NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Évaluation de la valeur pronostique de la lactatémie lors de dilatation à droite de la caillette ou de volvulus abomasal chez la vache laitière

Abomasal displacement is among the most commonly encountered surgical disorder in modern dairy herds. Prognosis, however, varies widely among type of abomasal displacement, and preoperative diagnostic may be difficult to assess. To control the economic loss associated with abomasal disorders, especially right displaced abomasum (RDA) and abomasal volvulus (AV), early identification and culling of animals at higher risk of developing a surgical failure (SF) would be of interest. The objectives of this study were to determine the prognostic value of preoperative L-lactate concentration (LAC) measured on farm with a portable clinical analyzer for cows with RDA or AV, and to suggest LAC clinical relevant decision thresholds. Our results showed that LAC was correlated with the prognosis of RDA/AV. A LAC ≤ 2 mmol/L seemed to be good indicator of surgical success and would be useful to support a surgical decision (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 76.2, 82.7, 53.3 and 93.1%; respectively). On the other hand, there is no economic advantage to perform a surgery on commercial cows with RDA/AV that have LAC ≥ 6 mmol/L and these animals should potentially be culled according to their high probability of SF (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 28.6, 97.5, 75 and 84%; respectively).

Keyphrases: Lactate, Dairy cow, Field service, Surgery, Abomasum, Right displacement of the abomasum, Abomasal volvulus, Preoperative prognosis, Lactate, Postoperative outcome
Rôle du récepteur aux cannabinoïdes CB2 sur la synaptogenèse

During this study we first localised the receptors CB1 and CB2 on neuronal structures. We have shown that those receptors expressed on dendrites and filopodia. Likewise and based on Bouchard’s previous laboratory results showing an implication of the netrin-1 receptor, Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (DCC), on the synaptogenesis process mediated by the receptor CB1 we localized the receptor DCC on neuronal structures. We have shown that the receptor DCC is expressed on dendrites, axons and filopodia. These results suggest an implication of the receptor DDC in a synaptogenesis process that would be mediated by the receptor CB2. We then evaluated the effects triggered by the receptor CB2’s ligands on the synaptogenesis process. We found no evidences of any effects on synaptogenesis mediated by the receptor CB2 inverse agonists (AM630 and JTE907) and agonists (JWH015 and JWH133) in term of filopodia density and synaptic contacts density variations. We witnessed highly variable results that were irreproducible. Visual quantifications of filopodia and synaptic contacts density were variable as we quantified two times the same set of photos. We have therefore developed a computer based quantification method by which we were able to obtained reproducible results. Nevertheless we found no evidence of any implication of the receptor CB2 on the synaptogenesis process. These preliminary results do not allow us neither to rule out nor to confirm eventual CB2 receptor effects on synaptogenesis. An exhaustive study is required to access possible CB2 receptors effect on synaptogenesis.

Keyphrases: Deleted inColorectal Cancer, nétrine-1, Synaptogenesis, Cannabinoids receptor CB1, Cannabinoids receptor CB2, netrin-1, filopodia, synaptic contacts
The bridging of pluralistic visions of science and ethics for bioethics - Tibetan medicine as compared with the Western research on longevity and human genetic enhancement

This thesis identified and examined the links between the pluralist vision of Western science and the ethical studies of Tibetan medicine, and sought to determine how the bridging of pluralistic visions with Tibetan medicine might contribute to Western research on longevity and human genetic enhancement. The investigation focused on the current debate in these latter two fields. Discovery and description were central to the methodology and informed the analysis. Initially, we examined the research on longevity related to human genetic enhancement (memory and muscle), which addresses the limitation of the physical body, and explored its ramifications through such concepts as healthism, identity, perfection and immortality. Then examining the foundation of Tibetan medicine as an integrated system, we contrasted contemporary longevity research with the Eastern model, in which individual existence and experience escape limitations. We further addressed brain science research and the Tibetan medicine continuum, the unique quality of the latter being that the mind is used as a tool and is philosophically linked with Buddhism. Finally, utilizing the Buddhist conceptual framework of the interdependent theory, which is characterized by formulating categories of phenomena that are then synthesized into their essence, the theory’s two levels of the interpretation of phenomenal reality were described in detail before moving to a comparison with notions of Western complexity.  Tibetan medicine employs an integrated system in which ethics and science are interwoven, providing the base for a comparison with the pluralist vision of science from an ethics/bioethics perspective. The insights gathered from interviews with experts in various fields highlighted how science, ethics and longevity enhancement can be addressed within these two paradigms. The research findings led to six points that bridge both the Eastern and Western paradigms by transcending the doctrinal standpoints of individual religions, ethical systems and sciences, and laying the basis for an innovative framework by providing concrete reference elements for decision-making in regard to bioethical questionings.

Keyphrases: bioethics, longevity, human genetic enhancement, Tibetan medicine, interdependent arising, pluralistic visions, qualitative research
La légalisation de la publicité directe des médicaments d’ordonnance

Direct-to-consumer-advertising of prescription drugs (DTCAPD), forbidden in Canada, influences the three-way relationship between the pharmaceutical industry, the consumers of prescription drugs and the health care professionals. The pharmaceutical industry, a very profitable business, uses different advertising tactics that can be detrimental to the consumers. The consumers are the target of DTCAPD and interpret in many ways the advertising messages that are being sent. Finally the health care professionals are playing a crucial role between the industry and the consumers as prescriptions are necessary in order to receive the advertised drugs.  The Canadian normative framework surrounding DTCAPD has different sources. The legislation is clearly forbidding these advertisements, but Health Canada is still permitting two types of messages: Reminder Ads and Help-Seeking Messages. This situation is confusing since the transmitted information is generally incomplete.  The United-States legalised DTCAPD for its educational potential. It is yet difficult to observe the positive effects on the public health and the economy of this country. In Canada, the prescription drug Viagra was the target of DTCAPD and was an economical and popular success. This recognition however helps the consumers to associate the drug and the condition it is treating, which is contrary to the exception framework set up by Health Canada.  All these elements strengthen our position to maintain the DTCAPD legislative interdiction and to apply it in a rigorous manner.

Keyphrases: Viagra, Canada, advertising, drug, prescription, DTCA, pharmaceutical industry, consumer, health, Viagra, Canada, United-States
Les festivals francophones en Ontario : vecteurs de la vitalité culturelle d’une communauté minoritaire – une étude de cas multiples

This dissertation examines the role of the festival in a linguistic community in a minority context confronted with assimilation, exogamy, diglossia, unequal access to services in their mother tongue, as well as limited access to cultural products of their linguistic group. The case of francophone festivals in a minority situation serves as a way to verify concretely and empirically the possibilities, the conditions, the limits and the constraints of this particular form of event as a vector of cultural vitality of a minority community. The festival is also explored in regard to cultural development and cultural democracy, that is, two cultural mechanisms related to modern cultural policy. The role of the festival in relation to identity affirmation and identity consolidation is also explored. A multiple case study was conducted in order to compare and analyze three francophone festivals in minority communities in Ontario that take place in different regions, and that have similar and different objectives: 1) La Nuit sur l’étang Sudbury); 2) the Festival franco-ontarien (Ottawa); and 3) the Festival du Loup (Lafontaine-Penetanguishene). By focusing on each of these cases, we are able to give a broader view of the festival phenomenon set in this particular context. This research presents, through the use of documentary sources, fieldwork observations and interviews with festival organizers, audience members and artists, the perceptions they have and the use they make of the festival. It also sheds light on the contribution of the festival pertaining to the aforementioned cultural mechanisms and if the actors directly implicated in this type of event perceive them as being an important issue for Frenchness. In sum, the various contributions of francophone festivals in Ontario studied in this research demonstrate how these events act as vectors of cultural vitality of a francophone minority community.

Keyphrases: Festival, Festival, Francophone minority communities, Cultural democracy, Cultural development, Identity affirmation, Identity consolidation, Collective identity, Cultural vitality
Corps, pouvoir et douleur chronique : récits de vie de danseurs et de danseuses professionnels

The methodological starting point of this research was participant observation of a patient with «chronic pain» who was being seen for therapy through qigong. The patient’s frequent statements regarding situations of conflict with the family, the employer or doctors led me to consider the similarity between the symptoms described, the uses of the body and mental attitudes related to a mechanistic, dualistic representation of the body. Marcel Mauss was the first to address this relationship between the uses of the body and societal and cultural paradigms. At a time deeply marked by the automation of businesses and services, the dematerialization of documents and the tyranny of new technologies, «chronic pain» calls into question the uses of the contemporary body in a working world based on performance and productivity. The aim of this research is to examine how «chronic pain» may be a symptom of contemporary aporias that go far beyond the sphere of medicine and how it may be «the weapon of the weak» in a context of oppression (Scott, 1985). Ultimately, this research examines Michel Foucault’s statement that «we all have power in our bodies» (1987: 27). The collected life narratives of professional dancers, who were approached because of their ability to describe their feelings, avoid the tendency to relegate to the realm of the psyche whatever cannot be demonstrably proven. The strong credibility of the acccounts makes it possible to better document a complex phenomenon marred by a great many a priori and reveal the dynamics of power at work in a profession that, more than any other, confronts the limits of the body in the exercise of its art. A genealogical approach to these stories of pain and their examination side-by-side allowed me to identify the habits of endurance and rejection of medication and how they influenced the evolution of the pain. A more detailed analysis of the six healed one’s narratives shows that while power is exercised on a body perceived as docile, it may also be reversed to support a recovery at the cost of an insurrection of buried knowledge that is universal but «subjugated» and a change of paradigm. Thus, a better understanding of «chronic pain» makes it possible to envisage its reversibility and a social reintegration, with or without a career change, on the condition that we rethink our modes of representation, production and relation to work and to the uses of the body, and our relationship to the Other and the self.

Keyphrases: pain, body, dance, chronic, power, work, wound, knowledge, healing
L’utilisation de la réadaptation par la réalité virtuelle pour traiter l’incontinence urinaire mixte de la femme âgée : une étude de faisabilité

Aims: The main objective of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of using a combination of pelvic floor muscle (PFM) training and virtual reality rehabilitation (VRR) (PFM/VRR training program) to treat mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) among older women. Feasibility was defined as the participants’ rate of participation and completion of the PFM/VRR training program and of the home exercise program. The other study objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of the PFM/VRR program on MUI symptoms, on quality of life (QoL), on PFM function and on cognitive functions, more precisely on dual-task executive functioning.  Patient satisfaction was also assessed after the intervention.  The study included a qualitative component aiming to gather information regarding: (1) patient-perceived facilitators and barriers to weekly PFM/VRR class attendance and (2) patient-perceived advantages and inconveniences associated with the use of VRR as a component of conventional PFM rehabilitation. Methods: Every woman participated in two pre-intervention evaluations (pre-1 & pre-2) followed by 12 weeks of a PFM/VRR training program and one post-intervention evaluation (post). Participants were also given a 20-minute static PFM home exercise program.  At the end of the twelfth class, a participant group discussion was conducted.  The first two evaluations were conducted 2 weeks apart to ensure consistency in the incontinence, PFM and executive functions measures prior to the intervention. Results: 24 women participated in the study. The majority of participants complied with the study demands in terms of attendance to the weekly treatment sessions (91 %), adherence to the home exercise program (92%) and completion of the three (pre-1, pre-2 and post) evaluations (96 %).  The PFM/VRR training program was effective in reducing urinary incontinence symptoms, in enhancing QoL, in improving the ability of older women with MUI to manage dual-task situations and tends to improve PFM function of these women. The participant appreciation of the VRR component was 9.8/10 and the VRR component was identified by the participants as a facilitator to their weekly class participation. Conclusion: A combined PFM/VRR is an acceptable functional training approach for older women with MUI as they are capable of complying with treatment program demands.

Keyphrases: Mixed urinary incontinence, Women, Aging
Nouvelles limites sur la détection directe de la matière sombre avec l’expérience PICASSO

Astronomical and cosmological observations strongly suggest the presence of an exotic form of non-relativistic, non-baryonic matter that would represent 26% of the actual energy-matter content of the Universe. This so-called cold dark matter would be composed of Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMP). PICASSO (Project In CAnada to Search for Supersymmetric Objects) aims to detect directly one of the dark matter candidates proposed in the framework of supersymmetric extensions of the standard model : the neutralino. The experiment is installed in the SNOLAB underground laboratory at Sudbury (Ontario) and uses superheated C4F10 droplets detectors, a variant of bubble chamber technique. Phase transitions in the superheated liquids are triggered by 19 F recoils caused by the elastic collision with neutralinos and create an acoustic signal which is recorded by piezoelectric sensors. This thesis presents recent progress in PICASSO leading to a substantially increased sensitivity in the search of neutralinos. New fabrication and purification procedures allowed a background reduction of about a factor 10 of the major detectors contamination caused by alpha emitters. Detailed studies allowed to localize these emitters in the detectors. In addition, data analysis efforts were able to improve substantially the discrimination between alpha particle induced events and those created by nuclear recoils. New analysis tools were also developed in order to discriminate between particle induced and non-particle induced events, such as electronic backgrounds and acoustic noise signals. An important new background suppression mechanism at higher temperatures led to the present improved sensitivity of PICASSO at low WIMP masses.

Keyphrases: Neutralino, superheated droplets detector, alpha particles, nuclear recoils, data analysis, discrimination, low WIMP masses
La configuration spatiale et la hiérarchie urbaine en Colombie

This document presents the results of a study in five Colombian cities selected by size and the number of jobs by economic sector, according to census data from the National Statistics Administrative Department (DANE) between the years 1985 and 2005. The target is to describe, to put in prospect, and to articulate the  economy  of  the  great  agglomerations,  and  the  spatial  configuration  of Colombia. The analytical approach is descriptive and focuses on factors such as size and number of population in order to evaluate the hierarchy of the cities between 1985 and 2005. Likewise, it attempts to understand, for the same period of time, the specialization of these five cities through their respective employment data. This method is complemented by the use of measurement tools for urban and regional understanding of the polarization process in Colombia. The Colombian economy is dominated by big cities or metropolitan areas, which constitute the largest markets (agglomeration economies). However, these areas (Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga) are not integrated. Therefore, the predominance of these centers has decreased significantly.

Keyphrases: urbanizaation, polarization, cities, concentration, concentration, Colombia, space, territory
Le rôle des apoB-lipoprotéines sur la clairance des gras dans le tissu adipeux blanc sous-cutané humain

OBJECTIVE: Delayed plasma clearance of postprandial triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL) by white adipose tissue (WAT) promotes hypertriglyceridemia, insulin resistance and hepatic secretion of apoB-lipoproteins. The aim of this memoir was to examine whether low-density lipoproteins (LDL) induced delayed clearance of TRL by WAT.   METHOD/RESULTS: Six hours following the ingestion of a high-fat meal, 22 postmenopausal obese women were separated based on plasma apoB levels (above/below median of 0.93 g/L). The high apoB group had delayed plasma clearance of postprandial triglyceride and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) compared to women with low apoB. There was no group difference in triolein oxidation rate, suggesting a lower NEFA uptake and storage in peripheral tissue in women with high apoB. Ex vivo, following a 4 hour incubation of participant’s WAT with synthetic 3H-triolein-TRL, plasma apoB correlated negatively with incorporated 3H-lipids. Incubation of women’s WAT with their own LDL (90% of apoB-lipoproteins in plasma) decreased 3H-TRL hydrolysis and increased medium 3H-NEFA accumulation. In vitro, LDL directly inhibited LPL activity. Finally, LDL-differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes had lower 3H-TRL hydrolysis and 3H-NEFA storage.  CONCLUSION: This thesis suggests that LDL delay clearance and storage of TRL in human WAT, possibly explaining the increased insulin resistance observed in subjects with high apoB.

Keyphrases: HyperapoB, Adipose tissue, Diet and dietary lipids, Dyslipidemias, Insulin resistance, HyperapoB, LDL diameter, ApoB48 and apoB100, Dietary triglyceride clearance, FPLC
The role of ubiquitination and deubiquitination in the regulation of BRCA1 function during genotoxic stress

BRCA1 is a tumour suppressor involved in transcription, DNA repair and maintenance of genomic stability.  Indeed, BRCA1 mutation carriers have an exceptionally higher risk of breast and ovarian cancers.  BRCA1 is mainly known for its role in homologous recombination repair (HR) by recruiting HR proteins to chromatin upon double strand break (DSBs) formation, e.g., following treatment with ionizing irradiation (IR).  However, the function of BRCA1 in other DNA repair pathways such as nucleotide excision repair (NER) or base excision repair (BER) is still obscure.   It is thus of fundamental and clinical importance to investigate BRCA1 function following exposure to diverse genotoxic agents.    Using human cultured cell, we observed that BRCA1 is downregulated by the proteasome upon treatment with MMS or UV, but not with IR.  Moreover, this downregulation prevents Rad51 recruitment to chromatin following exposure to MMS.   Given that DNA damage induced by UV and MMS trigger NER and BER pathways respectively, this implies that HR could be inhibited in order to prevent competition between independent DNA repair pathways.   We also found that BRCA1 downregulation is reversible and the recovery of BRCA1 levels correlates with the reappearance of BRCA1 and Rad51 on chromatin.  This implies that the HR has been reactivated at the late stage of DNA damage for the repair of double strand breaks generated by replication fork collapse. Since BRCA1 stability is highly regulated by ubiquitination and is downregulated following MMS treatment, one would expect that a deubiquitinase is responsible for relieving this downregulation to promote the reactivation of the HR pathway.  To characterize this aspect further, we conducted DUB RNAi screens in which a particular DUB is depleted and the localization of BRCA1 and other related proteins were observed.   According to a preliminary screen, a few DUBs (BAP1, CXORF53, DUB3, OTUB1, and USP36) were identified as potential regulators of the stability and localization of BRCA1 and proteins involved in homologous recombination.

Keyphrases: BRCA1, DNA damage, DNA repair, Homologous recombination, Ubiquitination, Ubiquitin ligase, Deubiquitinase, Methyl methanesulfonate, Ionizing radiation
Étude exploratoire des réflexions et dilemmes éthiques auxquels sont confrontés les psychiatres, au regard de la problématique du consentement éclairé aux soins des patients souffrant de troubles mentaux graves

In the mental health field, the topic of informed consent has always been among the most important problems to address for clinicians and psychiatrists. My clinical work with head injured patients and patients with severe mental health disorder, as well as all the questions addressed by physicians, residents or lawyers for the last decade lead me to think about it more deeply. Moreover, the personal observation of cognitively impaired patients and the fact that the concept of informed consent is so present compared to the lack of parameters to assess it has lead me to think about it otherwise.  This study does not pretend to lead the actions or clinical behaviour, nor as it pretend to find a better definition of the concept of informed consent. It is only a way to explore some aspects of the complexity and clinical difficulties over the legal and administrative frame in which the medical field is evolving.

Keyphrases: Informed consent, severe mental health problem