Pierre Vadeboncoeur et la rhétorique de l’extrême

Parmi les divers types d'essais, l'essai contestataire se présente comme celui qui pose un jugement acerbe sur un événement ou un fait de société ; l'essayiste se fait plaideur et tente implicitement de convaincre son lecteur. Ce ne serait donc pas un hasard si certains procédés rhétoriques participaient à l'élaboration de l'essai. Dans Trois essais sur l'insignifiance , Pierre Vadeboncoeur fait de la rhétorique de l'extrême, un procédé notoire. À la lumière de cet exemple, nous proposons de définir cette rhétorique pour montrer ensuite comment l'argumentation de l'essai de contestation peut être articulée par de tels éléments et comment elle s'apparente à la polémique.Among the existing categories of literary essays, the essays of contestation have the role of judging if not condemning certain values of a society. The author has then to convince the reader of the rightfulness of his opinion. The rhétorique de l'extrême is a way for the essayist to present and uphold his vision of the world. By studying Pierre Vadeboncoeur's Trois essais sur l'insignifiance, we will define this rhetoric in order to show how the essays of contestation can be affiliated to a polemical type of discourse

La fuite comme acte éthique : le discours générationnel chez Hélène Lenoir et Suzanne Jacob

La responsabilité tient au fait que l’on se porte garant de ses propres actions vis-à-vis d’un autre et qu’on réponde tout autant de ce prochain. Cela suppose la nécessité d’un lien, d’un accompagnement qui organise réciproquement l’expérience dans la perspective d’un avenir commun. Mais ce penser-à-l’autre qui détermine aussi bien le rôle auquel on consent que celui qu’on demande ne se fait-il pas, plus que contrainte, contrariété ? N’est-ce pas là une insidieuse mise en échec de la souveraineté individuelle essentielle à la communauté à venir ? À partir de la mise en scène romanesque de la quête d’une éthique intergénérationnelle, cet article examine dans quelle mesure non seulement la distance, mais aussi la fuite peuvent participer de la responsabilité et assurer la continuité d’une filiation fracturée.The idea of responsibility is rooted in guarantees of correct actions towards others, and for which we are accountable. This definition implies a necessary link and interactions that organize experience reciprocally in keeping with a common future. This “consideration of the other”—which determines the roles we consent to and those we demand—can be a source of coercion, even frustration. Does this notion of responsibility not insidiously threaten that individual sovereignty which is so essential to creating a “future community”? With the quest for intergenerational ethics as scenario to the novel, this article explores how distance, and to an even greater extent flight, can be components of a responsibility that serve to maintain a broken filiation

Linking Two Immuno-Suppressive Molecules: Indoleamine 2,3 Dioxygenase Can Modify HLA-G Cell-Surface Expression1

Nonclassical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecule HLA-G and indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (INDO) in humans and mice, respectively, have been shown to play crucial immunosuppressive roles in fetal-maternal tolerance. HLA-G inhibits natural killer and T cell function by high-affinity interaction with inhibitory receptors, and INDO acts by depleting the surrounding microenvironment of the essential amino acid tryptophan, thus inhibiting T cell proliferation. We investigated whether HLA-G expression and INDO function were linked. Working with antigen-presenting cell (APC) lines and monocytes, we found that functional inhibition of INDO by 1-methyl-tryptophan induced cell surface expression of HLA-G1 by HLA-G1- negative APCs that were originally cell-surface negative, and that in reverse, the functional boost of INDO by high concentrations of tryptophan induced a complete loss of HLA-G1 cell surface expression by APCs that were originally cell-surface HLA-G1-positive. This mechanism was shown to be posttranslational because HLA-G protein cell contents remained unaffected by the treatments used. Furthermore, HLA-G cell surface expression regulation by INDO seems to relate to INDO function, but not to tryptophan catabolism itself. Potentia

Ultrasound to guide American shad toward a spillway

To minimize mortality, Hydro-Québec’s power station located on the Des Prairies River (Montréal, Canada), used to stop its operation for one hour every day during the post spawning migration of American shad (Alosa sapidissima). The corresponding water volume was then spilled (via the spillway) to produce a preferential flow for the fish. It was shown that during this period, up to 95% of the shads located in front of the power station swam away from it, toward the spillway. However, during the remaining hours of operation there was a high probability that shad would go through the turbines to complete their journey back to the ocean. To reduce this potential mortality, Hydro-Québec has been experimenting since 2006, with an ultrasound barrier operating at a minimum noise level of 168 dB ref 1µPa at 125 kHz to prevent shads from approaching the power station. From our experimental and bibliographical data, these values have to be met to ensure the success of the American shad guidance. Consequently, since 2010 the power station did not have to stop its operation during the American shad downstream migration. A final prototype developed with Hydro-Quebec’s Research Institute is now in use. Plans are made to guide American shad to an alternative route where no power station is present

Rétro-analyse de l'instabilité d'une pente dans une mine à ciel ouvert assistée de la modélisation numérique utilisant la méthode des éléments distincts

À l'automne 2004, un glissement de roches estimé à près de 50 000m3 est survenu dans la fosse Versant Nord à la mine du Mont-Wright (Compagnie Minière Québec Cartier). Cette rupture de type multi-planaires est associée à la présence de différents éléments structuraux (fractures et contacts géologiques) ayant permis le glissement. La rupture est considérée comme un événement relativement soudain. Aucun signe avant coureur n'a été observé ou mesuré. Puisque la pente a été exposée sur une période de 9 à 16 ans, qu'aucune précipitation importante n'a été associée à la rupture et qu'aucun dynamitage n'a été effectué dans cette zone dans les jours qui ont précédés la rupture, il est difficile d'expliquer ce comportement. Néanmoins, les conséquences économiques de cet événement sont importantes puisque les activités d'extraction dans cette fosse ont été abandonnées. Ce projet de maîtrise vise à effectuer une rétro-analyse de l'instabilité de cette pente à partir des données disponibles. L'analyse est assistée du logiciel de modélisation numérique en trois dimensions utilisant la méthode des éléments distincts (3DEC). La conception du modèle numérique s'effectue par le transfert de données géométriques et géologiques provenant du logiciel de conception minier Surpac. Enfin, divers scénarios pouvant décrire les mécanismes importants de la rupture sont analysés à travers des simulations sur le modèle. Ces scénarios combinent la dégradation progressive des propriétés mécaniques des éléments structuraux et l'apparition de fracturation interne dans le massif rocheux

Practical considerations in establishing the statistical reliability of geomechanical data

In an underground mining operation, the design of safe excavations can be influenced by the quality and quantity of collected geomechanical data. Data collection is the first step in mine design, and a sufficient level of confidence in the input data should be reached depending on the project stage and the design requirements (e.g. temporary and non-entry vs. permanent and entry excavations). This paper compares two statistical analysis methods for quantifying the level of confidence in the intact rock properties obtained through a series of laboratory tests. The laboratory testing database of an underground hard rock mine was used to highlight the variations in the two methods. The impact of the two methods, from an engineering perspective, was illustrated with an example using the Kirsch analytical solution. This investigation demonstrated that the selection of the appropriate analysis method should be guided by the project requirements

Cycles of Police Reform in Latin America.

yesOver the last quarter century post-conflict and post-authoritarian transitions in Latin America have been accompanied by a surge in social violence, acquisitive crime, and insecurity. These phenomena have been driven by an expanding international narcotics trade, by the long-term effects of civil war and counter-insurgency (resulting in, inter alia, an increased availability of small arms and a pervasive grammar of violence), and by structural stresses on society (unemployment, hyper-inflation, widening income inequality). Local police forces proved to be generally ineffective in preventing, resolving, or detecting such crime and forms of “new violence”3 due to corruption, frequent complicity in criminal networks, poor training and low pay, and the routine use of excessive force without due sanction. Why, then, have governments been slow to prioritize police reform and why have reform efforts borne largely “limited or nonexistent” long-term results? This chapter highlights a number of lessons suggested by various efforts to reform the police in Latin America over the period 1995-2010 . It focuses on two clusters of countries in Latin America. One is Brazil and the Southern Cone countries (Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay), which made the transition to democracy from prolonged military authoritarian rule in the mid- to late 1980s. The other is Central America and the Andean region (principally El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Colombia), which emerged/have been emerging from armed conflict since the mid- 1990s. The chapter examines first the long history of international involvement in police and security sector reform in order to identify long-run tropes and path dependencies. It then focuses on a number of recurring themes: cycles of de- and re-militarization of the policing function; the “security gap” and “democratization dilemmas” involved in structural reforms; the opportunities offered by decentralization for more community-oriented police; and police capacity to resist reform and undermine accountability mechanisms