A review of the feasibility of alternative energy system using an energy return on investment analysis

To support further technology development and to promote the growth of a renewable biofuels industry that will satisfy the stated expectations of anticipated energy needs, it is essential that energy production systems provide a net energy gain over the course of their lifetime. As a means to provide accurate analysis to the value of alternative energy systems this paper provides a mechanism to evaluate energy systems in terms of energy generation ratios that is in terms of existing analysis techniques utilized in existing energy generation areas, such as the oil industry. This paper also proposes techniques that help perform this net energy analysis in terms of the specific economy considering the infrastructure investment

La peur de l'accouchement: quel accompagnement les sages-femmes peuvent-elles proposer? : Travail de Bachelor

Introduction: La grossesse entraîne des bouleversements et des changements autant psychiques que physiques qui ont pour répercussion un état de vulnérabilité plus ou moins important. Cet état peut favoriser le développement de certaines craintes chez les femmes enceintes vis à vis de la grossesse et de l’accouchement. Objectif: L’objectif de ce travail est de mieux comprendre les différentes peurs des femmes enceintes en regard de l’accouchement, les impacts de celles-ci sur la grossesse, l’accouchement et le post-partum ainsi que le rôle des sages-femmes dans l'accompagnement de ces femmes. Méthode: Cinq études ont été sélectionnées à partir de plusieurs bases de données telles que Pubmed et CINHAL. Elles ont ensuite été analysées et critiquées. Celles-ci ont été réalisées en Europe et en Australie entre 2009 et 2015. Résultats!: 11% des femmes enceintes sont touchées par la peur sévère de l’accouchement. Les peurs les plus exprimées par celles-ci sont principalement la perte de contrôle, la santé du bébé et le fait de devenir mère. Une ancienne expérience négative de l’accouchement, le manque de soutien social ainsi que des symptômes de dépression augmentent le risque de souffrir de peur de l’accouchement. Les peurs de l’accouchement ont un impact sur le comportement des femmes ainsi que sur le déroulement de la grossesse, de l’accouchement et du post-partum. Le rôle des sages-femmes est important car il influence le vécu des femmes. Conclusion: En tant que professionnel de la santé il est important d’offrir à ces femmes un espace de parole et d’écoute afin qu’elles se sentent considérées et comprises. Un accompagnement personnalisé et adapté à leurs besoins augmente leur capacité à faire face à ces peurs

Insertion ou désertion professionnelle : étude de trajectoires professionnelles de jeunes enseignantes et enseignants québécois

Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2013-2014.De plus en plus de chercheurs dans le domaine de l’éducation constatent que les premières années de pratique en enseignement au Québec sont ardues, et s’inquiètent de la désertion prématurée de certains enseignants novices. Le présent mémoire vise à mieux comprendre cette période névralgique d’insertion dans la carrière enseignante et à repérer les facteurs pouvant inciter les novices à rester ou à quitter ce champ professionnel durant ces années cruciales. Pour ce faire, la désertion enseignante y est non pas uniquement considérée comme un aboutissement possible de la période d’insertion dans le métier, mais bien comme un processus à part entière, le pendant inverse de cette insertion. Par l’analyse en profondeur de vingt-deux trajectoires professionnelles de jeunes enseignants ayant persévéré dans la profession (onze trajectoires) ou ayant choisi de se réorienter pendant leurs premières années de pratique (onze trajectoires), nous avons observé les interrelations dominantes entre les facteurs propres aux individus et les facteurs propres aux structures du monde enseignant qui conditionnent le choix de poursuivre ou de quitter la profession. On constate que, dans bien des cas, l’identité de l’acteur exerce un rôle prépondérant, alors que dans d’autres, des éléments du contexte influencent davantage les décisions des nouveaux enseignants. Néanmoins, tous les facteurs en cause présentent des éléments relevant tant de la dynamique des acteurs que de celle des structures. Six types de dynamiques ont été repérés, lesquels indiquent que maints éléments constitutifs de l’identité de l’individu –par exemple, le choix de carrière et le réalisme des attentes nourries en cours de formation, le degré de compatibilité sentie avec les mandats ou la structure éducationnels en place, la façon d’être et d’agir durant les expériences d’enseignement, ainsi que l’importance relative accordée au travail enseignant au regard des autres sphères de la vie (la famille notamment)– jouent un rôle important dans la décision de certains répondants de poursuivre ou d’abandonner leur projet professionnel. En ce qui concerne les structures du monde du travail enseignant, les paramètres de l’emploi (durée d’accès à un statut stable), du travail (conditions de pratique, charges de travail, mandats, nature des groupes) et du milieu (notamment le soutien institutionnel et celui des collègues) influencent également le choix des enseignants de persévérer ou de cesser d’enseigner.More and more, researchers in the field of education are acknowledging the hard times that constitute the early years of teaching practice in Québec, and worry about premature leaves of novice teachers. The research here presented seeks to offer a better understanding of this crucial moment of integration in the teaching profession, and to examine the determinants that can influence novices to persevere or to abandon this professional field. To do so, attrition of novice teachers is not only considered as a probable outcome of the insertion process, but as a process on its own, the opposite equivalent of this insertion. By thorough analysis of twenty-two professional trajectories of beginning teachers who have persevered in teaching (eleven trajectories), as well as novices who have chosen to redirect their career during their first in-service years (eleven trajectories), we observed the dominant interrelations between factors inherent to individuals and factors belonging to the education system as a structure that influence the choice to continue or to quit teaching. We found that in many cases, interactions are further driven by individual elements whereas in some other cases, elements of the context, which are independent of the social players, appeared to be the leading force of the decision process. Nevertheless, all the factors involved in the decision-making of the novices we met implied dynamics inherent to both actors and structures. Six types of interrelations have emerged from the study. They show that many elements pertaining to the identity of young teachers, such as career choice and realism of expectations created before and often maintained during pre-service training, the degree of adequacy felt between the novice on one hand and the mandates and the structural organization of education on the other hand, the ways of being and reacting during the early teaching experiences, and the relative importance attached to the field of work versus other fields of life (especially family and children), play important roles in the decision process of some participants regarding their professional teaching project. Concerning the elements of context, employment parameters (time needed to get a stable status), work parameters (working conditions, workloads, mandates, composition of the class) and environment parameters (particularly support received from other staff and principal) also have a noticeable influence on the choices made by the subjects interviewed in regards to continuing in the teaching profession, or leaving it

Induced neophobic predator avoidance in hatchery-reared juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Hatchery-reared fishes, especially salmonids, are routinely stocked into natural waterways as a part of population enhancement and recovery programs, and conservation efforts. These initiatives, however, are often met with limited success due to poor post-stocking survival of hatchery fish. It has been suggested that a failure to recognize predators by hatchery-reared fish leads to disproportionately low post-stocking survival rates. A commonly advocated approach to enhancing post-stocking survival is to condition hatchery fish to recognize and avoid relevant threats through ‘life skills training’. However, such approaches have yielded decidedly mixed results. Here, I tested the prediction that phenotypically plastic neophobic predator avoidance (the avoidance of novel cues) can be induced in hatchery reared Atlantic salmon. This response may lead to the enhancement of post-stocking survival among hatchery reared juvenile Atlantic salmon; making it a new approach to life skills training. Initially, I tested the prediction that hatchery reared juvenile salmon subjected to alarm cue (a known, reliable cue indicating a predation event) for a prolonged period of time would elicit a neophobic response (defined as a significant decrease in time spent on the substrate and foraging attempts) to a novel cue during testing. During the treatment phases of three or six days, juvenile hatchery Atlantic salmon were given either alarm cue (high risk) or a water control (low risk). Following the treatment phases, fish from both treatment conditions were given a stimulus of either novel odour or a water control. The test fish’s time on substrate and foraging attempts were recorded pre- and post- stimulus, allowing me to investigate changes in behaviour caused by the presence of the novel stimuli. My results suggested that juvenile Atlantic salmon pre-exposed to alarm cue for three days did not demonstrate neophobic predator avoidance behaviour, however those pre-exposed for six days did exhibit an increase in time on substrate and a reduction in foraging attempts. Secondly, I tested the prediction that a neophobic response induced in hatchery reared fish over a six-day treatment phase would be retained throughout a transportation and stocking event. Conditioned salmon were transported to Catamaran Brook (Catamaran Research Centre), and tested for their response to a novel cue vs. water control. My results suggest that juvenile Atlantic salmon pre-exposed to alarm cue for six days and transported and released into a semi-natural environment did not demonstrate neophobic behaviour towards a novel cue. This suggests that the neophobic response was not retained throughout a transportation and stocking event. Finally, I tested the prediction that neophobic predator avoidance could be induced in hatchery reared and wild juvenile Atlantic salmon in a semi-natural environment. Wild and hatchery fish were subjected to alarm cue or water (control) for six days in a semi-natural environment after which their behaviour towards a novel cue was tested (in the same fashion as in experiment one) in the semi-natural environment. My results suggested that hatchery-reared fish given alarm cue for six days in a semi-natural environment demonstrated a neophobic predator avoidance response to a novel cue during behavioural testing in the semi-natural environment; however wild fish in the same conditions did not

De la thérapeutique au spiritualisme : le baron du Potet de Sennevoy (1796-1881), prophète du magnétisme à Paris

Jules du Potet de Sennevoy (1796-1881), dit le baron du Potet, est une figure majeure du magnétisme animal au xixe siècle. Il navigue entre les différentes écoles magnétistes, du thérapeutisme au spiritualisme, avec un esprit rassembleur, parfois opportuniste. Directeur du Journal du Magnétisme (1845-1861), il constitue et anime pendant près de soixante ans un important réseau de magnétiseurs, en France et à l’étranger. Formé auprès de Deleuze et Faria, il pratique en milieu hospitalier puis, après le rejet définitif du magnétisme par l’Académie de médecine en 1842, se rapproche des milieu occultistes, spirites puis théosophiques. Partisan dans sa jeunesse d’un magnétisme psychofluidiste, il évolue peu à peu vers une conception plus spiritualiste, où le magnétisme est assimilé à la force vitale de l’univers. Il défend une conception horizontale du magnétisme, s’élevant contre les élites médicales et religieuses coupables de n’avoir pas voulu s’emparer de la révélation magnétique. Anticlérical convaincu, toute son œuvre est pourtant marquée par la prégnance des motifs religieux ; il se proclame le prophète d’une vérité qui tarde à être reconnue.Jules du Potet de Sennevoy (1796-1881), known as Baron du Potet, was a major figure in 19th-century animal magnetism. He navigated between the different schools of magnetism, from therapeutism to spiritualism, with a unifying, sometimes opportunistic spirit. Director of the Journal du Magnétisme (1845-1861), he built up and ran a large network of magnetists in France and abroad for nearly sixty years. Trained by Deleuze and Faria, he practiced in hospitals and then, after the definitive rejection of magnetism by the Academy of Medicine in 1842, moved closer to occultist, spiritualist and, lastly, theosophical circles. In his youth, he was a supporter of psychofluidist magnetism, but gradually moved towards a more spiritualist conception, in which magnetism was equated with the vital force of the universe. He defended a horizontal conception of magnetism, speaking out against the medical and religious elites who were guilty of not wanting to take hold of the magnetic revelation. Despite his strong anticlerical convictions,, his entire work is nevertheless marked by the influence of religious motives; he is the self-proclaimed prophet of a truth whose recognition is long overdue

Preparation of reproducible alkaline phosphatase-antibody conjugates for enzyme immunoassay using a heterobifunctional linking agent

peer reviewedConjugates of alkaline phosphatase (AP) and mouse monoclonal immunoglobulins G (IgG) were prepared by means of the heterobifunctional linker, N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio)-propionate. The efficiency of such conjugates can be improved by optimizing the degree of substitution of IgG and AP. We have determined conditions yielding better performing conjugates than those synthesized by methods described previously. Moreover, the results obtained with the technique presented here are quite reproducible with all four monoclonal antibodies tested

L'observance du plan alimentaire et la satisfaction de vie chez les personnes diabétiques : contribution à long terme de l'efficacité personnelle de l'autodétermination

La présente étude vise à vérifier les contributions à long terme respectives de l'efficacité personnelle et de l'autodétermination sur l’observance et la satisfaction de vie des personnes atteintes de diabète. L’échantillon à l’étude est constitué de 278 participants ayant répondu à deux envois de questionnaires à 16 mois d’intervalle. Les résultats révèlent que le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle s’avère, à long terme, un excellent prédicteur de l’observance au plan alimentaire et de la satisfaction de vie. Ils sont cependant moins patents pour ce qui est de l'autodétermination, la valeur prédictive de celle-ci sur l’observance et la satisfaction de vie ne se voyant pas confirmée. Toutefois, la contribution de l’autodétermination n’est pas à négliger puisque son utilisation en complémentarité avec l’efficacité personnelle laisse entrevoir une voie d’avenir intéressante

Body composition estimation from selected slices:equations computed from a new semi-automatic thresholding method developed on whole-body CT scans

Background Estimating volumes and masses of total body components is important for the study and treatment monitoring of nutrition and nutrition-related disorders, cancer, joint replacement, energy-expenditure and exercise physiology. While several equations have been offered for estimating total body components from MRI slices, no reliable and tested method exists for CT scans. For the first time, body composition data was derived from 41 high-resolution whole-body CT scans. From these data, we defined equations for estimating volumes and masses of total body AT and LT from corresponding tissue areas measured in selected CT scan slices. Methods We present a new semi-automatic approach to defining the density cutoff between adipose tissue (AT) and lean tissue (LT) in such material. An intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to validate the method. The equations for estimating the whole-body composition volume and mass from areas measured in selected slices were modeled with ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regressions and support vector machine regression (SVMR). Results and Discussion The best predictive equation for total body AT volume was based on the AT area of a single slice located between the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae (L4-L5) and produced lower prediction errors (|PE| = 1.86 liters, %PE = 8.77) than previous equations also based on CT scans. The LT area of the mid-thigh provided the lowest prediction errors (|PE| = 2.52 liters, %PE = 7.08) for estimating whole-body LT volume. We also present equations to predict total body AT and LT masses from a slice located at L4-L5 that resulted in reduced error compared with the previously published equations based on CT scans. The multislice SVMR predictor gave the theoretical upper limit for prediction precision of volumes and cross-validated the results