NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Caractérisation du produit du gène sty4221, unique à Salmonella enterica sérovar Typhi

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (Typhi) is a human restricted pathogen causing typhoid fever, a systemic infection. Annually, at least 16 million new cases with 600, 000 associated deaths are reported. It has been demonstrated that Salmonella has to survive in the macrophages of its host, in order to produce a systemic disease. This ability to cause a disseminated infection in human is unique to Typhi. Our laboratory had isolated 36 genes that were unique to Typhi (absent from Typhimurium’s genome), and that were expressed during human macrophages infection. One of these genes, sty4221, a putative aminotransferase, was of high interest since it shares sequence similarities with a known hemolysin (Hly), which also possesses an aminotransferase activity. That hemolysin is produced by Treponema denticola, it catabolizes cysteine and produces H2S, a toxic metabolite for the host. Our hypothesis is that host specificity and the ability to cause a systemic infection might be explained by the expression of genes that are not found in other salmonellas. The goal of this study was to characterize the gene sty4221, in terms of hemolytic and cytotoxic activity and to determine its role in virulence. The sty4221gene has been cloned in a vector under an arabinose inducible promoter and transformed in a strain of E. coli. The hemolytic activity has been investigated on blood-agar medium. To evaluate the cytotoxicity of the STY4221 protein on human cultured cells, direct observation by photonic microscopy was done. The cytotoxicity activity on human cultured cells has been quantitatively measured with a lactate dehydrogenase release assay. Moreover, the sty4221 gene has been deleted in order to study its implication in the infection and the survival within human macrophages and for adhesion/invasion on epithelial. Protein purification was also attempted. We now know that protein STY4221 has a hemolytic activity that is enhanced by cysteine. Also, we proved that the expression of sty4221 has a cytotoxic effect on THP-I macrophages, but not on epithelial HeLa cells. Meanwhile, sty4221 does not seem to be important during adhesion, invasion, infection nor survival. The characterization of protein STY4221 might extend the list of known exotoxin of Typhi.

Keyphrases: STY4221, Hemolysin, Aminotransferase I/II, Cytotoxicity, STY4221, Typhoid fever
Conception de microARNs pour attenuer l'expression de genes

MicroRNAs belong to the family of small non-coding RNAs and act as down regula- tors of messenger RNAs and/or their protein products. microRNAs differ from siRNAs by downregulating instead of shutting down. In recent years, numerous microRNAs and their targets have been found in mammals and plants. Bioinformatics plays a big role in this field, as software has emerged to find new microRNA targets. Each individual microRNA can regulate hundreds of genes, and it has been shown that microRNA expression profiles can classify human cancers. The need for artificially created mi- croRNAs is then justified, as one could target overexpressed oncogenes and promote healthy cell proliferation. MultiTar V1.0, a tool for creating artificial microRNAs, has been implemented and is available as a web application. The tool relies on structural and biological properties of microRNAs and uses a Tabusearch metaheuristic. A typical biological problem is presented and it is shown that an in-silico microRNA has in-vitro effects. The 3’UTR sequences of E2F1, E2F2 and E2F3 were given as input to the tool, and predicted microRNAs were then tested using luciferase essays, western blots and growth curves. At least one microRNA is able to regulate the three genes with luciferase essays and all of the created microRNAs were able to regulate the expres- sion of E2F1 and E2F2 with western blots. Growth curves were also studied in order to investigate overall biological effects, and reduction in growth was observed for all solutions. Results obtained with the predicted microRNAs and the target genes open a new door into therapeutic possibilities.

Keyphrases: E2F, mir20, MicroRNA, Tabusearch
Évaluation de l’utilité des technologies destinées à l’évaluation de la résistance physiologique aux antiplaquettaires en laboratoire

Background: Variable biological effect of aspirin is suggested to be related to pharmacological resistance. The incidence of this so-called “resistant” state varies with the study population and the assay used.  Methods: We determined performance features of five assays used to assess aspirin effects in non smoking healthy volunteers not taking any drug known to interfere with platelet function. Blood and urine samples were obtained immediately before and after 8-10 days of aspirin 80 mg intake. Results: Forty-five participants 19-59 years old were enrolled. The sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), and optimal cut-off (CO) value to detect the effect of aspirin were: light transmission aggregometry (LTA) with 1.6 mM arachidonic acid - SE 100%, SP 95.9%, CO 20%; LTA with ADP 10 μM - SE 84.4%, SP 77.7%, CO 70%; VerifyNow® Aspirin - SE 100%, SP 95.6%, CO 550 ARU; platelet count drop - SE 82.2%, SP 86.7%, CO 55%; TEG® - SE 82.9%, SP 75.8%, CO 90%; and urinary 11-dehydrothromboxane B2 levels - SE 62.2%, SP 82.2%, CO 60 pg/ml. Conclusions: Aspirin resistance in normal individuals as defined by arachidonic acid-induced LTA and the VerifyNow® assay is rare. Because the other assays discriminate suboptimally aspirin effect, they should not be used to define pharmacological “aspirin resistance”. These results suggest that a proportion of the variability in the reported incidence of aspirin resistance is artefactual and related to technical limitations of some assays.

Keyphrases: Thromboxane, VerifyNow(R), Aggregometry, Aspirin, Resistance, Platelet count drop
Intervenir auprès des jeunes au Québec: sociologies implicites

Over the last several decades, one category of the population has been particularly targeted by social intervention in Quebec as elsewhere: youth. This thesis aims to examine the meaning and social relevance of intervention practices directed to youth, through a reflexive and exploratory study of their foundations as they are perceived and explained by practitioners themselves. The study involves a series of case studies carried out using an approach that blends clinical and critical sociology. By seeking out a number of practitioners’ interpretations of their practical experience, within institutional, community and employability milieux, we elicit their conceptions of the social, or the “implicit sociology”, that underlies their practices. Four ideal-typical conceptions are identified - systemic, informational, normative and clinical - which have as their objectives, respectively, emancipation, social inclusion, socialization and human support. The analysis in terms of “implicit sociology” explores the double question of meaning according to these social agents and of function according to the processes that are fostered by intervention. It allows for an articulation of the ways in which these social agents conceptualize their practices and how these practices are inscribed in the social world. We find that social intervention practices targeting youth engage not only in social transformation, through opening up spaces for freedom and understanding and through the offer of human support, but also, in “normalization” or social control, by constituting the labour market and the adult world as realities to which youth must adapt

Keyphrases: intervention, activation, approches alternatives, social intervention, youth, implicit sociology, practical knowledge, activation, prevention, community organisations, alternative approaches, employability
Impact du passé criminel des parents sur les comportements délinquants d’une cohorte d’adolescents suivis depuis la maternelle

Various studies have shown substantial stability in deviant behaviour over time and across generations. Irrespective of the type of analysis, the fact that adolescence deviance is linked to their parent criminal behaviour seems to have reached a certain consensus among researchers. The aim of this study was to test the theory of intergenerational continuity in delinquency. Using longitudinal data collected from 1,037 male youths in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in a large Canadian city, we examined self-reported violent behaviours and perpetration of theft among these adolescents when they were 11 to 17 years of age, in light of the criminal record of their mother and father. Child and parental characteristics were then added to the model to explore intergenerational influences. The results of conducting two parametric analyses, one for each type of delinquent behaviour, showed that violent behaviours occurred when the mother had a criminal record, yet the father’s criminal record had no influence on violent behaviours. Child and parental factors were unable to totally explain these results. Despite some statistical limitations related to the sparseness of the parent criminal data, the findings are discussed and theoretical advances are presented.

Keyphrases: delinquency, developmental analysis, intergenerational transmission, coercive parenting practices, parent criminality
La qualification des contrats

Qualification is paramount to any jurist. Rules of law can only be applied when particular facts are qualified accordingly. Contract law cannot escape this reality since all agreements are subject to numerous legal provisions, whether or not of public order. The law recognizes many contractual forms, which are deemed «named contracts», as opposed to «unnamed contracts», which are the result of a practical application. The nature of a contract is determined by an independant qualification process which excludes an intuitive method. Qualification will basically be achieved by the analysis of the obligations contained in the contract. This objective analysis will focus on the identification of a «fundamental obligation» or a «caracteristic prestation». Parties will have limited influence on the qualification of their contract, since this determination is a question of law and is left to the judicial authorities. Once the fundamental obligations are identified, the jurist will try to associate a specific contract with known legal contractual types. A contract may be related to a single type of contract or to many of them in the case of a mixed contract. If legal models are inapplicable, an unnamed qualification will be chosen. In order to distinguish between possible qualifications, one must examine the hierarchy of obligations in the contract and its proximity to known models.

Keyphrases: Qualification, Qualification, Contracts, Named, Unnamed, Mixed
La faillite internationale: droit comparé, le système canadien et le système européen

International insolvency is a complex subject that has given rise to a long and sharp doctrinal debate between supporters of systems of territorialism and of universality. An insolvency is international where a debtor possesses goods or creditors in more than one country. Since the matter of bankruptcy is often very different from one country to another, the application of the system of plurality, which is retained in the majority of countries, raises several problems, particularly with regard to the coordination between several bankruptcies and the lack of protection of creditors, largely because plurality grants effects that are limited to the recognition of the foreign bankruptcy procedures. Indeed, in the presence of concurrent procedures of bankruptcy, the following questions must be addressed: Which is the court having jurisdiction to open and organize the bankruptcy? Which law is applicable? In which States will this bankruptcy produce effects? This thesis will establish a comparison between the Canadian system and the European system with respect to international bankruptcy. The Canadian legislator recently planned to modify its legislation on bankruptcy in order to better foster international co-operation in the realm of international bankruptcy. The Canadian Bill C-55 largely reiterates the provisions contained in the Model Law on cross border insolvency (UNCITRAL). Bill C-55 thus facilitates the recognition of foreign decisions of bankruptcy, it grants a greater scope to the effects of this recognition and it aims to coordinate multiple bankruptcy procedures by establishing a "hierarchisation" there of that is relatively similar to the European system. However, the Canadian project does not achieve the goal of universality as well as does the European regulation 1346/2000 with respect to equal treatment between local creditors and foreign creditors. If the Model Law offers all States the considerable practical utility for many incidences of international co-operation, the harmonization of international bankruptcy will depend on the adoption of the Model Law in various domestic legislations. Although several countries have inserted this model in their legislation on bankruptcy, it is not yet possible, at the present time, to speak of an international law of bankruptcy.

Keyphrases: Bankruptcy, Private international law, Comparative law, Territorialism-plurality, Universality-unity, UNCITRAL model law, Legal cooperation, Procedures coordination, European regulation on insolvency, Bill C-55, US bankruptcy code chapter 15
L'exception de non-subrogation: l'influence de ses principes justificatifs sur sa mise en oeuvre

Article 2365 of the Civil Code of Quebec ("C.C.Q.") states that the creditor and the surety cannot claim rights and liberties that the text secures for or against them. To deal with this problem, the authors and authorities gave free reign to imagination in an attempt to categorize this provision within recognized legal institutions and thereby demythicize the content of the rule of law. We are of the opinion that the non-subrogation exception is in itself an original concept that arises from within its institution. We believe that the non-subrogation exception, a discharge mode which aims at fighting opportunistic behaviour, crystallises the duty of good faith by implicitly imposing upon the creditor the obligation of subrogation. The creditor's failure to comply with this obligation will result in his right to claim in respect of the surety not being receivable in court. This throws some light on the context of Article 2365 C.c.Q., defines its boundaries and clarifies its applicability. The non-subrogation exception is a legal mechanism that goes back to Roman times. ft has now been incorporated into both civil and common law in almost ail legal systems in the world. In Quebec legislation, it falls under Article 2365 C.C.Q. It is a public order provision that only the surety can cite. The enforcement of this provision is subject to the following conditions: 1) the act of the creditor; 2) the loss of a subrogatory right; 3) the surety's prejudice; 4) the causal link between the three. When these conditions are fulfilled, the surety is released from his obligation to the extent of the prejudice he has suffered.

Keyphrases: Article 2365 c.c.Q., Civil law, Economic analysis of law, Suretyship, Sources of obligations, Nonsubrogation, Article 2365 c.c.Q.
La société civile globale: une «chimère insaisissable» à l'épreuve de la reconnaissance juridique

The multiplication of non state actors that emerged as a consequence of globalization is a striking phenomenon of contemporaneous history. These actors otherwise referred to under the concept of «civil society», have contributed to a proliferation of norms in the international arena. Some commentators even convey the idea that the State is being overtly rivalled in this respect. Among these private actors, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational firms play a significant role. In this regard, a common assumption is that NGOs are the symbol of selflessness, while multinationals would be profit-thirsty monsters. This master's thesis aims at relativizing this over-simplification. Under an international law perspective, the analysis of NGOs and multinationals' means of action, leads to the realization that many links do exist, between these two supposedly closed «worlds». Moreover, NGOs and multinationals share a common quest for formaI recognition on an international scale. The potential for legal recognition will be discussed.

Keyphrases: Civil society, Non governmental organization, Multinational enterprise, International law, Legal recognition
Les difficultés de l'arrangement statutaire de la L.c.Q. et l'utilisation croissante de celui de la L.c.s.a.

This thesis studies the arrangement procedure under section 192 of the Canada business corporations Act and the arrangement or compromise with shareholders procedure under section 49 of the Quebec's Companies Act. At the very beginning of this work, the study of the history of the arrangement procedure and its arrival in the canadian laws demonstrates that these provisions have a common origin and that they share the same philosophy, caracterized by a duality between the permissiveness of the transactions and the protection of investors. This history of this mechanism also emphasizes that, despite the fact that the provincial provisions were at the beginning a copy of the federal provisions, we find several differences between them today. In a context in which the legislator has already taken some steps in order to reform the Quebec's Company Act, this thesis endeavours to answer the following question: Does the "new arrangement procedure" under section 192 of the Canada business corporations Act meets the objectives of permissiveness and protection better than the arrangement procedure under section 49 of the Quebec's Companies Act, which has remained practically unchanged since its adoption? The comparison between the two arrangement procedures suggests an affirmative answer to this question.

Keyphrases: Arrangement, Compromis, Restructuration, Acquisition, Dissidence, Arrangement, Compromise, Fundamental change, Reorganization, Amalgamation, Takeover, Acquisition, Right to dissent, Business judgment
Nouveaux paramètres d'exploration de la fonction plaquettaire en clinique : thrombose tardive, profilage micro-membranaire et détection de sous-populations cellulaires

Blood platelets play a central role in primary hemostasis and thrombosis, two major elements of vascular physiopathology. Although a number of drugs regulate platelet functions, there are no validated tests that monitor their efficacy on the basis of the patients' clinical course. This doctorate, therefore, aims to develop novel approaches to evaluate platelet function.  The first part of my work consisted of two clinical trials involving patients with stable coronary syndrome. The first study demonstrated the need for standardized biological tests to screen for patients who respond less well to clopidogrel, an ADP P2Y12 receptor antagonist. The second study showed the therapeutic potential of the joint inhibition of P2Y12 and P2Y1 receptors on platelet adhesion, activation, and aggregation for these patients. Furthermore, a video microscopy model using perfusion chambers made it possible to monitor the course of thrombosis in real time, and enabled us to dissociate the early and late effects of the antiplatelet drugs.   Lipid raft membrane microdomains play a pivotal role in many cell functions. At the platelet level, many receptors depend on these microdomains and thus modulate the function as well as the drug sensitivity of platelets. However, current techniques for the study of these microdomains are complex and limit their clinical applications. By taking advantage of new fluorescent probes that are sensitive to the level of the membrane order, we developed a method of measuring the membrane order using spectral flow cytometry. Through this approach we showed that platelet activation reduced the lipid order of the membranes, whereas it was increased in patients treated with a cholesterol synthesis inhibitor or clopidogrel. It was also possible for us to demonstrate the appearance, under shear stress similar to that of stenotic arteries, of a platelet sub-population with a very low membrane order. These approaches which privilege the dynamic study of thrombi and platelets could be applied to the clinical practice and thus widen the fields of clinical studies.

Keyphrases: P2Y12, P2Y12, P2Y1, P2Y1, Clopidogrel, Clopidogrel, Microdomains, Platelets, Thrombosis, Coronary syndrome, Cytometry, Cholesterol, Membrane, Membrane
Modélisation systémique de la transition pour des familles ayant un adolescent atteint de fibrose kystique en phase pré-transfert vers l'établissement adulte

Given the spectacular progress that has been made in the treatment of cystic fibrosis, a growing number of families with an adolescent who has cystic fibrosis can now envisage their child making the transition from adolescence to adulthood. To date, little research has been conducted on the subject, particularly with regard to the nature of the interactions between adolescents, their parents and the healthcare professionals preparing the families for transfer from a paediatric to an adult setting. A systemic, constructivist approach was adopted to help grasp the phenomenon, enabling us to highlight some of its many facets and to cast new light on the dynamics among family members and between them and healthcare professionals. The goal of this qualitative case study was to develop a systemic model of the transition process in families with an adolescent who has cystic fibrosis and is at the pre-transfer stage, as he or she is about to move from a paediatric clinic to adult care. Semi-directed interviews were conducted with seven families with an adolescent who has cystic fibrosis. In addition, a group discussion was held with an inter-professional team working in a clinic that treats adolescents with cystic fibrosis. Qualitative data analysis led to the development of a systemic model of the transition for these families. The model underscores the point that while they evolve in parallel, families and healthcare professionals have the same project: fostering the development of the adolescent's autonomy. Moreover, the transition process in the families takes place in a space-time signified by the transfer between clinics, with little consideration for parental suffering experience over the prognosis of the disease. Features of the development of autonomy are the confidence that must be established between the adolescent and the parent, the parent's supervision of the adolescent and the adolescent's gradual increase of responsibility. This study thus puts forward a systemic model for a transition process that contributes to the development not only of the concept of transition in health sciences, but also of clinical practice and research in the area of care for families that have to cope with an adolescent with cystic fibrosis.

Keyphrases: Transition, Adolescent, Recherche qualitative, Transfer, Family, Cystic fibrosis, Systemic modelling, Qualitative research/study