NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Pression policière et actes de défiance : une analyse de la résistance aux interventions policières à Montréal (1998-2008)

Although the rules of law and administrative directives dictate their conduct, police officers have considerable discretion in how to apply the law and provide services. Since the efficient conduct of all forms of authority requires the awareness of its legitimacy (Tyler, 2004), the more their discretionary powers is deemed arbitrary or excessive, the more citizens are likely to use normal objection or opposition mechanisms. In this context, this study seeks to disentangle the causes of the 15 023 cases of assaults, threats, harassment, obstruction and intimidation, described as defiance, which the police officers of the Service de police de la ville de Montréal (SPVM) were the target of between 1998-2008 according to their register of events (Module d’information policière - MIP). It presumes that with constant interactions level between police and citizens, behaviors of police mistrust will depend on the level of neighborhood disorder and the characteristics of the persons involved. The more the police intercept youths, ethnic minorities and individuals associated with street gangs, the more they are likely to be challenged. It also assumes that the probability that a police intervention be challenged depends on the excessiveness of police activities conducted in the district. The more the neighborhood is overpoliced versus the volume of crimes, the more the local climate is tense, the more the police officers are perceived as being unlawful and they are more likely to be challenged when making an intervention. Finally, defiant behavior may just depend on the level of interaction between police officers and citizens, social and criminogenic conditions of neighborhoods being consistent. A series of correlation analysis tends to confirm that defiant behavior vary according to age, ethnicity and belonging to a street gang of the author.  However, the social and criminogenic conditions of neighborhoods appear to be caused by prior defiant behavior because they encourage a higher volume of interventions in the disorganized neighborhoods, which affects the number defiant behavior incidents. Contrary to our hypothesis, the results suggest that police officers are more likely to be challenged in underpoliced neighborhoods. In turn, the multilevel analysis suggests that the number of defiant behavior incidents increases each time a police intervention is performed, but this increase is influenced by neighborhoods conducive to street gang criminal activities. To this effort, it is likely that the police approach in the street gang’s neighborhood activities is different, for the sake of protection or in anticipation of problems, resulting more frequently in defiant behavior acts against police officers.

Keyphrases: Police, Interventions, Defiance, Police officers, Legitimacy, Interventions, Districts, Multilevels analysis, Street gangs
L’effet des lois sur l’évasion fiscale : une synthèse systématique des recherches évaluatives

Introduction and objectives. Between 1976 and 1995, tax evasion has generated losses varying between 2 to 44 billions in Canada. In order to stop the upward trend observed in tax evasion in the 1980s and 1990s, several jurisdictions introduced legal measures such as amnesties, tax reforms and new legislations. Not only these measures rest on different paradigms but their effectiveness has yet to be proven. While it is generally argued that threats of legal sanctions are effective to deal with offenders involved in economic crimes, such a claim rests on weak empirical evidence. By conducting a systematic review, the objective of this thesis is to further our understanding about the effect of tax laws on tax evasion.  Method. Systematic review is referred to as the most suitable method to review a body of literature on a given subject and to determine its effect on a particular outcome. We searched 18 databases that led to the identification of 23,723 references. Overall, 8 studies containing 9 evaluations met inclusion criteria and were kept for the review. These studies assess the effect of tax laws on a total of 17 variables. All studies were assessed based on the type of law and their methodological robustness. The vote-count method was then used to identify effective measures.  Results. Out of the 17 outcomes, 7 indicate that laws have no effect on tax evasion while 6 show increases in tax evasion indicators. Only 4 outcomes were in the expected direction. On the other hand, by grouping results according to the type of measures, tax reform appears as the only effective intervention.  Conclusion. Our results suggest that programs based on Becker’s economic model and that promote equity are promising. Amnesties seeking to identify tax evaders by offering economic advantages and sanction immunity are not only ineffective but could compromise a system based on self-assessment, which rest on the principle of perceived equity.

Keyphrases: Dissuasion, Tax evasion, Economic crime, Amnesty, Systematic review, Deterrence, Expected utility
L’orientation de la cavité glénoïde de la scapula chez les grands singes (Gorilla, Pan et Pongo) et l’humain moderne : une étude comparative et ontogénique

 The degree to which Pliocene fossil hominins have retained some form of arborealism in their locomotor repertoire is still matter of debate, in part because studies linking upper limb morphology to locomotor behaviors in primates mostly focused on phalangeal curvature and limb proportions. Given the recent discovery of DIK-1-1 (A. afarensis) and its associated scapula, investigation of this bone from a functional perspective seemed of interest since it is directly involved in almost every hominoid’s locomotion. The purpose of this study is to try to establish a link between the superoinferior and anteroposterior orientation of the glenoid cavity of the scapula and locomotor behaviors in living great apes and modern humans. Comparative analyses were performed on adult individuals to 1) establish if there were differences across species and 2) verify that those differences, if any, could be linked to overall body size. Ontogenetic analyses were also performed at the intraspecific level to see if a change in body size during development, which is often associated with changes in locomotor behaviors, is related to a change in the orientation of the glenoid cavity. These results show that humans have a more inferiorly oriented glenoid cavity than great apes, but Pongo, even if it is the most arboreal species, does not have the most superiorly oriented glenoid cavity. Knuckle-walkers (Pan and Gorilla) differ from other hominoids, exhibiting a more inferiorly oriented glenoid cavity relative to the spine. Body size does not seem to influence the orientation of the articulation, with a few exceptions for gorillas. Only humans and male Pongo show a significant ontogenetic change in the orientation of the glenoid cavity relative to the spine. On the basis of these results, the orientation of the glenoid cavity seems to reflect only in part the use of the upper limb in locomotion, however, it will need to be investigated further. 

Keyphrases: Scapula, locomotion, Scapula, glenoid cavity, great apes, humans, locomotion, arboreality
Niveaux de vitamine a (retinol et acide retinoïque) mesurés dans le sang de cordon ombilical et dévéloppement rénal des nouveau-nés

Introduction: Vitamin A (retinol, ROL) modulate the embryogenesis thorough RA, its metabolite. Excess or deficiency being pathologic, the RA is tight regulated in the embryo thorough specific genes (ALDH, CRABP, CYP, etc.) important for Vitamin A metabolism.       Hypothesis: High RA variations in healthy adults plasma, oriented to ROL, RA evaluation in human cord blood, in regard of possible correlations with polymorphisms of genes involved in RA metabolism and kidney development (RALDH2, CRABP2, CYP26A1,B1). Correlations between ROL and RA and/or with birth kidney size might also occur.  Methods: Cord blood ROL and RA were extracted and HPLC analysed, from 145 Montreal healthy newborns. Kidney volumes already measured by ultrasonography. Genomic leucocytary DNA extraction was performed with FlexiGene DNA-Kit. 10 samples excluded (DNA quality). htSNP choices: ALDH1A2, CRABP2, CYP26A1;B1 were made on HapMap human genome. Sequencing, genotyping (Sequenom iPlex PCR) was made for these genes eventual SNPs. Biostatistics tests for genotype and allelic frequencies (Single-Locus, χ2, Kruskal-Wallis, Allelic-Exact) and Kendall-tau /Oakes analysis for eventual ROL, RA, SNPs, V-reins correlations, were performed.   Results: No correlation found between Δ RA (0.07-550.27 nmol/L) and Δ ROL (51.39-3892.70 nmol/L). No association ROL or RA with kidney volumes nor with SNPs/ CYP21A1;B1. Found correlations: 1. (p=0.035), polymorphism ALDH1A2-SNP (rs12591551:A/C) heterozygous/CA, (25babies, 19%) with RA (mean ~62.21nmol/L). 2. (p=0.013), polymorphism CRABP2-SNP (rs12724719: A/G) homozygous/AA (4babies, 3%) with RA (mean~141, 3 nmol/L).    Discussion/Conclusion: Big Δ RA not correlated with Δ ROL suggests individual genetic variance on RA metabolism. Genotypes (CA)-ALDH1A2/SNP (rs12591551:A/C) and (AA)-CRABP2/SNP (rs12724719: A/G) are associated with high cord blood RA mean and may be embryogenesis protective in a maternal hypovitaminosis-A, environment.

Keyphrases: Umbilical cord blood, ROL-retinol, AR-retinoic acid, HPLC, HPLC, SNP- polymorphisme, SNP- polymorphism, ALDH1A2, ALDH1A2, CRABP2, CRABP2, CYP26A1, CYP26A1, Kidney development, Embryogenesis
Recherche économique en santé cardiovasculaire

Technological innovations have greatly contributed to the rising costs in healthcare, while budgets have remained limited.  Economic evaluations of technologies should identify which technologies are cost-effective.  However, several technologies used in modern medicine are either borderline cost-effective or even not cost-effective according to many studies.  This thesis focuses on two technologies in cardiovascular medicine which are considered borderline cost-effective; drug-eluting stents and implantable cardioverter defibrillators.  We conducted a contingent valuation of these technologies in hopes of determining if this alternative type of economic evaluation could give a novel point of view on the economic and societal value of these technologies.  Results indicated that patients greatly valued benefits provided by these two technologies.  Our result support our public healthcare system  policies’ of liberal reimbursement of these two technologies.

Keyphrases: Drug-eluting stent, Implantable cardioverter defibrillator, Pharmacoeconomics, Economic evaluation, Contingent valuation, Cost-benefit analysis, Public Health, Technological assessment
Le contrôle du Conseil de sécurité en matière d'occupation impliquant ses membres permanents

The Security Council is the primary body of the UN system responsible for peacekeeping and international security. In cases of violations of international law, the Security Council cannot turn a blind eye. Nevertheless, in cases when Security Council members are themselves perpetrators of international law violations one could conclude that this political body has difficulties in fulfilling its mandate. The danger exists that Security Council members in violation of international law will implicate the Security Council in justifying illegal decisions. This therefore raises the question of Security Council accountability. The violation of international law by a Security Council member therefore requires a legal  mechanism to limit the powers of this body. This is particularly relevant for cases of occupation involving its permanent members, or, when the Security Council creates or authorizes large-scale peace-keeping operations following an armed conflict involving its  own members.    In order to limit the powers of the Security Council, this study proposes to impose a legal regime of administration as stipulated by the IV (1907) Hague and the 4th 1949 Geneva Convention, according to which the Security Council intervenes when a territory is administered by one of its permanent members. The goal is to avoid that the Security Council gives too much freedom to an administrative power during interventions which go  beyond the legal framework defined by the law on administrated territories.    The authorization by the Security Council of peace-keeping operations, such as transitional civil administration or multinational peace-keeping force mandated to use force, following an armed conflict involving its own members, opens the debate of their regulation. Consequently a progressive interpretation of occupation as defined by the IV (1907) Hague and the 4th 1949 Geneva Convention is proposed in order to encompass new forms of peaceful occupations which contain clear similarities with military occupations. Thus, they will fall under the legal mechanism of the latter.

Keyphrases: Nations Unies, Forces multinationales, occupation, United Nations, Law os wars, International humanitarian law, Security Council, Transitional civil administration international, Multinational peace-keeping force, Occupation
Recherche sur les effets de l'analgésie périopératoire optimale (RAPO) sur la douleur et la fonction après chirurgie de la main

Objectives: Demonstrate the superiority of Optimal Perioperative Analgesia compared to Usual Analgesic Treatment to reduce the intensity of Acute Postoperative Pain (APOP), the frequency of occurrence of Chronic Post Surgical Pain (CPSP) and improve patients’ quality of life. Methods: A double-blinded randomized clinical trial conducted in Notre-Dame Hospital on 57 patients who underwent a trapeziectomy. After locoregional analgesia via a catheter in the brachial plexus, the experimental group received an infusion of bupivacaine 0.5%, which started in the recovery room and continued for 72 h as an outpatient through an infusion pump. Meanwhile, the control group received a saline solution. Both groups took celecoxib during the same period. The evolution of pain profile, hand function and patients’ quality of life have been obtained using questionnaires and functional tests in the preoperative period and through months of follow-up. Results were analyzed using General Linear Model. A difference of 2 in the intensity of pain, measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS: 0-10), was considered statistically significant. Results: This method resulted in a significant decrease in the intensity of APOP and Chronic Pain (CP) compared to usual treatment. General activities, quality of sleep and patients’ concentration were better in the experimental group. Moreover, two times less patients continued to suffer from the CP than in the placebo group. Conclusion: In hand surgery, a perioperative analgesic coverage is necessary to reduce the APOP intensity, the CPSP frequency and to improve patients’ quality of life.  Keywords: clinical trial, chronic pain, surgery, hand, preemptive analgesia, brachial plexus.

Keyphrases: Clinical trial, Chronic pain, Surgery, Hand, Preemptive analgesia, Brachial plexus
Développement et validation d'un instrument non-invasifde caractérisation du
comportement musculaire respiratoire

Better care in an anaesthesia and critical care could be achieved by reducing monitoring duration and improving the quality of recovery. For the particular case of respiratory assistance, the capacity to track and optimize patient-ventilator synchrony is essential to quality care. As a first step, this thesis adresses the development and validation of an instrument which characterizes respiratory behavior by studying the time lag between onset of upper airway muscles and rib cage muscles, cycle by cycle during respiration. This tool must take into account the constraints imposed by the clinical environment ; measuring respiratory muscles by surface electromyographic measurements (EMG). Measurement of the onset time lag, cycle by cycle and non invasively, is a true challenge in a critical care clinical environment. Here the approach is two-fold : i) The development of a tool for events detection. ii) The definition of an original protocol on healthy subjects. The tool development constitutes a knowledge bases to eventually develop automation of the processes in future work. From a physiological point of view, the influence of respiratory rate on the EMG onset time lag during inspiration has not been studied. Thus we measured this time lag in normocapnia at various respiratory rates imposed by a sound stimulus. Statistically, the instrumental tool can distinguish two physiological situations in this experimental protocol, which confirms its sensitivity. The second step of this thesis is part of an optimization of events detection methods with singularities of interest. The chosen solution is based on structural intensity which computes the "density" of the locations of the modulus maxima of a wavelet representation along various scales in order to identify singularities of an unknown signal. An improvement is proposed by applying Berkner transform which allows maxima linkage to insure accurate localization of landmarks. An application to cancel ECG interference in diaphragmatic EMG without a reference signal is also proposed.

Keyphrases: Surface electromyographic measure, Respiratory muscles, Filltering, Detection of events, Time-scale, Structural intensity
Des repères à la construction d'un chez-soi : trajectoires de mixité conjugale au Maroc

This thesis is based on the premise that the theoretical framework used by social sciences to describe mixed couples experiences is no longer adapted to contemporary situations of mobility. Most theories that have been developed to describe this experience use concepts that are not adapted to the present. By focusing on the paths taken by mixed couples in the context of Morocco, this thesis will contribute to the development of a conceptual framework reflecting the phenomenon as it exists today. Furthermore, the originality of this project lies mainly in the fact that it offers a habitus discursif valorisant for mixed unions. Based on ethnographic field work that puts narratives of experience at the heart of its research methodology, this thesis also offers an ethnographic portrait of mixed couples in Morocco, a subject that has received little attention from social sciences. Mixed couples have been studied in the framework of this thesis from the angle of Fernandez’s (2002) prolonged travel metaphor, which has contributed to revitalizing the theoretical framework for looking at mixed couples. In the background of this thesis there is a reflection around the concept of « home » whereby the self-creation of contemporary individuals negotiating their daily lives at the crossroads of different cultural references (as is the case for the participants of this research) is not necessarily synonymous with uprooting and fragmentation but rather incorporates ideas of attachment and personal continuity.

Keyphrases: biographical trajectory, anthropology, personal identity, Morocco, mixed unions
Analyse de la réponse macrophagique au Candida albicans chez la souris transgénique exprimant le génome du VIH-1

Oro-pharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) is the most common opportunistic infection in HIV-1 infected patients. An OPC model using transgenic mice (CD4C/HIVMutA) expressing selected genes of the HIV-1 genome is now available. Using this model, it is now possible to study potential quantitative and functional disturbances in macrophages expressing the nef, rev and env genes of HIV-1 in the context of OPC. This study shows that transgene expression does not affect quantitative percentage values of macrophages in the oral mucosa and the small intestine, although burdens of C. albicans loads are increased in Tg mice. Transgene expression does induce diminished H2O2 production in macrophages, while increasing production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 and the chemokine MCP-1.

Keyphrases: cytokine, macrophage, Animal model, HIV-1, oropharyngeal candidiasis, peroxide
Réduction des dommages myocardiques par le célécoxib suite à une ischémie transitoire chez le rat

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of long-term pre-treatment with celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, on myocardial infarct size. Since celecoxib is an anti-inflammatory and that myocardial damages can be present in the occurrence of inflammatory processes, inhibition of inflammation should hypothetically reduce the size of an eventual infarct. Celecoxib (3 mg/kg/day i.p.) or vehicle (DMSO 50%; EtOH 15%; distilled water) was administered chronically to male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=18 per group) through ALZET osmotic pumps for 28 days. Under anaesthesia, the animals were then subjected to left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion for 40 minutes, followed by 24-hour reperfusion. The results show that myocardial infarct size in celecoxib-treated rats was significantly reduced compared to the control group (37.5±2.5% versus 48.0±2.6% of the area at risk, p < 0.05). Accumulation of neutrophils, estimated by myeloperoxidase levels, indicated an increase in the ischemic area without any significant difference between groups. No significant difference was observed between the treated and vehicle groups in terms of plasma prostaglandin E2 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha. Apoptosis, evaluated by Bax/Bcl-2 and terminal dUTP nick-end labelled-positive cells, was significantly decreased in the subendocardial layer of the ischemic area in celecoxib-treated rats. Adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation in whole blood suggested that celecoxib diminished platelet aggregation. This study indicates that pre-treatment with celecoxib can reduce infarct size by a mechanism which may involve apoptosis.

Keyphrases: Celecoxib, Myocardial Infarction, Ischemia, Reperfusion, Reperfusion, Aggregation
A Comprehensive Analysis of the Legal Issues Relating to Nominee Directors

Following the wave of corporate scandals that have surfaced over the past decade, significant attention has been showered on the efficiency of corporate governance practices, with particular scrutiny on the issue of director independence. One specific category of directors frequently nominated to sit on corporate boards is the nominee director. However, these directors often lack veritable independence given their extraneous loyalty towards their appointer, usually either a shareholder or stakeholder of the corporation. Furthermore, while legal principle requires that all company directors exercise their statutory duties with a view to the best interests of the corporation, in practice nominee directors are expected to follow the instructions or wishes of their appointer, resulting in their inherent position of conflict. This text focuses on the nominee director and the conflict of interest resulting from such director’s position of dual loyalty. Its objective is to provide a comprehensive examination of the various difficulties arising from, and associated with the appointment of nominee directors as well as the judicial and legislative responses to these difficulties. In examining the various complications associated with nominee directors, the legal framework in several foreign jurisdictions, particularly the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand is also explored throughout this text to provide further insight and perspective on the different issues analysed herein.

Keyphrases: Nominee director, Representative director, Constituency director, Appointment, Independence, Conflict of interest, Dual loyalty