Military culture: Understanding deeper dynamics through the warrior archetype

This paper proposes a new psycho-sociological approach to understanding military culture change, built on the notion of warrior archetype, in line with psychiatrist Carl Jung’s concept of archetype. It contends that military culture and its related institutional forms fundamentally seek to mobilize on an ongoing basis human energy produced through the activation of the warrior archetype. The archetype is built on enhancing feelings of strength in numbers, and empowerment through socially sanctioned actions and potential use of violence. It uses the example of the Canadian Armed Forces culture change effort to illustrate that any such planned organizational culture change will fail if it does not remain consistent with activating the warrior archetype, as its central dynamic and purpose

La détermination de la peine et les Autochtones du Nord-du-Québec : une analyse comparative intra et inter-juridictionnelle des pratiques en matière de détermination de peines

Rapport de stage présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales en vue de l’obtention du grade de Maître ès sciences (M.Sc.) en criminologieCette étude porte sur les facteurs influençant le processus de détermination des peines dans le Nord-du-Québec. Elle vise à vérifier l'existence de disparités dans la sévérité des peines imposées aux justiciables cris, inuits et à ceux de plusieurs districts judiciaires de la province de Québec. La présence de disparités signifie que des cas au profil judiciaire similaire soient jugés de manières différentes. Afin de comparer la sévérité des peines imposées par les juges, deux décisions distinctes sont utilisées, le fait d’incarcérer ou non le justiciable d’une part et la durée des sentences d’emprisonnement d’autre part. Des analyses descriptives et multivariées sur un échantillon de sentences imposées par les tribunaux des districts judiciaires de Gaspé, de Bonaventure, d'Alma, de Roberval, de Rouyn-Noranda, du Témiscamingue, de Baie-Comeau, de Mingan et de l'Abitibi entre 2000 et 2010 sont présentées. Les résultats des analyses démontrent que les peines imposées aux justiciables inuits sont plus sévères que celles infligées aux contrevenants cris au profil judiciaire similaire. Les risques d’incarcération des contrevenants inuits sont plus élevés et la durée de leurs peines d’emprisonnement est plus longue. Toutefois, la sévérité des peines imposées aux Inuit s’apparente à celle que l’on peut retrouver dans plusieurs des districts judiciaires du Québec. En fait, les justiciables cris sont jugés de manière considérablement plus indulgente qu’ailleurs dans la province. Ces résultats laissent d’ailleurs présager que les disparités dans la sévérité du traitement judiciaire entre les deux nations autochtones ont progressivement augmenté au cours de la dernière décennie.This study focuses on the factors that affect sentencing process in Northern Quebec. Its main objective is to examine disparities in sentences received by Inuit, Crees and by offenders of others judicial districts in the province of Quebec. Disparities in the sentencing process imply that similar offenders having committed similar offenses receive significantly different sentences. In order to determine the existence of unequal treatment, this study compares the sentence type decisions and the length of the sentences of convicted offenders. This paper presents descriptive and multivariate analysis using data on sentencing practices in the judicial districts of Gaspe, Bonaventure, Alma, Roberval, Rouyn-Noranda, Temiscamingue, Baie-Comeau, Mingan and Abitibi between 2000 and 2010. The findings reveal the existence of disparities in sentences outcomes between Crees and Inuit offenders. Inuit offenders are more likely to receive sentences involving incarceration and inmates tend to receive longer sentences than Crees convicted for the same offense and having similar characteristics. However, while there are indications of judicial inconsistencies in sentences outcomes between Inuit and offenders of others judicial districts, they seem far less apparent. In fact, Crees offenders generally receive a more lenient treatment than those of the others judicial districts. The results tend to demonstrate that the discrepancies between the sentences received by Crees and Inuit offenders progressively increased between 2000 and 2010

Ethnic nationalism was the real winner in the French presidential election

Emmanuel Macron’s reelection as French President has been presented by some observers as a victory for liberalism against the populism of Marine Le Pen. Eric Taylor Woods, Marcus Closen, Alex Fortier-Chouinard, Catherine Ouellet and Robert Schertzer write that while Macron may have retained the presidency, the real story of the election was the prominent role played by ethnic nationalism

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of n-butanol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing energy costs and environmental concerns have motivated engineering microbes for the production of "second generation" biofuels that have better properties than ethanol.</p> <p>Results and conclusion</p> <p><it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>was engineered with an n-butanol biosynthetic pathway, in which isozymes from a number of different organisms (<it>S. cerevisiae</it>, <it>Escherichia coli</it>, <it>Clostridium beijerinckii</it>, and <it>Ralstonia eutropha</it>) were substituted for the Clostridial enzymes and their effect on n-butanol production was compared. By choosing the appropriate isozymes, we were able to improve production of n-butanol ten-fold to 2.5 mg/L. The most productive strains harbored the <it>C. beijerinckii </it>3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, which uses NADH as a co-factor, rather than the <it>R. eutropha </it>isozyme, which uses NADPH, and the acetoacetyl-CoA transferase from <it>S. cerevisiae </it>or <it>E. coli </it>rather than that from <it>R. eutropha</it>. Surprisingly, expression of the genes encoding the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase from <it>C. beijerinckii </it>(<it>bcd </it>and <it>etfAB</it>) did not improve butanol production significantly as previously reported in <it>E. coli</it>. Using metabolite analysis, we were able to determine which steps in the n-butanol biosynthetic pathway were the most problematic and ripe for future improvement.</p

Induction of multiple pleiotropic drug resistance genes in yeast engineered to produce an increased level of anti-malarial drug precursor, artemisinic acid

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Due to the global occurrence of multi-drug-resistant malarial parasites (<it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>), the anti-malarial drug most effective against malaria is artemisinin, a natural product (sesquiterpene lactone endoperoxide) extracted from sweet wormwood (<it>Artemisia annua</it>). However, artemisinin is in short supply and unaffordable to most malaria patients. Artemisinin can be semi-synthesized from its precursor artemisinic acid, which can be synthesized from simple sugars using microorganisms genetically engineered with genes from <it>A. annua</it>. In order to develop an industrially competent yeast strain, detailed analyses of microbial physiology and development of gene expression strategies are required.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three plant genes coding for amorphadiene synthase, amorphadiene oxidase (<it>AMO </it>or <it>CYP71AV1</it>), and cytochrome P450 reductase, which in concert divert carbon flux from farnesyl diphosphate to artemisinic acid, were expressed from a single plasmid. The artemisinic acid production in the engineered yeast reached 250 μg mL^-1in shake-flask cultures and 1 g L^-1in bio-reactors with the use of <it>Leu2d </it>selection marker and appropriate medium formulation. When plasmid stability was measured, the yeast strain synthesizing amorphadiene alone maintained the plasmid in 84% of the cells, whereas the yeast strain synthesizing artemisinic acid showed poor plasmid stability. Inactivation of AMO by a point-mutation restored the high plasmid stability, indicating that the low plasmid stability is not caused by production of the AMO protein but by artemisinic acid synthesis or accumulation. Semi-quantitative reverse-transcriptase (RT)-PCR and quantitative real time-PCR consistently showed that pleiotropic drug resistance (<it>PDR</it>) genes, belonging to the family of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter, were massively induced in the yeast strain producing artemisinic acid, relative to the yeast strain producing the hydrocarbon amorphadiene alone. Global transcriptional analysis by yeast microarray further demonstrated that the induction of drug-resistant genes such as ABC transporters and major facilitator superfamily (MSF) genes is the primary cellular stress-response; in addition, oxidative and osmotic stress responses were observed in the engineered yeast.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The data presented here suggest that the engineered yeast producing artemisinic acid suffers oxidative and drug-associated stresses. The use of plant-derived transporters and optimizing AMO activity may improve the yield of artemisinic acid production in the engineered yeast.</p

Characteristics of Bitcoin Transactions on Cryptomarkets

Cryptomarkets (or darknet markets) are commercial hidden-service websites that operate on The Onion Router (Tor) anonymity network. Cryptomarkets accept primarily bitcoin as payment since bitcoin is pseudonymous. Understanding bitcoin transaction patterns in cryptomarkets is important for analyzing vulnerabilities of privacy protection models in cryptocurrecies. It is also important for law enforcement to track illicit online crime activities in cryptomarkets. In this paper, we discover interesting characteristics of bitcoin transaction patterns in cryptomarkets. The results demonstrate that the privacy protection mechanism in cryptomarkets and bitcoin is vulnerable. Adversaries can easily gain valuable information for analyzing trading activities in cryptomarkets

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults: rapid review

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the lives of countless members of the general population. Older adults are known to experience loneliness, age discrimination, and excessive worry. It is therefore reasonable to anticipate that they would experience greater negative outcomes related to the COVID-19 pandemic given their increased isolation and risk for complications than younger adults. Objective: This study aims to synthesize the existing research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated isolation and protective measures, on older adults. The secondary objective is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated isolation and protective measures, on older adults with Alzheimer disease and related dementias. Methods: A rapid review of the published literature was conducted on October 6, 2020, through a search of 6 online databases to synthesize results from published original studies regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults. The Human Development Model conceptual framework–Disability Creation Process was used to describe and understand interactions between personal factors, environmental factors, and life habits. Methods and results are reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Statement. Results: A total of 135 records were included from the initial search strategy of 13,452 individual studies. Of these, 113 (83.7%) studies were determined to be of level 4 according to the levels of evidence classification by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. The presence of psychological symptoms, exacerbation of ageism, and physical deterioration of aged populations were reported in the included studies. Decreased social life and fewer in-person social interactions reported during the COVID-19 pandemic were occasionally associated with reduced quality of life and increased depression. Difficulties accessing services, sleep disturbances, and a reduction of physical activity were also noted. Conclusions: Our results highlight the need for adequate isolation and protective measures. Older adults represent a heterogeneous group, which could explain the contradictory results found in the literature. Individual, organizational, and institutional strategies should be established to ensure that older adults are able to maintain social contacts, preserve family ties, and maintain the ability to give or receive help during the current pandemic. Future studies should focus on specific consequences and needs of more at-risk older adults to ensure their inclusion, both in public health recommendations and considerations made by policy makers

The Joint IOC (of UNESCO) and WMO collaborative effort for met-ocean services

The Joint Committee for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM), a joint technical commission of IOC of UNESCO and WMO, has devised a coordination mechanism for the fit-for-purpose delivery of an end-to-end system, from ocean observations to met-ocean operational services. This paper offers a complete overview of the activities carried out by JCOMM and the status of the achievements up to 2017. The JCOMM stakeholders are the WMO Members and the IOC Member States, their research and operational Institutions, which mandated JCOMM to devise an international strategy to advance toward the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The three activity areas, namely the Observation Program Area-OPA, the Data Management Program Area-DMPA and the Services and Forecasting Services Program Area-SFSPA have established several expert teams to contribute to the international coordination. OPA is organized in observing networks connected with different observing technologies, DMPA organizes the overall near-real time and delayed mode data assembly and delivery methodology and architecture and the SFSPA coordinates the met-ocean services stemming out of observations and data management. The future developments should strengthen the coordination in the three program areas considering the inclusion of new and emergent observing technologies, the interoperability of met-ocean data assembly centers and the establishment of efficient research to operations protocols, as well as better fit-for-purpose customized services for the public and private sectors

A Thermophilic Ionic Liquid-Tolerant Cellulase Cocktail for the Production of Cellulosic Biofuels

Generation of biofuels from sugars in lignocellulosic biomass is a promising alternative to liquid fossil fuels, but efficient and inexpensive bioprocessing configurations must be developed to make this technology commercially viable. One of the major barriers to commercialization is the recalcitrance of plant cell wall polysaccharides to enzymatic hydrolysis. Biomass pretreatment with ionic liquids (ILs) enables efficient saccharification of biomass, but residual ILs inhibit both saccharification and microbial fuel production, requiring extensive washing after IL pretreatment. Pretreatment itself can also produce biomass-derived inhibitory compounds that reduce microbial fuel production. Therefore, there are multiple points in the process from biomass to biofuel production that must be interrogated and optimized to maximize fuel production. Here, we report the development of an IL-tolerant cellulase cocktail by combining thermophilic bacterial glycoside hydrolases produced by a mixed consortia with recombinant glycoside hydrolases. This enzymatic cocktail saccharifies IL-pretreated biomass at higher temperatures and in the presence of much higher IL concentrations than commercial fungal cocktails. Sugars obtained from saccharification of IL-pretreated switchgrass using this cocktail can be converted into biodiesel (fatty acid ethyl-esters or FAEEs) by a metabolically engineered strain of E. coli. During these studies, we found that this biodiesel-producing E. coli strain was sensitive to ILs and inhibitors released by saccharification. This cocktail will enable the development of novel biomass to biofuel bioprocessing configurations that may overcome some of the barriers to production of inexpensive cellulosic biofuels