NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
L’engagement militant des jeunes dans le contexte du syndicalisme contemporain

Younger generation workers are often accused of being less engaged and less united in militant activities than the previous generations. The general aim of this research is to demystify the prejudices surrounding the commitment towards union activities of today’s young Quebecois. To do it, diverse concepts are presented as that of youth, generation and militant commitment. An assessment on the historic evolution of the militating commitment as well as the particular situation of the contemporary youth in the industrial action allow to draw up a general portrait. Our theoretical frame rests on concepts of individualism and conflict. The qualitative approach and the semi-directed interview were retained. The result of our survey led with seventeen mailmen and mailwomen of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (Montreal section) reveals that the militant commitment of the young people is at the same time the reflection of an alienation and a different way of conceiving militant commitment. The young people are not more individualistic than members of the other generations but they know little about the trade unionism. On one hand, the young union members take a step backwards to better appropriate the labor-union matter. It is possible to maintain that the militant commitment is not a static phenomenon, it evolves in contact of experience. On other hand, weakly socialized in the trade unionism and strongly socialized to law matters, to dialogue and to respect, they dread the violent driving and the warlike speeches. The later have softened vision without therefore passive, because they promote collective action and have more opportunities to deposit grievances.

Keyphrases: Générations, Labor union, Militant engagement, Generation, Individualism, Conflictual relationship, Youth
Face aux portraits photographiques de Sally Mann. La série "What Remains" (2000-2004)

Portraits captivate when they are considered as human presence and they tend to evade analytical interpretation. Building on this observation, the dissertation addresses the viewer’s response to photographic portraits whose ambiguity challenges attribution of precise meanings. These portraits, which deal with the theme of death, belong to the "What Remains" corpus (2000-2004) of American artist Sally Mann. They re-actualize the old wet collodion process, revisit the formal vocabulary of Pictorialism and evoke 19th century mortuary imagery. Through these historical quotations, the artworks hinder the readability of the referent and produce reversals of meaning: they blur any certainty in perception and any literal interpretation. The dissertation first discusses the various quotation strategies leading to this ambiguity and then examines how they tend to establish the conditions of the aesthetic experience. After re-evaluating some theoretical assumptions about photography, the technical, formal and iconographic parameters are reviewed to assess their respective impact. Based on a framework derived from media theory and psychoanalysis, the work of the medium emerges as the key determinant of the experience of these contemporary portraits.

Keyphrases: Sally Mann, Sally Mann, Photography, Pictorialism, Portrait, Portrait, Memento mori, Memento mori
Nouvelle approche en théorie des jeux comportementale

It has been shown in laboratory experiments that the Nash equilibrium was not always a good indicator of human behavior. Various alternative theories (inequity aversion, reciprocity and social norms) have emerged to fill gaps in the classical theory, but none of them can explain all the phenomena observed in the laboratory. After identifying the shortcomings of these models, this thesis develops a model that summarizes advances made by those models into a coherent whole by using heterogeneous preferences. To increase the scope of the model, a new notion of equilibrium, a behavioral equilibrium, is added to the model. By applying the new model to simple games, we can see how it expands the number of behaviors that can be modeled by game theory.

Keyphrases: Game theory, Behavior, Heterogeneous preferences, Behavioral equilibrium, Inequity aversion, Reciprocity, Social norm
Multiculturalisme et respect de soi : 
une défense libérale du droit à un contexte de valorisation

While most liberal theories have focused on the principles of justice and on an idea of justice in which the perspective used to reflect on society and on individuals’ relationship is becoming more abstract, an analysis of self-respect leads us towards what is essential to individuals’ self-esteem and esteem of their social relationships. These reflections reveal that the principles of justice are not the only sources of self-respect. Cultures and religions, as well as moral communities and comprehensive groups, have also fundamental roles in the level of self-respect and mutual respect that individuals have between themselves and towards each other.  If individuals’ plan of life, values and beliefs are revealed as fundamental to their autonomy and to their life as individuals, the reflections on multiculturalism and pluralism reveal the problem of our time: how can a society achieve to promote individuals’ self-respect in a context where moral, comprehensive and religious diversities are among the main characteristics?      Criticizing John Rawls and Will Kymlicka’s theories, as well as some arguments made by philosophers such as Bhiku Parekh and David Miller, the position taken in this theory is that a society must give individuals further means to achieve their self-respect. The main proposition of this essay is that individuals have a right to a self-respect framework, which is a political space particular to a group or community that includes the institutions and powers necessary to promote the self-respect of the members of such group or community. It is only through such right and through the structural and institutional claims that are associated with it, that cultural and religious groups as well as comprehensive groups and moral communities can be recognized politically and that a liberal and multicultural theory of individuals and groups can conciliate ideal and reality.

Keyphrases: Philosophy, liberalism, multiculturalism, self-respect, self-respect framework
Le double et le texte : homonymes, pseudonymes et auteurs chez Dostoievski, King, Auster, Poe et Nabokov

The mythical figure of the double appears in most of cultures through archetypes translating the human experience of division, be it complementary or antithetical.  In Gothic and Fantastic literatures, the myth often stands for a feeling of anguish and horror underlining the mysteries and complications arising from the subject’s dividedness. This analysis wishes to group into two thematic categories occurrences of doubles based on the textual treatment that is made of them: doubles as homonyms and as pseudonyms. This distinction will lead in commenting on the author’s perception of himself and of the creative process. We will use a Lacanian and post-structuralist reading grid, based on the fact that dividedness has been a core issue in psychological and psychoanalytical theoretical developments. The works studied will be Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, Stephen King’s The Dark Half, Edgar Allan Poe’s William Wilson, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Double and Vladimir Nabokov’s Despair.

Keyphrases: Double, Doppelganger, Lacan, Divided subject, Author, Homonym, Pseudonym
Temps, culture et communication : pour une critique de la statistique culturelle

How can cultural indicators be grounded in theory? This question, stemming from methodological challenges inherent in the study of the relationships between work time and leisure time, arises as a result of the theoretical deficit apparent in cultural statistics. Whether one is studying leisure time or work time, it is essential to take a critical look at the basis for this dichotomy, just as it is to clearly analyze the social practices associated with these categories. However, analyses of leisure-time use are often based on cultural-activity statistics, which are particularly limited in terms of their explanatory scope. Although statistics on some of these activities have been available since the beginning of the 1900s at least, it was in the 1970s that the need for knowledge related to the implementation of cultural policies spurred the production of statistics on a greater and more detailed scale. To give meaning to this mass of data, it is necessary to draw the boundaries between that which is culture and communications among all the other social activities. The development of frameworks for cultural statistics by UNESCO and statistics agencies constitutes an attempt to meet this imperative, whereas leading-indicator initiatives seek to give meaning to statistics. However, these endeavours are noted for their weak theoretical foundation, a problem which becomes critically apparent in the definition of indicators which are inevitably normative in scope. To break this deadlock in cultural statistics, it is essential at the very least to clarify the concepts associated with the notion of culture. Consequently, the methodology for this study is based on a critical analysis of certain core documents that led to the development of the UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics, and on seminal papers by Fernand Dumont, Pierre Bourdieu, and Jürgen Habermas, who have been chosen for their ability to view cultural activities as they relate temporally to the social sphere as a whole. This concept of temporality is itself examined from the perspective of several theoretical approaches. On examination, the dichotomy of time into abstract time and concrete time suggests that cultural practices could be measured not only according to the amount of social time devoted to them, but also as time that has commercial value. The findings of this critical analysis of frameworks for cultural statistics and the papers by Dumont, Bourdieu, and Habermas support the development of a cultural indicators project for the Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec (OCCQ). This system of indicators was developed according to a grid defining cultural indicators, their objectives, and their significance. The indicators were chosen through a consultation process led by the OCCQ. Lastly, we will be proposing a list of theoretical statements to bolster the theoretical framework for the system of indicators.

Keyphrases: Communication, Culture, Indicators, Statistics, Social time
Étude comparée de la formation initiale des enseignants du primaire au Québec et en Finlande

Since the 1980s, teacher education has undergone major reforms in most developed societies, often directly connected to a process of "professionalization" (Tardif, Lessard & Gauthier, 1998). The professionalization of teaching is now considered an international movement (OECD, 2005). In this MA research thesis, we analyze the implementation of professionalization and its connection to the organization of primary school teachers training programs in two contexts: Finland and Quebec. The interest of such a comparison between Finland and Quebec comes from the PISA 2000, 2003 and 2006 results, which brought to light the recognition of the Finnish education system as an example of a well-performing system that successfully combines quality, equity and social cohesion (Sahlberg, 2007). Among the many reasons presented to explain this success, one of the most important would be highly educated teachers. In Finland, teachers complete a 5 years initial training program. But in Quebec teachers are also highly educated: they take a 4 years initial training program, after 2 years of pre-university studies. In both contexts, teachers complete 17 years of schooling. What are the similarities and differences between the primary school teachers training programs in Finland and Quebec? How and in what way has this process of professionalization, as an international trend, influenced the teacher training systems in Finland and Quebec? Can we identify, from this comparison, the elements of a teacher training system of greater quality for Quebec?

Keyphrases: Teachers, Professionalization, Quebec, Finland, Initial training, Comparative education
Le processus de design visuel communicationnel :
tensions et négociations dans l’industrie publicitaire

The advertising industry involves a daily collaboration between two ways of thinking or two hemispheres: one of commercial nature and the other of creative nature. Rational and logical individuals must collaborate with intuitive and artistic individuals, and from this collaboration emerge various tensions. In the advertising industry, this relationship operates throughout a process of visual communication design. We chose to use the term visual communication design process because it illustrates our approach in this research, an approach that joins communication and design. The advertising industry has developed tools to facilitate the visual communication process: among them the creative brief. Our research proposes to observe how “commercials” and “creatives” in the industry perceive their day-to-day work and their use of the creative brief through a series of interviews. Our questions are: in which ways do the “commercials” and “creatives” negotiate the tensions that emerges from the visual communication design process? What are the roles of the creative brief throughout this process? Our findings illustrate the transformations and innovations that emerge from the tensions between “commercials” and “creatives” and highlight the importance of the communicational characteristics of the creative brief as part of the visual communication design process.

Keyphrases: Design, tensions, advertising, visual communication design, creative brief
New simulation schemes for the Heston model

Financial stocks are often modeled by stochastic differential equations (SDEs). These equations could describe the behavior of the underlying asset as well as some of the model's parameters. For example, the Heston (1993) model, which is a stochastic volatility model, describes the behavior of the stock and the variance of the latter.  The Heston model is very interesting since it has semi-closed formulas for some derivatives, and it is quite realistic. However, many simulation schemes for this model have problems when the Feller (1951) condition is violated.  In this thesis, we introduce new simulation schemes to simulate price paths using the Heston model. These new algorithms are based on Broadie and Kaya's (2006) method. In order to increase the speed of the exact scheme of Broadie and Kaya, we use, among other things, Markov chains Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms and some well-chosen approximations.   In our first algorithm, we modify the second step of the Broadie and Kaya's method in order to get faster schemes. Instead of using the second-order Newton method coupled with the inversion approach, we use a Metropolis-Hastings algorithm.  The second algorithm is a small improvement of our latter scheme. Instead of using the real integrated variance over time p.d.f., we use Smith's (2007) approximation. This helps us decrease the dimension of our problem (from three to two).   Our last algorithm is not based on MCMC methods. However, we still try to speed up the second step of Broadie and Kaya. In order to achieve this, we use a moment-matched gamma random variable. According to Stewart et al. (2007), it is possible to approximate a complex gamma convolution (somewhat near the representation given by Glasserman and Kim (2008) when T-t is close to zero) by a gamma distribution.

Keyphrases: Stochastic volatility, Simulation schemes, Asset pricing, MCMC, Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, Heston model, Asian options, Approximation, Approximations, Gamma distribution
Connaissances et gestion de la scoliose idiopathique adolescente parmi les médecins de famille, les pédiatres, les chiropraticiens et les physiothérapeutes

Family physicians, peadiatricians, chiropractors and physical therapists are among health professionals most likely to encounter and treat patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Research shows that there are gaps in musculoskeletal knowledge among professionals but no studies assess knowledge of scoliosis among professionals most likely to treat patients with scoliosis. Best current practice dictates that early detection of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis leads to better decision-making regarding optimal course of management. The objectives of our study were to evaluate basic knowledge and the management skills of professionals most likely to encounter adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. We developed a semi-structured questionnaire and interviewed 51 health professionals. Among these professionals, who were recruited through their professional regulatory board registries, were 21 family physicians, 10 peadiatricians, 10 chiropractors and 10 physical therapists. The interview assessed knowledge of clinical signs and risk factors, management options, including referral to specialized care. We also discussed preferences and acceptability of clinical guidelines in regard to scoliosis. Among interviewed professionals, 59 % were female, 43 % were under 40 and mean years of practice was 20.3. Our results demonstrated gaps in knowledge with respect to clinical signs and risk factors. Less than a third of professionals were able to mention at least 2 clinical signs and 31 % were unaware of any risk factors associated with scoliosis progression. Family physicians appeared least knowledgeable in these areas. When presented with a situation where urgent referral was indicated, 70 – 90 % said that they would refer the patient although only 38 – 60 % rated this case as urgent. Close to 40 % of professionals indicated that they would not be comfortable doing the follow-up of a patient with a scoliosis. Nevertheless, the majority felt that accessibility to specialized care was a problem. Almost all (98 %) mentioned that the development of clinical guidelines would positively affect their daily practice. In conclusion, our study shows that knowledge gaps exist among professionals regarding clinical signs and risk factors of curve progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Most professionals recognize the importance of referring urgent cases to specialized care although there may be problems with access to peadiatric orthopedic specialists. Interprofessional collaboration may be a promising approach to improve management of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Keyphrases: adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, education, musculoskeletal system, health professionals, clinical signs, risk factors
Le code d'éthique dans les organisations du réseau de la santé: outil de régulation des conduites?

Quebec’s Health and Social Services Law, ch. S-4.2, art. 233, requires that every health institution have a code of ethics that, in essence, sets out the rights of patients and the manner in which staff are expected to conduct themselves. The legislator had hoped that improvements in the conduct of personnel would begin to be seen at the start of the 1990s, and wanted to set up a watchdog body to ensure that progress was made. In the end, no such body was created, and 20 years later, even though they are still very much wished for, constraints and controls over staff conduct remain sorely lacking. In 2003 the Minister of Health and Social Services began a series of official visits to hospitals which to date have covered 150 institutions, and in each of these visits the minister’s teams have, with the backing of the hospitals’ administrators, made a point of looking at how each institution’s code of ethics is working. The general consensus of administrators, however, is that no health institution in Quebec has been able to use the ethics code as a basis for making clinical, organizational or managerial decisions. On the contrary, having a mandatory ethics code is seen by many as a hindrance, one among many that the institutions have to deal with. Every three years each institution goes through a process of re-accreditation to ensure it complies with government standards of quality, but its ethics code is not considered an important and dynamic element in this re-evaluation. One example of this blind spot: When a Quebec periodical specializing in health-care management published a special issue on “ethics and behaviour,” only two of its 15 articles specifically mentioned the notion of a code of ethics. This raises the question: Is “ethics” too general a term? Given that the legislator’s goal is to ensure proper behaviour on the part of staff and others who exercise their profession in the institutions – in other words, a preoccupation with professional ethics – would it not be more appropriate to instead refer to a “code of conduct”? This question is addressed in this thesis, through an examination of the concepts of ethics, professional ethics, codes and regulation of behaviour. As well, a detailed analyses of 35 ethics codes in diverse institutions throughout Quebec is presented. The vi academic literature provides ways of measuring the success of a code of ethics, and besides the importance given to institutional values, there is also the question of sanctions to impose when those values are not respected. Values must be clear to be properly applied. Finally, many organizations now refer to “codes of conduct” – a highly appropriate term, given that the legislator’s goal is to ensure that the conduct of employees and other personnel in health establishments is beyond reproach. This, in fact, is my conclusion, spelled out in the form of a recommendation.

Keyphrases: code of ethics, regulation, code of conduct
The association between caries and
periodontal diseases

Aim: The aim of this clinical study was to compare adults with a healthy periodontium and those with chronic periodontitis, in terms of caries’ risk and caries’ clinical and microbiological measures. Methods: Ninety-six healthy adults were divided into chronic periodontitis (n= 38) and healthy periodontium (n=58) based on their periodontal status, and matched for age, gender, and ethnic background. Chronic periodontitis was defined as having at least four teeth with ≥1 site with a pocket depth ≥4 mm and clinical attachment loss ≥2 mm. Each group were subsequently subdivided in 2 groups according to their caries status: participants having at least one untreated decayed surface and those with no untreated caries.  Data were collected by means of self-administrated questionnaire, clinical examination, and supra- and subgingival plaque sampling. Assessments of oral levels of Streptococcus mutans and six periodontal pathogens were conducted by PCR amplification techniques. Data were analyzed using descriptive and bivariate statistical tests. Results: Individuals with chronic periodontitis were 3.5 times more likely to have caries than healthy individuals (OR 3.5; CI: 1.5 – 8.3; P = 0.006). Subjects with both chronic periodontitis and dental caries had a significantly lower level of education than periodontally healthy subjects without dental caries (OR 6.0; CI: 1.7 – 21.7; P = 0.04). A significant higher proportion of subjects with high oral levels of Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. g.) and Treponema denticola (T. d.) was found among subjects with chronic periodontitis and untreated caries compared to periodontally healthy subjects with untreated caries (P. g.: OR 8.6; CI: 2.4 – 30.3; P = 0.004 and T. d.: OR 10.0; CI: 2.6 – 38.1; P = 0.003).  Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that, adults with chronic periodontitis are more prone to caries disease than those adults with a healthy periodontium. Furthermore, low educational level could have a negative impact on the periodontal status of individuals.

Keyphrases: Periodontal disease, Caries, Caries, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus mutans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Treponema denticola