Government of Quebec

Background/Objectives: Legionella micdadei is a clinically significant species within the Legionella genus, requiring accurate detection methods, surveillance, and precise clinical diagnosis. Our objective was to develop a sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay specific for L. micdadei to detect its presence in environmental specimens. Methods: We targeted the 23S–5S intergenic spacer region, which can differentiate Legionella spp. We tested the detection of L. micdadei with 20 strains and determined the limit of detection with 2 strains. We verified assay specificity with 17 strains of other Legionella spp., 62 strains of other bacterial and fungal genera, and three human DNA specimens. We evaluated intra- and inter-run precision. We tested 15 environmental specimens (water, swabs of water faucets, mulch, and soil) by PCR. Results: The PCR assay demonstrated 100% analytical specificity (no cross-reactivity with non-targeted species), 100% inclusivity (detection of all L. micdadei strains), and high precision, with a coefficient of variation ≤ 2% across replicates. The limit of detection was estimated at 5 genomic DNA copies per reaction. We detected L. micdadei in environmental specimens. Conclusions: This PCR assay enables accurate detection of L. micdadei and is not subject to competition with other Legionella spp., thereby addressing limitations of current broad-spectrum Legionella approaches. The evaluation supports its application in environmental detection for surveillance.

Research on self- and cultural continuity has contributed to our understanding of resilience processes in Indigenous communities, as connecting oneself to the past, present, and future of one's family, community, and traditional culture has been found to protect against deleterious developmental outcomes. To examine factors associated with self-continuity for Indigenous youth in the current study, Indigenous youth from six rural Ojibway and Métis communities in Treaty 2 Territory completed self-report questionnaires aimed at understanding the relationship between the concept of oneself across time and protective and risk factors at different systemic levels (family, community, culture, and colonial). The concept of oneself across time was measured by self-efficacy (global self-worth) and future orientations (optimism and sense of self in the future). The findings indicated that connectedness to caregivers, siblings, friends, neighborhoods, and culture was associated with higher self-efficacy, seeing oneself as more connected to the future, and seeing the future more positively. These findings support the notion that familial, community, and cultural connectedness are associated positive self-concepts in the present and future, which aligns with our understanding of self- and cultural continuity in Indigenous communities.

Enjeux contemporains de gouvernance pour les sous-ministres du gouvernement du Canada de Jacques Bourgault, Montréal, JFD Éditions, 2021, 195 p.. An article from journal Politique et Sociétés (Volume 42, Number 2, 2023), on Érudit.

Abstract Current genetic methods of population assessment in conservation biology have been challenged by genome-scale analyses due to their quantitatively novel insights. These analyses include assessments of runs-of-homozygosity (ROH), genomic evolutionary rate profiling (GERP), and mutational load. Here, we aim to elucidate the relationships between these measures using three divergent ungulates: the white-tailed deer, caribou, and mountain goat. The white-tailed deer is currently expanding, while caribou are in the midst of a significant decline. Mountain goats remain stable, having suffered a large historical bottleneck. We assessed genome-wide signatures of inbreeding using the inbreeding coefficientFand %ROH (FROH) and identified evolutionarily constrained regions with GERP. Mutational load was estimated by identifying mutations in highly constrained elements (CEs) and sorting intolerant from tolerant (SIFT) mutations. Our results show thatFandFROHare higher in mountain goats than in caribou and white-tailed deer. Given the extended bottleneck and lowNeof the mountain goat, this supports the idea that the genome-wide effects of demographic change take time to accrue. Similarly, we found that mountain goats possess more highly constrained CEs and the lowest dN/dS values, both of which are indicative of greater purifying selection; this is also reflected by fewer mutations in CEs and deleterious mutations identified by SIFT. In contrast, white-tailed deer presented the highest mutational load with both metrics, in addition to dN/dS, while caribou were intermediate. Our results demonstrate that extended bottlenecks may lead to reduced diversity and increasedFROHin ungulates, but not necessarily the accumulation of deleterious alleles, likely due to the purging of deleterious alleles in small populations.

This paper investigates the presence of speculative bubbles in the Scandinavian countries namely Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden over the period from 1980Q1 to 2018Q4 and searches for evidence of bubble migration among those countries. First, we apply the GSADF test developed by Phillips et al. (2015) on quarterly housing price-to-rent ratios to test for exuberance and episodic bubbles. Subsequently, we examine bubble migration between these markets using the non-parametric model with time-varying coefficients (NPM-TVC) developed by Greenaway-McGrevy and Phillips (2016). We find evidence of episodic bubbles in all the Scandinavian real estate markets for the period 1980 to 2018. Our results also indicate that housing bubbles are contagious between these markets during several periods, and the market connection is stronger for geographically neighboring countries.

Using quarterly housing price-to-rent ratios from 1970 to 2018, this paper investigated the presence of real estate bubbles at a national level in eight selected European countries, namely Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Then, we analyzed bubbles contagion among these countries. We applied the generalized sup ADF test developed by Phillips et al. (2015) to detect explosive behavior in house prices. Subsequently, we implemented the non-parametric model with time varying coefficients developed by Greenaway-McGrevy and Phillips (2016) to estimate bubbles contagion among European real estate markets. We found evidence of at least one historical bubble in all these countries, with Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain currently experiencing a rising bubble. The results also suggest that bubbles are contagious between these real estate markets.

L’abondance du saumon atlantique (Salmo salar) dans le nord de l’Atlantique a diminué considérablement au cours des dernières décennies. Jusqu’à maintenant, peu de stocks ont montré des signes de rétablissement malgré des efforts importants pour renverser cette situation. Les niveaux décroissants d’abondance des saumons adultes de retour en rivière pourraient être associés à une augmentation de la mortalité naturelle en mer découlant d’une réduction de la croissance. La présente étude a pour but de vérifier si 2 indices de croissance scalaire en phase marine (la distance intercirculi maximale atteinte lors de la première saison estivale en mer et la somme des distances intercirculi de la zone de croissance marine des écailles) et l’abondance des retours de saumon dans la rivière Matane (Québec, Canada) appuient cette hypothèse. Bien que ces indices présentent des différences interannuelles significatives, ils affichent une tendance à la hausse de 1964 à 1979 et une tendance à la baisse de 1995 à 2012. Ces tendances sont semblables à celles des retours de saumons adultes en rivière et à celles de l’indice de l’oscillation nord-atlantique (IONA). Ces similitudes concordent avec l’hypothèse d’une relation inverse entre la croissance marine et la mortalité et, conséquemment, les variations d’abondance qui en résultent.

BackgroundMonitoring of fur-bearing species populations is relatively rare due to their low densities. In addition to catch data, trappers’ experience provides information on the ecology and status of the harvested species. Fisher (Pekania pennanti) and American marten (Martes americana) are mustelids that are sensitive to forest management and therefore considered to be ecological indicators of forest health. Fisher populations have increased in eastern North America since the early 2000s and this could have resulted in a northeastern extension of the species’ range and increased overlap with marten’s range. Moreover, habitats of both species are subject to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The objective of this study was to document the knowledge held by local trappers in the northern area of sympatry between fisher and marten to identify factors that could explain variation in populations of the two species and interactions between them.MethodForty-one semi-directed interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous trappers in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of western Quebec (Canada), at the northern limit of the overlapping ranges of the two mustelid species.ResultsTrappers highlighted the lack of exclusivity of marten and fisher to coniferous forests, although marten is more closely associated with them than is fisher. Fisher apparently also takes advantage of open environments, including agroforestry systems. Moreover, climate change increases the frequency of freeze-thaw events that cause the formation of an ice crust on the snow surface, which favors fisher movements.ConclusionThe fisher was identified as a competitor and even a predator of the marten. Furthermore, the fisher is less affected than the marten by forest management, and it also seems to benefit from climate change to a greater extent.