NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
L’écologie, réponse à la crise de sens? :
le défi philosophique de la crise écologique selon la perspective de Hans Jonas

Most philosophers agree today that there is a crisis of meaning in the Western world.  J.-F. Mattei, for example, in La crise de sens (2006), unequivocally demonstrates this.  According to him, this crisis has five dimensions: spiritual, religious, artistic, economic, and finally, cultural.  This is true in my view, although incomplete, because Mattéi does not address the most important crisis: the ecological crisis.  The argument that leads me to postulate the utmost importance of this ecological crisis is simple: if the environment is no longer able to sustain human life, humans cease to exist.  The environmental aspect of the crisis can thus not be subtracted from a reflection on the overall crisis since, in my view, it offers an opportunity for a philosophical questioning to address this crisis.  In the book entitled Écologie, éthique et création (1994), Dominique Jacquemin orients us in this direction by raising the following three questions : 1. Is it possible to frame our ecological concerns in ethical terms? 2. How can ecological concerns affect our relationship with the world and with the future? 3. How can the present ecological reflection establish an ethically viable link between man and nature, both now and in the future?  The questions raised by the environmental crisis thus lead us to think about the meaning and the finality of human life and also about the concept of human beings in their relationship to the world.  The purpose of this memoir is to address these questions by finding inspiration in the ethical principles outlined in The Imperative of Responsibility (1979, English 1984) by Hans Jonas (1903 – 1993), in order to bring out their relevance for the current environmental challenge.  In other words, I will answer the following question: In today's society and for the future, what are the most important aspects in Hans Jonas' book on “The Imperative of Responsibility” with regards to the resolution of the crisis of meaning?  To accomplish this, the memoir is divided in two chapters. The first is the body of the memoir which contains three main parts related to the three questions raised above.  The second and final chapter contains an initial critical analysis of The Imperative of Responsibility followed by an appreciation by Hans Jonas.  Methodologically, I intend to shed light on the need for ethical responsibility in face of the ecological crisis by focusing on the themes of otherness and solidarity.  In this way, I hope to show that the ecological crisis opens up possible avenues for the resolution, at least in part, of the crisis in meaning we are now facing.

Keyphrases: Éthique, Écologie, Technoscience, Nature, Ethics, Environment, Ecology, Ontology, Metaphysics, Finality, Positivism
Le climat psychologique des unités organisationnelles en tant que déterminant de la détresse psychologique au travail

The main objective of this paper is to examine the association between the psychological climate and the occurrence of psychological distress within organizational work units. More precisely, we want to determine if the psychological climate is an occupational factor than can lead to psychological distress. A specific questionnaire was submitted to 362 employees from five different departments at a Canadian insurance company. Two different scales were used to measure the level of psychological distress: the Kessler scale (1998) used in the National Population Health Survey in 1999 and the Ilfeld scale, the latter modified by Préville (1994) used in the Québec Health Survey in 1998. Results of our analysis partly showed that the inherent dimensions of the psychological climate concept (quality of relationships with colleagues, quality of relationships with supervisor and quality of work environment) influence the level of psychological distress within organizational work units. Moreover, the three components of the psychological climate did not predict the results obtained by the two psychological distress scales.

Keyphrases: psychological distress, Job climate, Psychological climate, Kessler, Kessler, Ilfeld, Ilfeld
« Devenir boxeur » :
étude sur l’acquisition de l’habitus pugilistique

The subject of this master’s thesis being boxing, it seeks to shine a light on the process through which the boxer acquires the pugilistic habitus, from Loïc Wacquant’s viewpoint. Wacquant sees boxing as an individual sport even while it is acquired collectively. The thesis aims to analyse the learning of this sports discipline in a study that combines participant observation, notes from the field and interviews, through the relationships fostered within the boxing gymnasium, developed through the notions of habitus, esprit de corps, sens pratique and capital agonistique. It is in fact based upon collective training that the “esprit de corps” is developed, in the shape of habitus likely to govern the body as well as the representation of the boxers, and further to create a united community through which the “wild body” becomes a “habituated body”.

Keyphrases: habitus, esprit de corps, sens pratique, capital agonistique, Loïc Wacquant, boxe, participant observation, interview, boxing
En marge du surréalisme: poétique du rêve chez Leiris et Queneau

Abstract:  This memoir consists in a study of dream narratives made by two authors who belonged to the surrealist movement in their youth : Michel Leiris and Raymond Queneau. For one, we will describe the dream poetics by Leiris and Queneau, with different analyses on narrative styles and textual linguistics. Secondly, we will determine how much the surrealism influenced each author in his conception of the dream. The first chapter presents the surrealist conception of the dream, particularly with André Breton, as detailed in the first Manifeste du Surréalisme and in Les Vases Communicants. This synthesis is followed by the analysis of some dream narratives by Breton from Clair de Terre and from La Révolution Surréaliste. The second and third chapters are devoted to Leiris and Queneau’s writing of dreams. We will first study their dream narratives as they were part of the surrealist movement (1924-1929). These texts are found in their personal journals and in the publication La Révolution Surréaliste. After, we go through and compare some texts written after the surrealist period that contain dream narratives or use the dream as a narrative structure. With these analyses, this memoir tries to demonstrate the contribution of the dreams and the elaboration of the poetics styles of Leiris and Queneau.  Key words : dream narrative, Michel Leiris, Raymond Queneau, surrealism, french litterature.

Keyphrases: dream narrative, Michel Leiris, Raymond Queneau, surréalisme, surrealism, french litterature
The ambivalent identity of Wong Kar-wai's cinema

With nine feature films released between 1988 and 2007, as well as several advertising campaigns, music videos, short films and collective projects, Wong Kar-wai is one of the most important contemporary filmmakers currently working. Hailing from Hong Kong’s highly commercial film industry, Wong has managed to attract the attention of the international film festival circuit with his visual style and fragmented narrative. Considered by many critics as the poet of Hong Kong’s quest for identity post 1997, his cinema defies every attempt of standardization.  The main goal of this study is to provide an attentive and comprehensive study of his body of work, concentrating on the stylistics traits that make his films  part of a coherent unity. These characteristics correspond to a certain way of telling stories, of composing situations and characters, of manipulating time and the use of technical resources so that his films offer a coherent identity. The objective is to analyze the different components of his images, to show how his films communicate with each other in order to create something unique.  To achieve this objective, I put forward the hypothesis that Wong’s cinema is marked by a dualistic structure that allows his films to present opposite qualities at the same time. Most of my arguments are based on the thoughts of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, whose own dualistic theory of cinema presented in his books Cinema 1: the movement-image and Cinema 2: the time-image, provides a valid framework upon which Wong’s films can be projected. While the research concentrates on the textual analysis of films, I will also benefit from comparative analysis and additional disciplines.

Keyphrases: Wong Kar-wai, Cinema, Hong Kong, Gilles Deleuze, Film aesthetics, Narratology, Asian cinema
[E]scape :
anonymat et politique à l'ère de la mobilisation globale: passages chinois pour la communauté qui vient

The theme of total mobilization is central to the contemporary reflection on the renewing of subjectivation processes and ways of being-together. In the background, we find the question of the compatibility between the human vital processes and modernity, or in other words, the question of the viability of Western civilization. At the core of the diagnosis: the radical insufficiency of the homo oeconomicus’s fiction, model of the private individual without meaningful social links and suffering from a sphere deficit. The “coming community” (Agamben), the “politization of existence” (Lopez Petit) and the creation of “regenerated spheres” (Sloterdijk) name as many attempts to think how to go beyond the henceforth improper and senseless form of individuality. But how are we to realize this overcoming? Or more precisely: which crossing to bring the private individual to operate this overcoming?                                                                   This work is organized around a focal urgency: [E]scape. This concept suggest an immanent horizon of flight: it signs a way out of the private individual and draws a plan of ideality allowing to effectuate  this exit. Concretely, this concept commands the production of a series of theoretical an artistic analysis of contemporary thinkers like Foucault, Deleuze and Sloterdijk, of Radiohead’s Kid A Album, and of different Chinese contemporary filmmakers and artists (Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-Wai, Wong Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Shu Yong, Huang Rui, Zhang Huan, Zhu Yu, etc.)  These analyses are conceived as passages or itineraries of desubjectivation. They all posit, in one way or the other, the problem of the common and of the being-together, on the threshold of global capitalism’s non-places. These itineraries are meant to be liminal, i.e. they constitute as many passages on the line and imply an ethopoietic mise en jeu. Conceptually speaking, they mark a distance with the identity politics paradigm and the critics of intercultural representations.

Keyphrases: Études transculturelles, Gilles Deleuze, Tiqqun, JIa Zhangke, Ethopoietic, Chinese cinema, Chinese contemporary art, Contemporary political thought, Transcultural studies
Logiciels de traduction automatique: protection, responsabilité

The aim of this research is to take stock of the state of the Canadian law and its perspectives for the future in relationship with computer-generated work. The terminology tool chosen is the multilingual automatic translation software that, because of its complexity, drifts out of the most from "creative" programs. In fact, it is closer to creations that cannot be directly c1aimed for by linguists and programmers. These tools and their work will be, according to us, the next technological tool to confront the law. Indeed in a foreseeable future, considering technological evolution, these software will produce texts with an added market value and then some people will realize their "interests" not only on texts but also on technology. To achieve this, we will start by a historical return on the technology and its origins. After we will analyse the present protection accorded to software, data banks and translations they create. We will then determine who is responsible for the texts produced in relation with the original text and its resultant at the level of the copyright and that of the third party liability. This study will conclude that the present law is "unsuited" with respect to protection and responsibility. According to us, these conclusions will have to command a return to the fundamental principles of law. This legal fundamentalism will be the price we have to pay for legal sufficiency. Indeed, particularly regarding copyright, we will conclude that it needs to cease being a "rag-bag" for intellectual property law and it needs to become again what it should be : a right that protects creativity. This forward-Iooking approach will take its roots from the fact that we will be obligated to conclude that Canadian jurists have, from our perspective, incorrectly refused to send back to the patent world the methods and processes, new and inventive. As an effect, this has introduced useless problems that exacerbate uncertainty. Finally, our line of thought will direct us to the responsibility law where we will submit that the provider cannot actually be responsible for the text created because he does not participate directly to the choices and he does not go to the content. This is in summary the heart of our study that half-opens a Pandora's box.

Keyphrases: Intelligence, Artificial, Bank, Creation, Intelligence, Mechanical, Originality, Patent, Program, System
La problématique de l'opposabilité aux tiers des droits des créanciers aux contrats conclus à des fins de garantie et portant sur des biens mobiliers

The Act to amend the Civil Code and other legislative provisions as regards the publication of personal and movable real rights and the constitution of movable hypothecs without delivery, S.Q. 1998, ch. 5, has subjected to publicity, to have effect against third persons, onerous trusts constituted to secure the performance of an obligation, the rights of the lessor of a leasing and, in certain cases, the rights of the instalment seller, the right of redemption of the seller and the rights of the long term lessor. The interpretation of certain of these legislative provisions has given rise to a strong jurisprudential controversy on the characterization of these contracts and the effect of publicity in the context where the instalment seller and the long term lessor did not publish their rights in a timely manner and prior to the bankruptcy of their debtor. The present memorandum examines this issue by analyzing the relevant judgements rendered on this matter, and more particularly the judgements of the Supreme Court of Canada in Lefebvre (Trustee of); Tremblay (Trustee of), [2004] 3 S.C.R. 326 and Ouellet (Syndic de), [2004] 3 S.C.R. 348. Also examined is the amendment brought by the legislator to the definition of “secured creditor” in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act who tried, without success, to harmonize this notion with the Civil Code. It will therefore be demonstrated that the juridical status of these contracts concluded for security purposes has become more complex over the years.

Keyphrases: Security, Publication, Opposability, Instalment sale, Long term lease
De la légitimité et de la légalité des régimes de droits de souscription d'action en réponse à une offre publique d'achat

The present thesis tries to review the main rules regarding the creation and the application of a shareholders rights plan. The author reviews also the sections of the Securities Act pertaining to the Take-Over bid. The author also explains the main principles of the corporation law domain and how a shareholders rights plan may be implemented. Second, the author reviews the legality of the implementation of the shareholders rights plan with regards to the shareholders rights given by the Law, and to the obligations and duties of the directors of the Corporation. At the end of the present thesis, the author presents a review of the main recourses opened to the Shareholders, the corporation and the bidder.

Keyphrases: Shareholders rights plan, Shareholders rights, Equal Treatment Right, Directors duties, Fiduciary duty, Business judgement rule, Takeover bid, Offeror
La série Aux Abattoirs de la Villette (1929) : le point de vue du photographe Eli Lotar par-delà la revue Documents et la philosophie de Georges Bataille

This master’s thesis is a study of the whole series Aux Abattoirs de la Villette, photographed by Eli Lotar in 1929. It demonstrates how the thirty-four prints were merged into Georges Bataille’s philosophy by the art historians of the 1990’s who based their interpretations upon the text « Abattoir ». This was published under the heading Dictionnaire critique inside Documents magazine. The series is taken apart from Bataille’s purpose in light of Lotar’s preoccupations and of the other editions of the photographs during the inter-war period.        The first chapter insists on Eli Lotar’s photographic education preceding his visit to La Villette’s site in context with the slaughterhouse’s topic in the art Avant-garde. Then, it evaluates Aux Abattoirs de la Villette’s critical review based on Bataille’s conceptions of formless and sacrifices. The second chapter analyses the authorship conferred to the photomontages carried out by E.L.T. Mesens in Variétés (1930), who accentuates the similarities between the photographic and the slaughter cutting operations, and by Carlo Rim in Vu (1931), who reveals the human dimension of La Villette’s industry. The third chapter focuses on Lotar’s social preoccupations by according an importance to his collaborations with Germaine Krull and Joris Ivens. Finally, the series is addressed in an "intermediatic" perspective to emphasize the photographic point of view by comparing it with the painting Abattoir by André Masson, the poem Porte Brancion by Raymond Queneau and the film Le sang des bêtes by George Franju.

Keyphrases: Eli Lotar, Georges Bataille, Aux Abattoirs de la Villette, Eli Lotar, Georges Bataille, Photography, Aux Abattoirs de la Villette, Avant-garde magazines
Implication de l'endosome de recyclage dans la migration cellulaire in vivo

During Drosophila melanogaster’s oogenesis, a cluster of folllicle cells, called border cells, perform an invasive migration through the surrounding nurse cells to reach the oocyte. This event resembles metastasis formation since it requires epithelial- mesenchymal transition, reorientation and arrest.  Endocytosis plays a fundamental role in many polarized processes, including cell migration, since different migration proteins, like integrins and E-cadherins traffic through the endocytic pathway. Furthermore, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that guide border cells during their migration are regulated by endocytosis, although the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. We tested the implication of vesicular trafficking through the endocytic machinery, in border cells’ directed migration, because this system is easily accessible for protein expression and mutant analysis.  We first confirmed previous observation that trafficking through the early endosome is necessary for border cells migration, and then we identified the recycling endosome as a key compartment for this migration. Indeed, we showed that overexpression in border cells of a dominant negative form of Rab11, the small GTPase regulating vesicular trafficking through the recycling endosome, blocks migration or leads to severe migration defects in about 80% of examined egg chambers. Furthermore, using immunofluorescence, we observed a relocalization of RTKs activity, whereas other migration proteins were not redistributed upon dominant negative Rab11 expression. This result was further confirmed by a genetic interaction between Rab11 and RTKs. Moreover, we showed that the exocyst complex, an effector of Rab11, is also involved in border cells migration. We found by using confocal microscopy of fixed tissues and time-lapse microscopy of living egg chambers, that Sec15, a member of this complex, is distributed in vesicles which are polarized, in a Rab11- dependent manner, throughout border cells migration. In addition, loss of Sec15 also impairs migration. Together these data demonstrate a fundamental role for an endo- exocytic cycle in the maintenance of active RTKs at the leading edge of border cells during their migration.

Keyphrases: Oogenesis, Directed migration, Border cells, Recycling endosome, Rab11, Rab11, Sec15, Sec15, Polarized activity, Receptor tyrosine kinases, Metastasis
Modulation allostérique de la fonction des récepteurs FP et PAF

G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are involved in the first step of most signalling pathways that regulate a variety of physiological events. The classical view of GPCR activation suggests that ligand binding to the inactive receptor will trigger a conformational change leading to an active conformation of the receptor. The GPCRs activated regulate the activity of a target membrane protein which can then activate other signalling proteins such as enzymes and ionic channels. The interaction between the receptor and the target requires an intermediary, in this case an heterotrimeric protein named « G protein », which is activated in order to facilitate the exchange of GDP (guanosine diphospate) for a GTP (guanosine triphosphate) and allow the transduction of the signal from the receptor to the effector. The molecular mechanisms leading to the activation of signalling effectors via the activation of GPCRs by its heterotrimeric G protein have not yet been well characterized.  We focused our study on two GPCRs, the FP and PAF receptors, their natural ligands, PGF2α and Carbamyl-PAF respectively, and their antagonist ligands. Agonists are ligands that bind to the target receptor and trigger the same effects as the natural ligand of the GPCR. In contrast with agonists, antagonist ligands are molecules that prevent the effects of the natural ligand by keeping the GPCR from changing to its active conformation and can be competitive or non-competitive. We have also studied orthosteric and allosteric ligands of the FP and PAF receptors. An orthosteric ligand binds the same site as the natural ligand of the receptor and can act as an agonist or an antagonist. In the contrary, an allosteric ligand will rather have a different binding site then the natural ligand (agonist) and can positively or negatively modulate the effects of the natural ligand.

Keyphrases: ARF6, Remodelling Of The Actin Cytoskeleton, G Protein Coupled Receptor, Allosteric Receptor, FP Receptor, PAF Receptor, Allosteric Agonist/antagonist, ARF6
Dissection moléculaire de l’interaction de la DNA topoisomérase I avec la matrice extracellulaire et les fibroblastes

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which one of the major complications is fibrosis. DNA topoisomerase I (topo) is a major autoantigen associated with this disease. However, no link has yet been established between the presence of anti-topo and the development of fibrosis. Previous work of the host laboratory showed a direct interaction of the topo with the surface of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix. We wanted to characterize these interactions at the molecular level. Topo was expressed in 5 fragments, determined from its main structural domains and its major epitopes, in E. coli. The purified fragments were analyzed for their interaction with heparin, representing heparan sulfates on the surface of fibroblasts, and with purified proteins of the extracellular matrix. We have shown that the topo-N fragment is responsible for interaction with heparin, suggesting hence, potential involvement of this domain in the interaction of topo with the surface of fibroblasts. The topo-DIDII fragment is responsible for the interaction with most proteins of the extracellular matrix studied, whereas the topo-H15 fragment only binds to vitronectin. No interaction of fragments topo-DIII and topo-C was found.  These results can now be used to better understand the potential role of topo and circulating anti-topo autoantibodies in the fibrosis present in patients with systemic sclerosis in helping to identify the target of topo on fibroblasts.

Keyphrases: Systemic sclerosis, ADN topoisomérase I, DNA topoisomerase I, Fibroblast, Extracellular matrix, Autoantibodies