NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Believing in belief : the modernist quest for spiritual meaning
(Croyer en croyance : la quête moderniste pour le sens spirituel)

This dissertation argues that many modernist writers used concepts central to traditional religious belief in order to urge social change. Against the secularization hypothesis, which posits that the modernists fully jettisoned religion in favour of an unquestioned secularism, I argue for what I term “modernist spirituality,” which identifies an integral continuance of spiritual concepts within the dire turmoil of the modernist period that destabilized the institutions such as an established organized religion that had previously formed the foundations of Western society. Hence, in each of my dissertation chapters, I have looked outside of organized religion to literature to find that spiritual impulse. Building upon the purposes of religion as defined by Sigmund Freud, William James, and Émile Durkheim, I name five concepts central to religious belief that the modernists sought to resignify, namely redemption, community, sacredness, the spectre, and liturgy, and, in each case, I have shown how these categories were reinterpreted to treat issues considered vital in the early twentieth century that would now be identified under the categories of feminism, ecology, biopolitics, crisis, and the role of the poet.       The first function of spiritual belief addresses the intertwining of redemption and humanity’s actions within history, and for this reason, Chapter I focuses on redemption through the feminine as seen in H.D.’s book of World War II verse, Trilogy (1944-1946), which offers hope through a syncretistic blend of Christianity, ancient myths, goddess traditions, astrology, and psychology. My second chapter discusses John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (1939), which enlarges the role of community by positing a universal ecology of holiness that sees all people as connected with one another and with the land. Chapter III treats the notion of the sacred in William Faulkner’s Light in August (1932) and Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood (1936), both of which urge a privatized faith that emphasizes the illegitimacy of concepts of sacredness and pollution by elevating individuals who are marginalized biopolitically. Chapter IV seeks to comprehend the return of the dead in dreams or in visions, and I argue that the topos was used by modernists as a symbol of social crisis; the chapter first investigates Henry James’ “The Jolly Corner” (1908), which I read as a dream sequence of a man facing his own ghost, James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922), wherein Stephen Dedalus is haunted repeatedly by the ghost of his mother, and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (1925), which is textually ordered by the hidden motif of the Day of the Dead. My fifth section is an epilogue that treats liturgy, the poetic language used for religious rituals, in the early poetry of Wallace Stevens, who revisions the role of the poet as a vocation of the imagination.

Keyphrases: Modernism, English Literature, Anglo-American Culture, Religion, Religion, Spirituality, Belief, Feminism, Ecology, Biopolitics, Spectres, Spectres
Minorité musulmane en contexte migratoire : étude de cas d’une mosquée à Saguenay

Since the seventies, the composition of the population of Quebec has changed through immigration.  The policies of regionalization set up by the Québec government as well as the presence of the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi have given rise to a new ethnic and religious diversity in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. Though the number of Muslims in the area is still low, their presence constitutes a new reality for an area far away from the big urban centers. The exploration of Muslims migrants settlement in Saguenay fits into a particular political and social context, formed on the one hand by the policy of regionalization of immigration, and on the other, by Muslims status as a minority population. The raised questions ask for a bigger attention for the researchers. How Muslims lives their Islam and which form takes this religion in migratory context? Does the mosque play a particular role in the Muslims settlement? What kind of relation do the Muslims in Saguenay have with the host society? This research will help us to understand how Muslim settlement in this area evolves within a culturally and historically non-muslim society, where the visibility of Islam is a recent event.

Keyphrases: Religion, Migration, Islam, Anthropology, Religion, Migration, Islam, Regionalization of immigration
Vie privée et bon usage des NTIC au travail : risques et responsabilités

A growing number of employees now have access to the Internet and email in the workplace. They are sometimes tempted to use these tools for other purposes than business, creating thus a potential source of conflict.  Indeed, under the pretext of protecting the company’s property and equipment, verifying that the employees execute their contractual obligations, and preventing risks of liability, employers more frequently – and sometimes surreptitiously – monitor the use of the resources so provided.  Employees, on the other side, are claiming their right to have their personal online activities remain private, even when these are conducted during their working hours and with the equipment provided by the employer. However, can they reasonably expect to have their rights protected, when the right to privacy in the workplace has traditionally been mitigated and when employers have access to spying technologies that are more and more invasive?  How then to find a workable balance between employer’s management rights and employees’ rights? It is an issue that courts increasingly face and that regularly induces them to reinterpret the rules set for the employer’s surveillance with regard to the specificities of information technologies. That situation of conflict has also brought changes to the practices in the workplace, insofar as employers are increasingly likely to adopt legal and technical tools enabling them to protect themselves against risks, while keeping a large right of intrusion into employees’ privacy.

Keyphrases: Surveillance, Internet, Obligation, Monitoring, Internet, Email, Expectancy of privacy, Obligation, Employee, Loyalty, Rights, Employer, Company policy
L'expérience esthétique et quotidienne du parc en ville : le cas d'étude du parc La Fontaine à Montréal

This thesis involves the fields of landscaping architecture and urban design. The research questions the meaning that can be attributed to the La Fontaine park by its users within the framework of urban life in Montreal. This park is a symbolic place in this city by its historic character. It is also a popular location due to its central geographical placement within the district of the Plateau-Mont-Royal. We attempt to explain the way the experience of an urban park relates to the peculiarities of its design, as well as to its social and cultural context, such as that represented by the city of Montreal. Our study seems relevant as this space was never approached with respect to the experience of its landscape. Our reflection builds on a socio-cultural model supported by a literature review in landscaping architecture. In particular, the works led by the Chair in landscaping and Environment of Montreal University were referenced. The employed model considers the landscape a social and cultural qualification of a territory. The analysis is thus directed towards a multi-dimensional reading of everyday experience, all while considering the landscape in its formal qualifications (physical attributes). We have also accompanied this theoretical support by research in design and in anthropology of the senses. These research areas help clarify the role of aesthetic and sensory experiences in the everyday lives of people. According to this conceptual framework, our research develops a comprehensive approach. We thus treat the experience of the landscape with an analytical model emphasizing the use, the interpretation and the representation of the La Fontaine Park landscape. Methodologically, the study uses a qualitative approach compiling a spatial and experiential analysis of the landscape. The study therefore builds on an in situ investigation through non-participatory observation, semi-directed interviews and a physical analysis of the space. This research may offer a first reading of the dimensions at play in the everyday experience of the La Fontaine Park by its users. We hope to contribute to the advancement of the knowledge of this space from an experiential perspective and of the research in urban park design.

Keyphrases: aesthetic experience, urban landscape, user experience, La Fontaine Park, Montreal
Fixation d’un but thérapeutique pour les patients supportés à long terme par un DAV aux soins intensifs : l’expérience des soignants

A non eligible transplant patient on long term ventricular assist device (VAD) support in intensive care unit (ICU), can evolve in multiple ways. Alot of health care professionnals live a malaise when the patient surves with complications without neither possibility of cardiaque transplantation nor return home. In consequence, defferent goals of care are pursued in the health care team. This is why, the researcher maintained all along the study, the objectives to understand the goals pursued by the health care professionnals working towards the particular patient, to clarify the factors influensing these pursued goals and to learn more on the health care team difficulties to elaborate a common goal. Phenomenology has been the method used to define the problem. Twelve participants working in ICU were included in the reasearch sample representing the nurses, physicians and perfusionists working towards the concerned patient. Each of the participants had collaborated to an individual, semi structured and audio recorded interview. First, the researcher presented a vignette with which she asked everyone a certain number of identical questions. The questions permitted the participants to express as much on there experience than on the context of the phenomenon. A second meeting has been necessary to validate or correct the interpretation of what has been expressed by each participant during the interview. The data analyisis testify a lack of continuity concerning the goal to pursue with the patient in question. Almost half of the participants aim for a transplantation when the rest of them pursue other goals like discharge of ICU, treatment limitation or paliative care. By a majority, the participants are influenced by the patient’s will, the absence of formal communication mecanism, profesionnal factors such as : values, practices and environment and power differential. Thus, health care profesionnals that would want to pursue a common team goal are facing a certain number of barriers. The resercher realises that to overcome these barriers, multidisciplinary communication has do be the driving force of team goal- setting. Although, to acheave this, two pre-requisits have to be developed: the ethical intention and the engagement.

Keyphrases: bioethics, VAD, goal of care, health care team, phenomenology
The role of the nuclear receptor Nr5a2 in ovulation in mice

The nuclear receptor Nr5a2 is expressed in the ovary, exclusively in granulosa and luteal cells. Conditional disruption of Nr5a2 in granulosa cells beginning with primary follicles by means of Nr5a2-floxed and Amhr2-Cre mice (Nr5a2f/fAmhr2Cre/+) results in failure in cumulus expansion, ovulation and luteinization. We hypothesize that Nr5a2 regulates intercellular connections in ovarian follicles through connexin 43 (Cx43), a gap-junctional protein related to cumulus expansion. The first objective of this study was to determine whether the lack of cumulus expansion in Amhr2Cre-cKO mice is related to the absence of normal cell-to-cell communication in cumulus/granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles. To address this, immature ovaries of Amhr2Cre-cKO and non-transgenic littermates mice were collected (n=3) after superstimulation to induce follicle development and ovulation. Using RT-PCR, the Cx43 mRNA levels were shown to be downregulated prior to and at the time of the ovulatory stimulus (0 h and 2 h) in the Amhr2Cre-cKO group (P<0.01), which may lead to the failure in the acquisition of oocyte developmental competence. On the other hand, by the time of ovulation (12 h), mRNA levels of Cx43 are upregulated in Amhr2Cre-cKO group, which may prevent the cumulus cells to detach one from another. We conclude that Cx43 is one of the downstream genes under Nr5a2 control and its dysregulation can be one reason for the defect in cumulus expansion in Amhr2Cre-cKO females. To examine the role of Nr5a2 in ovulation and luteinization in different stages of the follicle maturation, we hypothesized that Nr5a2 modulates the events leading to ovulation in a temporal sequence. By crossing Nr5a2-floxed and Cyp19-Cre mice (Nr5a2f/fCyp19Cre/+), Nr5a2 was disrupted in granulosa cells of antral and preovulatory follicles. No litters were born to Cyp19Cre-cKO females (n=4) during a 6 months breeding trial. Cyp19Cre-cKO enabled the development of a luteal-like structure, and 1-year-old females presented hemorrhagic follicular cysts and hypertrophic ovarian surface epithelium. Both knockout models display lack of cumulus expansion and ovulation. We conclude that Nr5a2 differentially regulates folliculogenesis and ovulation in granulosa cells of small and antral follicles.

Keyphrases: Nr5a2, Ovulation, Nr5a2, Ovulation, Cumulus expansion, Connexin 43, Conditional knockout mouse
Contribution des kinines dans le syndrome d'embolie de liquide amniotique : proposition de la lapine gravide comme modèle animal

Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a rare but catastrophic complication of parturition characterized by severe hypotension, cardiovascular collapse, and massive consumptive coagulopathy. Its pathophysiology remains obscure. In particular, the potential role of bradykinin in hypotension is unknown. The objective of this study was to develop a suitable animal model of AFE and to study the effects of amniotic fluid injection on bradykinin release in this model. Twelve rabbits in late gestation (25 days) were used. For each rabbit, amniotic fluid was collected from foetal amniotic sacs by laparotomy. For six rabbits, the amniotic fluid was then injected as a bolus via the left auricular vein, whereas the six other rabbits received saline (control group). In parallel, the in vitro effects of amniotic fluid on coagulation was assessed by thrombelastography (TEG) and compared to the effects of saline. Injection of amniotic fluid did not reproduce clinical signs of AFE, did not provoke bradykinin generation and had no effect on prothrombin time, the activated partial thromboplastin time, nor Factor VIII activity. However, a significant thrombocytopenia was observed five minutes after amniotic fluid administration. This thrombocytopenia resolved within 60 minutes. In vitro addition of amniotic fluid to blood resulted in accelerated clotting on TEG tracings as compared to the effect of saline. As we were not able to reproduce AFE with our model, the role of kinins in this syndrome remains to be determined.

Keyphrases: Coagulation, Amniotic fluid, Embolism, Animal model, Rabbit, Bradykinin, kinins, Thrombelastography, Coagulation, Obstetrics
Les relations entre le transport actif et l'environnement urbain : le cas d'usagers du train de banlieue de Montréal

In a society where it is quite normal to spend much time sitting, we study from an environmental design standpoint, the integration of physical activity for recreation and transportation activities and everyday places. This integration is relatively little studied in its entirety because it requires taking into consideration the factors of physical and social environment, both types of physical activity, the various places visited daily and it puts in that many challenges of methodology. This overview of the phenomenon is needed because more and more researches have reported associations between specific dimensions of the built environment and specific behaviours, and these results are occasionally contradictory. To understand the phenomenon, we set the eco environmental model and have adapted to better represent the population mobility. We have therefore chosen a unit of analysis including the residential area, the area of workplace and travel between the two. Thus, using multiple data sources, we characterized the community as restricting or facilitating physical activity and people living there as being sufficiently active or not. We then highlighted the important elements of interviews based on this pairing. Among the themes explored in the interview, characteristics of the physical environment that are important, the impact of the social environment at work and at home, the logic underlying the errands, etc. Key findings of this research show that users of the commuter trains are sufficiently active although they live in the suburbs. In this sense, our sample is more active than the provincial average. We note that the influence of the environment is obvious but under the principle of communicating vessels, that is to say that the residential pole and employment center has both a contribution that is often complementary. The influence of the social environment is through the significant role of relatives rather than by their geographical proximity while environmental design has a huge contribution to make the journey enjoyable and thereby give an added value to the time required to use them. The purpose of environments, the type of walking and the expectations of the users must guide the design. Consequently, there is not one formula or one single prescription to increase the walkability of the community; that being said, the characterization tools must be tailored. In conclusion, ideas for future developments following this research are proposed.

Keyphrases: Physical activity, Environmental design, Suburb, Time
Codes de conduite et droit d'association : une étude exploratoire du secteur du textile

The globalised economy has transformed the traditional corporation into a worldwide network of producers connected by contracts. In light of certain abuses committed by multinational corporations, corporations and civil society have developed regulatory mechanisms including private codes of conduct. The purpose of this study is to determine for which workers the codes of conduct were developed: the workers of the country of origin of the corporation (generally located in developed countries) or the workers of the countries of production (generally located in developing countries). By comparing the content of the codes of conduct of Nike, Gap and Levi-Strauss regarding freedom of association with the observations of the International Labour Organisation for the United-States, India and Bangladesh, we identified a certain number of gaps between the content of the codes and the needs of the workers. In the last part of the study, we widened our research question to determine whether or not the codes might be destined to people other than the workers, namely consumers, shareholders or the corporation itself.

Keyphrases: multinational corporations, corporate social responsibility, codes of conduct, freedom of association, collective bargaining, internormativity
Arbitration under the regulations on the guarantee of new residential buildings in Quebec

In my memoire, I discuss the concept of arbitration generally as a dispute resolution method after which I outline a history of its acceptance under Quebec law.   Chapter I addresses the structure under the R.B.Q. Regulations, which is a mandatory institutional arbitration system is discussed, and includes the various procedures of the arbitration system.   The security offered under the Guarantee Plan which is regulated by the R.B.Q. is discussed in Chapter II insofar as it affects its arbitration system, including the structure of the guarantee plan and the contents of the guarantee.   Chapter III reviews a Beneficiary’s available recourses as well as the advantages and limitations of the arbitration system under the Regulations.   Then a brief comparative study with four other jurisdictions is directed in Chapter IV, including our neighbouring Ontario, United States, and then overseas to the United Kingdom and Germany.     In conclusion, I prove that the arbitration system protects Quebec Beneficiaries more than any where else that I have studied and recommend improvements to the system, including the expansion of the guarantee plan, the addition of powers to the arbitration similar to those granted in the United States jurisdictions and the integration of an adjudication system similar to that used in the United Kingdom for construction dispute resolution.

Keyphrases: Arbitration, Regulations, Guarantee plan, construction, batiment, construction
Gestion des ressources naturelles, dégradation de l’environnement et stratégies de subsistance dans le désert de Thar : étude ethnographique dans la région du Marwar, au Rajasthan en Inde

This research focuses on the origins and the consequences of environmental degradation in the Thar Desert in the State of Rajasthan, India. It outlines the political and economic processes that have influenced how natural resources are managed in the region of Marwar since Indian independence.  First are presented the modes of agrarian and natural resources management that were current during the jagirdari, the pre-independence land tenure system that prevailed in this region. This is followed by an analysis of how different ideologies of postcolonial development have reshaped the social, administrative and environmental landscape of this region.   These changes have led to ecological disruptions which have given rise to an environmental and agrarian crisis that has now reached a critical point with the rainfall deficits of the past decade in this region. Based on field research conducted in the community of Givas, the implications – physical and metaphysical – of these environmental problems are analyzed. The study also looks at the responses generated in order to cope with these changes, namely the livelihood strategies adopted by the local people, as well as the interventions from a non-government organization and the Indian state – through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The analysis reveals that the experience of environmental degradation, through its effects and responses, is conditioned by political, economic and sociocultural factors, and thus differentiated by gender, class and caste.

Keyphrases: Ecological and environmental anthropology, Development, Natural resources  management, Eau, Water, Environmental degradation, Désertification, Desertification, Livelihood strategies, Social changes, Environmental Governance, Inde, India
Modeling protein evolution using secondary
structures

Protein evolution is an important field of research in bioinformatics and catalyzes the requirement of finding alignment tools that can be used to reliably and accurately model the evolution of a protein family. TM-Align (Zhang and Skolnick, 2005) is considered to be the ideal tool for such a task, in terms of both speed and accuracy. Therefore in this study, TM-Align has been used as a point of reference to facilitate the detection of other alignment tools that are able to accurately model protein evolution. In parallel, we expand the existing protein secondary structure explorer tool, Helix Explorer (Marrakchi, 2006), so that it can also be used as a tool to model protein evolution.

Keyphrases: Protein evolution, tools, comparison of tools, sequence based alignments, structure based alignments