NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Les occupations de fermes commerciales au Zimbabwe : récits, expériences et
devenirs des fermiers blancs

This thesis presents an ethnography of the fate of white farmers caught up in the complexity of their long-term presence in Zimbabwe. The analysis is centered around a time of crisis, the current farm occupations, characterised in this work as ethical and critical moments. These occupations symbolically and effectively challenge the remains of colonialism in Zimbabwe. The study of these leads us to question the ways by which decolonization is implemented in the Zimbabwe of President Mugabe, and about issues concerning the form, in particular in legal terms, of the post-colony. These occupations have caused the expulsion of more than 90% of white farmers from their “utopian place”, namely the farm, and pushed them into spaces of ambiguity within which the farm occupiers are seeking confrontation. The issue of corruption (economic and moral) is central to the experience of white farmers who were forced to give up their integrity. Some of them have tried by various means to maintain their integrity by protecting themselves against corruption and by calling for the respect of their "rights"; others have agreed to live in the grey areas constituted by the occupation of their farms. This thesis, rooted in post-colonial anthropology, is organized into three parts. The central question of the first part, which is historically oriented, interrogates the form the settlers gave to this country and the manner by which white farmers made these lands of Africa "their" place. In the second part, the establishment of the post-2000 “fast-track land reform programme” and the daily experiences of the occupations from white farmers’ points of view are analyzed in detail. In the third part, the lives of farmers dispossessed of their farms is adressed from Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, as well as from Britain, where many have found refuge. Those currently living in Harare have reorganized themselves socially and economically by redefining the limits, including moral ones, of the community. Meanwhile, those who fled Zimbabwe and "returned" to England have since became English again.

Keyphrases: Zimbabwe, Violence, Africa, Zimbabwe, White farmers, Agrarian reform, Colonization, Decolonization, Ethics, Violence, Identity, Post-colony
Les effets de l'exercice physique sur le fonctionnement cognitif de l'enfant

Exercise can be beneficial for cognitive functioning throughout lifespan. Children and adolescents may particularly benefit from the effects of exercise on cognition as they continually face learning situations. However, it is important to identify and to study the factors that influence the relationship between exercise and cognition. The general objective of this thesis was to examine, with electrophysiological measures, the acute and chronic effects of exercise on electrophysiological mechanisms of cognitive functioning in children. A first study appreciated the duration of the acute effect of a single session of exercise. The results suggested that a single session of exercise increases vigilance for at least 30 min. Still in a context of acute exercise, the impact of the cognitive demand of the task and age were examined in a second study. Although the results did not reveal any significant interaction with age, they indicated specific benefits for the more complex cognitive processes compare to more automatic processes. Finally, a third study evaluated the effect of a 12-week program of physical activity. Following the 12-week program, no change was observed neither for the cardiovascular function nor the cognitive performance. The fact that participants already demonstrated a high level of fitness at baseline may explain this result. In conclusion, regardless of a child’s fitness level, it appears that an exercise of moderate intensity improves vigilance and some aspects of information processing. The observed effects appear to last long enough to have a positive impact on classroom learning after a recess or a physical education class.

Keyphrases: Physical activity, Cognitive functions, Vigilance, P3b, Nc, N400
L'épigénétique, moteur de l'évolution d'un vertébré asexué

The aim of the thesis is to determine the extent of epigenetic variation, more specifically DNA methylation polymorphism, not linked to genetic variation in natural populations of an asexual vertebrate. This evaluation enables to better understand the importance that plays epigenetics processes in ecology and evolution. The biological model used is the clonal hybrid of the gynogenetic Chrosomus eos-neogaeus complex. Even in absence of genetic difference, an important phenotypic variability is observed among hybrids of the same clonal lineage living in different environments. Epigenetics, a modification of genes expression without a change at the DNA sequence, provides an explanation to this paradox. The diversity of phenotypes may be explained by differential methylation patterns of genes and/or alleles among genetically identical hybrids. The diversity of epiclonal lineages may be explained by the colonisation of many epiclonal lineages, established in response to the environment or stochastically. Many methods were used for screening the genome of clonal hybrids in order to highlight DNA methylation polymophism at the scale of an individual and among individuals of different populations.

Keyphrases: Hybridation, Hybride clonal Chrosomus eos-neogaeus, MSAP, Population epigenetics, DNA methylation, Heritability, Selection, Genomic flexibility, Hybridization, Chrosomus eos-neogaeus clonal hybrid, Transposable elements, Bisulfite sequencing
Societal cleavages and institutional change in Canada : retention, reform and removal of nominee councils

By conceiving of any society as having two dominant cleavages, one ‘social’ and one ‘partisan’, this dissertation develops a theory on institutional change.  The initial hypothesis that social groups created by the former will act to restrain institutional change and that change will occur when a partisan group emerges that can cross the social cleavage was tested by processes tracing the changes which were proposed and which occurred to the appointed councils established in British North America.  These councils were modified a number of times, becoming second chambers in the provincial legislatures, and were eventually each abolished.  The evidence found supports the hypothesis, though it is not sufficient to have a partisan group that can cross the cleavage drive change, a partisan debate over the change was necessary.  This also challenges the prevailing theory that social cleavages lead to political party formation, suggesting the benefit of using these two cleavages for the study of institutions.

Keyphrases: constitution, societal cleavage, social cleavage, partisan cleavage, responsible government, representative government, responsible party government, king’s council, sovereign council, governor’s council, nominee council, legislative council, upper chamber, senate, upper house, second chamber, executive council, assembly, legislature, parliament, social group, political party, political movement, constitution
Utilisation normale du mode et du tempo par les amusiques adultes, lors de jugements émotionnels

Our ability to determine if a music piece is happy or sad depends on our capacity to extracts the main emotional characteristics of music. One of these characteristics, the mode, is a pitch based constituent, and another one, the tempo, is a temporal factor (Hevner, 1937; 1935). The inability to extract one of those characteristics (pitch) should affect the emotional experience. Congenital amusia is characterized by anomalous pitch processing (Peretz, 2008). Yet, little is known about the amusics’ emotional responses to mode. Perhaps emotional perception of this characteristic is preserved due to the amusics’ implicit pitch processing (Peretz, et coll., 2009). First, we decided to examine how amusic adults use mode relative to tempo in distinguishing happy from sad musical excerpts. To this aim, we tested whether eleven amusics and their matched controls judged excerpts of happy and sad classical music in their original form and in two manipulated conditions: the ‘‘inverted mode condition’’ where the excerpts were transcribed in the opposite mode (major↔minor); and the ‘‘neutralized tempo condition’’ where all tempi were set to the same median value, hence the mode emerges as the main emotional characteristic. Participants judged on a 10-point scale whether each excerpt was sad or happy while their electromyographical responses (zygomatic, corrugator activity) were recorded. Participants were then invited back to the laboratory, to complete a non-emotional task. This mode discrimination (minor, major) task consisted of pairs of original and inverted mode stimuli, made of shorter versions of the previously used stimuli. Participants (14; 7 amusics) had to judge whether the pairs were identical (same stimuli, same mode) or different (same stimuli different modes). In the latter task, amusics had significantly more difficulty in discriminating the mode compared to their controls. However, amusics did not differ from controls in showing normal sensitivity to mode and tempo manipulations in the emotional task. These normal behavioural judgments supported by normal psychophysiological measures indicate that emotional responses may reveal preserved or implicit pitch processing abilities in congenital amusia.

Keyphrases: Mode, Tempo, Congenital amusia, Emotions, Music, Mode, Tempo, Electromyography
Les victimisations et les conséquences de la traite et l’esclavage négriers transatlantique selon les Afro-descendants

The transatlantic slave trade has never been studied in a criminology way. In fact, with the exception to history, few disciplines in the social sciences and human studies have made interest to study the surrounding events of the slave trade. However, recent studies have begun to seize the multiple victimizations (physical and psychological attacks) undergone by Blacks during the transatlantic slave trade. We postulate that criminology can also contribute to a better understanding of the transatlantic slave trade, therefore, this study aims to evaluate Afro-descendants perceptions of the transatlantic slave trade victimizations and effects. The qualitative interview data clearly illustrates that the slave trade does not belong to the past. It is quite the contrary, the slave trade is still vivid on the spirits and the hearts. The atlantic slave trade effects hit the Afro-descendants in their daily life by means of low self esteem, low self confidence, skin color hierarchy, internal racism and self hatred. Consequently, all respondents argue for, at least, a form of reparation (monetary, ethical or political, historical, educational, pscychological, diplomatic) for the atlantic slave trade and its consequences. The data, moreover, shows that there is a division in the representations of the atlantic slave trade between those who believe the functionalist approach and those who believe the intentionalist approach, and also differences of representations according to the ethnic group (African or Carraibean).

Keyphrases: Attribution causale, transatlantic slave trade, Slavery, Criminology, Victimology, Victimization, Post traumatic slave syndrome or trouble, Historic trauma, Reparation, Transitional justice, Social representations, Attribution, Historical consciousness, Cultural identity, Cultural alienation, Analytic induction
Variations interindividuelles dans l’utilisation d’information publique et le niveau d’impulsivité : expériences chez le diamant mandarin (Taeniopygia guttata)

There is increasing evidence that animals differ consistently in their tendency to weight social and personal information and these inter-individual differences have been found to correlate with personality traits, such as boldness or exploratory tendency. One reason that could explain the relationship between personality and social information use is that cognitive capacities of individuals affect both their personality and their ability to acquire reliable personal information.   Our study aimed to determine if female zebra finches that relied on social information in a mating and a foraging context also demonstrated a low level of self-control, used as a measure of their ability to discriminate accurately among alternatives.   Supporting our expectations, we found that the most impulsive females consistently relied on social information to a greater extent than those that demonstrated higher levels of self control. Thus, our findings strongly suggest that individual differences in cognitive abilities have contributed to the emergence and maintenance of animal personalities.

Keyphrases: Social information use, Self-control, Inter-individual differences, Cognitive performances, Animal personality
Effet d’une supplémentation en vitamine E alimentaire sur l’inflammation et la douleur chez le chien avec arthrose

Because of the evidence of some anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of vitamin E (VE) in human osteoarthritis (OA), this double blind and randomized pilot study used a broad spectrum of clinical and laboratory parameters to investigate whether such beneficial effects could be detected in a canine experimental OA model. Dogs were divided into 2 groups: control group (n = 8) receiving a placebo, and test group (n = 7) receiving orally 400 IU/ animal/ day of VE during 55 days, starting the day after transection surgery of the cranial cruciate ligament. At d56, dogs were euthanized and concentrations of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were measured in synovial fluid samples. Severity of lameness and pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS), a numerical rating scale (NRS) and electrodermal activity (EDA) at d0, d28 and d55. The size and grade of cartilage macroscopic lesions on femoral condyles and tibial plateaus were evaluated, and the histological severity of cartilage lesions and synovial inflammation was determined. One-side comparison was conducted at an alpha-threshold of 10%. Synovial amounts of NOx and PGE2 were lower in the test group (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.03, respectively). Values of VAS, NRS and EDA showed a consistent trend to be lower in the test group compared to the control, while statistical significance was reached for VAS at d55 and EDA at d28 (adjusted P = 0.07 in both cases). Histological analyses of articular cartilage showed a significant reduction in lesions’ scores in the tested group. For the first time, a study in dog with OA using high dose of VE showed that this supplementation reduces inflammation joint markers and histological expression, as well as tends to improve signs of pain.

Keyphrases: Inflammation, Osteoarthritis, Vitamin E, Dog, Inflammation, Pain
Synthesis of ring A of (+)-Ambruticin S and bicyclic nucleosides for antisense drug technology

An enantioselective synthesis of the antifungal natural product (+)-ambruticin S has been accomplished in our group. For the synthesis of a ring A lactone fragment, three approaches were developed. They all started from commercially available and inexpensive methyl α-D-glycopyranoside, which already possesses the required diol unit. A deletion of the hydroxyl group at C-4 and a one-carbon homologation of the C-6 side chain furnished the ring A lactone.   The second project is an ongoing collaboration between the Hanessian group and ISIS pharmaceuticals to develop new antisense oligonucleosides.  The cis- and trans-[4.3.0]bicyclic antisense nucleosides were successfully synthesized from a common natural monosaccharide, L-arabinose, which bears the required stereocenters. A key Sakurai allylation led to the cis- and trans diastereomers under Felkin-Ahn and chelation-controlled conditions respectively. The final bicyclic targets were achieved by a practical proline-catalyzed intramolecular aldol reaction and ring-closing metathesis (RCM) strategy, and application of the Vorbrüggen method for nucleoside synthesis.

Keyphrases: methyl α-D-glycopyranoside, L-arabinose, (+)-Ambruticin S, methyl α-D-glycopyranoside, [4.3.0]bicyclic antisense nucleoside, L-arabinose, Sakurai allylation, intramolecular aldol reaction, Ring-Closing Metathesis (RCM), Vorbrüggen glycosylation
L'innovation dans l'armée française durant la guerre d'Algérie

During the last decades, the increasing number of irregular wars brought the modern armies into a delicate situation. In order to overcome this new challenge, these military organizations primarily designed for interstate wars had to innovate. Many historical cases show how certain armies have launched into innovation processes because of new forms of conflict. The case of the French army in Algeria is a good example. The main goal of this paper is to understand how innovation has emerged during the conflict, and how it has diffused within the military organization. A glance at the French strategy in Algeria will allow us to highlight three main innovations: the development of the Revolutionary Warfare doctrine, the creation of “Sections Administratives Specialisées, and the David Galula approach. The analysis of these three study cases shows that innovation came mainly from militaries during the Algerian war, particularly those on top of the hierarchy. However, certain examples of bottom-up innovations do exist. In these cases, diffusion will take place via the informal doctrine. Nevertheless, the Galula example demonstrates that an innovation will diffuse with more difficulty when it comes from people on the ground.

Keyphrases: innovation, David Galula, innovation, Algerian War, French Army, counter insurgency, revolutionary warfare
Les aventures sonores : d’une éthique à une 
esthétique, par les gestes et concepts des labyrinthes de l’imagination

This thesis presents an approach to music composition based on two processes, which are both complementary and independent of each other, and their application to a musical work. The first process is based on a creative work ethic that involves observation, research of the origins of a piece of music, questioning and experimentation, which ultimately lends itself to create a certain aesthetic. The second process is based on the mind, the imagination, related domains or stimuli, and on musical gestures and concepts. The elements of these two processes can exist simultaneously, and can occur recursively creating a chaotic and ambiguous network of relationships. In this approach, intuition, contemplative and moderate, plays a primordial role in molding the essence of a musical work. Two musical pieces illustrate the validity of such an approach.

Keyphrases: Composition, Imagination, Perception, Concepts, Intuition, Chaos, Essence, Music, Approach, Ethics, Esthetics, Process, Gesture, Labyrinth, Network
Analyse comparative entre la famille de l’habitant de Saint-Justin de Léon Gérin (1886) et une famille rurale québécoise d’aujourd’hui (2010)  selon la perspective des temps sociaux

During decades, the regulating agent of social times of the Quebec family was the catholic religion. The post-war the Révolution tranquille, brought a change of paradigm with the secularization of institutions and the multiplication of the social programs under the Welfare State. To investigate the importance of this change of paradigm, we used Léon Gérin's method of clef analytique [analytic key] to produce a comparative analysis between two families and two periods: in 1886 and in 2010. Today, as the Welfare state is more and more present in all the family’s spheres of the life while leaving autonomy and freedom the population shows itself more and more sceptical to the state institutions. A great distance appears between the official society, that of the social, institutions, and the unofficial society, that of the popular culture who acts from the esprit de corps of its group, virtual or not. The crisis towards institutions at present announces another change of paradigm. Rationality, which was the mainspring of the modernity, gradually gives way to the emotional and to the value of the present time. Work time, the regulating agent who filled the material needs in the modernity would be gradually replaced by immaterial social needs as regulating agent of social times.

Keyphrases: Social time, Regulating agent, Family, Welfare state, Clef analytique, Analytic key
Fabrication des films microstructurés et leurs caractéristiques en spectroscopie de résonance des plasmons de surface

This thesis characterizes the optical properties of microstructured plasmonic materials and evaluates analytical parameters to use them as biosensing platforms in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. At microscopic dimensions, plasmonic materials present optical characteristics unique to nano- and macromaterials. A SPR physico-optic mapping of meso- and microscopic materials was performed using structured films with triangular and circular periodic patterns fabricate by modified nanosphere lithography (NSL) technique. From this overview, a few structured films were selected based on analytical aspects such as sensitivity and resolution with respect to the refractive index (RI) to determine the potential of these materials as biosensing platforms. The distinct plasmonic properties of microstructured films emerge from resonant interactions between localized and propagating surface plasmons (SP) modes identified by the SPR dispersion relation and by Raman imaging. The conditions of SP modes resonant interactions depend on experimental parameters (λ, θ, η) as observed numerically in rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) and empirically. These works show the distinct plasmonic nature of micromaterials and their potential integration to existing SPR techniques. Plasmonic micromaterials were also studied for the implementation of SPR to an atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever, hence combining spectroscopy to topographic imaging. Preliminanry works were focused on the spectroscopic response of silicon (Si) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) cantilever, the impact of gold coating on the cantilever is tip, and the influence of the adjacent environment. An image of plasmonic nature was obtained in transmission spectroscopy with gold coated Si3N4 cantilever in water environment, thus indicating the potential of these cantilevers as micro-SPR sensing probes. These preliminary results provide a basis to guide future investigations in this project.

Keyphrases: Microtrous, Amplification, SPR, LSPR, Biosensor, Microhole arrays, Microstructured film, Surface plasmon resonance, Microplasmonic, Enhanced sensivity, Plasmonic