Bilan des tests de français à l’admission aux universités québécoises (1987-1994)

Notre essai porte sur l'action récente des universités francophones du Québec pour améliorer la maîtrise de la langue écrite de leurs étudiants. Nous nous intéressons d'abord au contexte dans lequel ont été conçus les premiers examens imposés à l'admission, notamment à ce qu'on peut en déduire relativement à l'importance de la langue dans la formation de l'étudiant. Suit une analyse détaillée de l'épreuve de production écrite du ministère de l'Éducation. Cet instrument de mesure mérite en effet qu'on s'y arrête, car on peut en dégager le profil de compétence communicationnelle reconnu comme préalable aux études universitaires.This essay describes recent measures, adopted by Québec francophone universities, which were aimed at improving students' mastery of written French. The author begins by discussing the context within which the first admission tests were implemented, specifically as these were related to the importance given to language within students' education. A detailed analysis of the Minister of Education writing test follows. The author proposes that this test be re-examined in light of the possibility of describing a profile of communicative competence that is a pre-requisite for university studies.Este articulo trata la accion reciente de las universidades franco parlantes del Québec para mejorar la maestria del lenguaje escrito de nuestros estudiantes. Se aborda primeramente el contexto en el cual fueron concebidos los primeros examenes impuestos en el momento de la admision, y particularmente Io que se puede deducir con relaciôn a la importancia del idioma en la formacion del estudiante. Se présenta después un anâlisis dettalado de la prueba de production escrita del Ministerio de Education. Este instrumento merece tal anâlisis puesto que de él se puede deducir el perfil de habilidad comunicativa reconocido como necesario para llevar estudios universitarios.Dièse Untersuchung behandelt das jungste Vorgehen der franzosisch-sprachigen Universitaten in der Provinz Québec im Hinblick auf eine bessere Beherrschung des schriftlichen Sprachausdrucks der Studenten. Wir interessieren uns zunâchst fur den Kontext, in dem die ersten Pflicht-Aufnahmepriirungen erstellt wurden, besonders fur die môglichen Folgerungen bezuglich der Rolle, die die Sprache in der Ausbildung des Studenten spielt. Es folgt eine genaue Analyse der schriftlichen Priifungsaufgabe des Kultusministeriums. Dieses Mefêinstrument verdient in der Tat eine genauere Untersuchung, denn man kann daraus das Profil der Ausdrucksfahigkeit ableiten, die als Voraussetzung fur Universitàts-studien anerkannt wird

David Darby, Structures of Disintegration. Narrative Strategies in Elias Canetti’s Die Blendung

Structure of Disintegration. Narrative Strategies in Elias Canetti’s Die Blendung

Quorum Sensing Controls Swarming Motility of Burkholderia glumae through Regulation of Rhamnolipids.

International audienceBurkholderia glumae is a plant pathogenic bacterium that uses an acyl-homoserine lactone-mediated quorum sensing system to regulate protein secretion, oxalate production and major virulence determinants such as toxoflavin and flagella. B. glumae also releases surface-active rhamnolipids. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia thailandensis, rhamnolipids, along with flagella, are required for the social behavior called swarming motility. In the present study, we demonstrate that quorum sensing positively regulates the production of rhamnolipids in B. glumae and that rhamnolipids are necessary for swarming motility also in this species. We show that a rhlA- mutant, which is unable to produce rhamnolipids, loses its ability to swarm, and that this can be complemented by providing exogenous rhamnolipids. Impaired rhamnolipid production in a quorum sensing-deficient B. glumae mutant is the main factor responsible for its defective swarming motility behaviour

Burkholderia thailandensis harbors two identical rhl gene clusters responsible for the biosynthesis of rhamnolipids

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rhamnolipids are surface active molecules composed of rhamnose and β-hydroxydecanoic acid. These biosurfactants are produced mainly by <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa </it>and have been thoroughly investigated since their early discovery. Recently, they have attracted renewed attention because of their involvement in various multicellular behaviors. Despite this high interest, only very few studies have focused on the production of rhamnolipids by <it>Burkholderia </it>species.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Orthologs of <it>rhlA</it>, <it>rhlB </it>and <it>rhlC</it>, which are responsible for the biosynthesis of rhamnolipids in <it>P. aeruginosa</it>, have been found in the non-infectious <it>Burkholderia thailandensis</it>, as well as in the genetically similar important pathogen <it>B. pseudomallei</it>. In contrast to <it>P. aeruginosa</it>, both <it>Burkholderia </it>species contain these three genes necessary for rhamnolipid production within a single gene cluster. Furthermore, two identical, paralogous copies of this gene cluster are found on the second chromosome of these bacteria. Both <it>Burkholderia </it>spp. produce rhamnolipids containing 3-hydroxy fatty acid moieties with longer side chains than those described for <it>P. aeruginosa</it>. Additionally, the rhamnolipids produced by <it>B. thailandensis </it>contain a much larger proportion of dirhamnolipids versus monorhamnolipids when compared to <it>P. aeruginosa</it>. The rhamnolipids produced by <it>B. thailandensis </it>reduce the surface tension of water to 42 mN/m while displaying a critical micelle concentration value of 225 mg/L. Separate mutations in both <it>rhlA </it>alleles, which are responsible for the synthesis of the rhamnolipid precursor 3-(3-hydroxyalkanoyloxy)alkanoic acid, prove that both copies of the <it>rhl </it>gene cluster are functional, but one contributes more to the total production than the other. Finally, a double Δ<it>rhlA </it>mutant that is completely devoid of rhamnolipid production is incapable of swarming motility, showing that both gene clusters contribute to this phenotype.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Collectively, these results add another <it>Burkholderia </it>species to the list of bacteria able to produce rhamnolipids and this, by the means of two identical functional gene clusters. Our results also demonstrate the very impressive tensio-active properties these long-chain rhamnolipids possess in comparison to the well-studied short-chain ones from <it>P. aeruginosa</it>.</p

Lecture de l'entretien de Véronique Girod-Roux

Dans un contexte social post #MeToo et de mouvement de libération de la parole des femmes sur les agressions qu’elles subissent dans l’espace public et professionnel, l’actualité médiatique met régulièrement en avant des initiatives pour dénoncer les discriminations et aller vers plus d’égalité. Pourtant en France, à l’échelle d’une association de communication locale, les enjeux liés au genre demeurent tabous et sont difficilement mis à l’agenda des priorités. Ce constat est dressé par une communicante expérimentée qui a animé pendant dix ans une association professionnelle de la communication lors d’un entretien accordé le 14 avril 2021 à Valérie Lépine, enseignante-chercheuse en SIC, pour la revue Communication &amp; professionnalisation

Test-retest reliability of lower limb isokinetic endurance in COPD : a comparison of angular velocities

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the test-retest reliability of quadriceps isokinetic endurance testing at two knee angular velocities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: After one familiarization session, 14 patients with moderate to severe COPD (mean age 65±4 years; forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) 55%±18% predicted) performed two quadriceps isokinetic endurance tests on two separate occasions within a 5–7-day interval. Quadriceps isokinetic endurance tests consisted of 30 maximal knee extensions at angular velocities of 90° and 180° per second, performed in random order. Test-retest reliability was assessed for peak torque, muscle endurance, work slope, work fatigue index, and changes in FEV1 for dyspnea and leg fatigue from rest to the end of the test. The intraclass correlation coefficient, minimal detectable change, and limits of agreement were calculated. Results: High test-retest reliability was identified for peak torque and muscle total work at both velocities. Work fatigue index was considered reliable at 90° per second but not at 180° per second. A lower reliability was identified for dyspnea and leg fatigue scores at both angular velocities. Conclusion: Despite a limited sample size, our findings su pport the use of a 30-maximal repetition isokinetic muscle testing procedure at angular velocities of 90° and 180° per second in patients with moderate to severe COPD. Endurance measurement (total isokinetic work) at 90° per second was highly reliable, with a minimal detectable change at the 95% confidence level of 10%. Peak torque and fatigue index could also be assessed reliably at 90° per second. Evaluation of dyspnea and leg fatigue using the modified Borg scale of perceived exertion was poorly reliable and its clinical usefulness is questionable. These results should be useful in the design and interpretation of future interventions aimed at improving muscle endurance in COPD

DRIVE: Data-driven Robot Input Vector Exploration

An accurate motion model is a fundamental component of most autonomous navigation systems. While much work has been done on improving model formulation, no standard protocol exists for gathering empirical data required to train models. In this work, we address this issue by proposing Data-driven Robot Input Vector Exploration (DRIVE), a protocol that enables characterizing uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) input limits and gathering empirical model training data. We also propose a novel learned slip approach outperforming similar acceleration learning approaches. Our contributions are validated through an extensive experimental evaluation, cumulating over 7 km and 1.8 h of driving data over three distinct UGVs and four terrain types. We show that our protocol offers increased predictive performance over common human-driven data-gathering protocols. Furthermore, our protocol converges with 46 s of training data, almost four times less than the shortest human dataset gathering protocol. We show that the operational limit for our model is reached in extreme slip conditions encountered on surfaced ice. DRIVE is an efficient way of characterizing UGV motion in its operational conditions. Our code and dataset are both available online at this link: https://github.com/norlab-ulaval/DRIVE.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2024

Production of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Intercellular Small Signaling Molecules in Human Burn Wounds

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has developed a complex cell-to-cell communication system that relies on low-molecular weight excreted molecules to control the production of its virulence factors. We previously characterized the transcriptional regulator MvfR, that controls a major network of acute virulence functions in P. aeruginosa through the control of its ligands, the 4-hydroxy-2-alkylquinolines (HAQs)—4-hydroxy-2-heptylquinoline (HHQ) and 3,4-dihydroxy-2-heptylquinoline (PQS). Though HHQ and PQS are produced in infected animals, their ratios differ from those in bacterial cultures. Because these molecules are critical for the potency of activation of acute virulence functions, here we investigated whether they are also produced during human P. aeruginosa acute wound infection and whether their ratio is similar to that observed in P. aeruginosa-infected mice. We found that a clinically relevant P. aeruginosa isolate produced detectable levels of HAQs with ratios of HHQ and PQS that were similar to those produced in burned and infected animals, and not resembling ratios in bacterial cultures. These molecules could be isolated from wound tissue as well as from drainage liquid. These results demonstrate for the first time that HAQs can be isolated and quantified from acute human wound infection sites and validate the relevance of previous studies conducted in mammalian models of infection

Homeostatic Interplay between Bacterial Cell-Cell Signaling and Iron in Virulence

Pathogenic bacteria use interconnected multi-layered regulatory networks, such as quorum sensing (QS) networks to sense and respond to environmental cues and external and internal bacterial cell signals, and thereby adapt to and exploit target hosts. Despite the many advances that have been made in understanding QS regulation, little is known regarding how these inputs are integrated and processed in the context of multi-layered QS regulatory networks. Here we report the examination of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa QS 4-hydroxy-2-alkylquinolines (HAQs) MvfR regulatory network and determination of its interaction with the QS acyl-homoserine-lactone (AHL) RhlR network. The aim of this work was to elucidate paradigmatically the complex relationships between multi-layered regulatory QS circuitries, their signaling molecules, and the environmental cues to which they respond. Our findings revealed positive and negative homeostatic regulatory loops that fine-tune the MvfR regulon via a multi-layered dependent homeostatic regulation of the cell-cell signaling molecules PQS and HHQ, and interplay between these molecules and iron. We discovered that the MvfR regulon component PqsE is a key mediator in orchestrating this homeostatic regulation, and in establishing a connection to the QS rhlR system in cooperation with RhlR. Our results show that P. aeruginosa modulates the intensity of its virulence response, at least in part, through this multi-layered interplay. Our findings underscore the importance of the homeostatic interplay that balances competition within and between QS systems via cell-cell signaling molecules and environmental cues in the control of virulence gene expression. Elucidation of the fine-tuning of this complex relationship offers novel insights into the regulation of these systems and may inform strategies designed to limit infections caused by P. aeruginosa and related human pathogens

Figures et dynamiques de la professionnalisation des communicateurs

Cette recherche menée dans l’espace francophone commun à la Belgique, à la France et au Canada analyse les dynamiques de professionnalisation et identifie les discours et actions performatives qui participent à construire une « figure » du communicateur professionnel. L’analyse inductive d’entrevues auprès de dix-sept représentants actuels et passés de neuf associations professionnelles circonscrit trois formes que prend la figure du professionnel en communication : les valeurs (éthos), les actions (praxis) et les objets (artéfacts). La mise en relation des éléments qui composent ces formes permet d’identifier trois tensions : 1) l’aspiration à une professionnalisation déontique et stratégique pas toujours réalisée; 2) l’idéal véhiculé par les associations et une constante polarisation vers la tâche des professionnels; 3) un apparent débalancement entre les artéfacts normatifs et leur réelle performativité dans la praxis et dans l’éthos. Enfin, même si elle n’offre pas d’explication à ces tensions, cette recherche propose un outil méthodologique qui pourrait servir d’outil d’aide à la mise en place d’une politique professionnelle associative