NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Envier ou admirer les plus compétents? : une perspective évolutionnaire sur deux émotions liées au statut de prestige

Human social status depends largely on prestige, a form of deference freely conferred to individuals that are deemed to be highly competent (i.e. experts). I attempt to explain this peculiar phenomenon, absent in other primates, by exploring the emotional and evolutionary underpinnings of the relationship between competence and status. More specifically, I test the hypothesis that prestige relies on envy and admiration and that these emotions are regulated by neurobiological adaptations selected to solve competitive and cooperative problems regarding experts. This hypothesis is based on a model developed by Henrich and Gil-White (2001), according to which, the evolution of human culture created an environment where experts represent both rivals for status and cooperation partners. Although consistent with many characteristics of envy and admiration, Henrich and Gil-White’s model does not provide the necessary framework to predict their manifestation. I propose an adjusted version to address the issue by using data from psychology research. This adjusted model follows the same fundamental principles as its original version, but adds the idea that the expression of envy and admiration depends on an expert’s social value. This value reflects the expert’s overall qualities as an ally (i.e. cooperative value) or as a threat to one’s status (i.e. competitive value). After identifying a dozen factors affecting an individual’s social value, I examine the adjusted model’s validity by challenging the idea that experts are either envied or admired when their competitive or cooperative values are respectively high. To that end, I use original data collected via an online questionnaire, in which participants were asked to describe a past event involving an expert who triggered envy or admiration. Overall, firm conclusions on the model’s validity cannot be drawn from this study alone. The provided results are nevertheless reliable enough to confirm its relevance as an explanation of the expression patterns of envy and admiration, and that the model deserves to be investigated further. For instance, admiring participants trusted significantly more the experts’ willingness to cooperate. Conversely, envious participants were more inclined to report experts whose age and sex made them more likely to be status threatening. By being congruent with evolutionary-based predictions, the results of this study demonstrate that human behaviour responds to biological constraints, and then, underscores the importance for anthropology of incorporating the evolutionary framework to study complex social phenomena.

Keyphrases: Admiration, Envie, Experts, Prestige, Competition, Cooperation, Emotions, Envy, Human hierarchies, Power, Social status
Quebec 2018, a failure of the polls or else?

The polls of the 2018 Quebec election forecast a close race between the two leading parties. The result, a clear victory of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) over the Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ), was clearly at odds with the polls. We argue that when the polls get it wrong, it is important to determine whether there was a polling miss, in which the discrepancy is due to changing voter behaviour, or a poll failure, in which the problem stems from polling methodology. Our post-election poll shows that changing voter behaviour—last-minute shifts and the vote of non-disclosers—explains most of the discrepancy. These movements varied by region. We conclude that the Quebec 2018 election was among the worst polling misses in history but not necessarily a major poll failure.

Keyphrases: Poll failure, Polling miss, Quebec 2018 election, Late campaign shift
Le concept de philosophie de Husserl

Husserl conceives his philosophy as a reaction to the crisis that unfolds in modern science, a crisis that is in its turn responsible for the crisis of European humanity. To be sure, the renewal of philosophy through phenomenology goes along the lines of European Enlightenment, according to which true knowledge inevitably has a positive impact on the fate of humanity. But the fact is that Husserl sees the origin of the crisis precisely in the course taken by science in modern times. Responding to the pressing needs of the life-world, modern science has become a mere theoretical “technique.” With the help of many of Husserl’s texts, I assess critically his proposed reform of science, that is: the rehabilitation, on the new basis of phenomenology, of the Greek ideal of science grounded in a pure “theoretical” attitude turned toward a well ordered “cosmos".

Keyphrases: Husserl, Theoria, Cosmos, Philosophy, Crisis, Episteme
L’efficience comme valeur du droit civil : invitation à l’analyse économique du droit

The term efficiency is used here in the sense it has in economic discourse. It is the economic analysis of law that has introduced it in the language of lawyers. The economic analysis of law was discovered somewhat fortuitously by economists venturing outside their usual turf and looking at legal institutions. Their ventures led to a striking discovery, to wit that most of the classical private law institutions looked framed as if their purpose was to propose efficient solutions to frictions arising in human interaction. Of particular interest to lawyers was the complementary discovery that the efficient solution often corresponds to what lawyers intuitively sense to be the just or fair solution. The economic analysis of law thus seemed to offer a grip on lawyers’ notoriously fleeting concept of justice. Whilst the economic analysis of law offers clarifying and sometimes surprising insights throughout the different fields of the law, it is not meant to replace legal reasoning or undermine the autonomy of the law, as these bear on the framing, structuring and interpretation of law texts. On the contrary, economic considerations underscore the (relative) parsimony of relying on written texts in dealing with the problems of human interaction. The economic analysis of law complements legal reasoning: it points to the impact of legal rules and allows rules that appear to be aimed at similar purposes to be grouped together; it draws lawyers’ attention to rules whose effects are seriously out of tune with the needs of society. Experience accumulated over the past half-century shows the economic analysis of law to be a precious tool for scholarly work, as it allows one to see how texts ‘hang together’, how reforms of the law could be planned and how to structure a proliferation of ideas, rules and material for a doctoral thesis. On all these accounts, it should be part and parcel of a proper legal education.

Keyphrases: Law and economics, Civil law
L'intérêt de l'enfant en contexte d'adoption coutumière autochtone

The author presents and analyzes the legislative provisions regarding the state's recognition of Aboriginal customary adoption. In order to contextualize the practice of customary adoption, the author will first explain the notion of a child's best interest and will then elaborate on the legal framework of state adoption.  International perspectives on the notion of a child's best interest are studied as well as the history of the notion in internal law.  The definitions and interpretations of this notion within case law, legislation and doctrine will be thoroughly examined. The legal framework of state adoption will also be analyzed by exposing its evolution and legal requirements.   The second part of the present work is devoted to Aboriginal customary adoption and will begin by tracing a general portrait of the social context and legal environment in which Aboriginal people evolve. The Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (L.C. 2019, c. 24.) is particularly analyzed. The author studies the eleven First Nations along with the history of the state's interventions within Aboriginal families.  She then describes and analyses the framework within which customary adoption is deployed, detailing the claims for state recognition that have traditionally been pursued, the recent legislative amendments that resulted from these claims along with potential implications that may arise from these amendments.  The author will conclude by examining the delicate issue of the best interest of the Aboriginal child upon which the state's recognition of customary adoption is contingent and will question the relevance of such criteria and its regulating effect.

Keyphrases: adoption, aboriginal customary adoption, custom, Native people, child's interest
La spécificité du droit international de l’environnement dans son rapport avec la souveraineté étatique

Environmental  degradation  and  serious  threats  to  the  planet,  including  climate  change,  depletion of the ozone layer, the extinction rate of species and the challenge of feeding a large population,  are  among  the  various  unsolved  problems  that  endanger  humanity  and  that  go  beyond the capacity and sovereignty of States. In international environmental law, one cannot speak of the principle of absolute State sovereignty. In the context of the global environment, ecological interdependence does not allow territorial impermeability, which impacts on the exercise of State sovereignty. The environment is by nature a common good, not defined by borders, which has legal repercussion on State sovereignty. Ecosystems ignore States and their borders, and to fight against environmental damages that affect the very survival of humanity, States can no longer limit their action to their national context. In such context, a sort of reconciliation seems necessary between the requirements of  sovereignty  and  those  of  the  environment  that  international  environmental  law  seeks  to  establish.  Hence  our  study  on  the  adaptation  of  state  sovereignty  to  the  imperatives  of  safeguarding the biosphere and thereby humanity as a whole.

Keyphrases: international environmental law, common heritage of mankind, Principle of sovereignty
The role of the human INO80 complex in telomere maintenance

The ends of chromosomes contain telomeric repeats that prevent the DNA damage response from being activated in order to preserve genomic integrity. Telomerase functions to alleviate incomplete DNA replication at telomeres, and to repair those telomeres damaged by various means including oxidative damage. The lifespan of telomerase negative somatic cells is normally restricted by gradual telomere shortening which can lead to the activation of the p53 pathway resulting in cellular growth arrest. Cancer cells often elongate their telomeres in order to acquire cellular immortality predominantly by reactivating telomerase or by using recombination-based, alternative telomere lengthening methods. Previously in our lab, a genome-wide CRISPR screen was conducted in the pre-B cell line NALM-6 treated with a small molecule inhibitor of telomerase, BIBR1532. These previous results suggested that five subunits of the INO80 chromatin-remodeling complex, when independently deleted, reduced cellular proliferation in cells with BIBR1532 induced telomere shortening. My goal was to investigate this genetic interaction in order to understand the biological processes implicated in this synthetic lethal relationship. After the knockout of the genes encoding both the enzymatic subunit of human telomerase (hTERT) and specific subunits of the human INO80 complex, I found that the proliferative capacity of NALM-6 cells was reduced. This result indicates the genetic interaction identified by CRISPR screening is in fact specific. In addition, after p53 stimulation with nutlin-3a treatment, expression levels of the p53 pathway component MDM2 were altered after the knockout of the genes encoding specific subunits of the human INO80 complex, NFRKB and UCHL5, individually. CDKN1A expression was also altered after nutlin-3a treatment and NFRKB knockout. Finally, the loss of telomerase (hTERT) alters the expression levels of the p53 pathway components CDKN1A, BAX and MDM2. In conclusion, the deletion of the genes encoding specific subunits of the INO80 complex, including NFRKB and UCHL5, is harmful to cells after hTERT knockout. The human INO80 complex may be involved in inhibiting the p53 pathway, in response to p53 activation by short telomeres or nutlin-3a treatment. Further investigation into this synthetic lethal relationship may shed light on new combinatorial therapeutics in cancer.

Keyphrases: CDKN1A, p53, telomerase, pre-B NALM-6 cells, the human INO80 complex, synthetic lethality
Les différents rôles de STAUFEN1 dans les points de contrôle du cycle cellulaire tumoral vs non tumoral

STAUFEN1 (STAU1) is a double stranded RNA binding protein that plays an important role in the post-transcriptional control of many mRNAs. Its depletion decreases the proliferation of non-cancer cells by altering G1/S and G2/M transitions. In contrast, this has no impact on the proliferation of tumor cells. The decrease of STAU1 expression modulates the level of transcripts/proteins of several genes involved in phase transition checkpoints, including CDK4 and E2F1, two essential regulators in G1/S transition. In addition, CDK4 and E2F1 transcripts have a STAU1 binding site (SBS) in the coding sequence (CDS) and the non-coding region in 3’ (3’UTR), respectively. However, the molecular consequence of STAU1 association with the SBS is not yet studied. Surprisingly, the sensibility of non-cancer and cancer cells to STAU1 expression is reversed following STAU1 overexpression. Indeed, its overexpression alters the entry into mitosis of cancer cells and decreases their proliferation, while it has no effect on non-cancer cells. During mitosis, STAU1 associates with the mitotic spindle, which allows it to localize mRNAs and other non-coding RNAs. STAU1 likely controls their sequestration and/or local translation during mitosis. However, the molecular determinant involved in STAU1-spindle association is still not known. Therefore, for this master thesis, we had two objectives. The first goal is to understand the post-transcriptional regulation mediated by STAU1 on transcripts that are essential for G1/S transition in non-tumor cells. Our hypothesis is that STAU1, by its direct binding to the SBS of its target transcripts, modulates their expression. To do this, plasmids coding for CDK4 and E2F1 containing a wild-type or mutated SBS that does not recognized STAU1 were transfected in wild-type and STAU1-depleted cells. Expression of CDK4 and E2F1 was detected by dual luciferase assay and western blot (WB). Our results first indicate that STAU1 negatively and positively regulates the endogenous expression of CDK4 and E2F1, respectively, which contributes to the passage of G1/S transition, and therefore to the proliferation non-tumor cells. Then, the luciferase assays confirm the role of STAU1 in E2F1 expression, depending on STAU1 binding to E2F1 SBS in its 3’UTR. Unfortunately, the plasmids used for CDK4 expression turned out to be non-functional. The second goal is to identify the molecular determinants responsible for the localization of STAU1 to the mitotic spindle in tumor cells. To this end, the localization of STAU1 or of several mutants was measured by WB using purified spindle preparations. Our data show that the determinant is composed of several amino acids (aa) located between the 26th and 37th aa at the N-terminal end of STAU1. In summary, our results show the different roles of STAU1 in tumor and non-tumor cells. Therefore, STAU1 could be a potential specific therapeutic target in cancer treatments.

Keyphrases: STAU1, Cell cycle phases checkpoints of tumor and non-tumor cells, CDK4, E2F1, mitosis, G1/S transition
Endophytes of commercial Cranberry cultivars that control fungal pathogens.

Endophytes are microorganisms (typically bacteria and fungi) that live within plant tissue but do not activate the plant defense/immune system, unlike plant pathogens that typically do activate plant immune responses. Recent research has shown that virtually all plants grown under field conditions contain a number of endophytes, and that certain endophytes stimulate plant growth and enhance resistance against pathogens. Endophytes secrete chemical compounds (secondary metabolites) that suppress pathogen growth, a process known as biocontrol. Because of these biocontrol properties, endophytes are a potential alternative to chemical pesticides for combatting plant disease. Accordingly, biocontrol has become an important field of research. My research project was comprised of the following specific aims: (i) isolate endophytes from cranberry plants that were acquired from two commercial producers of cranberries of the Stevens variety located in Quebec, Canada (Bieler Cranberries Inc, and Gillivert Inc.); (ii) test the biocontrol activity of endophytes against a collection of fungal pathogens and then inoculate the most active endophytes into cranberry seedlings that were obtained by germinating Stevens (Bieler Cranberries Inc.) and Scarlet Knight (Daniele Landreville) seeds; and (iii) identify secondary metabolite gene clusters by sequencing, assembling, and annotating the genome of one endophyte that exhibited strong biocontrol characteristics.  As part of this research project, in vitro antagonistic tests were conducted with cranberry endophytes and fungal pathogen, which showed that Pseudomonas sp. CSWB3, Pseudomonas sp. CLWB12, and the fungal strain Lachnum sp. EFK28 were the most active and therefore these strains were selected for further studies. In vitro seedling germination and endophyte inoculation experiments showed that the bacterial strains Pseudomonas sp. CSWB3 and Pseudomonas sp. CLWB12 enhanced the growth of cranberry seedlings of the Stevens variety.  Since Pseudomonas sp. CSWB3 and Pseudomonas sp. CLWB12 both had a high antagonistic effect on fungal pathogens, only one (Pseudomonas sp. CSWB3) was subjected to genome analysis. Sequencing, assembly, annotation, and analysis of the Pseudomonas sp. CSWB3 genome revealed that this strain possesses five secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters that encode proteins responsible for the biosynthesis of the antifungal/antimicrobial compounds pyrrolnitrin, pyoluteorin, putisolvin, 2,4-diacetylephloroglucinol, bicornutin A1, and bicornutin A2. Based on the results of this work, we conclude that certain cranberry endophytes that possess gene clusters encoding antifungal secondary metabolites can suppress fungal pathogens and enhance plant growth.

Keyphrases: Endophyte, Pseudomonas sp, Bacteria, Fungi, Pathogen, Biocontrol, Antifungal activity, Secondary metabolites, Cranberry, Pseudomonas sp, Genome analysis, Gene clusters, Comparative genomics
Factors influencing dietary supplements use help identifying athletes with risky behaviors

Dietary supplements (DS) consumption is widespread among athletes. Despite evidence-based benefits, DS have proven to represent a risk for transitioning toward prohibited substances and even failing an anti-doping test due to contamination. A sequential mixed-method research design was used to explore the factors affecting athletes’ decision-making process underlying DS use. Varsity athletes (n=10) participated in semi-structured interviews that were thematically analyzed. In addition, a survey was conducted (n=162). Results indicated that athletes who consume DS to improve performance and experiencing little to no benefits could be more prone to transition toward prohibited substances. A high prevalence of DS use in varsity athletes was also observed (>90%), with males consuming more DS products. Nutritionists were ranked as the most importance source of information regarding DS; however, only 4% of athletes consulted one. A follow-up preliminary study conducted on elite athletes (semi-structured interviews: n=7; questionnaire: n=36) was also performed to compare those athlete populations. Minimizing DS consumption risks could be achieved by targeting the most vulnerable segment of the athletics population based on the following criteria: 1) being a male; 2) not being enrolled in a health program; 3) not having followed a DS workshop; 4) consuming DS to improve performance without experiencing significant improvements; or 5) consuming more than three different DS.

Keyphrases: Gateway Theory, Mixed-method, Theory of Planned Behavior, Doping
Qualité nutritionnelle et santé cardiométabolique chez les survivants de la leucémie lymphoblastique aiguë

Context. Although they are a high-risk population, there is little information about how diet may influence the cardiometabolic health of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) survivors. Objectives. This study aims to explore the associations between diet quality index and cardiometabolic health indicators in this population. Methodology. Participants were recruited as part of the PETALE study (n=241, 49.4% males; median age: 21.7 years). Adherence to 6 dietary scores were calculated: MEDAS (14-point Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener), KIDMED (Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for Children and Adolescents), HDI-2018 (Healthy Diet Indicator), HEI-2015 (Health Eating Index), E-DII (Energy Adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index) and FRAP (ferric-reducing antioxidant potential). Caloric intake from ultra-processed foods was determined based on the NOVA Classification. Multivariate logistic regressions, Student t-tests and Mann-Whitney tests evaluated the associations between diet, cardiometabolic and inflammatory outcomes. Results. We found that 88% of adults and 46% of children adhered poorly to the Mediterranean diet. In fact, less than a quarter of adults consumed at least 3 servings of legumes or fish per week, while more than a third of children ate pastries such as chocolate croissant at breakfast and 96% of them took sweets regularly. Also, 36.9% had poor adherence to the WHO recommendations, where more than 95% of all participants had a sodium consumption exceeding 2g per day. 76.3% had a diet to be improved according to the HEI-2015 score, which showed that the survivors of our cohort consumed an average of 7 servings of refined grain products per day and a daily intake of free sugars of up to 15% of total energy. On average, ultra-processed foods accounted for 51% of total energy intake. Having low HDL-C was associated with a more inflammatory diet (E-DII score) and higher consumption of ultra-processed foods. A higher E-DII score was associated with elevated HOMA-IR and consumption of ultra-processed foods with having high triglycerides. Participants with a better adherence to the HEI-2015 score had lower levels of circulating TNF-α. Adiponectin levels were higher in those who better adhered to the Mediterranean diet. Conclusion. Survivors of cALL have poor adherence to dietary recommendations, negatively affecting their cardiometabolic health and inflammatory status.

Keyphrases: survivors, pediatrics, oncology, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, cardiometabolic complications, survivor nutrition