NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Wireless privacy and personalized location-based services: the challenge of translating the legal framework into business practices

The proliferation of mobile communications is leading to new services based on the ability of service providers to determine, with increasing precision and through the use of location determination technologies, the geographic location of wireless devices and allow their users to receive services based on such location. The development of location-based services introduces new privacy risks for consumers that must be addressed. The portability of wireless devices coupled with their ability to pinpoint the location of wireless users and reveal it to others could produce a system where the everyday activities and movements of these users are tracked and recorded, and where wireless users receive unanticipated messages on their device. For this reason and in order to preserve the privacy of wireless users, a company looking to deploy a technology related to the providing of personalized location-based services ("LBS Provider") will have to analyze the privacy legal framework, coming either from legal sources--that may be in some case vague and not specific to this new context--or from the industry, and translate such framework into business practices. Such analysis may help in establishing what kind of business model and technology should be adopted and developed by LBS Providers in order to ensure the privacy of wireless users while providing this new type of service.

Keyphrases: Mobile, Profilage, Wireless, Mobile, Location, Privacy, Personal data, Personalization, Profiling, Location-based services, Location data, Tracking technology, Business Practices
La valorisation - Une étude de cas internationale

The main subject of this study is technology transfer. These terms are related to the process and the infrastructure - the technology transfer offices - that allow academical researchers to commercialize the results of their research. A case study comparing Belgium and Quebec will be at the heart of the reflexion.  A theoretical framework will be developed for the purpose of understanding the meaning of this activity. Various concepts such as innovation and knowledge-based economy will be introduced in an historical and a normative way. Successively, the different models that will be developed will complete the reader's understanding of the subject.  The questions that are raised in this thesis are related to the relationship between the researcher and his technology transfer office and the impact of this relationship on the process of technology transfer. Different hypothesis suggest therein the importance of both the academical policies related to intellectual property and the academical research's culture. These aspects are analyzed with the content of interviews. The ultimate purpose of this thesis is to suggest recommendations concerning good manners in the field of technology transfer. These last concern the organizational position of the technology transfer offices during the process of technology transfer and the centrality of communication during this process.

Keyphrases: technology transfer
Rôle de la phospholipase A2 de type V dans le recrutement de leucocytes au foyer inflammatoire

Secretory phospholipases A2 (sPLA2s) are well known for their contribution in the biosynthesis of inflammatory eicosanoids.  These enzymes also participate in the inflammatory process by regulating chemokine production and protein expression of adhesion molecules.  The majority of sPLA2 isoforms are up-regulated by proinflammatory stimuli such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which predominantly increases the expression of group V sPLA2 (sPLA2-V).  Furthermore, it has recently been shown that sPLA2-V is a critical messenger in the regulation of cell migration during allergic airway responsiveness.  Herein, we investigated the effect of sPLA2-V on LPS-mediated leukocyte recruitment and its capacity to modulate adhesion molecule expression.  We conducted our study in the murine air pouch model, using sPLA2-V null mice (sPLA2-V-/-) and control wild-type (WT) littermates.  We observed that LPS (1 μg/mL)-mediated leukocyte migration in sPLA2-V-/- was attenuated by 52 and 86% after 6 and 12 hours of treatment, respectively, as compared to WT mice.  In WT mice, treatment with the cell-permeable sPLA2 inhibitor (12-epi-scalaradial; SLD) reduced LPS-mediated leukocyte recruitment by 67%, but had no additional inhibitory effect in sPLA2-V-/- mice.  Protein analyses from the air pouch skin were carried out upon LPS-challenge, and the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 were both significantly reduced in sPLA2-V-/- mice as compared to control WT mice.  Together, our data demonstrate the role of sPLA2-V in LPS-induced ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 protein overexpression and leukocyte recruitment, supporting the contribution of sPLA2-V in the development of inflammatory innate immune responses.

Keyphrases: Leucocytes, sPLA2 -V, lipopolysaccharide, Leukocytes, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1
Les freins à l'adoption d'une approche d'éco-conception dans le processus de développement de produits: le cas des petites et moyennes entreprises

Scientists, governments, businesses and consumers agree that the natural system is deregulated, and that the industrial activity is the main cause.  Eco-design is a way to design products or services by reducing their impacts on environment and society. This approach to design is increasingly present in large corporations which, combined with an integrated environmental management system, provides significant profits and brand image. Conversely, eco-design is barely implanted in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Through this research, we have tried to understand the reasons of these difficulties. Two approaches have been used. One is based on a document review of corporate social responsability (CSR) reports of ten, large and small, companies from different industrial sectors. This has enabled us to establish the framework and the form of the research approach. The second approach is based on semi-directed interviews with a set of prepared specific questions. After an overview describing eco-design and its problematic applied to SMEs (Chapter 2), we develop the methodological framework of this research (Chapter 3) and present its results (Chapter 4). We show that the barriers to adoption of eco-design within SMEs are multiple and complex, so much the diversity of these companies is vast and difficult to synthesize. By highlighting the barriers, the drivers, the risks and the opportunities related to integrating sustainable development principles in these organizations, we provide an overview of the current situation and challenges faced by SMEs when seeking to adhere to these principles.

Keyphrases: RSE, Sustainable development, Eco-design, Product development, Corporate social responsibility, Small and medium-sized enterprises
Augmentation de la production d'hydrogène par l'expression hétérologue d'hydrogénase et la production d’hydrogène à partir de résidus organiques

The search for alternative energy sources with low environmental impact is in great expansion. Hydrogen, an elegant and simple energy transporter, could serve as means of transporting energy in the future. An ideal solution to the increasing energy needs would imply a renewable production of hydrogen. Out of all the existing possibilities for such a process, the biological production of hydrogen, also called biohydrogen, is an excellent alternative. Hydrogen is the end result or co-product of many pathways in bacterial metabolism. However, such pathways usually show low yields of substrate to hydrogen conversion, which prevents the development of efficient production processes. For example, when hydrogen is produced via nitrogenase under photofermentation conditions, each hydrogen molecule produced requires 4 molecules of ATP, rendering the process very energetically inefficient. Purple non-sulfur bacteria are highly adaptive organisms that can grow under various conditions. According to recent genomic analyses, Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas palustris possess, within their genome, an FeFe hydrogenase that would allow them to produce hydrogen via dark fermentation quite efficiently. Unfortunately, very little information is known on the regulation of the synthesis of this enzyme or the various pathways that require it. An overexpression of this hydrogenase could potentially increase the yields of substrate to hydrogen conversion. This study aims to increase our knowledge about this FeFe hydrogenase by overexpressing it in conditions that facilitate the production of hydrogen. The use of organic waste as substrate for hydrogen production will also be studied.

Keyphrases: Photofermentation, RT-PCR, Nitrogenase, Biohydrogen, Bioreactor, Anaerobic fermentation, Glycerol, Purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria
Pantoprazole intraveineux aux soins intensifs pédiatriques: un modèle de pharmacocinétique de population

Aims : To characterize the pharmacokinetics of intravenous pantoprazole in a paediatric intensive care population and to determine the influence of demographic factors, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), hepatic dysfunction and concomitantly used cytochrome (CYP) 2C19 inhibitors on the drug’s pharmacokinetics. Methods : A total of 156 pantoprazole concentrations from 20 patients (aged from 10 days to 16.4 years) at risk for or with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, who received pantoprazole doses ranging from 19.9 to 140.6 mg/1.73m2/day, were analyzed using non compartmental and non linear mixed effects modelling (NONMEM) approaches. Results : The non compartmental results showed that median clearance (CL), apparent volume of distribution and elimination half-life were 0.14 L/h/kg, 0.20 L/kg and 1.7 h, respectively. The best structural model for pantoprazole was a two-compartment model with zero order infusion and first order elimination. Body weight, SIRS, age, hepatic dysfunction and presence of CYP2C19 inhibitors were the significant covariates affecting CL, accounting for 75% of interindividual variability. Only body weight significantly influenced central volume of distribution (Vc). In the final population model, the estimated CL and Vc were 5.28 L/h and 2.22 L, respectively, for a typical five year old child weighing 20 kg. Pantoprazole CL increased with weight and age whereas the presence of SIRS, CYP2C19 inhibitors and hepatic dysfunction, when present separately, significantly decreased pantoprazole CL by 62.3%, 65.8% and 50.5%, respectively. Conclusion : These results provide important information to physicians regarding selection of a starting dose and dosing regimen of pantoprazole for paediatric intensive care patients based on various factors frequently encountered in this population.

Keyphrases: Pantoprazole, Critical care, Paediatrics, Population pharmacokinetics, Systemic inflammatory response syndrome, Pantoprazole
Les végétaux comme éléments du paysage sonore : relations qualitatives entre conditions environnementales, morphologie et organisation dans la production d’ambiances sonores

The soundscape is a new way of perceiving our environment which allows us to identify the sound elements of our daily life. This research project is based on a specific theme, sounds produced by the plants and their role in the sound ambiances in the landscape. This is the perspective that we have explored in situ by comparing different plant species. This data collection has enabled us to propose a typology of plants soundscapes. In the first part, concepts related to the world of sound such as soundscape, sound object, and sound effect are at the origin of a framework that considers different scales measuring perceptions of sound. A literature review has focused on three complementary subject matters: first, we gathered different pieces of information related to sound and plants, on such topics as morphology, development, and weather conditions; second, we realized a rapid venture through the history of gardens, paying attention, on the one hand, to sensorial, therapeutic and technological gardens, and on the other hand, to sound trails through the perspective which defines sound as a project; third, we examined a list of plants receiving the songs and cries of wildlife, thus introducing the concept of biodiversity in the study of sound. An empirical data collection was performed at the Montreal Botanical Garden. Two complementary research methods were used: the first consisted of a soundwalks with participants during an hour in the Arboretum; the second consisted in an investigation conducted with an expert. These two sources of information lead to the elaboration of a framework composed of many listening scales targeting aspects such as textures and sound effects. This phase was completed by two others: first, the identification of various criteria (morphology, organization, weather); second, the determination of different atmospheres linked to them. We were then able to identify associations formed between eleven types of plants, each including various sub- scales. These sub-scales take into account specific sound atmospheres, listening scales designed to measure these atmospheres and a list of species to consider. This research opens the path to the perception of specific sounds with a thematic angle and in our case, the sounds of plants. It offers a new design tool to professionals, based upon the measurement of user’s perceptions regarding sound and the organization of a site.

Keyphrases: Planning, Landscape architecture, Ambiances, Ambiances, Plants, Morphology, Climats, Climate, Soundwalk, Perceptions, Perceptions, Listening scales, typologies, Soundscape
Perception des personnes âgées à l'égard de la vidéosurveillance intelligente pour leur soutien à domicile

Backgroung: Among the elderly, at-home falls are a significant problem (on average, 1 elder/3 falls at least 1/year). In order to automatically detect falls while maintaining privacy, an innovative technology was developed: an intelligent videomonitoring system.  Objective: To explore the perception and receptivity of the elderly regarding the introduction of this new technology at home.  Methodology: Using a mixed methods design, 30 elderly underwent a structured interview. A content analysis (qualitative data) and descriptive analyses (quantitative data) were executed and then combined.  Findings: 93.4% of the participants were favorable (or partially) to the intelligent videomonitoring system and 43.3% would use it for the sense of security and the privacy provided.  Conclusion: The living situation of the elderly influences their perception and receptivity regarding an intelligent videomonitoring system. The next step will be to evaluate this new technology in various living environments.

Keyphrases: Falls, Mixed methods research, Receptivity, Privacy, Security, Automatic system, Camera, Technology
Internationalisation des services génétiques : Perspectives légales et éthiques

The internationalization of clinical genetic services can be explained both by the rarity of certain genetic disorders and by the limited number of laboratories performing specialized tests.  By its very nature, genetic testing carries risk and must be strictly controlled.  The absence of international control over genetic laboratories raises important legal and ethical issues. In the first article, this paper looks at the testing standards for Canadian genetic laboratories.  A second article compares genetic laboratory testing standards in four OECD member countries, namely: France, the United States, Australia and United Kingdom.  In the third article, the key rights of genetic patients in Canada, the United States, Australia and United Kingdom are compared.  Finally, a fourth article studies the ethical implications of the heterogeneousness of genetic laboratory control standards and patient rights against the prevailing backdrop of the internationalization of genetic services.  This ethical study is based on three recognized theories: principlism, utilitarianism and deontologism. The heterogeneous articulation of standards governing genetic laboratories raises ethical issues and demonstrates the need to harmonize international standards.

Keyphrases: Genetic, Laboratory, Law, Bioethics
L’implication du Stromal Cell-derived Factor-1 alpha dans le remodelage cardiaque une semaine après un infarctus du myocarde

The injection of bone marrow stem cells in the infarcted heart was shown to improve ventricular function and scar remodelling. The chemokine Stromal Cell-derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1 alpha) is implicated in the migration of inflammatory and bone marrow derived stem cells to damaged region. Despite a local increase of SDF-1 alpha expression in the damaged myocardium, the biological impact of the chemokine during the acute phase of remodelling in the ischemic heart remains undefined. Therefore, the present study examined the role of SDF-1 alpha on scar expansion, cardiac hypertrophy and ventricular function in rats following myocardial infarction (MI) via administration of AMD3100 (1 mg/kg, 24 hours post-MI and continued for 6 days) a selective antagonist of the SDF-1 alpha receptor, CXCR4. This receptor is coupled to a G alpha i protein and induced migration and proliferation of cells. In 1-week post-MI rats, chemokine expression was detected in smooth muscle and endothelial cells of blood vessels residing in the infarcted region. An SDF-1 alpha gradient towards the infarcted region was detected in the post-MI rat heart. In 1-week post-MI rats, AMD3100 therapy reduced scar size, concomitantly improved left ventricular function and partially supressed the elevated expression of ANP mRNA in the non-infarcted left ventricule. Preliminary studies on mice showed that the reduced infarct size in AMD3100-treated post-MI mice was associated with an attenuation of neutrophil infiltration in the ischemic region. These data highlight the novel observation that pharmacological antagonism of the SDF-1 alpha/CXCR4 axis during the acute phase of repartive fibrosis post-MI attenuated scar expansion and improved ventricular function in part via attenuation of the inflammatory response.

Keyphrases: AMD3100, Rat, SDF-1alpha, Myocardial infarction, Scar, Remodelling, Rat, Mice, SDF-1 alpha, Hypertrophy, AMD3100
À la recherche d'un cadre théorique
pour la pratique du design graphique

The subject of this thesis is graphic design. We start our research project by giving a definition of graphic design as a practice. We observe that graphic design cannot be considered fully as a disciplinary field of study because of a lack of theory explaining its practice. As of now, the modalities of its disciplinarisation have not yet been exposed and discussed. One of these modalities is the identification of its research object: the visual communication project. We present afterwards a synthetical model based on the works of Hörst Rittel, Donald Schön, Adrian Snodgrass and Richard Coyne ; three theoretical models identifying the nature of graphic design activity as inter-subjective. We confirm this synthetical model by grounded research in a communication-marketing agency. We deploy three data collection methods in our research : Protocol Analysis, observations made in the agency and semi-directed interviews with the creative director of the agency. Our results allow us to observe our synthetical model as it operates in action in a real professionnal context. We then conclude that our theoretical model is an essential part of what we qualified as “strong theories” of graphic design. We propose afterwards a disciplinary structure for graphic design.

Keyphrases: Graphic design, Design theory, Epistemology, Methodology
Supplémentation en glutamine et statut immunitaire de nageurs élites en compétition

The purposes of this study were to determine the positive impacts of glutamine supplementation upon immune system status and to determine whether changes in plasma glutamine relate to the appearance of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) in elite swimmers. Furthermore, this study evaluated dietary intakes and its influence on immune parameters and URTI incidence. Fourteen athletes (8 men, 6 women) took part of the study. Each athlete participated in both experimental conditions: glutamine supplement and an isocaloric solution placebo. The supplementation period lasted seven day, including three consecutive competing days. Post competing hematologic profils of swimmers show that glutamine supplement does not significantly improve plasma glutamine neither cytokines levels, compared to a placebo solution. Even if plasma glutamine concentrations are similar with both conditions, the post competiting levels tend to be higher than pre competing values, when glutamine is supplemented. Futhermore, plasma glutamine levels show a decreasing trend under control conditions (p=0.060). In this study, URTI can not be explained by low plasma glutamine or supplemented glutamine. However, URTI incidence is higher after competitions, where 8 athletes showed symptoms (control group) and 3 only in the experimental group. Athletes with URTI seem to consume less energy and proteins than healthy athletes (p=0.060). These data does not suggest that glutamine supplementation improves immune function or prevents URTI in highly trained swimmers during competition. However, results support the hypothesis that exogenous glutamine stabilizes plasma glutamine levels, allowing athletes to tolerate training workload and recover properly.

Keyphrases: glutamine, immunonutrition, cytokines, immunity, overtraining
Prediction of the clinical response to psychostimulant by the basal and reactive salivary cortisol in children with ADHD

ADHD is the most common behavioural disorder in children with complex aetiology and efficacious treatments. The most prescribed medication for ADHD is methylphenidate, a psychostimulant that blocks the dopamine transporter and increases dopamine availability in the synaptic cleft. Preclinical and clinical studies show that cortisol may enhance dopamine effects. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis is also associated with many psychiatric disorders such as depression, bipolar disease, and anxiety. We hypothesized that cortisol has an influence on the efficacy of the treatment of ADHD symptoms with methylphenidate. The objective of this study was to measure the salivary level of cortisol in a sample of 8-year-old children with ADHD upon waking and in response to a venipuncture. The children were then randomized to three doses of methylphenidate and a placebo in a double-blind cross-over design. Teachers and parents rated the behaviour of the children using the SWAN and a side effect rating scale. The results showed that high morning cortisol is a good predictor of a nonresponder under active medication, as reported by parents. Also, the high stress reactivity group, but not the low stress reactivity group, demonstrated a greater benefit going to a higher dose of methylphenidate, according to teachers. In addition, parents demonstrated an association between anxiety comorbid disorders and a better response to a high dose of methylphenidate. This study suggests that a strong reactivity of the HPA axis improves the clinical response at high dose, but that chronically elevated cortisol might be a marker for non responders. The results of this study should be seen as preliminary and require further testing of the possible interactions between ADHD medication and HPA activity.

Keyphrases: Cortisol, Dopamine, Stress, HPA axis, ADHD, Methylphenidate