Les valeurs collectives de gestion dans la fonction publique Québécoise: la perception des cadres

Sommaire: Cet article présente les résultats d'une enquête réalisée auprès des administrateurs d'État et des cadres supérieurs de la fonction publique du Québec. Elle visait à mieux connaître les valeurs réelles de gestion qui guident les ministères et les organismes gouvernementaux dans la définition de leurs objectifs et dans l'élaboration des règles de conduite de leur personnel. Cet article identifie un groupe de valeurs communes à l'ensemble des organisations (compétence du personnel, économie des ressources, pouvoir de l'organisation et innovation) et un groupe de valeurs propres à certaines organisations (performance au travail, service à la clientèle, excellence, confort du personnel, souplesse de la direction, esprit de collaboration et engagement envers l'organisation). II montre aussi que les principales valeurs de gestion se rapportent aux buts des organisations, tandis que sont reléguées à l'arrière-plan les valeurs concernant la conduite des membres. Abstract: This paper presents the results of a survey of Quebec public service administrators and top managers. The purpose of the survey was to determine the real management values guiding government ministries and organizations when they are defining their objectives and drafting rules of conduct for their personnel. This paper identifies a set of values shared by all organizations (personnel competence, efficient use of resources, organizational power, and innovation) and a set of values specific to certain organizations (work performance, client service, excellence, staff comfort, management flexibility, spirit of cooperation, and commitment to the organization). It also shows that the main management values relate to the objectives of the organization, while values pertaining to members' conduct are pushed into the background.     

Metal and metalloid multi-elementary ICP-MS validation in whole blood, plasma, urine and hair. Reference values

Four multi-elementary metal and metalloid quantification methods using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were developed and validated in human whole blood, plasma, urine and hair by means of a single preparation procedure for each sample. The ICP-MS measurements were performed using a Thermo Elemental X7CCT series and PlasmaLab software without a dynamic reaction cell. With this procedure 27-32 elements can be simultaneously quantified in biological matrices: Li, Be, B, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, Pd, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Ba, W, Pt, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, U. Whole blood, plasma and urine samples (0.4 ml each) were diluted with purified water, acid, triton X100 and butanol. Rhodium was used as internal standard. The urine sample results were corrected for enzymatic creatinine determination. Twenty-five milligrams hair samples were acid mineralized after a decontamination procedure and diluted as previously described for biological fluids. To be validated, each element had to show linearity with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.99. The intra-assay and inter-assay inaccuracy, measured as the variation coefficient, were below 5 and 10% respectively. Global performance was assessed by a quality control program. Our laboratory is a registered participant of the Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec (Sainte-Foy, Canada) inter-laboratory comparison program for whole blood, urine, and beard hair of non-occupationally exposed individuals spiked with selected elements. In our study multi-element metal and metalloid analysis was assessed for 27 elements in whole blood, 27 elements in plasma, 30 elements in urine and 32 elements in hair, from 0 to 25, or 250 to 1000 ng/ml, depending on the element. Quantification limits ranged from 0.002 ng/ml (U) to 8.1 ng/ml (Al) for whole blood, from 0.002 ng/ml (U) to 7.7 ng/ml (Al) for plasma, from 0.001 ng/ml (U) to 2.2 ng/ml (Se) for urine, and from 0.2 pg/mg (Tl) to 0.5 ng/mg (B) for hair. Normal values were determined in whole blood (n=100), plasma (n=100), urine (n=100), and hair (n=45) of healthy volunteers, leading to approximately 10,000 analyses. All results are presented and discussed. Clinical toxicology and forensic toxicology applications are also reported. ICP-MS has made significant advances in the field of clinical biology, particularly in toxicological analysis. This is due to the use of extremely effective equipment that permits better clinical and forensic toxicological analysis of metal and metalloid status of each individual patient.     

Interest groups and state Medicaid drug programs

A simultaneous equations model is estimated to analyze the interaction between state Medicaid pharmaceutical drug reimbursement rates, drug recipients per capita, and expenditures per drug recipient. Interest groups are shown to have a strong positive impact on pharmacy reimbursement rates, which, in turn, have an impact on pharmacy participation rates and drug utilization and expenditure patterns. Finally, a strong inverse relationship exists between expenditures per recipient and program size. The results verify the existence of substantial variation in state Medicaid programs and point to potentially growing disparities as a result of current policies.     

Contribution of Antemortem Computed Tomography Findings to Cause of Death Determination: An Unusual Fatal Stroke

In the case reported here, the antemortem computed tomography scan (CT scan) was essential in the forensic investigation. A 32‐year‐old man was found fully awake with a facial abrasion, after what seemed to be a car accident. He lost consciousness suddenly one hour after initial management. Successive CT scan showed a facial fracture and a metallic foreign body in the carotid canal associated with an occlusion/dissection of the left internal carotid, a pseudoaneurysm, and a carotid‐cavernous fistula. The victim died from a stroke. Autopsy confirmed that the facial abrasion was a gunshot entrance wound, the metallic foreign body being a projectile. Intracranial vascular injuries linked with gunshot wounds are most of the time isolated and due to pelet embolism. The observed vascular injury association has never been described in the existing literature. The CT scan provided a better understanding of the chronology of events that led to death.     

Intervention and Subversion: The EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine

By way of an inquiry into the European Union's border assistance mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM), this paper articulates two moves. Firstly, deploying intervention to study the relations of the European Union with its self-designated neighbours is heuristically relevant because such a move draws attention to the deployment of a patronizing rationale towards ‘intervened populations’. This is captured in the paper by the notion of tutelage. Secondly, analyses in terms of intervention remain unsatisfying in how they account for the linkage between the planning and ‘programming’ of intervention and its effects. While they work with the idea that intervention like any other practice of rule is a perpetually failing activity, they have yet to articulate this observation analytically. This paper advances the discussion by arguing that the notion of subversion may provide such an articulation.