NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Rôle essentiel des cellules dendritiques dans l'immunité innée face a des streptocoques encapsulés

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and Streptococcus suis are two encapsulated pathogens that induce similar pathologies, including septicemia and meningitis in animals and/or humans. Serotypes III and V of GBS and serotypes 2 and 14 of S. suis  (evaluated in this study) are the most prevalent and/or virulent types. The capsular polysaccharide (CPS) defines the serotype and is considered as a key virulence factor for both bacterial species.  Although several studies have addressed the interactions of these streptococci and various cells of the innate immune system, no information is available on the regulation of the immune response against these pathogens by dendritic cells (DCs), and their interactions with other cells, including natural killer (NK) cells. In this study, different approaches (in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo) in mice were developed to characterize the interactions between DCs, NK cells and GBS or S. suis. Non-encapsulated mutants were used to evaluate the importance of the CPS in these interactions.  In vitro results with GBS- or S. suis-infected DCs showed that these two pathogens differently interact with these cells. GBS is largely internalized by DCs through multiple endocytosis mechanisms, mainly involving lipid rafts and clathrin. The use of a specific endocytosis pathway might help GBS to survive intracellularly. In contrast, S. suis is poorly internalized and, if the case, rapidly eliminated within the DCs. GBS and S. suis activate DCs through different receptors leading to the release of cytokines and chemokines and increased expression of co-stimulatory molecules. This activation allows the production of IFN- by NK cells. Yet, S. suis capacity to activate DCs and NK cells is lower than that observed for GBS. IFN- release in response to bacterial stimulation was mainly mediated by direct DC-NK cell contact and only partially dependant on soluble factors. In addition, our in vivo results showed that these two streptococcal species rapidly induce the release of IFN- by NK cells during the acute phase of the infection. This suggests that the DC-NK crosstalk might play a role in the development of a T helper 1 (Th1) response. Yet, S. suis capacity to activate the in vivo immune response was also lower than that observed for GBS. In fact, GBS and S. suis CPSs play different roles in this response. S. suis CPS prevents optimal activation of DCs and NK cells whereas it is the opposite for GBS, independently of the serotype tested.   In summary, this study addresses for the first time the contribution of DCs and NK cells to the innate immune response against GBS and S. suis infections, and by extension, to the development of a Th1 response. Our results further highlight the central role of DCs in the effective control of infections caused by encapsulated bacteria.

Keyphrases: Streptococcus suis, Cellules natural killer, Cytokines, Group B Streptococcus, Capsular polysaccharide, Dendritic cells, Natural killer cells, Mice, Th1 response, Endocytosis, Receptors
L'interaction entre le droit civil et le droit du travail : le rôle du contrat dans l'accès aux régimes de protection des travailleurs

The interaction between civil law and labour legislation has many facets. This thesis deals with one of the manifestations of this interaction which is the use of the contract in determining the application of labour protection legislation in Quebec. The coverage of the labour protection legislation is reserved for those who have the status of "worker" or "employee" within the meaning of these legislation, so how these concepts are defined by the legislature is important. We study in our text the impact that the use of the concept of employment contract may have in this context. In the first part of the thesis, we study the role of civil law in the development of labour protection legislation. We focus on the existence of a set of rights and obligations applicable to the employment relationship regardless of the will of the parties. In the second part, we present two possible bases of the relationship covered by labour legislation, both the contractual thesis and the "employment relationship" thesis, as well as how they are received in Quebec and elsewhere. In the third part of our text, we examine the practical effects of applying the criteria of civil law contracts in determining whether a person can be covered by labour protection legislation from the analysis of certain tribunal cases. We focus more specifically on the treatment accorded by courts and administrative tribunals to people in atypical jobs as casual, seasonal and independent workers. We also explore whether an approach based on factual reality, the characteristics of the employment relationship and the goals of public order legislation can be a possible solution to the problems that the use of the contract to determine personal scope of labour protection legislation may raise.

Keyphrases: Contract of employment, Working relationship, Personal scope of labour legislation, Employee, Worker, Atypical workers
Le dialogue des juges entre la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme et la Cour interaméricaine des droits de l’homme

This research aims to present the dialogue between judges of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human rights (IAHR). These two supranational regional courts both aim at ensuring respect for fundamental rights within their jurisdiction. The dialogue between them is analysed through the study of disputes regarding the integrity of human being and the protection of economic and social rights. This subject is greatly linked to the context of power shifts induced by globalization and reveals how judges are emancipating themselves through transgovernemental regulatory networks. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates the dialogue’s objective to establish a certain coherence between the systems and to allow a common vision of human rights to be brought forward through the constitution of an informal exchange network now known as the Euro-American interspace. However, the dialogue is restricted by many contextual factors and the contrasted realities of the two regional systems, as well as the will of state actors.

Keyphrases: Droit international public, Public International Law, European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Right to Human Integrity, Socio-economic Rights
Le soutien au développement de la pratique des infirmières praticiennes spécialisées de première ligne au Québec

Although there is an abundant literature on primary health care nurse practitioners (PHCNP), the optimal structures and practices to support PHCNPs remain largely unexplored. In Quebec, this issue needs particular attention because of practice settings diversity and physical distance between major key players. Furthermore, the supervision role that seems to be shared by multiple professionals and the legal framework add to the complexity of the implementation of support structures and practices. Through a multiple case study, this paper aimed to explore the managerial structures in place and to analyze the mechanisms deployed to support the development of PHCNP practice. Issuing from a larger scale multicenter research, this study analyzed three separate cases, totaling 18 interviews with health professionals and managers. Based on a three levels model built on the central concept of support, the needs of PHCNP and their teams have been identified. The main results of this research demonstrate the relevance of supervision by the key players of the Department of Nursing. In addition, the coordination between professionals seems enhanced when some organizational structures are implemented. Finally, decision-making committees linked to the implementation of PHCNP appear to be more useful when the environment and experience of the organizations are taken into consideration.

Keyphrases: Nurse practitioners, Primary health care, Administrative support, Medical supervision, Department of nursing, Organizational structures
Méthodes de rééchantillonnage en méthodologie d'enquête

The aim of this thesis is to study the bootstrap variance estimators of a statistic based on imputed survey data. Applying a bootstrap method designed for complete survey data (full response) in the presence of imputed values and treating them as true observations may lead to underestimation of the variance. In this context, Shao and Sitter (1996) introduced a bootstrap procedure in which the variable under study and the response status are bootstrapped together and bootstrap non-respondents are imputed using the imputation method applied on the original sample. The resulting bootstrap variance estimator is valid when the sampling fraction is small. In Chapter 1, we begin by doing a survey of the existing bootstrap methods for (complete and imputed) survey data and, for the first time in the literature, present them in a unified framework. In Chapter 2, we introduce a new bootstrap procedure to estimate the variance under the non-response model approach when the uniform non-response mechanism is assumed. Using only information about the response rate, unlike Shao and Sitter (1996) which requires the individual response status, the bootstrap response status is generated for each selected bootstrap sample leading to a valid bootstrap variance estimator even for non-negligible sampling fractions. In Chapter 3, we investigate pseudo-population bootstrap approaches and we consider a more general class of non-response mechanisms. We develop two pseudo-population bootstrap procedures to estimate the variance of an imputed estimator with respect to the non-response model and the imputation model approaches. These procedures are also valid even for non-negligible sampling fractions.

Keyphrases: Bootstrap, Poids bootstrap, Imputation, Bootstrap weights approach, Doubly robust estimation, Imputation model approach, Item non-response, Non-response model approach, Pseudo-population bootstrap approach, Variance estimation
Initier une démarche d’analyse de la performance des services infirmiers

In the province of Quebec, nurses are part of the largest group of health care professionals and have a direct impact on the quality of care and patient safety. Unfortunately, the influence of the nursing practice on patient outcomes is often taken for granted, underestimated and undervalued, both in the literature and by healthcare organizations. The purpose of this report is to present an internship experience in nursing administration, which aims to initiate a process of analyzing the performance of nursing services.  The internship took place in an outpatient hemodialysis clinic and a pre-dialysis clinic, in a university-affiliated establishment, the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. The conceptual model used as a reference for this project is the Nursing Care Performance Framework by Dubois, D'Amour, Pomey, Girard & Brault (2013), which conceptualizes nursing care performance as resulting from three nursing subsystems that interact to achieve three key functions: acquiring, deploying and maintaining nursing resources; transforming nursing resources into relevant nursing services; and producing positive changes in patients’ conditions. Various activities were completed during the internship: a documentation review, participation in clinical-administrative meetings, observation of nursing work (clinical nurses, nurse practitioner and nurse managers), observation of the clinical setting, individual discussions and ultimately a reflection group with key stakeholders.   This project seeks to achieve benefits for the nursing practice such as: encouraging a discussion about the concept of nursing care performance, helping dispel the myths surrounding the concept of nursing care performance,  determining how the nursing care performance fits into the daily clinical practice and nursing process, encouraging an administrative-participatory approach by encouraging idea-sharing between colleagues, supporting managers and clinicians in the development of their understanding of the concept of nursing care performance, highlighting the concept of best care practices among professionals and making the contribution of the nursing profession in the Quebec healthcare system more visible.

Keyphrases: Nursing performance, Care analysis, Nursing administration, Nursing Care Performance Framework
Développement de méthodes de dépistage des médicaments de contrefaçon et des produits adultérés par LC-MS/MS

This master’s project involved the development and optimization of two rapid liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods. The objective of the first project was to simultaneously separate, as rapidly as possible, 71 erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment drugs and 11 natural ingredients sometimes found alongside ED drugs present in suspected adulterated or counterfeit samples. The objective of the second project was to develop a screening method allowing rapid, simultaneous analysis of 24 synthetic and natural cannabinoids for a wide variety of samples such as herbal smoking mixtures, incense sticks, serums and Cannabis plant material. In both projects, the separations were achieved in ≤ 10 min using 2.6 µm fused-core C18 particles packed into a 100 x 2.1 mm column coupled to an LTQ Orbitrap XL mass spectrometer operated in positive electrospray mode. Because of the very high number of compounds in both methods and the knowledge that future analogues are always immerging on the market that could thus be present in samples, a targeted/untargeted LC-MS/MS screening method was developed. For both projects, detection limits were in the sub ng/mL range and intra- and inter-assay precisions were below 10.5%. Recovery from real samples ranged from 92 to 111%. The innovation of the developed LC-MS/MS methods is that the full scan event in the MS acquisition provides accurate masses for all detected species and thus allows post-analysis identification of initially untargeted compounds, i.e., the immerging analogues. This innovation adds an additional dimension to traditional MS/MS methods, allowing high mass resolution of untargeted compounds.

Keyphrases: Flavonoids, LC-MS, Spice, Erectile dysfunction drugs, Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, Premature ejaculation, Counterfeit samples, Illicit drugs, Adulterated dietary supplements, Synthetic and natural cannabinoids, Adulterated samples
L'oeuvre au service de la traduction : l'écriture vianesque, une invitation à la traduction créative

Stanley Chapman is not a well known translator or writer. The sum of his original works, which are difficult – when not impossible – to find, and of his translations is modest. He would probably have gone completely unnoticed by the literary establishment – beyond the literary circle of the Collège de ’Pataphysique, the Oulipo and the Outrapo – had he not translated two of the French writer Boris Vian's most famous novels : L'Écume des jours (Froth on the Daydream) and L’Arrache-coeur (Heartsnatcher). Has Vian's singular prose incited Chapman to the act of writing, an activity which springs from, and unfolds in, the act of translating ? Moreover, could the intellectual affinities Vian and Chapman shared have also been a factor in this translating experience ? According to Henri Meschonnic and Antoine Berman, a translation criticism reveals the close interaction of thought, writing and translating. Using Meschonnic's « poetics of translation » and Berman's « translation analysis », this memoir will endeavour to determine how Heartsnatcher, the English translation of L’Arrache-coeur, can be considered an act of « translating-writing ». Taking into account such concepts as rhythm and significance (signifiance), our criticism will identify the crucial strategies that arise from this act of creation that is translation, and in so doing, will reveal the particular manner in which Stanley Chapman translated L’Arrache-coeur.

Keyphrases: Boris Vian, L’Arrache-coeur, Stanley Chapman, Heartsnatcher, Translating-writing, Poetics of translation
Étude rétrospective évaluant le VEGF comme biomarqueur d’athérosclérose mesurée par coronarographie quantitative et ultrason intra-vasculaire

Background: The role of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF) in atherogenesis remains controversial.  By promoting inflammation and neovascularization of the atherosclerotic plaque, VEGF is hypothesized to partake in the development of atherosclerotic plaques.  However, clinical data linking VEGF to coronary atherosclerosis have been controversial. We investigated the association between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) serum levels and coronary artery disease (CAD).   Methods: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study on data collected from 56 patients that presented with stable CAD and 112 that presented with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS).  We investigated the relationship between coronary atherosclerosis burden and serum VEGF concentration using Quantitative Coronary Angiography (QCA), and assessed plaque morphology with Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS).    Results: We found that stable CAD patients had significantly higher VEGF levels than patients with ACS. We observed a positive correlation between serum VEGF levels and the extent and severity of atherosclerotic disease measured by QCA Cumulative Coronary Stenosis Score (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.423 and p=0.001).  In a multivariate analysis, serum VEGF levels remained a valid predictor of QCA CCSS score (p=0.003) in patients with stable CAD, with age being the only other predictor of QCA CCSS (p=0.007). Finally, using IVUS, we observed a significant positive correlation between serum VEGF levels and plaque volume (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.381, p=0.035) as well as percent atheroma volume (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.466, p=0.008).  Conclusion: Our findings suggest that serum VEGF could be used as a potential biomarker of atherosclerosis.

Keyphrases: VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis
Représentations d’enseignants quant à l’intégration linguistique, socioscolaire, scolaire et sociale d’élèves allophones immigrants dans trois écoles secondaires montréalaises

This thesis presents an analysis of seventeen high school teachers’ representations of the integration of newly arrived immigrant students and host language learners in three multiethnic schools situated in the Montreal area. Particular attention is paid to the teachers’ evaluation of the different facets of integration, such as acquiring the host language, participating socially within the school, learning curriculum content and participating in the host society. Through the analysis of six focus group interviews, eight host language teachers and nine content area teachers’ roles are explored. Interpretation of the teachers’ discourse led to situating their representations of integration on an acculturation continuum. This inquiry took place within the context of a larger project which sought to describe the different organizational models for the integration of immigrant students from the viewpoint of educational stakeholders in French language public schools in Québec (De Koninck, Z. et F. Armand, 2012).   The results reveal that the second language teachers interviewed focused primarily on the emotional well-being of their immigrant students, while the content area teachers often reported treating all their students equally. However, some teachers’ focus on the status of the French language in Quebec led them to justify institutional practices within the three schools which temporarily segregated immigrant students. Furthermore, the teachers generally shared a tendency to represent the immigrant students’ mother tongue and family environment as obstacles for integration. Regarding the acculturation continuum, while some of the teachers’ representations of integration seem to fit with the intercultural model, others teachers viewed the process as a form of assimilation.

Keyphrases: Immigrant students, Integration, Host language learners, Representations of integration, Teachers' roles, Host language teachers, Secondary education, Immigration and education in Quebec
Impacts d’une formation établissant des liens entre les sciences et la cuisine sur l’enseignement des sciences au primaire

Science education is frequently neglected by elementary school teachers who prioritize French and mathematics (Lenoir, 2000).  These teachers often lack the training and educational tools to link scientific knowledge with everyday life situations. Therefore, the integration of social practices with teaching activities can be considered an innovative teaching method which will enable students and teachers to contextualize many scientific concepts (Martinand, 1986). Capitalizing on the enthusiasm of Quebeckers for cooking, this research investigates the impact of a science-cooking professional development experience on six elementary school teachers. In this descriptive case study, the participants attended two training sessions during which they tried out various science teaching activities. After testing the activities in class, the participants were interviewed to establish the evolution of their knowledge regarding science teaching and to create a list of benefits and obstacles related to the use of cooking activities to teach science. Furthermore, the suggestions given by the subjects to improve the proposed teaching activities show the predominance of organizational and socioemotional concerns when it comes to adapting the instructional materials used in class. The results of this research may be useful for curriculum developers seeking to improve the quality of the educational tools created for the teachers. In addition, this study contributes to the improvement of science education by offering innovative teaching activities to the elementary school community.

Keyphrases: Elementary science education, Teacher training, Teaching practices, Social practices, Cooking activities
Résilience familiale : revue systématique des écrits qualitatifs sur le combat familial face au cancer pédiatrique

Childhood cancer is known to disrupt family life and have repercussions on every member of the family. Although numerous qualitative studies have examined the family’s experience and adaptation when confronted with childhood cancer, few have gone beyond descriptive results. Family resilience systemic theory (Walsh, 2006) describes different key processes that can foster resilience and family adaptation. With this theory in mind, a framework analysis (Booth, Papaioannou & Sutton, 2012) was conducted with the aim of integrating the existing qualitative literature on families faced with childhood cancer to facilitate the understanding of the family system’s experience of, and adjustment to, this major event. Results extracted from 13 articles show that childhood cancer poses major challenges to family resilience, disrupting family routine, triggering the questioning of belief systems, or forcing a family separation. Distinct key processes of family functioning are solicited by cancer, namely flexibility, connectedness, and financial and social resources. We can conclude that Family resilience systemic theory offers an integrated framework that allows a clear organisation of the literature for a systemic and global understanding of the family’s experience when faced with childhood cancer.

Keyphrases: adaptation, childhood cancer, resilience, family, qualitative research, systems theory
La mort de mon père

The following text consists of the end of life story of my father, at home under the care of my mother, and illustrates some issues of ethics, family, suffering and meaning. This story helps to show that sickness and death, far from being reduced to a problem to solve, becomes a question: who are we and what do we become? And above all, there is the question: what can we expect from these life experiences?

Keyphrases: Alzheimer, Alzheimer’s, story, ethics, death, mourning