L'analyse économique du droit du poste de commissaire de la Ligue nationale de hockey

L’utilisation de l’analyse économique du droit pour étudier la gouvernance de la Ligue nationale permet de réduire l’erreur humaine lors de la prise de décision. La Ligue nationale est une ligue professionnelle. La maximisation de la valeur des équipes et la quête du profit sont des objectifs économiques importants à réaliser. La gouvernance de la Ligue doit avoir comme priorité d’aider les propriétaires d’équipe à concrétiser la maximisation des objectifs économiques. L’analyse économique du droit peut aider le commissaire et les propriétaires d’équipe à améliorer la gouvernance de la Ligue afin de concrétiser l’objectif de la maximisation de la valeur. Cette étude porte sur l’analyse du poste de commissaire à la gouvernance de la Ligue nationale. Dans une première partie, une présentation de la structure de la Ligue suivie d’une analyse des conditions de marché sont effectuées afin de circonscrire la marge de manœuvre offerte aux décisions de gouvernance. Il est important de comprendre l’effet des règles établies par les gouverneurs de la Ligue au niveau du marché des équipes. Par la suite, dans une deuxième partie, l’analyse du poste de commissaire est effectuée avec l’aide de la théorie du réseau de contrats. La création du poste de commissaire est venue adjoindre une autre partie au réseau de contrats. Les propriétaires assument maintenant le rôle de superviseur tandis que le commissaire s’occupe des activités quotidiennes de la gestion de la Ligue. Le commissaire a intérêt à ce que la Ligue nationale participe activement à la génération de revenus pour les équipes. Il peut arriver des situations où le commissaire a une divergence d’intérêt avec certains propriétaires de la Ligue au niveau de la gouvernance. Empruntées au droit des sociétés, des solutions sont proposées dans la troisième partie afin de mieux assumer l’objectif de la maximisation de la valeur des équipes lors de la prise de décision du commissaire.The use of the economic analysis of law when studying the governance of the National Hockey League reduces human error in the decision-making process. The National Hockey League is a professional league. Value maximisation of the League teams and profits are important economic objectives. As a priority, the League governance must help the team owners to realize these economic objectives. The economic analysis of law can help the Commissioner and the team owners improve the governance of the National Hockey League in order to achieve the objective of value maximisation. This study analyzes the Commissioner’s position within the governance of National Hockey League. In the first part, a description of the National Hockey League structure as well as an analysis of the market conditions will be completed in order to outline the flexibility in governance related decisions. It is important to understand the impact of the regulations established by the Governors of the League related to the team markets. Further, in the second part, an analysis of the Commissioner’s position will be completed based on the theory of the firm. The creation of the Commissioner’s position was added to another element of the theory of the firm. As such, the team owners now assume the role of supervisor while the Commissioner takes care of the daily management of the League. The Commissioner has an interest in ensuring that the National Hockey League contributes actively to the generation of income for the teams. There can be situations where the Commissioner as diverging views with the team owners on governance. Using corporate law, in the third part, solutions will be recommended to better attaint the objective of value maximisation of the League teams in the Commissioner’s decision-making process

Genome Analysis and Expression Patterns of Odorant-Binding Proteins from the Southern House Mosquito Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus

Olfactory-based behaviors in mosquitoes are mediated by odorant-binding proteins (OBPs). They form a multigenic family involved in the peripheral events in insect olfaction, specifically the transport of odorants to membrane-bound odorant receptors. OBPs contribute to the remarkable sensitivity of the insect's olfactory system and may be involved in the selective transport of odorants

Olfactory proteins mediating chemical communication in the navel orangeworm moth, Amyelois transitella.

BackgroundThe navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is the most serious insect pest of almonds and pistachios in California for which environmentally friendly alternative methods of control--like pheromone-based approaches--are highly desirable. Some constituents of the sex pheromone are unstable and could be replaced with parapheromones, which may be designed on the basis of molecular interaction of pheromones and pheromone-detecting olfactory proteins.MethodologyBy analyzing extracts from olfactory and non-olfactory tissues, we identified putative olfactory proteins, obtained their N-terminal amino acid sequences by Edman degradation, and used degenerate primers to clone the corresponding cDNAs by SMART RACE. Additionally, we used degenerate primers based on conserved sequences of known proteins to fish out other candidate olfactory genes. We expressed the gene encoding a newly identified pheromone-binding protein, which was analyzed by circular dichroism, fluorescence, and nuclear magnetic resonance, and used in a binding assay to assess affinity to pheromone components.ConclusionWe have cloned nine cDNAs encoding olfactory proteins from the navel orangeworm, including two pheromone-binding proteins, two general odorant-binding proteins, one chemosensory protein, one glutathione S-transferase, one antennal binding protein X, one sensory neuron membrane protein, and one odorant receptor. Of these, AtraPBP1 is highly enriched in male antennae. Fluorescence, CD and NMR studies suggest a dramatic pH-dependent conformational change, with high affinity to pheromone constituents at neutral pH and no binding at low pH

Knockout of OR39 reveals redundancy in the olfactory pathway regulating the acquisition of host seeking in Anopheles coluzzii

The attraction of anthropophilic mosquitoes to human host cues, such as body odour and carbon dioxide, gradually increases during adult maturation. This acquisition of host-seeking behaviour correlates with age-dependent changes in odorant receptor (OR) transcript abundance and sensitivity of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). One OR gene of the human malaria vector, Anopheles coluzzii, AcolOR39, is significantly downregulated in mature females, and a cognate ligand of AcolOR39, sulcatone, a major component of human emanations, mediates the observed behavioural inhibition of newly emerged (teneral) females to human body odour. Knockout of AcolOR39, using CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis, selectively abolished sulcatone detection in OSNs, housed in trichoid sensilla. However, knockout of AcolOR39 altered neither the response rate nor the flight behaviour of teneral females in a wind tunnel, indicating the involvement of other genes, and thus a redundancy, in regulating the acquisition of host seeking in mosquitoes

Odorant receptor-based discovery of natural repellents of human lice

The body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus, is an obligate blood-feeding ectoparasite and an important insect vector that mediates the transmission of diseases to humans. The analysis of the body louse genome revealed a drastic reduction of the chemosensory gene repertoires when compared to other insects, suggesting specific olfactory adaptations to host specialization and permanent parasitic lifestyle. Here, we present for the first time functional evidence for the role of odorant receptors (ORs) in this insect, with the objective to gain insight into the chemical ecology of this vector. We identified seven putative full-length ORs, in addition to the odorant receptor co-receptor (Orco), and expressed four of them in the Xenopus laevis oocytes system. When screened with a panel of ecologically-relevant odorants, PhumOR2 responded to a narrow set of compounds. At the behavior level, both head and body lice were repelled by the physiologically-active chemicals. This study presents the first evidence of the OR pathway being functional in lice and identifies PhumOR2 as a sensitive receptor of natural repellents that could be used to develop novel efficient molecules to control these insects

An Odorant Receptor from the Southern House Mosquito Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus Sensitive to Oviposition Attractants

Insect odorant receptors (ORs) are heteromers comprised of highly variable odorant-binding subunits associated with one conserved co-receptor. They are potential molecular targets for the development of novel mosquito attractants and repellents. ORs have been identified in the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, and in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. However, they are still unknown in the Southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, which transmits pathogens that cause human diseases throughout the world, including West Nile Virus in the United States.We have employed a combination of bioinformatics, molecular cloning and electrophysiology approaches to identify and characterize the response profile of an OR in Cx. quinquefasciatus. First, we have unveiled a large multigenic family of one-hundred-fifty-eight putative ORs in this species, including a subgroup of conserved ORs in three mosquito species. Using the Xenopus oocytes expression system, we have determined the response profile of CquiOR2, an antennae-specific OR, which shares high identity with putative orthologs in Anopheles gambiae (AgamOR2) and Aedes aegypti (AaegOR2).We show that CquiOR2 is highly sensitive to indole, an oviposition attractant for Cx. quinquefasciatus. The response profile of CquiOR2 expressed in Xenopus oocytes resembles that of an olfactory receptor neuron housed in the antennal short blunt-tipped sensilla (A2) of Cx. quinquefasciatus, which are natural detectors for oviposition attractants. This first Culex OR de-orphanized is, therefore, a potential molecular target for screening oviposition attractants

Odorant Receptor from the Southern House Mosquito Narrowly Tuned to the Oviposition Attractant Skatole

Oviposition attractants are environmental cues that allow Culex gravid female mosquitoes to locate suitable sites for egg-laying and, therefore, may be exploited for environmentally friendly strategies for controlling mosquito populations. Naturally occurring skatole has been identified as an oviposition attractant for the Southern House mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus. Previously, we identified in Cx. quinquefasciatus female antennae an olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) highly sensitive to skatole and an odorant-binding protein involved in the detection of this semiochemical. Here, we describe the characterization of an odorant receptor (OR), CquiOR10, which is narrowly tuned to skatole when expressed in the Xenopus oocyte system. Odorant-induced response profiles generated by heterologously expressed CquiOR10 suggest that this OR is expressed in the mosquito ORN sensitive to skatole. However, geranylacetone, which stimulates the antennal ORN, was not detected by CquiOR10-expressing oocytes, thus raising interesting questions about reception of oviposition attractants in mosquitoes