NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
L'expédition de la France au Liban sous Napoléon III (1860-1861)

Throughout the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire grew weaker and seemed headed for collapse. It became the object of the ambitions and rivalries of the European powers. Under its suzerainty, Syria, including the Mount Lebanon region, was a key area strategically since it dominated the access routes to India and southern and eastern Asia. France and England both tried to impose their influence by way of local communities. France acted through the Christian Maronites, while Britain used the Druzes. In the spring of 1860, trouble broke out between the two communities, resulting in the massacre of thousands of Christians. The European powers, at the behest of the government of Napoleon III, agreed to intervene by sending a commission of inquiry and troops. The expedition’s official mission was to help the Ottoman Empire to restore order and to protect Christians.    This thesis shows that imperial France pursued political and economic goals with regard to Syria and Lebanon. The historiography had not previously analyzed in depth the real French mobile in this expedition. The political and economic ambitions were far more important in its decision to set in motion an expedition than the "humanitarian" Christian duty of providing protection or the satisfaction of the public opinion. Far from being deterred by the catastrophe of the massacre that threatened the survival of its protégés and therefore its influence in Syria, Paris, and especially its foreign minister E. Thouvenel, managed to turn the situation to his advantage. Skilfully using the desire of interference of other powers and its role as protector of Christians, France managed to corner England, which opposed the intervention, and justify it on principles far removed from its real objectives. The troubles finally represented for her an opportunity to widen the autonomy of the Mountain vis-à-vis the central authority of the Ottoman Empire and to increase the economic and political power of its clients through the revision of the administrative status of the region. In so doing, it has strengthened its influence in the eastern Mediterranean and moved a step closer to dominating Syria.

Keyphrases: France, Maronites, France, Lebanon, Napoleon III, Ottoman Empire, Maronites
Les effets de l’Angiopoietin-like 2 sur la voie cytoprotectrice antioxydante Nrf2

Angiopoietin-like 2 (angptl2) is a 64 kDa pro-inflammatory and pro-atherogenic glycoprotein associated with various chronic inflammatory diseases. It is likely that angptl2 also has a pro-oxidant property, since it stimulates the acute production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The transcription factor nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) constitutes a major antioxidant mechanism, responsible for maintaining redox balance within the cell via the induction of various genes composing the antioxidant response element (ARE). In the presence of ROS, cytosolic protein Keap-1 dissociates from Nrf2 and is thus no longer able to target Nrf2 for proteasomal degradation. The interaction between Nrf2 and Keap-1 is inhibited by DJ-1, another regulator of Nrf2, but is favoured by phosphorylation of Nrf2 by p38MAPK. Our hypothesis was that angptl2 caused a chronic oxidative stress, at first by stimulating an acute ROS production, and later by inhibiting the Nrf2 antioxidant pathway. We studied, by Western Blot on cultured endothelial cells (HUVEC), the effects of recombinant angptl2 (100 nM) on nuclear protein levels of Nrf2, as well as cytosolic levels of Keap-1 and nuclear levels of DJ-1 in the absence and presence of the antioxidant NAC (10 μM). We also measured the activation of p38MAPK in response to angptl2 stimulation. Nuclear protein levels of Nrf2 were not affected by acute simulation (10 min) by recombinant angptl2, but were diminished after chronic stimulation (24 h). The addition of an antioxidant did not alter angptl2’s chronic effect on Nrf2, indicating that ROS were not directly implicated. Cytosolic levels of Keap-1 and nuclear levels of DJ-1 were not significantly affected by angptl2. Similarly, angptl2 did not affect p38MAPK phosphorylation. These data suggest that angptl2 has no acute effect on Nrf2, but has an inhibitory chronic effect, which is not likely to involve Keap-1, DJ-1 or p38MAPK.

Keyphrases: angptl2, inflammation, DJ-1, Keap-1, p38MAPK, oxidative stress, endothelium
Association entre l'utilisation de Facebook et les marqueurs de stress psychologiques et physiologiques chez les adolescents

The creation of Facebook can change the way people interact, but we know little about the impact of Facebook on health and well-being. As of today, 90 % of adolescents are active on Facebook and most of them connect everyday. Adolescence is a critical period in childrens’ development and during this period they are particularly vulnerable to stress hormones. It is therefore important to understand factors that may cause an increase in stress hormones in adolescents. The goal of this Masters thesis was to determine the relation between Facebook utilization in adolescents and psychological and physiological markers of stress.  In order to do so, we measured stress hormones in 88 adolescents (41 boys, 47 girls) aged between 12 and 17 years old. Adolescents where asked to fill out the Social Network Survey, a questionnaire measuring different factors related to Facebook utilization and the Child depression Inventory, measuring symptoms of depression. Results suggest that it is not the time spent on Facebook that is related to psychological and physiological stress but the nature of Facebook utilization. For adolescent girls, it is the number of Facebook friends that is associated with high levels of cortisol, whereas in adolescent boys it is the fact of exposing one-self on Facebook that is associated with high levels of cortisol. This study is the first to show an association between Facebook utilization and stress hormones in adolescents.

Keyphrases: Facebook, Stress, Cortisol, Adolescents, Facebook, Stress, Cortisol, Adolescents, Depression, Social Networks, Sex differences, Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis)
Study of Langmuir-Blodgett Films of Self-Assembled Diblock Copolymers

Self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) attracts much interest due to their ability to spontaneously generate ordered materials with unique properties. For many applications, such as masks in nanolithography, separation membranes in medical diagnostics, and nanotemplates for nanowire fabrication, manufacturing into thin films is required. The Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) techniques are commonly used to produce ultrathin or monolayer films at the air/water interface that are transferred to solid substrates. LB/LS films of amphiphilic BCPs self-assemble into various morphologies, depending on the BCP composition and other factors. In our work, we investigated LB/LS films of polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (PS-P4VP) and their supramolecular complexes with, naphthol (NOH), naphthoic acid (NCOOH) and 3-n-pentadecylphenol (PDP). The first part of the thesis was devoted to the investigation of PS-P4VP complexes with NOH and NCOOH, in comparison to PS-P4VP alone. It was shown that a plateau in the Langmuir isotherm, indicative of a first-order transition, is absent at high spreading solution concentrations for the complexes. This was correlated with an absence of the expected dot morphology with 2D hexagonal-like order at low surface pressure. Above the transition, when present, the morphology has 2D square order. The second part of the thesis re-examines the PS-P4VP/PDP system, which was previously shown to undergo a transition from 2D hexagonal to square order at the isotherm plateau pressure. This was confirmed here, and a detailed ATR-IR study of LB films was then undertaken to better understand molecular-level changes occurring at this transition. It was found that, contrary to another study in the literature on a different system, there is no change in alkyl chain orientation. Instead, it was found that the pyridine group loses its low-pressure orientation and there is increased phenol-pyridine hydrogen-bonding above the transition pressure, which is rationalized by a partial collapse of the low-pressure molecularly ordered P4VP monolayer at the transition pressure. This study leads to an improved understanding of the processes occurring at the air/water interface, which is a basis for the further possible applications of LB/LS films in nanotechnologies.

Keyphrases: Block copolymers, Self-assembly, Langmuir-Blodgett, Air/water interface, AFM, ATR-IR, PS-P4VP, PDP, NOH, NCOOH, Langmuir-Blodgett
Histoire d'une profession disparue: les puéricultrices du Québec, 1925-1985

This memoir examines the evolution of the occupation called “baby nurse” (puéricultrice in French), in Québec, between 1925 and 1985. It aims more specifically at shedding light on the reasons why this occupation disappeared. This occupation builds on the fight against child mortality and the growing medicalization of maternity, the latter phenomenon undergoing considerable modifications throughout the XXth century.   Simultaneously, the health care and education systems in Québec experience significant upheavals. How does the baby nurse occupation evolve in light of these changes? How will it try to establish itself in this world of child care specialists? Furthermore, what place will society, more specifically the medical community and the government, leave for it throughout time, and for what reasons? How can we explain it disappearance? Those are the questions this memoir will try to answer.   To ensure that the origins of this occupation are well anchored, our analysis examined the reasons why the first baby nurse programmes were created and strategies were developed for this occupation’s professionalization. Then, our research focused on the messages being conveyed by the actors involved following the major reforms that occurred in 1960-1970, and that of the baby nurse trying to get included this new government-owned health care system. We make the assumption that the baby nurse occupation was a victim of several factors, including the multiple reorganisations of the health care system, and the competition between health care occupations, but more deeply of a conception of maternity that will be greatly modified during the studied period.

Keyphrases: puéricultrice, baby nurse, nursery attendant, infant care, pediatrics, perinatality, feminine profession, nurse, nursing assistant, paramedical profession
Le dispositif institutionnel et la relation thérapeutique en salle d'accouchement : entre le risque, le savoir hégémonique et les rapports de pouvoir

This thesis aims to establish the complexity of the therapeutic relationship between a nurse and a couple in the delivery room. Knowing that the therapeutic relationship is essential to the success of the care process, its conceptualization remains paramount for a better understanding of its impact and to provide the best care. This ethnographic approach sought to document the relationships of nurses with couples in the delivery of a hospital in Montreal. This thesis addresses a central theme in Anthropology: human relationships. The key question seeks to understand the factors that hinder and promote the therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the couple in the delivery room. This research demonstrates the theoretical shortcomings technicizing the therapeutic relationship and shows that the concept of risk, institutional norms, the hegemony of obstetrical knowledge and medical power are factors that seem to have a significant influence in the therapeutic relationship.

Keyphrases: Anthropology, Therapeutic relationship, Nursing, Norms, Power, Risk, Knowledge, Delivery
Caractère intrinsèque des matrices de Stokes

It is well known that a linear differential equation, x^(k+1)Y' = A(x)Y, near a non-resonant irregular singular point is uniquely determined (up to analytic isomorphism) by : (1) its formal normal form, (2) the collection of its Stokes matrices. By definition, the Stokes matrices depend on an order defined on the real parts of the eigenvalues of the system which can be perturbed by a rotation in the x coordinate. In this paper, we have established the intrinsic character of the dependency : we have described how the new Stokes collection is obtained from the first collection after a rotation in x which changes the order on the real parts of the eigenvalues. The first chapter contains preliminaries concerning the normal form of an ordinary differential equation and a chapter on the Stokes phenomenon for linear differential equations. The third chapter contains our results.

Keyphrases: solutions propres, Classification analytique, Classification formelle, Stokes Phenomenon, Linear differential equations, Irregular singularity, Eigensolutions, Analytic classification, Formal classification
Une démarche participative pour soutenir la communication graphique de la responsabilité sociale d’une organisation : le cas de l’Institut EDDEC

Organizations are increasingly choosing to implement corporate social responsibility in their activities. To do so, they are invited to consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of their activities and decisions and, consequently, share it with their stakeholders. These commitments are conveyed to the audience through different medias created by a graphic designer. Since corporate social responsibility knowledge is complex and unique to each organization, the designer has to carefully understand the organization’s message in order to create medias that are consistent in their form and content. To help the graphic designer respond to this challenge, a participative approach was tested through this research. The objective was to observe and document, while collaborating with a group of stakeholders, on a graphic design project and understand how a participative approach can support the graphic communication of an organization’s corporate social responsibility. The graphic design of the corporate identity and the medias of EDDEC Institute of environment, sustainable development and circular economy was selected to conduct this research. A methodology, inspired by action-research, was chosen to identify, with the project’s stakeholders, the brakes and levers of the approach. The results are confirming the general benefits of the participative approach to the creative process. Stakeholders were able to share and visualize their understanding of the organization’s corporate social responsibility. The iterative process, which is part of the approach, also helped the appropriation of the corporate identity by the organization’s stakeholders. Despite these positive aspects, limitations due to short delays and insufficient human and financial resources were major constraints in supporting the participative approach during the entire process. Recommendations towards the improvement of this participative approach were then formulated for its eventual usage by the graphic design community and its clients, in order to communicate their corporate social responsibility.

Keyphrases: Processus de design, Graphic Design, Corporate Social Responsibility, Responsible Communication, Participatory Design, Design Process, Graphic Designer Role
Les interventions communautaires d’activation au Québec et leurs déterminants : orientations institutionnelles, appropriation et gouvernance

This exploratory research analyzes the implementation of activation interventions for employment aimed at helping the recipients of social assistance in situation of extreme vulnerability in the province of Québec. It seeks to describe the practices implemented by frontline (“street-level”) workers within the community organizations specialized in employment, as part of Emploi-Québec’s programs and measures, in a global context of contractualization and partnership between the Quebec government and the non-profit sector.  This master’s thesis seeks to identify the processes that can influence the practice of street-level services through their interaction with the recipients of the integrated last-resort financial assistance and employment services system. It also investigates the power relations at play during the interventions. We want to answer the two following questions: what are the respective strengths of the Quebec’s institutional activation system framework on the one hand, and of the discretionary power of community caseworkers working with the greatly vulnerable persons on the other? More precisely, how do these two dynamics interact with each other in order to implement the activation policies? In order to do so, our analysis is based on theoretical approaches concerned with policy implementation as analyzed by the researches on “street-level bureaucracy” (Lipsky, 1971, 1980; Smith and Lipsky, 1993 ; Hupe & Hill, 2007 ; Brodkin, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015; Rice, 2012), on discursive neo-institutionalism (Schmidt, 2008, 2010), and on institutional ethnography (Smith, 1999, 2006 ; Campbell and Gregor, 2008). We consider that the implementation of activation policies may result in both an appropriation of the institutional and systemic frameworks by the frontline community stakeholders and a co-construction of the policy within a specific governance context.  This qualitative research strategy is based on the sociological approach of institutional ethnography, which puts forward a methodology that outlines the effects of institutions on the workers in their everyday life (Smith, 2005, 1999, 1987; Campbell et Gregor, 2008). This research comprises: i) interviews with community caseworkers who provide help and support services for employment integration to some specific recipients; ii) interviews with community coordinators working in employability; iii) collection and analysis of institutional documentation and of the regulatory framework for the implementation of the activation system.  The analysis addresses both the institutional discourse and the discourse of the community caseworkers about their employability interventions and their daily practices regarding Emploi-Québec’s programs and measures.

Keyphrases: Activation, Street-level bureaucracy, Implementation, Neo-institutionalism, Governance
Saint-Maron : une paroisse diasporique : église et fidèles maronites à Montréal (1969-2015)

Maronite immigration to Montreal started at the end of the 19th century. During the 1970s and 1990s, massive waves of Lebanese immigrants arrived to Montreal due to the wars in Lebanon. The Maronite Church is fully Roman Catholic but has a syriac-antiochean rite. Maronite immigrants did not have their own parish in Montreal and had to go for célébrations in the Oriental Catholic Church which was created by Montreal clerical authorities and served by Greek-Catholics (Melkites) of the Saint-Sauveur order. In 1969, Father Élias Najjar from the Maronite mariamite order, together with Maronites from Egypt, founded the first Maronite parish in Montreal. This thesis aims to study the process behind the constitution of the first parish, its evolution and the life of its parishioners by using a narrative and descriptive approach in the frame of the social and religious history. Results show a national Church and a new model of Maronite diasporic parish, different from the classical one, having subnational, international and inter-confessional diversities.

Keyphrases: Diaspora, Canada, Immigration, Saint Maron, Maronites, Maronite Church, Diaspora, Parish, Montreal, Canada, Immigration, Saint Maron, Maronites
L’influence des caractéristiques environnementales d’un magasin de vêtements sur l’expérience d’achat des consommateurs masculins

The manipulation of the components of a store by interior designers influences the perception and the overall assessment of the shopping experience by male consumers. Based on the Baker model (1986), the atmosphere of a store consists of three types of environmental characteristics: ambient factors, design factors and social factors. This study highlights the impact of these features on the shopping experience assessment based on the Litchlé and Plichon model (2004). More precisely, it reveals the impact of certain characteristics on three emotional states: oppression, pleasure and nervousness. Despite the motivations, perceptions and needs of male consumers and their growing interest in shopping, commercial interior design is still often oriented to satisfy the female consumer and little literature exists on this topic because of lesser marketing interest towards men. The aim of this study is to identify environmental features that have a significant impact on the appreciation of the shopping experience by North American male consumers to better guide the design professionals.

Keyphrases: Interior design, Environmental characteristics, Shopping experience, Affective states, Male consumers, Clothes shop
Étude des perceptions du trouble de stress post-traumatique parmi des militaires canadiens et leur conjointe

This research paper aims to explore satisfaction regarding the services offered to members of the military diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their spouses, understand their needs and the meaning given to PTSD. We used an exploratory qualitative research design. We discovered that the military members and their spouses interviewed wished to receive services adapted to their specific situations (case by case) and that all had the common need of being recognized for their military service and corresponding sacrifices. For military members a way of recognizing their service would be to respect their wishes and demands regarding their care and treatments. They also wish for complete support in relation to the administrative aspect of the recovery and release when indicated.  We also find differences between members of the military that received a PTSD diagnosis more than 5 years ago and those who were recently diagnosed. We propose hypothesis linked to those differences.  The lack of knowledge of the services by the spouses, stigmatization and the negative perceptions that the spouses have on the principal service provider, the military family resources centres are the principal gaps we discovered regarding services offered to the spouses.  This study permits us to make recommendations linked to the results we found.

Keyphrases: satisfaction, services, post traumatic stress disorder, military, spouses, canadian armed forces, needs, psychosocial needs
Divination en Gaule du IVe au VIe siècle : études de cas

This Masters’ thesis concerns itself with the continuity of pagan divination rituals within the new context of the Christianized Gaul of the IVth to VIth centuries. It is composed of an introduction detailing our hypothesis, terminology, methodology and sources. Afterwards, we study three cases of divination rituals, the Sortes Sanctorum, the Sortes Sangallenses and the incubations within the cult of St. Martin of Tours. We detail their origins, sources, proceedings, evolution and the similarities linking them to previously existing pagan rites. In conclusion, we synthesize all elements and we were able to draw from our cases to establish the continuity of these rituals by several means, the Gallic acculturation of Greco-Roman rituals, importation of Christianized rituals from the East of the Empire and assimilation of local pagan practices within the Christian religion to answer the popular demand for divination.

Keyphrases: Divination, Paganism, Christianity, Continuity, Cult of the saints, Late antiquity, Roman empire, Acculturation, Importation, Assimilation