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1. In minesoil reclamation, the establishment of a sustainable plant cover requires the improvement of limiting conditions and the re-initiation of carbon (C) and nutrient cycling. 2. The approach used in this study for reclaiming an abandoned sandpit in Quebec, Canada, was based on a heavy organic amendment as an attempt to accelerate the reconstruction of a functional ecosystem. 3. The one-time intervention consisted of incorporating paper de-inking sludge into soil at two rates (0 and 105 dry t ha–1 ), supplemented with nitrogen (N) at three rates (3, 6 and 9 g kg–1 sludge) and phosphorus (P) at two rates (0·5 and 1·0 g kg–1 sludge) followed by seeding (mid-summer) of Agropyron elongatum (Host) Beauv. (tall wheatgrass). 4. Standing biomass increased in the presence of sludge after both the first and second full growing seasons. High N application rates further increased yield, more importantly in the second season. The high P rate improved grass establishment in all cases. Ground cover increased with time and doubled in the presence of sludge whereas it declined in the absence of sludge. Phosphorus and N uptake was improved consistently in the presence of sludge. 5. Sludge application resulted in improved water retention and cation exchange capacities, and an increase in pH and bulk density of sandpit minesoil, all of which may have accounted for the significant improvement in plant responses. Levels of soil C and N suggest that this reconstructed system is approaching sustainability. 6. Adequate N and P supplements will accentuate the positive influence of sludge on revegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents abstracts of papers presented at the Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research held on October 16-19, 1986 at Le Center Sheraton in Montreal, Quebec. Account of papers submitted for the symposium on conceptual and methodological implications of sex in psychophysiology research; Highlights of the paper "Power spectral analysis quantification of respiratory sinus arrhythmia," by researcher J.E. Richard presented in this meeting; Overview of the paper "Emotion and autonomic specificity: Something Borrowed -- Something New," by researcher R.W. Levenson submitted under the "Historical Symposium on Emotion" category of this meeting.

The paper contributes to the literature on black students and racial disparities in high school completion in Canada and makes original use of the 2006 Census to analyze the educational attainment of 18- to 19-year-olds in Ontario and Quebec. Results of a logistic regression indicate that in both provinces, black/white disparities in graduation rates disappear when income, family structure, language, gender, and place of residence are taken into account. Higher rates of socioeconomic disadvantage among black children pose challenges for high school completion. These findings do not imply that racism has no impact; indeed, the paper concludes that high school completion may not be the outcome most suitable for evaluating the effects of racism on educational attainment. Future studies should examine the causes of racial disparities in intermediate outcomes of school success (i.e., grades, special education placement, academic tracking, and disciplinary sanctions), and their effects on the graduation rates and postsecondary pathways of black students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1960s, the only pan-Canadian association of municipalities has shown two decades of decline followed by two decades of growth. This paper analyses this decline and subsequent growth in the context of the changing position of municipalities with Canada, particularly those in Quebec. Examination of the association's recent history provides useful insights into how Canada's municipalities cope with Canadian federalism. It provides lessons as to how best to prosper as a pan-Canadian organization concerned with what are mainly matters of provincial interest. The paper's theoretical contribution includes reference to the nature and roles of interest groups in Canadian federalism and to the application of structural contingency theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constitutional entanglements in Canada–Quebec relations are well known. From one referendum on Quebec’s sovereignty to the other, from one pan–Canadian constitutional meeting to the other, the ‘Quebec problem’ seems irresolvable. One dimension is constantly overlooked in this debate: territorial identity. Territorially–based cultural claims emerge in the core of urban Quebec under the leadership of partitionist and localist movements. Originally based in Montreal, the partitionist movement is driven by Anglo–Que´be´cois claims over local municipalities and certain parcels of the territory in the event of an independent Quebec. This paper seeks to understand a dual reterritorialisation process: 1) state territorial rescaling policies such as decentralisation and metropolitan reform, and 2) the use of territorial claims underpinning social mobilisation strategies. When state territorial restructuring policies do not correspond with the local territorial political culture, as I argue in the case of a ‘frontier–city’ like Montreal, it spurs the activation of strategic territorialisation. This paper begins with an analysis of Montreal’s territorial political culture, rooted in the coexistence of opposite territorial myths and a common feeling of distinctiveness. Then follows a discussion of strategic territorialisation and the poly–scalar nature of such mobilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional altruism in the form of a public-sector intervention and support for victims and social altruism generated by mutual aid and solidarity among citizens constitute a coming together in a crisis. This coming together and mutual support precipitate a decrease in crime rates during such an event. This paper presents an analysis of daily fluctuations in crime during the prolonged ice storms in Quebec, Canada, in January 1998 that provoked an electrical blackout. Of particular interest are the principal crisis-related influences on daily crime patterns. A first series of analyses examines the impact of altruistic public-sector mobilisation on crime. A significant decline in property crime rates was noticed when cheques were distributed to crisis victims in financial need in Montérégie, and hence they were attributable to public intervention (institutional altruism). Moreover, the rate of social altruism (financial donations), which was more substantial in adjoining rather than distant regions, was inversely proportional to crime rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Gilca et al. (2011) Risk Factors for Hospitalization and Severe Outcomes of 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza in Quebec, Canada. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 5(4), 247-255 This case-control study was carried out to estimate risk factors associated with hospitalizations and severe outcomes [intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death] among patients with illness because of laboratory-confirmed 2009 pandemic A/H1N1 virus (pH1N1) during the first wave of pH1N1 activity in the province of Quebec, Canada. We collected epidemiologic information by phone using a standardized questionnaire from patients with laboratory-confirmed pH1N1 illness during the first spring/summer pandemic wave in Quebec, Canada. Risk factors associated with hospitalization were assessed by comparing hospitalized to community cases and for ICU admission or death through comparison with hospitalized cases. Cases (321 hospitalized patients including 47 ICU admissions and 15 deaths) were compared to controls (395 non-hospitalized patients) by using multivariable logistic regression adjusted for gender, age, education, being a health care worker, smoking, seasonal influenza vaccination, delay to consultation, antiviral use before admission, pregnancy, underlying medical conditions, and obesity. Age <5 years, underlying medical conditions (neuromuscular, cardiac, pulmonary, and renal conditions, diabetes, asthma, and other), and delayed consultation were associated with hospitalization. The strongest association with hospitalization was observed for neuromuscular disorders. Antiviral medication before hospital admission protected against severe disease. Association of obesity with hospitalization was not significant after adjustment in multivariable analysis. Among hospitalized patients, age ≥60 years and immune suppression were associated with death. Previously identified risk factors for seasonal influenza were also associated with increased risk of severe pH1N1 outcomes. The independent role of obesity needs to be further defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is twofold. First, it examines whether devolution fosters the rise of dual identities – regional and national. Second, it considers whether devolution encourages secession or, on the contrary, it stands as a successful strategy in accommodating intra-state national diversity. The article is divided into three parts. First it examines the changing attitudes towards Quebec's demands for recognition adopted by the Canadian government from the 1960s to the present. It starts by analysing the rise of Quebec nationalism in the 1960s and the efforts of the Canadian government to accommodate its demands within the federation. It then moves on to consider the radically new conception of Canadian unity and identity embraced by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and its immediate impact upon Quebec. The paper argues that Trudeau's ‘nation-building’ strategy represented a retreat from the pro-accommodation policies set in place to respond to the findings of the 1963 Royal Commission on Biculturalism & Bilingualism (known as the B&B Commission). Trudeau's definition of Canada as a bilingual and multicultural nation whose ten provinces should receive equal treatment alienated a significant number of Quebeckers. After Trudeau, various attempts were made to accommodate Quebec's demand to be recognised as a ‘distinct society’ – Meech Lake Accord, Charlottetown Agreement. Their failure strengthened Quebec separatists, who obtained 49.4 per cent of the vote in the 1995 Referendum. Hence, initial attempts to accommodate Quebec in the 1960s were replaced by a recurrent confrontation between Canada's and Quebec's separate nation-building strategies. Second, the article explores whether devolution fosters the emergence of dual identities – regional and national – within a single nation-state. At this point, recent data on regional and national identity in Canada are presented and compared with data measuring similar variables in Spain and Britain. The three modern liberal democracies considered here include territorially circumscribed national minorities – nations without states (Guibernau 1999 ) – endowed with a strong sense of identity based upon the belief in a common ethnic origin and a sense of shared ethnohistory – Quebec, Catalonia, the Basque Country and Scotland. Third, the article examines whether devolution feeds separatism by assessing support levels for current devolution arrangements in Canada, Spain and Britain. The article concludes by examining the reasons which might contribute to replacing separatist demands with a desire for greater devolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an analysis of −tu(pas) in Quebec French in terms of feature composition. It is proposed that the features of −tu are checked both at PF and LF. It is argued that −tu represents a PF reflex of an emphatic stress on the last syllable of the prosodic unit V[subfinite]+tu and it is a LF reflex of a reinforcer in the internal domain of TP for certain types of mood-force expressions. However, it is not an inherent illocutionary Force marker. It is illustrated how −tu pas creates an aspectual effect in discourse and is connected to predicates with a built-in terminal point. Even though −tu pas must sometimes appear obligatorily together in the proposition, the two forms bring a different contribution to the meaning of the sentence. It is argued that −tu is a Force operator identified in the CP domain at LF and pas is a negative marker which is interpretated with a reverse positive polarity when it scopes over −tu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the urban fringe as an area where alternative forms of agriculture, i.e. organic farming, are favoured through closer access to such resources as a large urban market and specialised agricultural services. An analysis of organic farming in Quebec, Canada, shows that urban fringe areas account for the highest level of activity in organic farming compared to other regions, confirming the presence of conditions encouraging innovation. Concentrations of organic farming are also present within urban fringe areas, suggestive of other factors, e.g. the role of local actors, which also influence the development of alternative and innovative forms of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borderlands on either side of undefended and easily crossed boundaries are now commoner than ever. Economic pacts and political change in North America (in this case particularly the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement), in Europe and in Africa have changed dramatically the character of the boundaries and borderlands of three continents. The aim of this paper is to examine the current impact of the increasingly open boundary between Quebec and the United States on the borderlands on the Quebec side, and thus to throw some light on a newly-emerging aspect of regional geography.There are a number of special geographical features in Quebec explained by the presence of the boundary. The most important economically are the decline of the retail sector and the threat to the forestry sector. Environmentally, the boundary has undoubtedly retarded the development of environmental policy, especially through making the administration of the border lakes, Champlain and Mephremagog, cumbersome to the point where agreements have been very difficult to reach and enforce; this contrasts unfavourably with more vigorous activity by provincial, state and federal governments away from the boundary. Culturally, the daily cross-boundary exchange gives a special character to the borderlands.The boundary between Quebec and the United States is both a barrier and a link. These twin characteristics give a special flavour to the geography of the borderlands. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents a paper based on a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that will allow the Province of Quebec to restructure the system of education, from one based on affiliation to one based on language of instruction. Geographic implications of the Education Act of Quebec; Lack of clear understanding on the what a new map of school board territories will look like.

Discusses the abstract of the research paper 'ABO Incompatible Transfusions, Acute and Delayed Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions in the Quebec Hemovigilance System--Year 2000,' by P. Robillard, et al, to be presented at the American Association of Blood Banks' 55th Annual Meeting on October 26-29, 2002.

Discusses the abstract of the research paper 'Incidence of Bacterial Contaminations in the Quebec Hemovigilance System for Year 2000,' by P. Robillard, et al, to be presented at the American Association of Blood Banks' 55th Annual Meeting on October 26-29, 2002.

Under the pressure of globalization we appear to be in the midst of a paradigm shift from a world of nation-states to one in which federalism provides the closest political approximation to the complex diversity of the contemporaryworld. In this context the Forum of Federations, as its first major activity, held an international conference at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, 5-8 October 1999, on 'Federalism in an Era of Globalization'. The articles in this issue of the International Social Science Journal are drawn from among the many presentations and back-ground papers at that conference, and provide an insight into a range of salient issues within contemporary federations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights the First International Conference on New Information Technologies for Decision Making in Civil Engineering held in Montreal, Quebec on October 11-13, 1998. Purpose of the conference; Topics of discussion; Number of research papers received.

The article presents information about a meeting related to Psychophysiology. Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research will be held from between October 16 and 19, 1986 at Le Centre Sheraton Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. For information regarding submission of papers, program chairman may be contacted.