtel1, an essential helicase, is a dominant factor setting telomere length in mice. In addition, mRtel1 is involved in DNA double-strand break repair. The role of mRtel1 in telomere maintenance and genome stability is poorly understood. Therefore we used mRtel1-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells to examine the function of mRtel1 in replication, DNA repair, recombination, and telomere maintenance. mRtel1-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells showed sensitivity to a range of DNA-damaging agents, highlighting its role in replication and genome maintenance. Deletion of mRtel1 increased the frequency of sister chromatid exchange events and suppressed gene replacement, demonstrating the involvement of the protein in homologous recombination. mRtel1 localized transiently at telomeres and is needed for efficient telomere replication. Of interest, in the absence of mRtel1, telomeres in embryonic stem cells appeared relatively stable in length, suggesting that mRtel1 is required to allow extension by telomerase. We propose that mRtel1 is a key protein for DNA replication, recombination, and repair and efficient elongation of telomeres by telomerase

Author correction : a global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space

Correction to: Scientific Data https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0344-7, published online 08 January 202

Author correction : a global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space

Correction to: Scientific Data https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0344-7, published online 08 January 202