NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Figurations et relations : le sujet dans les romans à la première personne et les textes philosophiques du XVIIe siècle

The objective of this thesis is to set out several aspects of the figuration of the subject in the 17th Century, through a joint reading of first person novels and philosophical texts from this period. Beginning with similar questions, these two discursive genres construct a figure of a knowing and itinerant subject, a subject animated by the desire to know and thus guided to rethink the conditions that articulate his particular experience. For the authors of these works, the truth is discovered through a series of singular experiences and experiments; the world more clearly announces itself in the first person, rendering a principally singular perception. This poses the problem of the legitimation of personal pronouncement, legitimation which allows for the articulation of the first person with an alterity, while conserving the singularity of the subject. This singularity always doubles as a dispersion of the identities and referents of the first person. Still, narration, fiction and corporal practice show this identity as constellation. The first two expose the diverse faces of the ‘I’, their agreements and disagreements, their being at the same time past and present, real persons and imaginary characters, narrator and author. From the practices tied to the pain and pleasure of the body is drawn another form of possible encounter between the particularity of a subject and an other: the one he desires, with whom he suffers and plays, the one who lives in him. Through all these aspects, enunciative, narrative, fictional, physical, the subjectivity that is inscribed in and described by these texts is always primarily relational: an account recounted to encounter the other.

Keyphrases: Fiction, Relation, First person novel, 17th Century Philosophy, Discourse analysis, Subject
Fibrillation auriculaire et insuffisance cardiaque : une analyse de coût comparant la stratégie de contrôle de la fréquence à celle du contrôle du rythme

Background:  Atrial fibrillation is common in patients with heart failure.  Rhythm and rate-control strategies are associated with similar efficacy outcomes.  We compared the economic impact of the two treatment strategies in patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure.  Methods:  In a pre-specified substudy of the Atrial Fibrillation and Congestive Heart Failure trial, healthcare expenditures of patients from Quebec were analyzed from a single-payer perspective using a cost-minimization approach.  In-trial resource utilization including hospitalizations, procedures, emergency department visits, outpatient encounters, and medications were estimated from Quebec Health Insurance Board administrative databases supplemented by disease-specific costs from the Ontario Case Costing Initiative.      Results:  A total of 304 patients were included, age 68±9 years, 86% male, ejection fraction 26±6%.  Baseline characteristics were similar in rhythm (N=149) and rate-control (N=155) groups.  Arrhythmia-related costs accounted for 45% of total expenditures.  Rate-control patients had fewer cardiovascular procedures (146 versus 238, P<0.001), driven by fewer cardioversions, and lower costs related to antiarrhythmic drugs ($48±203 versus $1319±1058 per patient, P<0.001).  However, these differences were offset by trends towards higher expenditures due to hospitalizations for non-cardiovascular diagnoses, implantable cardiac arrhythmia devices, and non-cardiovascular drugs with rate-control.  Overall, the total cost per patient was similar with rate and rhythm-control strategies ($78 767±79 568 versus $72 764±72 800, P=0.49). Interpretation:  In patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure, rate control is associated with fewer cardiovascular procedures, most notably cardioversions, and less expensive cardiovascular drugs.  However, arrhythmia-related costs account for less than half of all healthcare expenditures and overall costs are similar with the two strategies.

Keyphrases: Atrial fibrillation, Heart failure, Rhythm control, Rate control, Cost analysis, Pharmacoeconomy
Étude clinique sur l’impact du Staphylococcus aureus résistant à la méthicilline sur l’évolution des patients atteints de fibrose kystique

Over the last several years, the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has increased dramatically among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Although the exact role of MRSA in the pathogenesis of lung disease has not been clearly established, some studies suggest an association between persistent infection with MRSA and a more rapid rate of decline in lung function.  It is uncertain whether all MRSA strains that infect CF patients are clinically important.  The objectives of this thesis is to determine the effects of persistent MRSA on the clinical status and the lung function in children followed at the CF clinic at CHU Sainte-Justine and to characterize the MRSA strains in this population.    We reviewed lung function measurements from subjects with persistent MRSA followed at our clinic between years 1996 and 2008.  The first isolate from each patient was further characterized by molecular analysis.  The results of the present study showed no significant difference for the rate of decline in lung function prior to and after MRSA colonization. However MRSA colonization was associated with an increased number of severe respiratory exacerbations requiring hospitalization. CMRSA-2, an epidemic clone in Canada, was found in the majority of our patients.   This study suggests that persistent colonization with CMRSA-2 may affect the clinical outcome of children with cystic fibrosis.

Keyphrases: MRSA, cystic fibrosis, pediatrics, methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus, lung function tests, pulse-field gel electrophoresis
Warren, Rhode Island : l'évolution d'une petite communauté canadienne-française établie en Nouvelle-Angleterre, 1895-1910

In the aftermath of the Civil War, the small manufacturing center of Warren, Rhode Island, attracted many French Canadians immigrants in search of work and economic betterment.  They rapidly organized themselves by establishing a parish network, by founding several mutual aid societies and by multiplying shops that were ready to welcome more and more customers.    The early stages of development of the community (1888-1895) have already been observed by Jean Lamarre in his Master’s thesis (1895).  On one hand, the researcher noticed a gradual process of settlement occurring among the parishioners and, on the other hand, the analysis of their socio-economic profile indicated that most of them worked in the cotton mills.   By this study, we wanted to revisit this community when its presence in Warren’s industrial and urban area seemed consolidated.  Through a systematic use of the unpublished nominative lists from the 1910 Federal Census of the United States as well as published government documents, this thesis assesses the extent of socio-economic changes that have transformed the community over the course of fifteen years.  The observation of the integration process of French Canadian into the industrial environment is supplemented by an analysis of women and children’s contribution into the household economy.  The main conclusions of this study show that despite the fact that a significant proportion of workers are still employed in the manufacturing sector, the French Canadian population of Warren mainly enjoys a better quality of life in 1910 than in the earlier era.  Their socio-economic situation places them closer to their Yankees and Irish neighbours than to their “new immigration” counterparts (Poles, Italians, Portuguese).

Keyphrases: Rhode Island, Filatures, French Canadians, Immigration to New England, Rhode Island, Manufacturing sector, Cotton mills, Workers, Local economy, Wage labour, Household economy, Families
Une étude sur les conditions de l’organisation du travail, le soutien social hors-travail et l’épuisement professionnel

The main objective of this master thesis is to verify the moderating effect of social support outside of work on the relation between the work organization conditions and burnout. In a second time, we also try to determine the direct effect that each variable has on burnout. To help us achieve our research we used secondary data from l’Équipe de Recherche sur le Travail et la Santé Mentale, which are based on a sample of 410 employees (civilian and police) of the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) consulted from December 2008 to February 2009. The completed multivariate analyses revealed that many work organization conditions impact the level of burnout of the SPVM employees. Indeed, skills utilization, decision authority and social support at work are three work organization conditions that help to prevent burnout. In contrast, psychological demands, contractual demands (i.e. irregular or unpredictable work schedule), abusive supervision and work to family conflict are four factors increasing the level of burnout. Moreover, our results show that living with a life partner, not having a child,living a family to work conflict and having a high score for the trait of personality related to agreeableness are related to a high level of burnout. In parallel, multivariate analyses did not confirm the moderating effect of social support outside of work on the relation between work organisation conditions and burnout.

Keyphrases: Burnout, Work organization conditions, Social support outside work, Service de police de la Ville de Montréal
Fonctionnement auditif central d’enfants ayant une surdité

The present research explores the effects of peripheral hearing loss on central auditory processing. Previous studies showed that children with hearing loss have significant difficulties in performing complex listening tasks. Moreover, studies of adults with hearing loss revealed that cortical activity related to listening to acoustic stimuli differed from that of adults without hearing loss. However, results of these studies do not clarify the nature of the difficulties in processing auditory information among children with hearing loss. The present research examines this issue using behavioural and neurophysiological measures. Behavioural and neurophysiological data were collected with forty 9- to 12-year-old children: 12 with hearing loss, 12 with central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) and 16 with normal hearing. Children repeated, in order, two, three, and five verbal and nonverbal stimuli with an interstimulus interval of 425 ms. They also repeated sequences of two stimuli with an interstimulus interval of 20 or 1000 ms. Finally, late-latency auditory evoked potentials and mismatch responses were recorded in the participants using pairs of verbal and nonverbal stimuli. Results suggest that children with hearing loss have a specific central auditory processing disorder. Results of the behavioural task showed that children with hearing loss had difficulty processing sequences of stimuli when the stimuli were verbal as well as similar and complex acoustically. As for the neurophysiological data, results indicated that the amplitude of late N2 waveform was smaller in children with hearing loss than in the other two groups of children. The N2 waveform has the potential to be a neurophysiological marker revealing the influence of hearing loss on central auditory processing. Moreover, the amplitude of the mismatch response could be another marker to distinguish the children with hearing loss from those with central auditory processing disorder. Keywords : Auditory sequential organization, late-latency auditory evoked potentials, mismatch responses, school-aged children with hearing loss

Keyphrases: Auditory sequential organization, Late-latency auditory evoked potentials, School-aged children with hearing loss
La promotion de l’allaitement maternel en milieu défavorisé dans le cadre de l’implantation de l’Initiative des amis des bébés : le cas des infirmières de santé communautaire

Background: In order to increase breastfeeding rates, the third Step of the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) (WHO / UNICEF) aims to offer complete information on breastfeeding to pregnant women. However, this step’s implementation varies among the Montreal’s CLSCs as healthcare professionals seem uncomfortable to promote breastfeeding prenatally, especially in French speaking and underprivileged areas.  Objective: To explore the personal and professional experiences of community health nurses which are linked to the promotion of breastfeeding during the prenatal period in underprivileged areas. Information less often offered were examined in this study: the risks of not breastfeeding and the recommendation to continue breastfeeding up to 2 years or beyond. Methodology: The data of this qualitative study were collected in 8 CLSCs of Montreal, offering services to an important population of underprivileged women, French speaking and born in Canada, through nurses’ individual interviews (n=12 nurses) and group interviews (n=36 nurses). Results: The most important factors for the level of comfort of nurses to promote breastfeeding are: to have followed 20 hours or more of training on breastfeeding within the 5 past years, and to have positive profound beliefs about the value of breastfeeding compared to artificial infant formula (AIF). Fear of causing guilt by promoting breastfeeding hinders breastfeeding promotion. Furthermore, nurses exposed to breastfeeding culture during their childhood, with a positive personal breastfeeding experience, who perceived that their role is to support women to breastfeed, or those who rarely recommended mothers to give AIF postnatally in case of breastfeeding problems, are more comfortable to inform pregnant women about the risks of not breastfeeding. Conclusion: Many nurses seem to have a lack of knowledge about the superior quality of breastfeeding in comparison with artificial feeding and about the risks of not breastfeeding. Moreover, it seems that many nurses do not have the optimal clinical abilities to support mothers in their breastfeeding experience. Appropriate training could greatly help nurses to have greater confidence in their abilities to support mothers during the postnatal period, as well as to promote breastfeeding in the prenatal period. Finally, nurses should become aware of their personal bias, in order to reduce as much as possible negative impacts on their professional practices.

Keyphrases: Breastfeeding, Prenatal, Baby friendly initiative, Risks of not breastfeeding, Nurses
Altérations du métabolisme cardiaque associées à des désordres génétiques de l’oxydation des acides gras à chaîne longue chez la souris

While a shift from fatty acids to carbohydrate is considered beneficial for the failing heart, it is unclear why patients with fatty acid oxidation disorders present clinical manifestations such as cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia and conduction defects. Unfortunately, the current nutritional treatment for these patients is limited in its ability to prevent these symptoms, especially under fasting and stress conditions. Many mouse models of fatty acid oxidation deficiency have been developed to improve the knowledge of the disease and the treatment of these patients. In this regard, this study aims to characterize the metabolic and functional phenotype of hearts from mice that are deficient for the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, a transcription factor for gene involved in fatty acid oxidation, and very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, the most common inherited long chain fatty acid oxidation disorder in human, under various conditions.  In this study, numerous approaches have been used, which includes validated experimental paradigms, namely, (i) ex vivo heart perfusion in the working mode with concomitant evaluation of myocardial contractility and metabolic fluxes, employing 13C-labeled substrates combined with mass isotopomer analysis by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, (ii) gene expression analysis by qPCR and (iii) electrocardiogram monitoring in vivo by telemetry. Unexpectedly, results from the present thesis demonstrate that fatty acid oxidation disorders cause alterations in metabolism of (i) carbohydrates (ii) polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3 type, specifically docosahaexanoic acid, and (iii) mitochondria including anaplerosis, in addition to lead to  functional abnormalities, namely a prolongation of the QT interval. Altogether, results from this thesis could contribute to new metabolic therapy development to improve the quality of life of the patients with inherited long chain fatty acid oxidation disorder.

Keyphrases: Cardiac metabolism, fatty acid oxidation disorders, anaplerosis, mice heart perfused ex vivo, QT interval
Comparaisons de projections des niveaux d'incapacité de la population canadienne de 65 ans et plus en 2031

Population ageing in Canada in the forth coming years will bring important changes from the social viewpoint.  One of them will be the increasing number of disabled older people. Using the microsimulation Lifepaths model, the study compares two projections, each having a different methodology, of the number of disabled individuals aged 65 and over and living in the community in 2031. The projections were produced using different methodologies. The first method uses the disability module of Lifepaths to generate those disabled older population while the second method uses an ordered logistic regression model. Then, we compare the results between the methods. Furthermore, this research paper attempts to identify the possible causes leading to the differences with appropriate graphs and tables. The results show important differences between the projections, especially for the number of severe disabled individuals. We note important difference for men and married people.  Also the age groupe 80 years and older and the projection for de province of Quebec is problematic.These could be the attributed to the characteristics of a microsimulation model, the population at the base as well as the defined parameters. Both methods have different results, we cannot conclude what will be the situation in the future.

Keyphrases: Microsimulation, Projections, Canada, Disability, Health, Microsimulation, Regression, Projection, Elderly
Étude de l’issue diastéréomérique impliquant la réduction radicalaire d’α-bromoesters
adjacents à un tétrahydropyrane substitué

This work describes the diastereoselective formation of polysubstituted 3,7-cis and 3,7-trans tetrahydropyrans. Tandem radical reduction/cycletherification and tandem radical reduction/C-glycosidation methodologies are depicted for 3,7-trans pyrans formation while tandem radical reduction/haloetherification lead to 3,7-cis pyrans. Following previous work in the laboratory, studies have been conducted to better understand the stereochemical influence that substituents in the C3, C6, C7 and C8 positions have on the diastereoselectivity of a hydride transfer radical reaction on a radical center with an adjacent tetrahydropyran (exocyclic control). These studies have helped to solve diastereoselectivity problems encountered with C2 radical reductions in different ionophore fragments (e.g. zincophorin, salinomycin, narasin ...) that were investigated by our group. Conformational studies performed on di-or tri-substituted pyrans have helped to understand the diastereoselectivities observed in the radical process of the stereochemical centers mentioned above. In particular, the use of a bicycle frame (trans-octahydrochromene) showed the importance of the spatial positioning (axial or equatorial) of the radical center chain. Subsequently, we were able to demonstrate an increase ratios for the 2,3-anti radical reduction product when the reaction was performed in the presence of a bulky monodentate Lewis acid (MAD). Optimization of hydride transfer under endocyclic control has generated the complementary 2,3-syn stereochemistry. Use of TTMSS as a hydride source combined with the use of a bidentate Lewis acid such as MgBr2·OEt2 allowed for the formation of endocyclic products with excellent selectivities. 13C NMR studies and titration of Mg2+ ions in solution were performed to understand the nature of the complexes involved. Finally, these studies led to the stereocontrolled formation of stereogenic centers adjacent to a THP, motifs frequently encountered in polyketides. This work thus involves the synthesis of polyether ionophore-type fragments and other molecules of biological interest.

Keyphrases: Conformations, Bidentate and monodentate Lewis Acid, Conformation, Diastereoselectivity, Exocyclic and Endocyclic radical reduction, Hydride, Stereogenic centers, Tetrahydropyran
Une continuité reconstruite à partir des ruptures migratoires. Les cas des Juifs argentins immigrés à Montréal pendant la période 2000-2007

In the context of Quebec’s migratory policies of the early 2000s, some Jewish Argentinean families decided to settle in Montreal. These migrants adhere to a cultural Judaism in which ethnicity becomes an identification dimension that is more important than religion. The Argentinean Jewish are bearers of their ancestors’ migratory histories, which are still present in  the collective memory. In the framework of their settlement in Quebec, they find themselves confronted with the Jewish context of Montreal, which presents other ways of living the Jewishness. How do these migrants perceive the encounter and cohabitation with Montreal’s Judaism? Will they continue to recognize themselves in the specificity of their Argentinean Jewishness? Do migratory family histories play a precise role in their current settlement process? Beyond adhesion to a cultural Judaism, do these migrants believe in a form of transcendence?

Keyphrases: transcendances, anthropology, ethnicity, diasporic Jewishness, transcendences
Caractérisation spatiale des syncytia formés par le couplage des astrocytes du noyau sensoriel principal du nerf trijumeau en fonction de la concentration de calcium extracellulaire

The masticatory movement is generated and coordinated by a central pattern generator (CPG) located in the pons. Previous results from our laboratory suggest that the neural network responsible for its rythmogenesis is located in the trigeminal main sensory nucleus (NVsnpr). Moreover, results indicate that in this region, decrease in extracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]e) plays an important role in genarating burst. One of our laboratory's goal is to assess if the contribution of astrocytes to the extracellular calcium concentration homeostasis is involved in the genesis of the mastication rhythm. With this study, we characterized the astrocyte syncytium within the NVsnpr and measured the effect of [Ca2+]e on the astrocytes electrophysiology and their networks. A patch-clamp recording technique in conjunction with a rat brain stem slice preparation was used. We demonstrate that a decrease in [Ca2+]e does not affect the electrophysiological properties of astrocytes but induces an increase in the size of the syncytium. We also report the existence, within the dorsal NVsnpr, of an anatomofunctional organization between neurons and astrocytes.

Keyphrases: Astrocyte, Syncytium, Mastication, Extracellular calcium, Trigeminal main sensory nucleus, Central pattern generator