NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Caractérisation et évaluation de textiles antifongiques

Hypothesis: Textile imprinted with a formulation of microparticles of a drug (econazole nitrate) can maintain or improve its pharmaceutical activity ex vivo and in vitro. Methods: A formulation of econazole nitrate microparticles was made by high shear homogenization then printed on a LayaTM textile by screen-printing. The size of microparticles, melting temperature of microparticles on textile and econazole nitrate content were determined. The stability of the formulation was followed for 4 months at 25°C with 65% residual humidity (RH). The in vitro activity of pharmaceutical textiles was measured and compared to the commercial formulation econazole nitrate 1% (w/w) in several species of fungi including C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. kefyr, C. luminisitae, T. mentagrophytes and T. rubrum. Temperature sensitivity of the formulations was studied by in vitro tests in Franz diffusion cells. Dermal absorption of econazole nitrate was assessed ex vivo on pig skin. Results: Econazole microparticles were 3.5±0.1 μm in diameter. The melting temperature was 34.8°C. The thermosensitivity of the system was determined by a release test at 32°C compared to 22°C over 6 hours. Textiles showed stable levels for 4 months (97±0.3 μg/cm2). ECN textiles on in vitro tests showed similar activity to the commercial formulation on all Candida species tested, as well as good activity against dermatophytes. Ex vivo tests on pig skin showed a higher accumulation of ECN on the stratum corneum for textile formulation as compared to the Pevaryl® iv formulation. The thermo-sensitivity of the formulation permits a selective release in contact with the skin, while ensuring good storage at room temperature.

Keyphrases: administration topique, formulation thermosensible, Econazole nitrate, fungal infection, topical administration, thermo- responsive formulation, lipid microparticles
L’effet de la surexpression du récepteur de type 1 à l’angiotensine II sur les courants potassiques et calciques au niveau des oreillettes

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system contributes to the structural and electrical remodelling that characterise atrial fibrillation (AF). Angiotensin II (ANG II) induces fibrosis and hypertrophy in the atrium, creating a substrate for AF development. Whether or not ANG II promotes electrophysiological remodelling in the atrium and by which mechanisms is not known.     The objective of this research project is to evaluate the effect of ANG II on potassium and calcium currents in atrial myocytes independently of structural remodelling. We used the patch-clamp technique to measure ionic currents in a mouse model overexpressing the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) locally in the heart. To differentiate the direct effects of AT1R overexpression with those related to structural remodelling, we studied mice aged of 180 days that are characterised by structural remodelling and mice aged of 50 days that aren’t.      Previous studies have shown that this mouse presented with reduced total potassium current (Ipeak) and inward rectifier potassium current (IK1) as well as with a decrease in L-type calcium currents (ICaL) in ventricular myocytes. Therefore, our hypothesis was that ANG II would also regulate those currents at the atrial level, possibly leading to an increase in heterogeneity in atrial repolarisation and to an increase in AF initiation and maintenance.   We show in this project a significant reduction of the IK1 in the left atrium of transgenic mice without any changes of the Ipeak. Furthermore, we show no modulation of ICaL density in 50 days old transgenic mice.  We conclude that ANG II effect on potassium and calcium currents depends on the cardiac chamber. Indeed, although we already knew ANG II reduced Ipeak, IK1 and ICaL in ventricular myocytes of transgenic mice, in this project we found ANG II did not affect Ipeak and ICaL at the atrial level. These findings suggest distinctive regulation pathways by which ANG II affects the different cardiac chambers. Furthermore, the absence of direct influence of ANG II on potassium and calcium currents in atrial myocytes reinforces the importance to better understand ANG II’s effect on cardiac fibrosis development, structural remodelling and electric conduction.

Keyphrases: insuffisance cardiaque, angiotensin II, potassium current, calcium current, atrial, heart failure, atrial fibrillation
Les relations entre les caractéristiques socioprofessionnelles, les connaissances, les
représentations et les contenus d’enseignement traités en classe par les enseignants
responsables d’éducation relative au VIH/SIDA en Afrique du Sud

It is generally accepted that education is one of the most effective ways to fight against HIV and reduce its transmission (Gallant et Matika-Tyndale, 2004). Many African countries have thus included HIV/AIDS related topics in school curricula, in hopes of countering the epidemic (ADEA, 2007). However, the efficiency of HIV/AIDS related education programs remains uncertain, as certain programs do not seem to succeed in increasing students’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS (Oshi et al., 2005) or changing their behavior (Matika-Tyndale, 2009). In this regard, several studies show that teachers are key players in determining the success of program implementation (Mathews et al., 2006). Studies show that teachers responsible for HIV/AIDS education sometimes feel fear and discomfort with certain topics, which can seem contradictory to their own values and beliefs (Ahmed et al., 2009; Mathews et al., 2006). For example, in South Africa, despite a national policy on HIV and the inclusion of topics related to HIV / AIDS in the life-orientation learning area, implementation of such subjects may be compromised by resistance from teachers to talk about certain topics (Mathews et al., 2006; Ahmed et al., 2009). Our study was designed to gain a greater understanding of the relationships between South African life-orientation teachers’ personal and psychosocial characteristics and their teaching practices. The investigated characteristics include age, gender, teaching experience, level taught, personal experience with HIV/AIDS as well as teacher knowledge, attitudes, perceived social norms and perceived behavioral control. In total, 71 questionnaires were completed and returned (44 % response rate) from 18 secondary schools. Perceived social norm proved to be the only psychosocial characteristic associated with teaching practices. Teachers had generally positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS education, although knowledge gaps and lack of training, material and resources were problems for many of them. Personal experience with HIV/AIDS was associated with more positive attitudes amongst teachers, and years of experience teaching life-orientation was associated with higher levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge and perceived behavioral control. Our findings show that HIV/AIDS education is vi not a value-free experience and support the need for ongoing teacher training and additional materials for teachers. Furthermore, our findings highlight the importance of studying HIV/AIDS related topics individually and suggest that HIV/AIDS interventions should also focus on dialogue between schools, teachers and community members, and the impact of social norm on teaching practices.

Keyphrases: life-orientation, HIV/AIDS prevention, education programs, South Africa, teachers, secondary schools
Effets de facteurs pédoclimatiques sur la composition et l’anatomie du bois de cinq cultivars de saule destinés aux biocarburants

In 2011, five (5) willow cultivars were selected for biomass yield. They were planted according to SRC (Short Rotation Coppice) protocol on four sites in Quebec (Canada) to determine their bioenergy potential in contrasting environments. Wood composition and anatomical traits were characterized and compared between both genotypes and environmental growing conditions. Tree height and stem diameter differed between sites, and pedoclimatic conditions more favorable for willow growth were identified. However, each cultivar showed a specific response to its environment. While no significant variation in lignin content was observed between sites, a clonal effect confirms the importance of cultivar selection. Surprisingly, the pattern of genotype variability in stem density was the same on all sites. Wood anatomy differed on fiber and vessel traits between high and low wood density sites, which suggests a probable effect of an abiotic stress. Furthermore, twice as many cellulose-rich G fibers were also found at the most dense site, evidence of potential for use in bioethanol production.

Keyphrases: Biocarburant, SRCW, Biofuel, Density, Wood anatomy, Tension wood
Les municipalités dans le secteur énergétique québécois : le cas du chauffage urbain

In a global context of climate change and energy transition, Quebec seems to be privileged, producing a large amount of cheap hydroelectricity.  But aside from the established  popular belief  that  Quebec’s energy is abundant, clean and inexpensive, Quebec’s energy future is still precarious. Within a few decades,  Quebec will have to import a significant amount of electricity at a higher price than it actually produces it; the cheap exploitable hydro resources will not only get scarcer if not nonexistent; and the national hydroelectric ``cultural`` heritage even seems to quell the development of alternative energies, letting few space for local innovation coming from municipalities.   While in many countries, municipalities are recognised as key figures in the energy sector, here, in Quebec, their role in the national energy system seems marginal. As main actors responsible for territorial planning, it seams that municipalities could play a more important role on Quebec’s energy scene.  So they can densify their territory, develop active and collective solutions to transportation issues, they can adopt exemplary energetic habits, they can produce their  own energy with wind, solar or even district heating systems.  District heating and heat networks being less well know and documented in Quebec, the present study aims at explaining their low penetration level in the Quebec energy landscape. The study also attempts to understand what are the  main hurdles to the implementation of district heating in Quebec’s particular energetic context. Finally, the  research tries to open a discussion  on the motives that could incite municipalities to adopt district heating as an energy alternative.  Based on  some twenty interviews with key actors of the energy and municipal sectors, the findings give some indications that the low penetration level of district heating in the Quebec municipalities could explain itself in part by : the low priced hydroelectricity, the presence of a comfortable, sufficient and pervasive Hydro-Quebec(er) culture, and also by organizational dynamic and a certain political inertia which limit the appropriation of an energy competence by local governments.   In turn,  the study shows that district heating solutions are more likely to develop in contexts in which : there are minimum urban or energy density levels; the development of district heating coincides with the local or regional economic structure; and where exist a mobilising local leader or local visions from a community in favor of the implementation of alternative energy systems.

Keyphrases: Villes durables, Infrastructures durables, District heating, Heat networks, Municipality, Urban planning, Climate change, Energy transition, Sustainable cities, sustainable infrastructures
Le leadership en matière de justice sociale : cas d’une direction d’école primaire francophone de milieu défavorisé de Montréal

This qualitative case study aims at drawing a portrait of an elementary school principal practicing a leadership for social justice in disadvantaged areas of Montreal.  Using the operational framework for the study of transformative leadership (Archambault & Garon, 2011a), we present an emerging portrait from the discourse of the principal, teachers and other members of the school staff and from the shadowing of the principal. This portrait presents first, the knowledge of the leader concerning leadership for social justice and matters related to justice at school. Second, it presents the leader’s attitudes, beliefs and values reflecting her desire to change things towards more justice in her school. Third, the portrait presents reported behaviours (self-reported or reported by other participants) and observed behaviours reflecting strategies implemented by the leader to effect change towards more justice.  This portrait aligns the studied principal with those showing interest for social justice and acting to change things to promote equity and justice in their schools from disadvantaged areas of Montreal as reveled by the study of Archambault & Garon (2013).  The case study presents a portrait built from results obtained from shadowing combined with interviews with the principal herself and with other participants, thus it presents a fairly complete and nuanced picture of the leadership for social justice practiced by the principal. It also shows the utility of the operational framework for the study of transformative leadership (Archambault & Garon, 2011a).  Due to its nature (case study), this research does not aspire to any generalisation of its results; it rather pretends to present an instructive case to meet the interest for studying the leadership for social justice in elementary schools from disadvantaged areas of Montreal

Keyphrases: Leadership, École francophone, Leadership for social justice, School principal, Elementary school, Disadvantaged areas, Francophone schools
Adolescence, immigration et santé mentale : schisme et articulation des discours soignants autour des orientations et des stratégies d'intervention en contexte ethnopsychiatrique

The psychological suffering of teenagers has drawn increasing attention of the public authorities, associations, and of course clinicians and psychosocial workers. For migrant teens, this suffering, exacerbated by the fragility, discomforts and tensions of adolescence, is complicated by the complex bureaucratic public health apparatus designed to translate into the language of health care the malaise of attitudes, behaviours, and tendencies that emerge from their migrant status and history.  This thesis explores one of these, the transcultural psychiatry clinic, where listening to what is said is as important as translating and managing these complaints. Using an anthropological approach, I analyze the speech and attitudes of ten therapists and social workers who work with families and teenagers. This research shows that the framework of social and cultural management that includes caregivers and families, and the ambivalencies of young teens, cannot be analyzed without referencing the broader context of class differences, power, and the past condition that influence both teen suffering and how their anguish is communicated and translated. In this particular perspective, the paradoxes and resistances of some medical and social professionals, whose position in the power structure could otherwise tempt them to engage in facile diagnoses linked to allegedly improper socialisation of these migrant teens. Instead, they create unique strategies that respect the official idioms that frame their medical and social authority.

Keyphrases: Adolescence, Immigration, Anthropology, Teenagers, Migration, Ethnopsychiatry, Therapeutic care, Identity, Social Suffering
Comparaison de la performance de deux hôpitaux psychiatriques situés l’un en Colombie et l’autre au Québec

Mental health problems account for a significant percentage of the global disease burden. This, coupled with the limited resources available for the functioning of health institutions, impulse the interest in evaluating the performance of such organizations. This project proposes the use of the EGIPSS model to evaluate the performance of two psychiatric hospitals in two different healthcare systems, the « Hospital Psiquiátrico Universitario del Valle » (HPUV) in Colombia and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Quebec. The model was chosen because of the richness of dimensions it offers and its comprehensiveness. Data were collected through interviews and documentation available at the institutions. Analysis of the results shows that the Douglas Institute has a better general performance, even when considering that it is located in a high revenue region with highest standards of evaluation. Out of twenty-one evaluated sub-dimensions, six were classified as concerning for the HPUV and none for the Douglas. The analysis of results was also used to identify critical causal factors of problems in the performance, which are organization and communication within the institutions, mental health plans and availability of professionals. Benchmarks were established to assess the influence of these factors in both contexts.

Keyphrases: Performance, Hospital Universitario Psiquiátrico del Valle, HPUV, Cali, EGIPSS Model, Mental Health, Hospital Performance, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Quebec, Montreal
Réécriture romantique du Moyen Âge, le chevalier transformé et réactualisé

In France, the social, cultural, and political changes of the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries will impose on nascent romanticism another basis for inspiration than that of antiquity, which is that of classicism: the Middle Ages. Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac will be part of the romantic authors who will adapt the imaginary resources of the medieval works including the knight figure.  Why did the romantics observe such a source of sense in this figure? What are the necessary amendments for a symbol so strongly linked to the Middle Ages, required for adapted use in romantic aesthetics?  This will be examined through observation of the knight figure in the medieval works, Le chevalier de la charrette (Chrétien de Troyes) and Le Lancelot en prose (unknown author), compared to the romantic knight that is present in La légende du beau Pécopin et de la belle Bauldour (Victor Hugo) and Le frère d’armes (Honoré de Balzac). This comparison will highlight that the symbol of the knight represented in these romantics works is transformed and adapted.

Keyphrases: Chevalier, Lancelot, Chrétien de Troyes, Le chevalier de la charrette, Le Lancelot en prose, Victor Hugo, La légende du beau Pécopin et de la belle Bauldour, Balzac, Frère d’armes, romanticism, knight, Middle Ages, nineteenth century
Planification de traitements de curiethérapie du sein à l’aide de l’imagerie par
résonance magnétique

This dissertation presents the study of the feasibility of planning for interstitial breast brachytherapy treatments using only magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instead of computed tomography (CT) imaging. CT imaging being the reference, the measurement of observable differences on dose distributions from the two types of imaging has been done. Breast phantoms has been fabricated and used, as imaging of patients. Size of the phantoms according to the positioning inside the MRI device and catheters reconstructed length has been analysed. Differences in dose distributions of phantoms and patients have been calculated by ensuring that catheters reconstruction from CT and MRI images is the only variable. The difference in respecting the dose’s criteria is bigger when the size and/or the lateral shift into the MRI are bigger. The catheters’ reconstructed length is similar between the two imaging techniques. For the small phantom, differences <2% has been observed for all dose criteria. For the large phantom and for patients, a maximum value of 5% is observed for targets criteria, but can reach 19% for External V150/V100 criterion for the large phantom and 33% for patients. However, clinical threshold for this criterion is still respected. This tells us that for most patients, the treatment region would be covered by using MRI images only for planning.

Keyphrases: Breast cancer, Breast phantom, Computed tomography, Doses distribution, Interstitial brachytherapy, Magnetic resonance imaging, Planning
La critique du devoir-être chez Hegel

The relation that Hegel maintains towards the Kantian philosophy is ambivalent. He praises it on several occasions while he criticizes it on others. The moral philosophy of Kant does not make an exception to it. Hegel is renowned for having criticized it vehemently. This criticism, now famous, is known under the name of Sollenkritik. We would harm the richness of the Hegelian doctrine if we were to limit ourselves to see this criticism as a rejection of the theories put forward by Kant. Our work will aim a double mission. As a first step, we will demonstrate what are the different litigious points between the Kantian morality and the Hegelian doctrine. As a second step, we will try to explain how morality is included in the truth that Hegel is revealing us.

Keyphrases: Kant, Hegel, Sollenkritik, Morality, Ought to, Criticism, Sollenkritik, Highest good, Ideal, Dialectic, Actuality
Le concept de justice et la quête du bonheur chez Thrasymaque de Chalcédoine

Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, a renowned sophist in the Athens of the fifth century BC, is presented as the main interlocutor of Socrates in Book I of the Republic. As it is mainly a debate on the question of justice and its implications, Socrates and Thrasymachus are obviously not agreeing on the nature of justice. Thrasymachus, driven by the constant questioning of Socrates, comes to formulate different theories about justice, including: "I support that justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger" (Rép. 338c) and "justice and just are actually another's good." (Rép. 343c) Meanwhile, he opposes the philosopher a vision of justice difficult to accept, but also hard to refute: one who commits injustice is happier than he who acts according to justice Thus, for Thrasymachus, injustice is better than justice and is happier because injustice is more profitable for yourself. According to this view, what is justice, and why is it not profitable for ourselves? The objective of this thesis is to highlight the positive conception of Thrasymachus about justice, because it is in conflict with the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, if justice represent the interests of the ruler, as argued by the sophist, then being just is nothing else that acting according to the interests of others and not yourself. However, in a city where people are under the guidance of the law, it is not always so easy to act according to its own interests when they are contrary to justice. That is why it is also relevant to dwell on the characteristics and qualities an individual must possess, according to Thrasymachus, to be happy. We will try to identify in Thrasymachus' ideas about justice a life model to follow: the κρείττων. Ultimately, we will highlight the position of Thrasymachus with Plato's critique. For Socrates, the position that injustice is profitable is difficult because he will have to show that this is actually justice that brings happiness, as it is a virtue of the soul.

Keyphrases: Justice, Thrasymachus, Plato, Justice, Happiness, Ethic