NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Exploring the unique challenges faced by female university athletes experiencing prolonged concussion symptoms

The present study explored female university athletes’ experiences with protracted concussion symptoms, including the factors that impeded or facilitated their recovery. Five female athletes who competed in 4 different university sports in Canada participated in this study. All participants suffered concussion symptoms that lasted from 10 weeks to 14 months. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to inductively analyze the interview data. The participants discussed the unique challenges that stemmed from suffering a prolonged concussion while competing in university sport, which included serious emotional responses (depression, attempted suicide) and reduced academic performances. Participants also alluded to the types of emotional and informational support from their coaches, doctors, athletic therapists, and parents that facilitated their recovery. Overall, the detailed descriptions provided by the participants in this study offer a rare look into their lived experiences of university athletes suffering from protracted concussion symptoms. Given the serious emotional responses reported in this study, the present findings highlight the need to monitor concussed university athletes’ psychological health and academic performance. These results provide individuals such as coaches, medical professionals, and sport psychology specialists with detailed information about the impact of protracted symptomatology on an athlete from a personal (social), athletic, and academic perspective, which may enhance their applied work with this population. The present findings also highlight the need for social support for concussed university athletes throughout their recoveries to help them cope during this important and challenging time of their lives.

Keyphrases: Concussion, Qualitative research, Female athletes, Athletic identity, Injury rehabilitation
Genotyping of Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus (ILTV) isolates from Western Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia based on partial Open Reading Frame (ORF) a and b

Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) causes an acute upper respiratory disease in chickens called infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT). Live attenuated vaccines are effective in disease control; however, they have residual virulence, which makes them able to replicate, cause disease and revert to the original virulent form. Information is scarce on the molecular nature of ILTV that is linked to ILT in Canada. This study aims to determine whether isolates originating from ILT cases in Western Canada are a wild type or vaccine origin. Samples submitted for the diagnosis of ILT between 2009–2018 were obtained from Alberta (AB, n = 46) and British Columbia (BC, n = 9). For genotyping, a Sanger sequencing of open reading frame (ORF) a and b was used. A total of 27 from AB, and 5 from BC samples yielded a fragment of 1751 base pairs (bp). Three of the BC samples classified as group IV (CEO vaccine strains) and 2 as group V (CEO revertant). Of the AB samples, 22 samples clustered with group V, 3 with group VI (wild type), and 2 with group VII, VIII, and IX (wild type). Overall, 17 non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected. Further studies are underway to ascertain the virulence and transmission potential of these isolates.

Keyphrases: Infectious laryngotracheitis, Genotyping, Canada, Sanger sequencing, Live attenuated vaccine
Émotions lumineuses : la poésie de la lumière en mouvement

Ce mémoire, présenté sous la forme d’une recherche-création, sonde les forces de la lumière et de l’ombre en mouvement. Nous nous inspirons des travaux d’Henri Alekan et de Fabrice Revault d’Allonnes pour mettre en avant une méthode de travail de la lumière, qui repose sur deux étapes essentielles: l’étape de l’éclairement qui correspond à une hiérarchisation des éclairages, et celle de la lumination qui correspond à une dramatisation de la lumière. Cette méthode, considérée dans un cadre classico-baroque, ouvrira la porte à des analyses portant sur les variations de la lumière. Nous explorerons deux techniques utilisées par les directeurs de la photographie: la conception d’un «path» lumineux et la pratique du changement à vue. Ces deux techniques seront étudiées à partir du travail de divers directeurs de la photographie, tels que Vittorio Storaro et Darius Khondji. Elles seront également employées dans la création qui accompagne ce mémoire, afin d’en saisir les subtilités, et d’appréhender les difficultés reliées à la pratique de la direction de la photographie. La création sera donc une véritable exploration pour moi et un apprentissage pratique et théorique des possibilités et contraintes de la lumière et de l’ombre. C’est finalement dans une démarche qui oscille entre tâtonnement et recherche que je tenterai de comprendre le potentiel poétique de la lumière et de l’ombre. This thesis, presented as a research-creation project, sounds the power of the light and the shadow in movement. Inspired by the writings of Henri Alekan and Fabrice Revault d’Allonnes, we will point out a work method used to shape the light, that rests upon two essential steps: the first step is called éclairement, and calls on a hiérarchisation of the light sources. The second step is one of lumination, that is equivalent to a dramatisation of the light. The method, considered in a classico-baroque context, will open the door to some analysis of the light’s variations. We will explore two techniques used by cinematographers: the conception of a light «path», and the changement à vue. We will study these two techniques through the work of various cinematographers, such as Vittorio Storaro and Darius Khondji. We will apply these two techniques in a creation that is linked to this thesis, to better comprehend the subtleties of the light in movement, and understand the difficulties that come along with the practice of cinematography. Thus, the creation will be a true exploration for me, and a practical and theoretical learning process about the possibilities and the complexity of light and shadow. This stammering and hesitating approach intends to understand the poetic potential of the light and the shadow.

Keyphrases: Lumière, Ombre, Éclairage, Mouvement, Lumination, Éclairement, Hiérarchisation, Dramatisation, Résonnances, Baroque, Poésie, Hierarchisation, Lumination, Éclairement, Hiérarchisation, Dramatisation, Baroque, Light, Shadow, Lighting, Poetry, Resonances
Création d'un univers fictif cohérent en musique: la narrativité non linéaire au sein d'un corpus d'oeuvres

Cette thèse présente le fruit de cinq années d’études et de travail au doctorat à l’Université de Montréal. Elle est le support théorique derrière un cycle de onze compositions instrumentales narratives et autonomes, suivant la définition du cycle donnée par la chercheure Anne Besson dans son livre D’Asimov à Tolkien : cycles et séries dans la littérature de genre 1 .  L’objectif a été de créer des compositions constituant un univers fictif cohérent et uni, qui se penche sur le concept de la chronologie narrative dans la musique. Les œuvres ont été composées dans un ordre différent de celui dans lequel les événements du récit se déroulent. Cela permet d’explorer la notion d’antépisode (prequel) et de suite (sequel) en musique.  Composées tout d’abord pour le concert, ces pièces, écrites pour des formations allant de la musique de chambre jusqu’au grand orchestre, ont été adaptées afin d’être enregistrées et travaillées en studio, ce qui permet d’ajouter une nouvelle couche de procédés compositionnels.  Présentant plusieurs concepts théoriques tels que la narrativité (générale et propre à la musique), la notion de cycle dans un ensemble d’œuvres ainsi que la définition d’un univers fictif, cette thèse analysera ces onze œuvres et apportera des pistes de solution afin d’adapter ces procédés fréquemment utilisés en littérature et à l’écran à la musique. This thesis is the outcome of five years of doctoral studies at the University of Montreal. It presents the theory behind a cycle of eleven autonomous narrative instrumental pieces, following the definition of cycle as defined by researcher Anne Besson in her book “D’Asimov à Tolkien : cycles et séries dans la littérature de genre.”  The goal was to create a coherent and unified fictional universe that explores the concept of narrative chronology in music. The pieces were composed in a different order than the one in which the events of the story occur. It allows us to explore the idea of prequel and sequel in music. Originally composed for the concert hall, for ensembles ranging from chamber music to symphonic orchestras, they were afterwards adapted to be recorded and edited in a studio, allowing the composer to explore an array of new compositional techniques.  Presenting many theoretical concepts such as narrativity (in general and pertaining specifically to music), the cyclic concept in a body of works and also the definition of a fictional universe, this thesis will analyze these eleven works while suggesting possible solutions for bringing processes that occur frequently in literature and film to the world of music.

Keyphrases: Musique, Composition, Cycle d'oeuvres, Univers fictif, Narrativité, chronologie, analyse, Composition, Music, Cycle of works, Fictional universe, Narrativity, Analysis, Chronology
Induction of systemic oxidative stress leads to brain oedema in portacaval shunted rats

Background & Aims The pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is multifactorial and often associated with the development of brain oedema. In addition to ammonia playing a central role, systemic oxidative stress is believed to aggravate the neuropsychological effects of ammonia in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). The aim of this study was to (i) induce systemic oxidative stress in hyperammonaemic portacaval anastomosed (PCA) rats by inhibiting the antioxidant glutathione using Dimethyl maleate (DEM) and (ii) investigate whether a synergistic relationship between ammonia and oxidative stress contributes to the pathogenesis of brain oedema in CLD. Methods Four-week PCA and sham-operated rats received DEM (0.4–4 mg/kg/day) for the last 10 days before sacrifice when oxidative stress markers [reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA)] were assessed in blood and frontal cortex. Brain water content was measured using a specific gravimetric technique. Results Dimethyl maleate induced an increase in ROS and MDA in the blood, but not in the brain, of the PCA rats, compared with non-treated PCA rats. This was accompanied with an increase in brain water content (PCA+DEM: 78.45 ± 0.13% vs. PCA: 77.38 ± 0.11%, P < 0.001). Higher doses of DEM induced systemic oxidative stress in sham-operated controls, but brain oedema did not develop. Conclusions Dimethyl maleate provoked systemic, not central, oxidative stress in PCA rats, resulting in the development of brain oedema. Independently, hyperammonaemia and systemic oxidative stress do not precipitate brain oedema; therefore, our findings sustain that a synergistic effect between hyperammonaemia and systemic oxidative stress is responsible for the development of brain oedema in HE.

Keyphrases: Hepatic encephalopathy, Oxidative stress, Brain oedema, Portacaval shunt, Dimethyl maleate
Ammonia‐lowering strategies for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy

Hyperammonemia leads to neurotoxic levels of brain ammonia and is a major factor involved in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Ammonia‐lowering treatments primarily involve two strategies: inhibiting ammonia production and/or increasing ammonia removal. Targeting the gut has been the primary focus for many years, with the goal of inhibiting the generation of ammonia. However, in the context of liver failure, extrahepatic organs containing ammonia metabolic pathways have become new potential ammonia‐lowering targets. Skeletal muscle has the capacity to remove ammonia by producing glutamine through the enzyme glutamine synthetase (amidation of glutamate) and, given its large mass, has the potential to be an important ammonia‐removing organ. On the other hand, glutamine can be deaminated to glutamate by phosphate‐activated glutaminase, thus releasing ammonia (ammonia rebound). Therefore, new treatment strategies are being focused on stimulating the removal of both ammonia and glutamine.

Keyphrases: Brain, Hepatic, Metabolism, Neurological, Therapeutics
Sleep spindles are resilient to extensive white matter deterioration

Sleep spindles are an essential part of non-rapid eye movement sleep, notably involved in sleep consolidation, cognition, learning and memory. These oscillatory waves depend on an interaction loop between the thalamus and the cortex, which relies on a structural backbone of thalamo-cortical white matter tracts. It is still largely unknown if the brain can properly produce sleep spindles when it underwent extensive white matter deterioration in these tracts, and we hypothesized that it would affect sleep spindle generation and morphology. We tested this hypothesis with chronic moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (n ¼ 23; 30.5 6 11.1 years old; 17 m/6f), a unique human model of extensive white matter deterioration, and a healthy control group (n ¼ 27; 30.3 6 13.4 years old; 21m/6f). Sleep spindles were analysed on a full night of polysomnography over the frontal, central and parietal brain regions, and we measured their density, morphology and sigma-band power. White matter deterioration was quantified using diffusion-weighted MRI, with which we performed both whole-brain voxel-wise analysis (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics) and probabilistic tractography (with High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging) to target the thalamo-cortical tracts. Group differences were assessed for all variables and correlations were performed separately in each group, corrected for age and multiple comparisons. Surprisingly, although extensive white matter damage across the brain including all thalamo-cortical tracts was evident in the brain-injured group, sleep spindles remained completely undisrupted when compared to a healthy control group. In addition, almost all sleep spindle characteristics were not associated with the degree of white matter deterioration in the braininjured group, except that more white matter deterioration correlated with lower spindle frequency over the frontal regions. This study highlights the resilience of sleep spindles to the deterioration of all white matter tracts critical to their existence, as they conserve normal density during non-rapid eye movement sleep with mostly unaltered morphology. We show that even with such a severe traumatic event, the brain has the ability to adapt or to withstand alterations in order to conserve normal sleep spindles.

Keyphrases: Sleep, Spindles, White matter, TBI, Traumatic brain injury
Cerebral white matter diffusion properties and free‐water with obstructive sleep apnea severity in older adults

Characterizing the effects of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on the aging brain could be key in our understanding of neurodegeneration in this population. Our objective was to assess white matter properties in newly diagnosed and untreated adults with mild to severe OSA. Sixty‐five adults aged 55 to 85 were recruited and divided into three groups: control (apnea‐hypopnea index ≤5/hr; n = 18; 65.2 ± 7.2 years old), mild (>5 to ≤15 hr; n = 27; 64.2 ± 5.3 years old) and moderate to severe OSA (>15/hr; n = 20; 65.2 ± 5.5 years old). Diffusion tensor imaging metrics (fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity, and mean diffusivity) were compared between groups with Tract‐Based Spatial Statistics within the white matter skeleton created by the technique. Groups were also compared for white matter hyperintensities volume and the free‐water (FW) fraction. Compared with controls, mild OSA participants showed widespread areas of lower diffusivity (p < .05 corrected) and lower FW fraction (p < .05). Participants with moderate to severe OSA showed lower AD in the corpus callosum compared with controls (p < .05 corrected). No between‐group differences were observed for FA or white matter hyperintensities. Lower white matter diffusivity metrics is especially marked in mild OSA, suggesting that even the milder form may lead to detrimental outcomes. In moderate to severe OSA, competing pathological responses might have led to partial normalization of diffusion metrics.

Keyphrases: Aging, Diffusion tensor imaging, Hypoxia, Magnetic resonance imaging, Sleep and neurodegenerative disorders, Sleep‐disordered breathing, White matter
EEG connectivity across sleep cycles and age

Study Objectives In young adults, sleep is associated with important changes in cerebral connectivity during the first cycle of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Our study aimed to evaluate how electroencephalography (EEG) connectivity during sleep differs between young and older individuals, and across the sleep cycles.  Methods We used imaginary coherence to estimate EEG connectivity during NREM and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in 30 young (14 women; 20–30 years) and 29 older (18 women; 50–70 years) individuals. We also explored the association between coherence and cognitive measures.  Results Older individuals showed lower EEG connectivity in stage N2 but higher connectivity in REM and stage N3 compared to the younger cohort. Age-related differences in N3 were driven by the first sleep cycle. EEG connectivity was lower in REM than N3, especially in younger individuals. Exploratory analyses, controlling for the effects of age, indicated that higher EEG connectivity in delta during N2 was associated with higher processing speed, whereas, during REM sleep, lower EEG connectivity in delta and sigma was associated with higher verbal memory performance and a higher global averaged intelligence quotient score.  Conclusion Our results indicated that age modifies sleep EEG connectivity but the direction and the magnitude of these effects differ between sleep stages and cycles. Results in N3 and REM point to a reduced ability of the older brains to disconnect as compared to the younger ones. Our results also support the notion that cerebral functional connectivity during sleep may be associated with cognitive functions.

Keyphrases: Sleep, Brain connectivity, Consciousness, Aging, EEG, Cognition
Disloyalty and logics of fratricide in Civil War : executions of officers in republican Spain, 1936-19391

Violence within armed groups in civil wars is important and understudied. Linking literatures on civil war violence and military politics, this article asks when this fratricidal violence targets soldiers who try to defect, and when it does not. It uses a unique data set of executions of officers on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War. The article finds that while much of the violence appeared to target those who actually tried to defect, many nondefectors were likely shot too, due most likely to a pervasive stereotype that officers in general were disloyal to the Republic. This stereotype was used as an information shortcut and was promoted by political actors. Accordingly, unlikely defectors were likelier to be shot in locations in which less information was available about loyalties and in which political forces that were suspicious of officers as a group were locally stronger.

Keyphrases: Civil War, Conflict processes, Military and politics
Artificial intelligence for the measurement of vocal stereotypy

Both researchers and practitioners often rely on direct observation to measure and monitor behavior. When these behaviors are too complex or numerous to be measured in vivo, relying on direct observation using human observers increases the amount of resources required to conduct research and to monitor the effects of interventions in practice. To address this issue, we conducted a proof of concept examining whether artificial intelligence could measure vocal stereotypy in individuals with autism. More specifically, we used an artificial neural network with over 1,500 minutes of audio data from 8 different individuals to train and test models to measure vocal stereotypy. Our results showed that the artificial neural network performed adequately (i.e., session‐by‐session correlation near or above .80 with a human observer) in measuring engagement in vocal stereotypy for 6 of 8 participants. Additional research is needed to further improve the generalizability of the approach.

Keyphrases: Artificial intelligence, Artificial neural network, Autism measurement, Stereotypy
Impact of uric acid on liver injury and intestinal permeability following resuscitated hemorrhagic shock in rats

BACKGROUND  Multiorgan failure is a consequence of severe ischemia-reperfusion injury after traumatic hemorrhagic shock (HS), a major cause of mortality in trauma patients. Circulating uric acid (UA), released from cell lysis, is known to activate proinflammatory and proapoptotic pathways and has been associated with poor clinical outcomes among critically ill patients. Our group has recently shown a mediator role for UA in kidney and lung injury, but its role in liver and enteric damage after HS remains undefined. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the role of UA on liver and enteric injury after resuscitated HS.  METHODS  A murine model of resuscitated HS was treated during resuscitation with a recombinant uricase, a urate oxidase enzyme (rasburicase; Sanofi-Aventis, Canada Inc, Laval, Canada), to metabolize and reduce circulating UA. Biochemical analyses (liver enzymes, liver apoptotic, and inflammatory markers) were performed at 24 hours and 72 hours after HS. Physiological testing for enteric permeability and gut bacterial product translocation measurement (plasma endotoxin) were performed 72 hours after HS. In vitro, HT-29 cells were exposed to UA, and the expression of intercellular adhesion proteins (ZO-1, E-cadherin) was measured to evaluate the influence of UA on enteric permeability.  RESULTS  The addition of uricase to resuscitation significantly reduced circulating and liver UA levels after HS. It also prevented HS-induced hepatolysis and liver apoptotic/inflammatory mediators at 24 hours and 72 hours. Hemorrhagic shock–induced enteric hyperpermeability and endotoxemia were prevented with uricase.  CONCLUSIONS  After resuscitated HS, UA is an important mediator in liver and enteric injury. Uric acid represents a therapeutic target to minimize organ damage in polytrauma patients sustaining HS.

Keyphrases: Hemorrhagic shock, Organ failure, Danger-associated molecular patterns, Uric acid