NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Étude des mécanismes du déploiement de l’attention visuo-spatiale spécifiques au traitement d’une cible ou d’un distracteur : preuves à partir de l’électrophysiologie humaine

The general objective of this thesis was to use electrophysiological measures to better understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying visual spatial attention deployment, and more specifically, target and distractor processing. The primary goal was to better understand the competition for active representation in the visual cortex between a target and distractors (salient and non-salient). In the first study, the experiment was designed to observe the effects of two main manipulations on attentional deployment: spatial distance between a target and a salient distractor and presence/absence of non-salient distractors. Results showed that N2pc amplitude is larger when two salient items are situated farther from each other in comparison to when they were close. Furthermore, the amplitude of the N2pc was larger with an increase in non-salient distractors in the display. No interaction was found between these two conditions, suggesting that these two conditions represent independent mechanisms (e.g. they are additive effects) involved in target and distractor processing. In the second study, these manipulations, and more specifically the additive effect between them, is studied in more detail, by putting one salient item on the midline while the other is on either lateral side. First, we identified a clear positivity between the N2pc and the SPCN components elicited when a salient distractor is lateral which we called the P2pc (P-2-posterior-contralateral). Second, the attentional and post-attentional components measured (the P1pc, N2pc, P2pc, SPCN) are delayed by the addition of non-salient distractors in the display. Third, a greater spatial distance between two salient items has a significant effect on lateral target processing (reflected by a delayed N2pc and a larger amplitude) and a partial effect on lateral distractor processing (delayed P2pc onset). This additive effect influenced processing related to lateral target differently than processing related to a lateral salient distractor. We propose that these effects suggest an individuation process taking place in the visual system selecting important information and ignoring irrelevant information. Two possible hypothesis are suggested for the P2pc: This positivity could either reflect active suppression mechanisms or some attentional termination process.

Keyphrases: PRE, distance, P1pc, N2pc, P2pc, SPCN, psychology, visual spatial attention, salient items competition, electrophysiology, non-salient distractors
Charles Taylor et les limites de la simple raison

Is it still legitimate to distinguish, on the one hand, ‘‘reason alone’’ or nonreligiously informed reason, whose conclusions are in principle able to satisfy any honest and lucid thinker, and on the second hand, the domain of religious faith, where differences of conviction would be a priori irreducible? Is this divide between reason and faith, which was prompted at the time of the Auflkärung by a great call to ‘‘emancipation’’ (to ‘‘think for yourself’’, Selberdenken), still relevant for us today? Are the times not ripe for another philosophical attitude in relation to religious faith, which would call into question the theory that opposed reason and revelation as two irreducible ‘‘sources’’ of truth?   This dissertation will pursue three main objectives, whose common aim is to clarify the motives and implications of the critique of ‘‘reason alone’’ in Charles Taylor’s work. First, we will show that Taylor rejects the ‘‘epistemological’’ paradigm of modern philosophy in the name of a hermeneutic paradigm, more sensitive to the linguistic and historical finitude of human reason. Our author maintains, indeed, that ‘‘hermeneutical debates’’ are now obligatory in our secular age, characterized by the coexistence of a growing plurality of ethical and spiritual perspectives. Secondly, we will argue that this hermeneutic paradigm admits of a fundamental distinction between two modes of reflection, that of ‘‘transcendental arguments’’ and the ‘‘quest for authenticity’’, and will show that transcendental arguments can in turn be understood as a specific modality of ‘‘reason alone’’ in the context of the hermeneutic paradigm. These two first stages of our analysis, mainly of an exegetical nature, will constitute the major part of our dissertation. Thirdly, we will examine the distinction between transcendental arguments and the quest for authenticity, to challenge the limits assigned by Taylor to the first domain. Specifically, we intend to demonstrate that the hermeneutical critique of reason propounded by Taylor presupposes the viability of a ‘‘transcendental ethics’’ and, therefore, the viability of a transcendental conception of reason in the domain of practical rationality. This transcendental ethics emerges at several occasions in his work as a kind of neo-Aristotelian ‘‘humanism’’, firmly anchored in his analysis of the inescapable background conditions of human agency, without being explicitly recognized as such.

Keyphrases: Charles Taylor, Reason, Faith, Hermeneutics, Transcendental arguments, Secularization, Transcendental ethics, Moral universalism
Art.internet : musées, entreprises et œuvres en ligne dans le passage vers le nouveau millénaire (1996-2002)

At the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, museums sought to revitalise their image with the aim to attract increasingly diversified audiences. The general view of the Internet as a democratic force in western societies lead institutions to consider it as an opportunity to acquire new audiences through participation which was thought to foster emancipation and dialogue. Enthused, museums thus acquire internet artworks and some even commission them in order to inaugurate newly developed media arts programs. For what reasons? Our case studies provide an answer to this question, along with a cultural analysis of artworks, annual reports, press releases and other pertinent documents: Ding an sich (The Canon Series) by Piotr Szyhalski acquired by the Walker Art Center; Uncomfortable Proximity by Graham Harwood commissioned by the Tate; IdeaLine by Martin Wattenberg presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art. We found that these artworks are at the intersection of converging interests on the part of the institutional and business worlds as they are presented in online infrastructure developed in close collaboration with the technological industry. To this industry artworks are enticing as they offer an opportunity to expose a favourable clientele to its products; to the institution artworks are an asset to attract expert business partners able to enhance the online museum brand in the eyes of audiences. As such, artworks are located in hybrid spaces: between exhibition and information spaces, between artistic purpose and democratising discourse, between collection and philanthropy. At these crossroads, artworks take a sharp look at the conditions and dynamics that underlie their arrival. In the face of connoted discourses, they conceptualise the technological industry not as hegemonic commercial authority but as theoretical apparatus, rich with thematic strategies and operating modes ripe for dismantling, diverting, reversing, and criticising.

Keyphrases: Piotr Szyhalski, Graham Harwood, Martin Wattenberg, Internet art, Web Museums, Technological Industry, Corporate philanthropy
Les acquisitions du Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal 1992-2012

The aim of this thesis is to document and examine 20 years of collecting at the Museum of Contemporary art of Montreal between 1992 and 2012, a period during which the collection went from 3300 works of art to more than 7700. We investigate the development of the collection and its representation via exhibitions organized by the Museum. We seek to report what the acquisitions tell us about the institution, the orientation it is giving its collection and the message it seeks to transmit. Our research based on analysis of facts collected in public documentation examines the composition and functioning of the various decision committees responsible for acquisitions, and the financing of the institution. It details acquisitions made via purchase and gift, looks at the style and date of the works selected. It documents the arguments (justifications) brought forward in order to acquire the work and add it to the collection. It observes the image the Museum wants to convey of its collection through its exhibitions. Our study draws a factual portrait of collection during the mandates of the 3 directors in charge of the Museum over a 20 year period  and the idea of the collection they tried to communicate via exhibitions.

Keyphrases: Acquisition, Collection, Exhibition, Museum of contemporary art of Montreal
Del cholo de mierda al cholo power : discriminación, prototipos y cambio semántico en el español del Perú

Discrimination is a long term problem in Peru. Though, the number of scientific studies trying to explain in detail this subject is not big. The Word ‘cholo’ and its variations is commonly used as a means to discriminate in Peruvian Spanish, in Lima and in the rest of the country. Even though Peruvians use this term with ease, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered: where does the world ‘cholo’ came from, what is its real meaning, are there any positive semantic values for ‘cholo’, does the finding of these proofs indicate the existence of a semantic variation? This research work will try to answer some of these questions using a theoretic framework from cognitive linguistics, mainly: the prototypes theory, some metaphors theories and the semantic variation theory. Therefore, a corpus composed by 86 observations has been selected from different meaningful sources: pre to ss articles with the readers’ comments obtained from the online versions and selected from 2008 to 2016, opinion articles, humoristic publications, popular music lyrics and Peruvian literature texts. The corpus analysis will allow us to build a model that could represent the prototypical structure of ‘cholo’. In that sense, we will try to reproduce what characteristic does a Peruvian speaker links in his mind when he identifies a ‘cholo’. Furthermore, we will try to identify opposite meanings or characteristics linked to ‘cholo’, which could give us some evidence of the eventual existence of a previous (or under developpement) semantic variation for ‘cholo’. Finally, the variety and richness of the corpus will allow us to identify other prototypes different from ‘cholo’: the opposite ‘pituco’ and ‘peruano’, a more general and vague prototype used in Peruvian Spanish.

Keyphrases: Discrimination, Prototypes, Cholo, Pituco, Peruano, Semantic Change, Peru, Peruvian, Racism
Perspective intermédiale sur le motif de la disparition : enjeux d’une poétique de la remédiation chez Perec, Modiano et Nolan

This thesis will explore, with an intermedial perspective, the relation between processes of remediation and the issue of disparition drawing on three literary and filmic works: Un cabinet d’amateur by Georges Perec (1979), Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano (1997) and The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan (2006). Based on the premise of the existence of a meaningful connection between the heterogeneity of the examined works’ structure of enunciation – convening different genres, forms of expression and medialities – and the pattern of disparition they delineate, the hypothesis we propose is that these works give rise to a metadiscourse inferring a particular mode of interaction induced by disparition: hypermediacy. Conceived as immediacy’s counterpoint, hypermediacy refers to a mode in which the only possible relations occur through mediation, as played out in the works of the sample corpus. The distinctive feature of this approach lies in the interpretation of disparition as possessing a productive aspect, indissociable from the negative aspects of absence, withdrawal or obliteration, to which it is more commonly associated with.  The first part establishes the project’s conceptual bases, revitalizing media theories in the light of the performative turn, which launched the post-mediatic period of intermediality. From there is explicated in which ways the corpus’ formal properties can be considered as informing a poetics of remediation. The second part builds on this conceptual framework to conjugate the problem of disparition with that of remediation in order to articulate a potent definition of hypermediacy. Finally, the last section presents three diptych analyses oriented around the concepts of authenticity, Nachleben and institution. The sample corpus primarily contributes to the enlightenment of the conceptual framework along with problematizing the idea of disparition. Lastly, it allows in depth articulations to emanate from the analysis.  Three goals are thereby pursued. Firstly, the methodological goal is to direct our attention towards actions and processes rather than objects, favoring an idea of mediation over the more static perspective of media. Secondly, the theoretical goal consists of revising theories of intermediality in the current epistemological context to create an original discourse on the formal phenomenon, with efforts to overcome the logics of imitation, transfer and representation. At last, the general objective is to produce a discourse about the way mediation participates to the dynamic processes of singularization applied to people and objects. Disparition is the prisma through which these processes are conceived in a manner that is contrapuntal to the representational paradigm.

Keyphrases: Disparition, Dora Bruder, The Prestige, Intermediality, Disappearance, Remediation, Performativity, Dora Bruder, The Prestige
Implication du Régulateur endogène de la Calcineurine 1 dans la transmission et la plasticité synaptique

The endogenous regulator of calcineurin 1 (RCAN1) is expressed in neurons, nevertheless its role in the regulation of synaptic transmission and plasticity is not well understood. Interestingly, several studies in cardiac cells and yeasts show that RCAN1 is able to inhibit or activate CaN1 depending on its phosphorylation state by glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β). RCAN1 is able to inhibit CaN1 when it is not phosphorylated by GSK3β and able to activate it in its phosphorylated state. The regulation of CaN1 by phosphorylated RCAN1 has never been studied in neurons although it could provide a critical link between two major actors of long-term depression (LTD), CaN1 and GSK3β. Furthermore, a recent study revealed that RCAN1 can also be phosphorylated by protein kinase A (PKA), a kinase involved in regulating long-term potentiation (LTP), leading to an increase of CaN1 inhibition by RCAN1. Thus, in neurons, the differential phosphorylation of RCAN1 could potentially regulate both LTP and LTD. My work therefore investigates how, depending on its phosphorylation state, RCAN1 affects synaptic transmission and plasticity and if this occurs via a direct action on CaN1. In order to determine the role of RCAN1 phosphorylation in synaptic plasticity, a combination of molecular biology, imaging and electrophysiology was used. We generated point mutations of wild type RCAN1 in order to obtain two non-phosphorylable forms of RCAN1: one that couldn’t be phosphorylated by GSK3β, and another one that PKA could not phosphorylate. Viral expression of RCAN1 and its phosphorylation deficient mutants in dissociated hippocampal cultures revealed that they are localized within dendritic spines, hinting at a synaptic function of RCAN1. To determine the effects of RCAN1 on synaptic transmission and plasticity, I virally expressed RCAN1 and the phosphorylation deficient mutants of RCAN1 in rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures and analyzed their effects on synaptic plasticity by whole cell ‘‘patch-clamp’’ recordings. I observed that the blockade of the GSK3β phosphorylation site in RCAN1 increased synaptic transmission and blocked LTD induction. Furthermore, I demonstrate that LTP was blocked when PKA was unable to phosphorylate RCAN1. Finally, I determined that these distinct effects of RCAN1 on synaptic transmission and plasticity were directly dependent on CaN1. I thus define a cascade of events as well as demonstrate the key role of RCAN1 in the regulation of both LTP and LTD. Based on my results, I propose that iv RCAN1 modulates synaptic transmission and plasticity according to its phosphorylation states by GSK3β and PKA, via its direct action on CaN1, being an effector of both GSK3β during LTD and PKA during LTP induction.

Keyphrases: RCAN1, CaN1, PKA, LTD, LTP, GSK3β
Enjeux esthétiques et musicaux de la sonate pour piano à l’époque romantique : les premières expériences en structure à grande échelle de Mendelssohn, Schumann et Brahms

Piano sonatas written by composers from the ‘Romantic Generation’ (Rosen), as well as those from the following generation, tend to move away from the conventions of classical form in many ways: tonal plan, form, formal functions, and even the general affect or aesthetic of the movement. When the sonatas in question are early works, unconventional details are frequently interpreted as mistakes or the result of a lack of training. This dissertation challenges that perspective and develops an analytical approach that establishes the unique elements of this repertoire by defining a new aesthetic understanding of romantic sonata form. This approach is not based on a purely musical construct. Rather, it combines characteristic aesthetic values of the period with formal and structural analysis. The approach is presented in two stages. The first two chapters of the dissertation survey philosophical, literary, theoretical and critical texts from 1790 to 1860, uncovering six aesthetic values that define the sonata in the 19th century: abstract form, large-scale coherence, organicism, the opposition of tradition and innovation, an expression of the sublime and of nobility. Chapters 3 to 5 use different analytical methods (Caplin’s Formenlehre, Schenkerian linear analysis, and rhythmic analysis based on Lester, Krebs, and de Médicis) to illustrate how these six core aesthetic values illuminate the specific structures of four sonata-form movements: Mendelssohn’s Piano Sonata in E Major, op. 6 (1826), Schumann’s Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor, op. 11 (1832-1835) and Piano Sonata in F Minor, “Concert sans orchestre”, op. 14 (1835-1836, rev. 1853), and Brahms’ Piano Sonata in F-sharp Minor, op. 2 (1852). This approach, which applies Caplin’s theory of form to a repertoire for which it was not originally developed, underscores the fluidity of the relationship between aesthetic discourse and compositional practice. Each composer, perhaps each individual work, responds to the aesthetic values in different ways and to varying degrees. In the end, this type of analysis shows how significant aesthetic considerations are in conceptualising sonata form in the 19th century. It broadens our perspective on form by better identifying the commonalities and divergences between classical and romantic sonata form, and provides elements that will allow a more accurate comparison of these two repertoires.

Keyphrases: Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, sonata form, 19th century, romanticism, aesthetics, Schenkerian analysis, formal functions, music criticism
Utilisation des stratégies d’apprentissage par des étudiants universitaires suite à une formation en efficience cognitive

University students’ perseverance and dropout rate, also called attrition, cause great concerns to universities. Thus, many have decided to implement interventions to promote student success and perseverance. However, few of those interventions have been subject to a systematic evaluation. Such practical assessment is rarely performed, even if it is necessary to distinguish effective interventions from those that are a little, or not, effective. At the « Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue”, through a set of direct instruction learning strategies, specific course called " Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" was established in order to help university students in their studies. This research aim is to evaluate the course, "Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" mid-term effects preservation of the learning strategies by UQAT university students. It examines the current use of learning strategies of university students, the effects of the course "Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" on the future use of modified learning strategies and / or improved resulting from the course, and general students’ comments regarding the workshop in general and the learning strategies more specifically. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was prepared and submitted to 47 students who have taken the course " Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency " between the fall of 2010 and the fall of 2015. Individual interviews were also conducted with 15 students among them. Mixed data (quantitative and qualitative) was analyzed using specific software, allowing to establish the relevance of the elements reported in the analysis. The results of this research show a significant use of learning strategies by university students, ranging from cognitive strategies, affective strategies, and resource management. It also appears that the course "Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" allows students to modify and / or improve their strategies in order to make them more effective and efficient. The course also greatly helps students improve their work and studies and, thereby, improves their success. Finally, the students surveyed mention their great appreciation of the intervention, and they said that the course should be offered to all students beginning university studies.

Keyphrases: Education, University students, Learning strategies, Workshop on cognitive efficiency