The specifier–head relationship: negation and French subject proforms

This article1 and the three others in this thematic collection are about heads and specifiers, the relationship between them, and how this relationship can change over time. A theme which emerges is the notion that the spec(ifier)–head relationship is cyclic, in other words, the synchronic relationship between the head and its specifier within a given phrase in a given language can be characterised as a location at a particular point on a cycle, while the diachronic development of the relationship can be seen as a directional stepwise shift around that cycle. The article is organised as follows. Section 2 introduces the theoretical framework. Section 3.1 sketches a well-known diachronic phenomenon – the history of sentential negation – which readily lends itself to an analysis in terms of a cyclic spec–head relationship, and shows how the stages in the cycle have been characterised theoretically. Section 3.2 considers another set of data − pre- and postverbal subject proforms in French − which is similarly suitable for such an approach. Section 4, finally, introduces the three other contributions to the collection

Guanine nucleotide-binding protein-like 1 (GNL1) binds RNA G-quadruplex structures in genes associated with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract : RNAs are highly regulated at the post-transcriptional level in neurodegenerative diseases and just a few mutations can significantly affect the fate of neuronal cells. To date, the impact of G-quadruplex (G4) regulation in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease (PD) has not been analysed. In this study, in silico potential G4s located in deregulated genes related to the nervous system were initially identified and were found to be significantly enriched. Several G4 sequences found in the 5ʹ untranslated regions (5ʹUTR) of mRNAs associated with Parkinson’s disease were demonstrated to in fact fold in vitro by biochemical assays. Subcloning of the full-length 5ʹUTRs of these candidates upstream of a luciferase reporter system led to the demonstration that the G4s of both Parkin RBR E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase (PRKN) and Vacuolar Protein Sorting-Associated Protein 35 (VPS35) significantly repressed the translation of both genes in SH-SY5Y cells. Subsequently, a strategy of using label-free RNA affinity purification assays with either of these two G4 sequences as bait isolated the Guanine Nucleotide- Binding Protein-Like 1 (GNL1). The latter was shown to have a higher affinity for the G4 sequences than for their mutated version. This study sheds light on new RNA G-quadruplexes located in genes dysregulated in Parkinson disease and a new G4-binding protein, GNL1

De l’essor de la performativité dans la politique-spectacle des démocraties de masse

Cet article traite de la montée de la performativité au sein de la politique-spectacle contemporaine. Il soutient qu’à mesure que les conditions sociales sont devenues fragmentées, les acteurs politiques ont été amenés à travailler de façon plus consciemment symbolique dans leur manière de communiquer et de convaincre leur public. Le concept de fragmentation (defusion) sera ici proposé. Celui-ci suggère que les acteurs politiques doivent désormais travailler de façon plus théâtrale pour incarner l’autorité dévolue à leurs charges. En examinant à la fois les changements dans les stratégies américaines présidentielles, la compréhension populaire de la citoyenneté, la production de nouvelles ainsi que les technologies médiatiques tout au cours du vingtième siècle, l’article explique comment la sphère polymorphe que l’on appelle politique s’est organisée de manière de plus en plus théâtrale.This paper examines the rise of performative politics, and argues that as social conditions have become increasingly “defused,” political actors have had to work in a more consciously symbolic way to communicate with and persuade their audiences. Defusion is introduced to suggest that political actors must work more routinely and dramatically to inhabit the authority rooted in their offices. Examining changes in presidential leadership strategies, public understandings of citizenship, and news production and media technologies over the course of the twentieth century, this article details how the amorphous arena we call politics has become increasingly organized in a theatrical way.Éste artículo trata sobre el aumento de la actuación en el seno de la política-espectáculo contemporánea. El mismo sostiene que a medida que las condiciones sociales se vuelven más fragmentadas, los actores políticos son conducidos a trabajar de manera más conscientemente simbólica en su manera de comunicarse y convencer a su público. En éste trabajo se propondrá el concepto de fragmentación. El mismo sugiere que a partir de ahora, los actores políticos deben trabajar de manera más teatral para encarnar la autoridad que les han delegado. Examinando a la vez los cambios dentro de las estrategias presidenciales, la comprensión popular de la ciudadanía, la producción de noticias así como también las tecnologías mediáticas que han tenido lugar a lo largo del siglo veintiuno, el artículo explica como la espera polimórfica que llamamos política, se organiza de manera más teatral

How public policies and other events can shape spatial distribution of local activities over time? : an investigation based on spatial micro-data

The aim of the paper is to propose a methodological framework to explore how urban planning policies, such as the construction of highways, and other major events, such as opening/closure of major plants, affect the spatial distribution of residential and economic activities within a specific location over time. To do so, the paper proposes to use statistics related to the spatial distribution of individual buildings based on centrographic analysis, and to explore the statistical relations between the changes that occur over time with a vector autoregressive (VAR) model. From a land use policy perspective, this framework allows to investigate the causal impact of public action and other events on the local spatial distribution of the activities to see if (and how) it shapes spatial footprints and the distribution of residential and economic activities. The framework is applied to a small Canadian city case but can easily be implemented to any other cases

Effect of Glycerol-Induced Hyperhydration on a 5-kilometer Running Time-Trial Performance in the Heat in Recreationally Active Individuals

Maximal oxygen consumption (V˙O2max) is a major determinant of 5-km running time-trial (TT) performance. Glycerol-induced hyperhydration (GIH) could improve V˙O2max in recreationally active persons through an optimal increase in plasma volume. Moreover, ingestion of a large bolus of cold fluid before exercise could decrease thermal stress during exercise, potentially contributing to improved performance. We determined the effect of GIH on 5-km running TT performance in 10 recreationally active individuals (age: 24 ± 4 years; V˙O2max: 48 ± 3 mL/kg/min). Using a randomized and counterbalanced protocol, participants underwent two, 120-min hydration protocols where they ingested a 1) 30 mL/kg fat-free mass (FFM) of cold water (~4 °C) with an artificial sweetener + 1.4 g glycerol/kg FFM over the first 60 min (GIH) or 2) 7.5 mL/kg FFM of cold water with an artificial sweetener over the first 20 min (EUH). Following GIH and EUH, participants underwent a 5-km running TT at 30 °C and 50% relative humidity. After 120 min, GIH was associated with significantly greater fluid retention (846 ± 415 mL) and plasma volume changes (10.1 ± 8.4%) than EUH, but gastrointestinal (GI) temperature did not differ. During exercise, 5-km running TT performance (GIH: 22.95 ± 2.62; EUH: 22.52 ± 2.74 min), as well as heart rate, GI temperature and perceived exertion did not significantly differ between conditions. This study demonstrates that the additional body water and plasma volume gains provided by GIH do not improve 5-km running TT performance in the heat in recreationally active individuals

Assessing the performance of centralized waiting lists for patients without a regular family physician using clinical-administrative data

Abstract Background With 4.6 million patients who do not have a regular family physician, Canada performs poorly compared to other OECD countries in terms of attachment to a family physician. To address this issue, several provinces have implemented centralized waiting lists to coordinate supply and demand for attachment to a family physician. Although significant resources are invested in these centralized waiting lists, no studies have measured their performance. In this article, we present a performance assessment of centralized waiting lists for unattached patients implemented in Quebec, Canada. Methods We based our approach on the Balanced Scorecard method. A committee of decision-makers, managers, healthcare professionals, and researchers selected five indicators for the performance assessment of centralized waiting lists, including both process and outcome indicators. We analyzed and compared clinical-administrative data from 86 centralized waiting lists (GACOs) located in 14 regions in Quebec, from April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014. Results During the study period, although over 150,000 patients were attached to a family physician, new requests resulted in a 30% median increase in patients on waiting lists. An inverse correlation of average strength was found between the rates of patients attached to a family physician and the proportion of vulnerable patients attached to a family physician meaning that as more patients became attached to an FP through GACOs, the proportion of vulnerable patients became smaller ( r \u2009= \u22120.31, p \u2009<\u20090.005). The results showed very large performance variations both among GACOs of different regions and among those of a same region for all performance indicators. Conclusions Centralized waiting lists for unattached patients in Quebec seem to be achieving their twofold objective of attaching patients to a family physician and giving priority to vulnerable patients. However, the demand for attachment seems to exceed the supply and there appears to be a tension between giving priority to vulnerable patients and attaching of a large number of patients. Results also showed heterogeneity in the performance of centralized waiting lists across Quebec. Finally, our findings suggest it is critical that similar mechanisms should use available data to identify the best strategies for reducing ..