NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Ophélie & Solitude, folie et réinventions de la réalité dans la littérature fantastique

The first part of this thesis is a short novel named Ophélie. It’s in a fantastic mind set that we penetrate the life of a lonely woman who lives an anonymous life through reading and her job as a librarian. Her reality will quickly be disrupted after she witnesses some inexplicable phenomenon in her own daily life. While she struggles between her rational belief and the acceptance of a new definition of the world as she knows it, she chases the only person who would be able to answer her questions, this mysterious man who constantly reappears in all the most unusual circumstances of her existence.  Ophélie is both a reflection on literature and its ability to infiltrate our imagination as well as a questioning of our reality through the unwavering loneliness of the human being  and its personal perception. The second part, the essay Solitude, folie et réinventions de la réalité dans la littérature fantastique focuses on the representation of solitude in fantastic literature by analyzing the effects thereof on the protagonists. I focus on the role of the isolation of a character in the development of a fantastic story within two contemporary novels Querelle d’un squelette avec son double by Ying Chen et La Secte des Égoïstes from Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, but also within two novellas of the 19th century, Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant and Vera from Villiers de L'Isle-Adam. We will try to understand how the fantastic plays with loneliness to transform it and so make it a condition for the occurrence of supernatural phenomena . Fantastic as a metaphor of madness or delirium works, in the accounts studied, as a defense mechanism against the ravages of loneliness.

Keyphrases: fantastique, solitude, folie, réalité, French literature, Madness, solitude, fantastic, reality
Modélisation de l’engagement et de la charge mentale de travail dans les Systèmes Tutoriels Intelligents

Recent advances in cognitive science, psychology and neuroscience have shown that emotions and cognitive processes are closely intertwined. This fact has given rise to a new generation of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) whose adaptive logic is based on the consideration of the learner’s emotional and affective dimension. These systems, known as Emotionally Intelligent Tutoring Systems (EITS), seek to acquire the human tutors’ ability in detecting, understanding and adapting to the learners’ emotional state. However, despite the large body of work on emotional modeling, several empirical results showed that current EITS fail to have a significant impact on the learners’ performance and emotional reactions. These limitations are mainly due to the complexity of the emotional concept which makes its modeling difficult and its interpretation ambiguous.  In this thesis we propose to increase EITS with mental state indicators of engagement and mental workload. These mental states have the advantage to include both affective and cognitive dimensions. To this end, we first present an approach to modeling these indicators from the learners’ brain activity data. In the second part, we will integrate these models into an EITS able to adapt in real time the learning process according to these indicators.

Keyphrases: Engagement mental, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Mental engagement, Mental workload, Real-time adaptation, Emotions, Electroencephalography
Estimation de la mortalité évitable au Québec de 
1981-1985 à 2005-2009

The upward trend observed in Quebec’s life expectancy in past years suggests that population health has continued to improve. However, a number of deaths continue to occur prematurely before the age of 75 years. A part of this premature mortality is potentially avoidable. The objective of this paper is to estimate avoidable mortality rates in Quebec from 1981-1985 to 2005-2009. Avoidable mortality rates were obtained by applying the method of Tobias and Jackson (2001) to mortality data made available to us by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec. Furthermore, this approach allowed us to evaluate avoidable mortality rates by three levels of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary.  Our results show a downward trend in avoidable mortality from 1981-1985 to 2005-2009. This decline was observed for the whole population and also for both sexes. Differences in male’s and female’s avoidable mortality trends are however noticed. Indeed, avoidable mortality is higher for men than women and a large part of this difference is associated to primary prevention.  The analysis by cause of death revealed that lung cancer was the leading cause of avoidable death in both men and women in 2005-2009. During this same period, the second leading cause of avoidable mortality is breast cancer and ischemic heart diseases in females and males respectively.

Keyphrases: avoidable mortality, primary prevention, secondary prevention, tertiary prevention, avoidable cause of death
Mythes et monstres dans Folle et À ciel ouvert de Nelly Arcan

Nelly Arcan’s body of work is in line with a trend in contemporary writing to represent the monster as a transgressive figure, which, through its own “e-normity,” steps out of the norm and questions it. Both fascinating and unnerving, the monster has haunted literature since the tales of ancient mythology came into existence. Following the steps of many women writers, Arcan rewrites numerous Greek myths in Folle (2004) and À ciel ouvert (2007). These novels narrate the stories of characters who transform into monsters due to their ill-fated destinies. The male characters are inspired by Jason, Narcissus and Pygmalion. However, their sexual deviance and tendency to dominate make them much more monstrous than their ancient models. Contaminated by the monstrosity of the men they love to the point of self-annihilation, Arcan’s female protagonists share some characteristics with Medea, Medusa and the Amazons. They gain power from these dangerous mythological figures to teach lessons to the monstrous males, thereby claiming possession of their own subjectivities.  Using literary approaches such as mythocritique, theories of rewriting, and theories of character, this research will focus on the causes, processes and effects of the female characters’ “becoming-monster” and will study Arcan’s reconfiguration of ancient myths. Through an examination of the merging of these myths and an analysis of the displacement and upending of their distinctive mythemes, this master’s thesis hopes to show how Arcan dissects love relationships that lead to the “becoming-monster” of the partners involved. This analysis will bring out Arcan’s apocalyptic vision of co-habitation, a vision which re-enacts the war of the sexes that we thought ended long ago.

Keyphrases: Nelly Arcan, monster, myth, rewriting, tragic, character, power play, sacred, women's writing, mythocritique, mythe
La figure de l’auteur comme producteur : littérature et connaissance chez Walter Benjamin, Georg Lukács et Theodor W. Adorno

This memoir examine the problem of what philosophers such as Georg Lukács and Walter Benjamin call the truth content of literary works. My purpose is to show how such a truth content be sought neither in the extra-literary reality of which literature seems to be a representation, in the authorial intention imposed from without, nor in the work’s reception by its reading public, but directly in the sphere of its production. From a comparative reading of the different positions held in the 1930s debate between Georg Lukács, Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht and Ernst Bloch, literary production is defined as a phenomenon by which the mind, through its objectivation, transcends the reality in which it inscribes itself. On this basis, literature appears as a process in which the epistemological relation between subject and object is apprehended in a way that is irreducible to other forms of knowledge.

Keyphrases: Avant-garde, Production, Litterature, Epistemology, Vanguard
Distributed conditional computation

The objective of this paper is to present different applications of the distributed conditional computation research program.  It is hoped that these applications and the theory presented here will lead to a general solution of the problem of artificial intelligence, especially with regard to the need for efficiency.  The vision of distributed conditional computation is to accelerate the evaluation and training of deep models which is very different from the usual objective of improving its generalization and optimization capacity.  The work presented here has close ties with mixture of experts models.   In Chapter 2, we present a new deep learning algorithm that  uses a form of reinforcement learning on a novel neural network decision tree model.  We demonstrate the need for a balancing constraint to keep the distribution of examples to experts uniform and to prevent monopolies. To make the calculation efficient, the training and evaluation are constrained to be sparse by using a gater that  samples experts from a multinomial distribution given examples.   In Chapter 3 we present a new deep model consisting of a sparse representation divided into segments of experts.  A neural network language model is constructed from blocks of sparse transformations between these expert segments.  The block-sparse operation is implemented for use on graphics cards.  Its speed is compared with two dense operations of the same caliber to demonstrate  and measure the actual efficiency gain that can be obtained. A deep model using  these block-sparse operations controlled by a distinct gater is trained on a dataset of one billion words.  A new algorithm for data partitioning (clustering) is applied to a set of words to  organize the output layer of a language model into a conditional hierarchy, thereby making it much more efficient.   The work presented in this thesis is central to the vision of distributed conditional computation as issued by Yoshua Bengio. It attempts to apply research in the area of  mixture of experts to deep models to improve their speed and their optimization capacity.  We believe that the theory and experiments of this thesis are an important step  on the path to distributed conditional computation because it provides a good framework for the problem,  especially concerning competitiveness inherent to systems of experts.

Keyphrases: torch, distributed conditional computation, neural network, deep learning, supervised learning, reinforcement learning, decision tree, language model, mixture of experts, torch
Dialogue symbolique dans l'espace thérapeutique : le recours au rituel de guérison au Québec

The study of an energetic cares center who is offering a healing ritual in Montreal reveals the need of symbolic components in the healing experience. Starting with ritual experiences as well as subjectivities of individuals, the aim of this presentation is to understand the needs and the meanings of such therapeutic itineraries in the context of contemporary Quebec. The growing popularity of alternative medicine such as neo-shamanic healing circle reveals the needs of symbolic components in the experience of healing. From this perspective, I’m questioning how these individuals can make sense of symbolic representations coming from different cultures (shamanism, alchemy). What are the meanings of the symbolic dialogue and his repercussion in the healing experiences? These forms of subjectivities and transformative actions affirm a meaning quest of illness that the biomedical community cannot provide. The ritual of healing circle is imposing himself has a symbolic activity allowing the subject to affirm his image, his identity and his values within an embodied transformative experience. This type of cares also provides a form of agentivity and a space to question the biomedical authority. I am going to examine the context in which people are turning to such care, the mechanism of transformation at work, as well as the role of the ritual in the imaginary of the participants. By shedding light on the cultural context and the meanings of the ritual for the participants, I will illustrate the symbolic operations leading to healing experiences.

Keyphrases: Empowerment, Ethnology, Therapeutic practice, Healing, Ritual, Therapeutic itineraries, Empowerment, Symbolic dialogue, Neo-shamanism, Alchemy
Winckelmann et ses désirs (presque) secrets : amour entre hommes et idéaux de la masculinité à l’ère néoclassique (1755-1768)

Studying the works and letters of Johann Joachim Winckelmann written between 1755 and 1768 gives new insights on love between men in the 18th century and on its relation to the construction of masculinity. The case of Winckelmann illustrates the constructed and changing nature of eroticism: the influence of the Hellenic example is visible in the homoerotic fantasy that Winckelmann used to interpret his desires. Antiquity, given its cultural authority, represented a relatively safe space where Winckelmann was able to express his homoerotic sensibility to which the western context was hostile. Greek literature exalted the display of affection between men and its statuary, the nude male body. This fantasy would later prove to be the capital in Winckelmann’s comprehension and justifications of his relations with other men in Italy after 1755.  Far from being confined to the repression of homoeroticism by the 18th century European society, the case of Winckelmann illustrates its potential for partial integration. The originality of Winckelmann lies in the way he used to communicate his homoerotic ideas in scholarly texts while rendering them socially acceptable. Finally, several clues in his works and letters bear to think that Winckelmann was aware of his difference and that between 1755 and 1768 he created for himself a discrete community of men also sensitive to homoerotic desires.

Keyphrases: Queer, Genre, History, Art history, Sexuality, Homosexuality, Homoeroticism, Gender, Masculinity, Italy, 18th century, Neoclassicism, Enlightenment
L'idée de liberté politique chez Spinoza

For Spinoza, politics is made on the foundations of the edifice of freedom. Indeed, freedom is considered as an institutional form. Then, it is lived as Alain Billecoq says “through laws that guarantee stability and continuity”. This should normally exclude any possibility of conflict between the power of the Palace and people freedom. Especially as the State draws its fundaments in the rights and freedoms that it’s supposed to guarantee to its citizens. In other words, they would believe that there’s a certain balance of power of the State and freedom of individuals. But, it’s not always that which is happening. So for several people, freedom and power of command are not quite compatible. Then, how to make possible this coexistence of the state as an organ of control and coercion, and the freedom of individuals, which seems to be necessary? Following his opinion about the right natural, the natural state and the civil state, it will be proved with Spinoza at the end of our approach that this tension between state power and people freedom is resolved thanks to the democracy.

Keyphrases: Spinoza, Political philosophy, Political freedom, Natural right, State, Democracy
Impact des niveaux de B-hydroxybutyrate sur la productivité des chèvres laitières

Increase of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) in blood is often associated with goats suffering from pregnancy toxemia (PT), an important disease of this specie. Considering there was no clear definition of hyperketonemia in dairy goat, the objectives of this study was to define pre-partum hyperketonemia in dairy goats using optimal blood BHBA value sampled on farm using a hand-held meter (Precision Xtra®) to indentify goats at greater risk of PT or dying during the last month of pregnancy. The hand-held meter was previously validated in dairy goats (n = 114) on farm (n = 3) and showed an excellent accuracy for measuring blood BHBA (r2 = 0.95). The main study was conducted in 1081 dairy goats from 10 commercial herds in Québec (Canada). All pregnant goats were blood sampled weekly during the last five weeks of pregnancy. Blood was analyzed directly on farm for BHBA quantification using Precision Xtra® meter. Our result showed that it is possible to define pre-partum hyperketonemia using the risk of developing PT and mortality risk during the last month of pregnancy based of BHBA value on farm. The BHBA cutoffs retained varied from ≥ 0.4 to ≥ 0.9 mmol/L during the last five weeks prepartum when hyperketonemia definition was based on PT and ≥ 0.6 to ≥ 1.4 mmol/L when based on mortality. It was also demonstrated that hyperketonemic goats at 4th week before kidding had the highest odds of subsequent PT and mortality. An early diagnosis of the disease is now possible using BHBA values.

Keyphrases: β-hydroxybutyrate, Precision Xtra®, Dairy goat, β-hydroxybutyric acid, Precision Xtra®, Ketosis, Pregnancy toxemia
L’expérience d’acquisition de ressources en enseignement à la clientèle et de leur utilisation en situation clinique telle que perçue par des infirmiers ayant suivi un cours        e-learning : étude qualitative descriptive

All nurses must maintain their knowledge and skills up to date. However, in the current context, due to lack of nurses, continuing education represents a great challenge for nurses. Therefore e-learning seems to have a great potential to take over this challenge. A qualitative study based on the critical incidents method was meant to describe clinical nursing experiences (n=4) after an e-learning course on patient teaching. This 45 hours long course was led on a competency based approach. Individual interviews allowed us to document the use of their acquired knowledge in different clinical contexts. The results reveal that nurses (n=4) acquired different resources (knowledge, skills) that they used in clinical patient teaching. According to the results, discussion forums about clinical cases and a learning project in real clinical context turned out to be useful educational strategies to sustain professional nursing skills. Finally, e-learning based on the competency-based approach reveals itself as an educational strategy of great promise.  Key words: e-learning, continuing education, educational strategies, competency based approach

Keyphrases: E-learning, Continuing education, Educational strategies, Competency based approach
Sports et masculinités : hybridation des modèles hégémoniques au sein du champ

This thesis examines the construction of masculinities by athletes invested in a high-level sporting career. Our investigation is based on ethnographic observations during sports training and interviews (n = 48) conducted with athletes (n = 38) and coaches (n = 10) in a Pole Espoir of handball (n = 8) of rugby (n = 13) and in a Pole France of french boxing (n = 13), in two Poles France of ice skating in the individual category (n = 11), and in three clubs at Quebec (n = 3).  The first contribution of this thesis lies in the linkage between the two theoretical frameworks used in Sport Sociology respectively in English and French language. We analyzed our data using the concepts - gender order, gender regime and hegemonic masculinity - developed by Raewyn Connell and those - field, habitus and capital - developed by Pierre Bourdieu. We proposed to consider that the sports field is governed by a form of hegemonic masculinity. This form would be defined as an ideal configuration of affiliations, dispositions and capital favourable to promote the re-productivity of agents in the social game. We have seen that this form was malleable. There is a plurality of hegemonic masculinities in relation to specific gender regime of each discipline and more precisely with the local gender order which is geographically and institutionally anchored. The second contribution of this thesis lies in the study of the process of masculinities hybridization in relation to the increase of institutional requirements. Contrary to an essentialist conception of hegemonic masculinity, we note that this latter is characterized by the plurality of its facets and its plasticity. The athletes, who are the most conform to the hegemonic form in their discipline, develop a capacity to enter into a variety or mixed dispositional uses. They are always more "fit for fighting", but more subtle in the uses of violence and their bodies, that they learn to manage as a capital (aesthetic, hygienic). In addition, they put away the expression of sexism and homophobia, which still does not really allow reconsidering the unequal value of sexes, genders and sexualities in sports field.

Keyphrases: Gender, Sports, Hegemonic masculinities, Hybridization
Localization and function of the endocannabinoid system throughout the retinogeniculate pathway of vervet monkeys

The endocannabinoid (eCB) system is present in the mammalian central nervous system, including the retina, and is responsible for the regulation of many physiological processes. Anatomical and functional data collected in the retina indicate that cannabinoid receptors are important mediators of retinal function. Although the presence of the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R) has been documented in the rodent and primate retina, there is still some controversy regarding the presence of the CB2 receptor (CB2R) within the central nervous system. By using confocal microscopy, we are the first to report the distribution patterns of CB2R in the monkey retina. Our results show that CB2R is expressed exclusively in the Müller cells of the primate retina. Furthermore, we compared the eCB system distribution patterns in the retinas of mice, tree shrews, and vervet and macaque monkeys. We report that CB1R, FAAH, MAGL, and DAGLα distributions are highly conserved among these 3 species whereas CB2R and NAPE-PLD exhibit different expression patterns. CB2R was not detected in the neuroretinal cells of primates. NAPE-PLD immunoreactivity was present in the retinal layers of mice and tree shrews but was restricted to the photoreceptor layer in both species of primates studied.  To study the neural correlates and the role of eCB signaling in the retina, we first established a standard protocol for electroretinography (ERG) and then recorded the ERG response of the retina after blocking receptors with specific antagonists for CB1R (AM251) and CB2R (AM630). Compare to control, in photopic conditions, at certain low flash intensities, only the blockade of CB1R decreases the amplitude of the a-wave and b-wave, while at some high flash intensities, blockade of CB2R increase the amplitude of both a- and b-waves. Also the blockade of the cannabinoid receptors causes an increase in the latency of both a- and b-waves. In dark-adapted eyes, blockade of the CB1R and CB2R reduces the a-wave only amplitudes in the higher intensities and decrease the b-wave in lower intensities. Some significant increases in latency were observed in both cases. These results indicate that CB1 and CB2 receptors in primates are involved in retinal function under photopic and scotopic conditions.   In addition, we assessed the expression pattern of eCB components CB1R, FAAH, and NAPE-PLD beyond the retina in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of primates and report for the first time that while CB1R and FAAH are more abundantly expressed in the magnocellular layer, NAPE-PLD is distributed throughout both the magno- and parvocellular layers. None of these components are expressed in the koniocellular layer.  These findings augment our understanding of the effects of cannabinoids on the visual system and may lead to novel therapeutics targeted to eCB signaling.

Keyphrases: Vision, CB1R, CB2R, FAAH, NAPE-PLD, MAGL, DAGL, dLGN, Monkey, Endocannabinoid, ERG