Financiarisation de la stratégie d’entreprise et restructuration de l’industrie forestière. Étude de l’entreprise Tembec

Cet article analyse la montée en puissance des investisseurs financiers dans le capital des entreprises, à partir de l’étude du cas de l’entreprise Tembec. La dynamique de la stratégie de la compagnie est expliquée à travers une analyse de trois discours qui contribuent à la définition de la stratégie industrielle de l’entreprise : le discours sur les caractéristiques de l’industrie, le discours de l’entreprise sur sa stratégie, et les conférences téléphoniques entre les dirigeants de l’entreprise et les analystes financiers. La financiarisation de l’activité industrielle est ainsi illustrée à travers la redéfinition des outils de mesure, de la finalité et des dimensions de la stratégie d’entreprise.This article analyzes the rise in power of financial investors in business capital, based on a case study of the company Tembec. The dynamic of the company’s corporate strategy is explained through an analysis of three exchanges and communications that contributed to shaping that strategy. These were : views expressed on the characteristics of the industry, the company’s own stance regarding its strategy, and telephone conferences held between the company’s managers and financial analysts. The financialization of the activity of an industry is illustrated through the redefinition of the measurement tools, the business purpose and aspects of corporate strategy

Béhémoth capital : contribution à une théorie dialectique de la financiarisation de la grande corporation

Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2012-2013.L'objet de cette thèse est l'analyse de la genèse, du développement et des transformations contemporaines de la grande corporation américaine de droit privé, comprise à la fois comme matérialisation d'un mode de régulation spécifique de la pratique et comme sujet de l'économie. En effet, la corporation sera envisagée comme cette forme sociale ayant permis la reproduction élargie de l'organisation capitaliste, telle qu'elle a d'abord été théorisée par Marx. Ayant pris naissance dans les pores de la société moderne sous le couvert de la propriété privée, l'organisation capitaliste s'est développée sur la base d'une subordination réelle des pratiques économiques au capital, générant une contradiction structurelle au coeur de cette société. Mue par une logique d'expansion continue mais confrontée aux limites de son encastrement politique, l'organisation capitaliste a fait l'objet, aux États-Unis, d'un processus d'incorporation lui permettant de se reproduire de manière élargie. Par cette incorporation, c'est la capacité à organiser proprement dite qui était séparée de l'entrepreneur pour être reconnue comme « personne morale » autonome. Bénéficiant à ce titre d'une immunité politique garantie par la Constitution, la corporation a constitué le navire amiral du développement de la régulation organisationnelle au 20e siècle, et a permis son extension à l'ensemble des sociétés du monde. Cependant qu'à la faveur des déréglementations économiques et financières ayant eut cours durant les années 1980, un nouveau chapitre s'est ouvert dans l'histoire de l'organisation capitaliste, puisque la constitution d'un système financier globalisé a coïncidé avec la formation d'un nouvel espace de contrainte pour les corporations. C'est précisément cet espace de contrainte financière qui est devenue l'instance supérieure de régulation des organisations corporatives et des institutions politiques. Ayant fait main basse sur les processus décisionnels des corporations, les organisations financières formant ensemble ce système financier ont dès lors procédé à une subordination réelle des corporations, en impulsant une financiarisation de leurs structures et de leurs stratégies. L'analyse de ce processus, toujours en cours, permet d'en apprendre davantage sur la nature du capitalisme financiarisé, ainsi que sur les dispositifs centraux menant à sa reproduction. La caractérisation des logiques de restructuration propres à ce vecteur de financiarisation à laquelle nous procéderons pourra ainsi être comprise comme la contribution de la présente thèse à l'intelligence des rapports entre les fonctionnements spéculatifs du système financier, les nouvelles stratégies de capitalisation des corporations, et les origines de la neutralisation des institutions politiques actuelles

Forêts et propriétés

Le but de cette recherche est d'étudier et d'analyser la propriété des forêts. Dans un premier temps, il s'agira de montrer concrètement comment l'on possède la forêt, en présentant trois modèles empiriques : les forêts publiques québécoises, les forêts privées américaines et les forêts domaniales françaises - des propriétés mixtes. Dans un deuxième temps, nous développerons le thème de la propriété en philosophie. Pour ce faire, nous étudierons trois philosophes, représentatifs de divers modes de la propriété (privée avec John Locke, et publique avec Jean-Jacques Rousseau), avant de critiquer la propriété elle-même en suivant les développements de Pierre Joseph Proudhon. Enfin, dans un troisième temps, nous aborderons certains thèmes de l'éthique environnementale, comme la valeur intrinsèque de la nature, l'habité, la wilderness et les aires protégées, en mettant l'accent sur la situation québécoise. Même si nous nous éloignerons quelque peu de la propriété, celle-ci sera néanmoins le filigrane du troisième chapitre. Nous pourrons ainsi mieux comprendre les mécanismes de la propriété qui, lorsque nous la mettons en parallèle avec les forêts, en font un sujet unique. Les forêts ne sont pas des biens comme les autres, et nous allons comprendre leur spécificité

Neural Networks, Logistic Regression, and Calibration: A Reply

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68566/2/10.1177_0272989X9801800414.pd

Simultaneous aortic and renal artery reconstruction: Evolution of an eighteen-year experience

AbstractPurpose: We reviewed an 18-year experience with combined abdominal aortic and renal artery reconstruction (AOR) with a particular focus on patients' clinical risk profile and surgical results in contemporary practice as compared with earlier experience.Methods: One hundred seventy patients underwent AOR during the interval January 1, 1976 to June 30, 1994. To examine parameters representative of current practice, the cohort was divided into group I patients (n = 110) treated before 1990 and group II (n = 60) treated between 1990 and 1994. Median follow-up duration for the entire cohort was 8.4 ± 0.6 years. Renal artery reconstruction patency and patient survival rates were calculated by life-table methods. Logistic and Cox regression analysis were used to determine predictors of perioperative and long-term morbidity/mortality rates.Results: Although demographic features changed little over the review period, the detection (56% vs 73%, p = 0.03) and treatment with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty/coronary artery bypass grafting (11% vs 40%, p = 0.0001) of associated coronary artery disease were more frequent in group II versus group I patients. Alternatively, renal insufficiency was more frequent in group I patients. The operative mortality rate for the entire cohort was 6.5% (group I = 9% vs group II = 2%, p = 0.06). Changing trends of surgical techniques over the review period included (group I vs II, respectively) increased use of bilateral simultaneous renal artery repair (12% vs 25%, p < 0.005) and transaortic endarterectomy as the renal artery reconstruction technique (3% vs 25%, p < 0.0001). Favorable response in blood pressure control was noted in 68% of group II patients. The cumulative 5-year survival rate for all patients was 75% with an initial serum creatinine of 2.0 mg/dl or greater being the only negative predictor of late survival after regression analysis.Conclusion: The current operative mortality rate for AOR is in the range anticipated for aortic surgery alone, and this appears to be related to improved detection and treatment of associated coronary artery disease and intervention before major deterioration in renal function. These findings coupled with currently available natural history data relative to renovascular disease justify an aggressive approach with AOR when significant renal artery stenosis is detected during evaluation of aortic disease. (J VASC SURG 1995;21:916-25.

Renal artery reconstruction for the preservation of renal function

AbstractPurpose: We reviewed a 13-year experience with an emphasis on long-term survival and renal function response when renal artery reconstruction (RAR) was performed primarily for the preservation or restoration of renal function in patients who had atherosclerotic renovascular disease.Methods: From January 1, 1980, to June 30, 1993, 139 patients underwent RAR for renal function salvage and were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were either preoperative serum creatinine level >2.0 mg/dl (67% of patients) or RAR to the entire functioning renal mass irrespective of baseline renal function. Patient survival was calculated by life-table methods. Cox regression analysis was used to determine relative risk (RR) estimates for the late outcomes of continued deterioration of renal function and late survival after RAR. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate variables associated with perioperative complications.Results: Clinical characteristics of the cohort were notable for advanced cardiac (history of congestive heart failure, 27%; angina, 22%; previous myocardial infarction, 19%) and renal disease (serum creatinine level <2.0 mg/dl, 33%; 2.0 mg/dl to 3.0 mg/dl, 40%, >3.0 mg/dl, 27%). Cardiac disease was the principle cause of early (6 of 11 operative deaths) and late death. Operative management consisted of aortorenal bypass in 47%, extraanatomic bypass in 45%, and endarterectomy in 8%; 45% of patients required combined aortic and RAR. The operative mortality rate was 8%; significant perioperative renal dysfunction occurred in 10%. Major operative morbidity was associated with increasing azotemia (RR = 2.1; p = 0.001; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3 to 4.7 for each 1.0 mg/dl increase in baseline creatinine level). Of those patients who had a baseline creatinine level ≥2.0 mg/dl, 54% had ≥20% reduction in creatinine level after RAR. Late follow-up data were available for 87% of operative survivors at a mean duration of 4 years (range, 6 weeks to 12.6 years). Actuarial survival at 5 years was 52% ± 5%. Continued deterioration in renal function occurred in 24% of patients who survived operation, and eventual dialysis was required in 15%. Deterioration of renal function after RAR was associated with increasing levels of preoperative creatinine (RR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.8; p = 0.001 for each 1.0 mg/dl increment in baseline creatinine level), and inversely related to early postoperative improvement in creatinine level (RR = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.2 to 0.9; p = 0.04).Conclusions: Intervention before major deterioration in renal function and an aggressive posture toward the frequently associated coronary artery disease are necessary to improve long-term results when RAR is performed for renal function salvage. (J Vasc Surg 1996;24:371-82.

Injury markers predict time to dementia in subjects with MCI and amyloid pathology

OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer disease (AD) can now be diagnosed in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using biomarkers. However, little is known about the rate of decline in those subjects. In this cohort study, we aimed to assess the conversion rate to dementia and identify prognostic markers in subjects with MCI and evidence of amyloid pathology. METHODS: We pooled subjects from the VU University Medical Center Alzheimer Center and the Development of Screening Guidelines and Criteria for Predementia Alzheimer's Disease (DESCRIPA) study. We included subjects with MCI, an abnormal level of β-amyloid(1-42) (Aβ(1-42)) in the CSF, and at least one diagnostic follow-up visit. We assessed the effect of APOE genotype, CSF total tau (t-tau) and tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (p-tau) and hippocampal volume on time to AD-type dementia using Cox proportional hazards models and on decline on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) using linear mixed models. RESULTS: We included 110 subjects with MCI with abnormal CSF Aβ(1-42) and a mean MMSE score of 26.3 ± 2.8. During a mean follow-up of 2.2 ± 1.0 (range 0.4-5.0) years, 63 subjects (57%) progressed to AD-type dementia. Abnormal CSF t-tau (hazard ratio [HR] 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-4.6, p = 0.03) and CSF p-tau (HR 3.5, 95% CI 1.3-9.2, p = 0.01) concentration and hippocampal atrophy (HR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.6, p = 0.02) predicted time to dementia. For subjects with both abnormal t-tau concentration and hippocampal atrophy, HR was 7.3 (95% CI 1.0-55.9, p = 0.06). Furthermore, abnormal CSF t-tau and p-tau concentrations and hippocampal atrophy predicted decline in MMSE score. CONCLUSIONS: In subjects with MCI and evidence of amyloid pathology, the injury markers CSF t-tau and p-tau and hippocampal atrophy can predict further cognitive decline

Molecular profiling and combinatorial activity of CCT068127: a potent CDK2 and CDK9 inhibitor

Deregulation of the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple cancer types. Consequently, CDKs have garnered intense interest as therapeutic targets for the treatment of cancer. We describe herein the molecular and cellular effects of CCT068127, a novel inhibitor of CDK2 and CDK9. Optimised from the purine template of seliciclib, CCT068127 exhibits greater potency and selectivity against purified CDK2 and CDK9 and superior antiproliferative activity against human colon cancer and melanoma cell lines. X-ray crystallography studies reveal that hydrogen bonding with the DFG motif of CDK2 is the likely mechanism of greater enzymatic potency. Commensurate with inhibition of CDK activity, CCT068127 treatment results in decreased retinoblastoma protein (RB) phosphorylation, reduced phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II and induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. The transcriptional signature of CCT068127 shows greatest similarity to other small molecule CDK and also HDAC inhibitors. CCT068127 caused a dramatic loss in expression of DUSP6 phosphatase, alongside elevated ERK phosphorylation and activation of MAPK pathway target genes. MCL1 protein levels are rapidly decreased by CCT068127 treatment and this associates with synergistic antiproliferative activity after combined treatment with CCT068127 and ABT263, a BCL2-family inhibitor. These findings support the rational combination of this series of CDK2/9 inhibitors and BCL2 family inhibitors for the treatment of human cancer