Jalons pour une théorie pragmatique de l’interprétation du contrat : du temple de la volonté à la pyramide de sens

La thèse insiste sur les différents aspects du terme interprétation. Si son sens varie d’une discipline à l’autre, il varie également d’un juriste à un autre. Partant du constat de l’inadéquation de la théorie classique reposant sur la distinction entre méthode subjective et méthode objective d’interprétation, la thèse propose une nouvelle théorie interprétative basée sur les théories de la communication (la rhétorique et la pragmatique). La théorie pragmatique ainsi développée est par la suite illustrée à l’aide de la jurisprudence de la Cour d’appel du Québec. Ceci afin de démontrer qu’il n’y a pas une théorie interprétative, mais bien des théories interprétatives du contrat au sein des magistrats. Ces théories se distinguent par la prépondérance qu’elles accordent aux arguments de volonté, de logique et d’effectivité. De plus, la thèse fait la démonstration de la nécessité de distinguer entre la production de la norme (opération intellectuelle suivie par l’interprète inaccessible pour l’auditoire) et la justification de la norme (argumentation développée par l’interprète afin de convaincre l’auditoire). S’il peut y avoir adéquation entre ces deux étapes, il peut également y avoir discordance entre le processus suivi afin d’arriver au résultat interprétatif et la justification de ce dernier. Tel est le cas notamment lorsque l’interprète argumente à l’aide de la théorie de l’acte clair voulant qu’un texte clair n’ait pas besoin d’être interprété.

Assessment of the impact of government animal welfare policy on farm animal welfare in the UK

The paper presents the method and findings of a Delphi expert survey to assess the impact of UK government farm animal welfare policy, form assurance schemes and major food retailer specifications on the welfare of animals on forms. Two case-study livestock production systems are considered, dairy and cage egg production. The method identifies how well the various standards perform in terms of their effects on a number of key farm animal welfare variables, and provides estimates of the impact of the three types of standard on the welfare of animals on forms, taking account of producer compliance. The study highlights that there remains considerable scope for government policy, together with form assurance schemes, to improve the welfare of form animals by introducing standards that address key factors affecting animal welfare and by increasing compliance of livestock producers. There is a need for more comprehensive, regular and random surveys of on-farm welfare to monitor compliance with welfare standards (legislation and welfare codes) and the welfare of farm animals over time, and a need to collect farm data on the costs of compliance with standards.

The Acute Care Undergraduate TEaching (ACUTE) initiative: consensus development of core competencies in acute care for undergraduates in the United Kingdom

Background: The care of the acutely ill patient in hospital is often sub-optimal. Poor recognition of critical illness combined with a lack of knowledge, failure to appreciate the clinical urgency of a situation, a lack of supervision, failure to seek advice and poor communication have been identified as contributory factors. At present the training of medical students in these important skills is fragmented. The aim of this study was to use consensus techniques to identify the core competencies in the care of acutely ill or arrested adult patients that medical students should possess at the point of graduation. Design: Healthcare professionals were invited to contribute suggestions for competencies to a website as part of a modified Delphi survey. The competency proposals were grouped into themes and rated by a nominal group comprised of physicians, nurses and students from the UK. The nominal group rated the importance of each competency using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: A total of 359 healthcare professionals contributed 2,629 competency suggestions during the Delphi survey. These were reduced to 88 representative themes covering: airway and oxygenation; breathing and ventilation; circulation; confusion and coma; drugs, therapeutics and protocols; clinical examination; monitoring and investigations; team-working, organisation and communication; patient and societal needs; trauma; equipment; pre-hospital care; infection and inflammation. The nominal group identified 71 essential and 16 optional competencies which students should possess at the point of graduation. Conclusions: We propose these competencies form a core set for undergraduate training in resuscitation and acute care.

Thessaly and Macedon at Delphi

The Daochos Monument at Delphi has received some scholarly attention from an art-historical and archaeological perspective; this article, however, examines it rather as a reflection of contemporary Thessalian history and discourse, an aspect which has been almost entirely neglected. Through its visual imagery and its inscriptions, the monument adopts and adapts long-standing Thessalian themes of governance and identity, and achieves a delicate balance with Macedonian concerns to forge a symbolic rapprochement between powers and cultures in the Greek north. Its dedicator, Daochos, emerges as far more than just the puppet of Philip II of Macedon. This hostile and largely Demosthenic characterisation, which remains influential even in modern historiography, is far from adequate in allowing for an understanding of the relationship between Thessalian and Macedonian motivations at this time, or of the importance of Delphi as the pan-Hellenic setting of their interaction. Looking closely at the Daochos Monument instead allows for a rare glimpse into the Thessalian perspective in all its complexity.

Developing consensus on hospital prescribing indicators of potential harms amenable to decision support

Aim: To develop a list of prescribing indicators specific for the hospital setting that would facilitate the prospective collection of high severity and/or high frequency prescribing errors, which are also amenable to electronic clinical decision support (CDS). Method: A three-stage consensus technique (electronic Delphi) was carried out with 20 expert pharmacists and physicians across England. Participants were asked to score prescribing errors using a 5-point Likert scale for their likelihood of occurrence and the severity of the most likely outcome. These were combined to produce risk scores, from which median scores were calculated for each indicator across the participants in the study. The degree of consensus between the participants was defined as the proportion that gave a risk score in the same category as the median. Indicators were included if a consensus of 80% or more was achieved. Results: A total of 80 prescribing errors were identified by consensus as being high or extreme risk. The most common drug classes named within the indicators were antibiotics (n=13), antidepressants (n=8), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (n=6), and opioid analgesics (n=6).The most frequent error type identified as high or extreme risk were those classified as clinical contraindications (n=29/80). Conclusion: 80 high risk prescribing errors in the hospital setting have been identified by an expert panel. These indicators can serve as the basis for a standardised, validated tool for the collection of data in both paperbased and electronic prescribing processes, as well as to assess the impact of electronic decision support implementation or development.

Constitutional Haploinsufficiency of Tumor Suppressor Genes in Mentally Retarded Patients With Microdeletions in 17p13.1

Chromosome microdeletions or duplications are detected in 10-20% of patients with mental impairment and normal karyotypes. A few cases have been reported of mental impairment with microdeletions comprising tumor suppressor genes. By array-CGH we detected 4 mentally impaired individuals carrying de novo microdeletions sharing an overlapping segment of similar to 180 kb in 17p13.1. This segment encompasses 18 genes, including 3 involved in cancer, namely KCTD11/REN, DLG4/PSD95, and GPS2. Furthermore, in 2 of the patients, the deletions also included TP53, the most frequently inactivated gene in human cancers. The 3 tumor suppressor genes KCTD11, DLG4, and GPS2, in addition to the GABARAP gene, have a known or suspected function in neuronal development and are candidates for causing mental impairment in our patients. Among our 4 patients with deletions in 17p13.1, 3 were part of a Brazilian cohort of 300 mentally retarded individuals, suggesting that this segment may be particularly prone to rearrangements and appears to be an important cause (similar to 1%) of mental retardation. Further, the constitutive deletion of tumor suppressor genes in these patients, particularly TP53, probably confers a significantly increased lifetime risk for cancer and warrants careful oncological surveillance of these patients. Constitutional chromosome deletions containing tumor suppressor genes in patients with mental impairment or congenital abnormalities may represent an important mechanism linking abnormal phenotypes with increased risks of cancer. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel

Protein Adsorption onto Polyelectrolyte Layers: Effects of Protein Hydrophobicity and Charge Anisotropy

Ellipsometry was used to investigate the influence of ionic strength (I) and pH on the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) or beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) onto preabsorbed layers of two polycations: poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) or poly(4-vinylpyridine bromide) quaternized with linear aliphatic chains of two (QPVP-C2) or five (QPVP-C5) carbons. Comparisons among results for the three polycations reveal hydrophobic interactions, while comparisons between BSA and BLG-proteins of very similar isoelectric points (pI)-indicate the importance of protein charge anisotropy. At pH close to pI, the ionic strength dependence of the adsorbed amount of protein (Gamma) displayed maxima in the range 10 < I < 25 mM corresponding to Debye lengths close to the protein radii. Visualization of protein charge by Delphi suggested that these ionic strength conditions corresponded to suppression of long-range repulsion between polycations and protein positive domains, without diminution of short-range attraction between polycation segments and locally negative protein domains, in a manner similar to the behavior of PE-protein complexes in solution.(1-4) This description was consistent with the disappearance of the maxima at pH either above or below pI. In the former case, Gamma values decrease exponentially with I(1/2), due to screening of attractions, while in the latter case adsorption of both proteins decreased at low I due to strong repulsion. Close to or below pI both proteins adsorbed more strongly onto QPVP-C5 than onto QPVP-C2 or PDADMAC due to hydrophobic interactions with the longer alkyl group. Above pI, the adsorption was more pronounced with PDADMAC because these chains may assume more loosely bound layers due to lower linear charge density.

Golden Apples of Deceit

Do you recall the myth about the Golden Apples of Deceit? It seems instructive to me during these trying, tense technological times. Atalanta had been warned by the god Apollo that she would lose herself if ever she married so she determined not to.

Fatores críticos de sucesso na operação de escritórios de gerenciamento de projeto (PMOs): uma abordagem Delphi

Projetos são precursores de novos produtos, serviços e processos organizacionais. Sendo assim, a gestão de projetos aparece como uma grande oportunidade para organizações nos diversos ramos de atividade. O aumento da complexidade do mundo dos negócios e a crescente competitividade fazem com que as empresas tenham que responder cada vez mais rápida e eficientemente aos estímulos externos. Neste contexto, as falhas na execução dos projetos muitas vezes têm resultados desastrosos. Esta dissertação tem por objetivo identificar e analisar os fatores críticos de sucesso para a operação de Escritórios de Gerenciamento de Projetos (Project Management Office – PMO) nas organizações. O PMO permite às empresas usufruir dos benefícios da integração de processos, assim como informar a alta administração sobre o andamento do seu portfólio de projetos, buscando competitividade no mercado com o sucesso de seus projetos. A pesquisa qualitativa (espontânea) teve participação de especialistas brasileiros e estrangeiros, reconhecidos pelo PMI como pessoas destacadas (consultores especializados) em gerenciamento de projetos. Na pesquisa Delphi, quarenta e três especialistas de vários países foram submetidos a um questionário de vinte e cinco perguntas minuciosamente preparadas, a fim de extrair o máximo possível de informações consideradas críticas nas atividades atuais e tendências de PMOs nas empresas. A pesquisa Delphi foi realizada em duas rodadas e concluída com recomendações efetivas, validadas internacionalmente. Como resultado do trabalho, foi desenvolvido um estudo que poderá ser utilizado como referência para a operação de Escritórios de Gerenciamento de Projetos (PMO) nas empresas sem distinção de segmento.

Susceptibility of citrus species to Alternaria alternata, the causal agent of the Alternaria brown spot

Alternaria alternata, the causal agent of Alternaria brown spot (ABS), causes necrosis on leaves, twigs, and fruit, reducing the productivity and quality of fruits. Tangerines and their hybrids are highly susceptible to the disease. Species, hybrids, and cultivars of Citrus from the germplasm bank of the Estacao Experimental de Citricultura de Bebedouro, São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated in 2004 and 2005 with respect to their resistance to A. alternata, both through natural infection and by inoculation. Detached leaves were also used to demonstrate susceptibility or resistance to the disease. Ten cultivars of Satsumas (Citrus unshiu), and 14 cultivars of Clementine mandarin (C. clementina) did not show any symptoms of the disease in their leaves, either through natural infection or when inoculated in the field. The Burguess SRA-412, Wallent SRA-438, Carvalhais, Ampefy SRA-459, Ananas SRA, and Macaque SRA-426 mandarin hybrids (C. reticulata) did not show symptoms of the disease under natural or artificial infection in the field. Some cultivars of C. deliciosa, C. tangerina, C. erythrosa, and C. temple showed symptoms of the disease, even though no previous record of their susceptibility to Alternaria brown spot had been previously reported. The hybrids Fairchild, Nova, Page, Fortune, and Sunburst were susceptible to the disease. However, Fremont mandarin (a crossing between C. clementina and C. reticulata), Encore (C. nobilis x C. deliciosa), and Fallglo (C. reticulata x C. paradisi) did not show symptoms in field, and few symptoms were verified in detached leaves. These materials are promising for the cultivation of tangerines, and will enable genetic improvement for the development of cultivars resistant to Alternaria brown spot. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measurement of the p(p)over-bar -> WZ+X cross section at root s=1.96 TeV and limits on WWZ trilinear gauge couplings

We present measurements of the process p (P) over bar -> WZ + X -> l 'nu(l ')l (l) over bar at root s = 1:96 TeV,where l and l ' are electrons or muons. Using 1 fb(-1) of data from the D0 experiment, we observe 13 candidates with an expected background of 4.5 +/- 0.6 events and measure a cross section sigma(WZ) = 2.7(-1.3)(+1.7) pb. From the number of observed events and the Z boson transverse momentum distribution, we limit the trilinear WWZ gauge couplings to -0: 17 <= lambda(Z) <= 0.21 (Delta k(Z) <= 0.29(lambda(Z) = 0) at the 95% C.L. for a form factor scale Lambda = 2 TeV. Further, assuming that Delta g(1)(Z) = Delta k(Z), we find -0.12 <= Delta k(Z) <= 0.29(lambda(Z) = 0) at the 95% C. L. These are the most restrictive limits on the WWZ couplings available to date.