La transformation des idées sur la privatisation du système de santé québécois depuis 1970 : Le passage à un nouveau référentiel sectoriel ?

Depuis la commission Castonguay-Nepveu, le discours sur le système de santé s’est considérablement transformé. L’idée d’un recours plus grand au secteur privé comme solution aux problèmes du secteur public s’est imposée de façon de plus en plus évidente depuis la fin des années 1980. Quelles ont été les idées véhiculées par les principaux acteurs individuels et collectifs ? L’idée d’une participation plus grande du secteur privé a-t-elle réussi à s’imposer ? En s’inspirant de la perspective cognitive, cet article tente de retracer l’évolution du discours des acteurs sur le système de santé québécois.Since the Castonguay-Nepveu Commission, discourse on health system has undergone important changes. Since the end of the eighties, the idea that the private sector may be the ultimate solution to public sector problems has taken more place in the public debate. What was the role of major individual and collective actors ? Has the idea of an increased participation from the public sector been successfully established ? Using the cognitive approach, this paper tries to capture the evolution of the players’ discourse on the Quebec health system

Reconstruction and Particle Identification for a DIRC System

We study the reconstruction and particle identification (PID) problem for Ring Imaging devices providing a good knowledge of the direction of the Cerenkov photons, as the DIRC system, on which we specialize. We advocate first the use of the stereographic projection as a tool allowing a suitable representation of the photon data, as it allows to represent the Cerenkov cone always as a circle. We set up an algorithm able to perform reliably a fit of circle arcs of small angular opening, by minimising a true Chi2 expression. The system we develop for PID relies on this algorithm and on a procedure able to remove background photons with a high efficiency. We thus show that, even when the background is large, it is possible to perform an efficient PID by means of a fit algorithm which finally provides all the circle parameters; these are connected with the charged track direction and its Cerenkov angle. It is shown that background effects can be dealt without spoiling significantly the reconstruction probability distributions.Comment: 67 pages, 23 figure

The Pion Form Factor Within the Hidden Local Symmetry Model

We analyze a pion form factor formulation which fulfills the Analyticity requirement within the Hidden Local Symmetry (HLS) Model. We show that it implies an $s$--dependent dressing of the $\rho-\gamma$ VMD coupling and an account of several coupled channels. The corresponding function $F_\pi(s)$ provides nice fits of the pion form factor data from $s=-0.25$ to $s=1$ GeV$^2$. It is shown that the coupling to $K \bar{K}$ has little effects, while \omg \pi^0 improves significantly the fit quality below the $\phi$ mass. All parameters, except for the subtraction polynomial coefficients are fixed from the rest of the HLS phenomenology. The fits show consistency with the expected behaviour of $F_\pi(s)$ at $s=0$ up to ${\cal O} (s^2)$ and with the phase shift data on $\delta_1^1(s)$ from threshold to somewhat above the $\phi$ mass. The \omg sector is also examined in relation with recent data from CMD--2.We analyze a pion form factor formulation which fulfills the Analyticity requirement within the Hidden Local Symmetry (HLS) Model. We show that it implies an $s$--dependent dressing of the $\rho-\gamma$ VMD coupling and an account of several coupled channels. The corresponding function $F_\pi(s)$ provides nice fits of the pion form factor data from $s=-0.25$ to $s=1$ GeV$^2$. It is shown that the coupling to $K \bar{K}$ has little effects, while \omg \pi^0 improves significantly the fit quality below the $\phi$ mass. All parameters, except for the subtraction polynomial coefficients are fixed from the rest of the HLS phenomenology. The fits show consistency with the expected behaviour of $F_\pi(s)$ at $s=0$ up to ${\cal O} (s^2)$ and with the phase shift data on $\delta_1^1(s)$ from threshold to somewhat above the $\phi$ mass. The \omg sector is also examined in relation with recent data from CMD-2.We analyze a pion form factor formulation which fulfills the Analyticity requirement within the Hidden Local Symmetry (HLS) Model. We show that it implies an $s$--dependent dressing of the $\rho-\gamma$ VMD coupling and an account of several coupled channels. The corresponding function $F_\pi(s)$ provides nice fits of the pion form factor data from $s=-0.25$ to $s=1$ GeV$^2$. It is shown that the coupling to $K \bar{K}$ has little effects, while \omg \pi^0 improves significantly the fit quality below the $\phi$ mass. All parameters, except for the subtraction polynomial coefficients are fixed from the rest of the HLS phenomenology. The fits show consistency with the expected behaviour of $F_\pi(s)$ at $s=0$ up to ${\cal O} (s^2)$ and with the phase shift data on $\delta_1^1(s)$ from threshold to somewhat above the $\phi$ mass. The \omg sector is also examined in relation with recent data from CMD-2.We analyze a pion form factor formulation which fulfills the Analyticity requirement within the Hidden Local Symmetry (HLS) Model. We show that it implies an $s$--dependent dressing of the $\rho-\gamma$ VMD coupling and an account of several coupled channels. The corresponding function $F_\pi(s)$ provides nice fits of the pion form factor data from $s=-0.25$ to $s=1$ GeV$^2$. It is shown that the coupling to $K \bar{K}$ has little effects, while $\omega \pi^0$ improves significantly the fit quality below the $\phi$ mass. All parameters, except for the subtraction polynomial coefficients are fixed from the rest of the HLS phenomenology. The fits show consistency with the expected behaviour of $F_\pi(s)$ at $s=0$ up to ${\cal O} (s^2)$ and with the phase shift data on $\delta_1^1(s)$ from threshold to somewhat above the $\phi$ mass. The $\omega$ sector is also examined in relation with recent data from CMD-2

Assessing welfare of veal calves on farms : measures of behaviour and respiratory disorders and potential ways for welfare improvement

Vleeskalveren zijn jonge runderen die geslacht worden op een leeftijd van maximaal 8 maanden. Vleeskalveren worden gehouden om mals en lichtroze vlees te produceren. Hiertoe worden ze op gespecialiseerde bedrijven gehouden waar ze gevoerd worden met hoofdzakelijk kunstmelk en vast voer (i.e. krachtvoer, maïssilage, stro). In de Europese Unie (EU), minimumnormen voor welzijn en huisvestingcondities voor vleeskalveren zijn gereguleerd via de EU richtlijnen. Deze minimumnormen garanderen niet noodzakelijkerwijze dat het welzijnsniveau van de kalveren altijd optimaal is, aangezien huisvesting- en managementcondities tussen bedrijven kunnen verschillen. Burgers willen geïnformeerd worden over het werkelijke welzijnsniveau van dieren op boerderijen en daardoor ook een noodzaak voor een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde welzijnsmaatlat. De EU heeft van 2004 to 2009 een onderzoeksproject gefinancierd genaamd Welfare Quality® met als doelstelling “het ontwikkelen van een gestandaardiseerd dierenwelzijnsmonitor” en “het identificeren van praktische oplossingen voor het verbeteren van dierenwelzijn”. Dit proefschrift heeft bijgedragen aan het ontwerpen van een welzijnsmonitor op bedrijfsniveau voor vleeskalveren met als specifieke doelstelling de kwaliteit van de verschillende waarnemingen te toetsen betreffende hun validiteit, betrouwbaarheid en uitvoerbaarheid. Verder is voor elke waarneming gekeken naar specifieke risicofactoren voor een verlaagd dierenwelzijn op in totaal 174 kalverbedrijven in de drie belangrijkste vleeskalverproductielanden in Europa (Frankrijk, Nederland en Italië)

Prevalence of Locomotory System Disorders in Veal Calves and Risk Factors for Occurrence of Bursitis

The study aimed to assess the prevalence of locomotory system disorders within a wide cross-sectional study in 174 veal calves farms and to investigate risk factors associated to disorders with a relevant prevalence (>1%). A representative sample of the European veal production systems was considered in the three major producing countries (100 in NL, 50 in FR, 24 in IT). One batch/farm was observed in three stages of the fattening. At each visit calves with evidence of bursitis, hoof lesions, joint lesions, and lameness were recorded. A set of production system descriptors gathered by an interview to the farmer were considered as potential risks. Results showed an average prevalence ≤1% of calves for hoof and joint lesions, and lameness at any stage. Bursitis was observed on 0.2%, 4.1% and 11.2% of calves at 3, 13 wks and at the end of fattening, respectively. Risk factors for bursitis were linked to concrete and wooden slatted floors, to space allowance ≤1.8 m2/calf, and floors aged <8 years while type of housing system (small vs. large groups) was not relevant. There was a significant interaction between stage of fattening and type of floor on bursitis. At the early stage, slatted and bedded floor were similar while at the end of the fattening the highest least mean was observed for calves on concrete floors. Bedding materials had a preventive effect. Rubber or straw should be largely adopted for veal calves as alternative solutions to hard floors in order to improve animals’ comfort, locomotory system health and welfare status

Determination of ππ\pi\pi scattering lengths from measurement of π+π−\pi^+\pi^- atom lifetime

The DIRAC experiment at CERN has achieved a sizeable production of $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms and has significantly improved the precision on its lifetime determination. From a sample of 21227 atomic pairs, a 4% measurement of the S-wave $\pi\pi$ scattering length difference $|a_0-a_2| = (.0.2533^{+0.0080}_{-0.0078}|_\mathrm{stat}.{}^{+0.0078}_{-0.0073}|_\mathrm{syst})M_{\pi^+}^{-1}$ has been attained, providing an important test of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

High-Throughput Drug Screening Identifies Pazopanib and Clofilium Tosylate as Promising Treatments for Malignant Rhabdoid Tumors

Summary: Rhabdoid tumors (RTs) are aggressive tumors of early childhood characterized by SMARCB1 inactivation. Their poor prognosis highlights an urgent need to develop new therapies. Here, we performed a high-throughput screening of approved drugs and identified broad inhibitors of tyrosine kinase receptors (RTKs), including pazopanib, and the potassium channel inhibitor clofilium tosylate (CfT), as SMARCB1-dependent candidates. Pazopanib targets were identified as PDGFRα/β and FGFR2, which were the most highly expressed RTKs in a set of primary tumors. Combined genetic inhibition of both these RTKs only partially recapitulated the effect of pazopanib, emphasizing the requirement for broad inhibition. CfT perturbed protein metabolism and endoplasmic reticulum stress and, in combination with pazopanib, induced apoptosis of RT cells in vitro. In vivo, reduction of tumor growth by pazopanib was enhanced in combination with CfT, matching the efficiency of conventional chemotherapy. These results strongly support testing pazopanib/CfT combination therapy in future clinical trials for RTs. : Rhabdoid tumors (RTs) are aggressive pediatric tumors characterized by SMARCB1 inactivation. Chauvin et al. identify two SMARCB1-dependent targeted therapies for RT: pazopanib, which inhibits PDGFR and FGFR2, and the potassium channel inhibitor clofilium tosylate, which induces endoplasmic reticulum stress. Combining both drugs induces cell apoptosis and reduces PDX tumor growth. Keywords: rhabdoid tumors, SMARCB1, pazopanib, clofilium tosylate, high-throughput drug screening, tyrosine kinase inhibitor

A search for the decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l

We present a search for the lepton flavor violating decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l (h= K,pi; l= e,mu) using the BaBar data sample, which corresponds to 472 million BBbar pairs. The search uses events where one B meson is fully reconstructed in one of several hadronic final states. Using the momenta of the reconstructed B, h, and l candidates, we are able to fully determine the tau four-momentum. The resulting tau candidate mass is our main discriminant against combinatorial background. We see no evidence for B+/- to h+/- tau l decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on each branching fraction at the level of a few times 10^-5.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.