NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Spectateur d’un jour : enquête socioanthropologique sur l’expérience réceptive de nouveaux publics dans le cadre de la 51e saison de la Société de musique contemporaine du Québec

This thesis is based on a case study of uninitiated audiences of contemporary music, listeners who don’t have any musical training and who have never attended a concert of contemporary music within the last 12 months, or even in their life. Two groups of participants attended a concert organized by the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec during the 51th season, on February 24th and May 18th, 2017. The first group, consisting of undergraduate students in their twenties living in Montreal, attended the concert Music for a Thousand Autumns, an event that is part of the Festival Montréal Nouvelles Musiques of the SMCQ, on February 24th at the Agora Hydro Québec. The second group was composed of people between the ages of 30 and 62, working or retired, living in Montreal or in the suburbs. They attended the last concert of SMCQ’s regular season, Niemandslandhymnen (No Man’s Land), on May 18th at the Usine C. Interviews conducted before and after the concert, combined with participant observation during the concert allowed for the study of the way this first contact was experienced by the volunteer participants. More precisely, this case study aims to reconsider the assumption that the appreciation of contemporary music is exclusive to listeners who have a specific profile and who are known to attend these concerts on a regular basis, while shedding light on musical and non-musical parameters that influence the concert experience. On an exploratory basis, this study is the first to focus on uninitiated audiences of contemporary music; it will contribute to a better understanding of audiences by placing their subjectivity at the core of the study.

Keyphrases: musique contemporaine, non-publics, concert, Contemporary music, Receptive experience, Socioanthropology of music
Conte musical d’après le conte des frères Grimm "Les enfants couleur d’or" et création de bandes sonores de films

This master’s thesis details my artistic approach as a composer. The first part of my research for this dissertation consisted of composing a musical tale targetting a family audience using various techniques when it comes to writting contemporary music. I collaborated with Quebec writer Anne Tremblay who adapted a story written by the Grimm Brothers entitled Les enfants couleur d’or from which I created a musical work that I entitled Ora. The second part of my research consisted in exploring the relationship between music and image, and its impact on my music in general. Thus, this thesis contains five chapters. The first chapter exposes the historical context of the operas, operettas and musical tales that inspired my artistic approach. The second and third chapters are a selective analysis of the works La cigale et la fourmi and Au cœur de la forêt. These are two pieces that helped me in the writing of the musical tale. The fourth chapter explains my compositional approach in the creation of Ora. Finally, the fifth chapter describes the creative processes used in my music for the films With a Thousand Eyes and Monster Box.

Keyphrases: interdisciplinarité, composition, musical tale, film music, interdisciplinarity, opera booklet, composition
Musical 'translations' of experience through the interpretation of extra-musical forms and patterns

This dissertation will present formally six pieces I worked on throughout my Master’s in instrumental composition under the subject of Translations of experience through the interpretation of extra-musical form and patterns. I will reference briefly, but not formally analyze, for context and thematic development purposes, two additional pieces*, as they were either completed within a seminar or remain unfinished. Although all the works fall under this same thematic exploration, as it is very broad in scope, I have organized and branched the pieces into three series. The compositions will therefore not be presented strictly chronologically, but chronologically within their proper series. 1. series I: conversations (reconciliation, any port in the storm*, falling’s just like flying) 2. series II: emergence (murmuration*, volée, ere, les étourneaux) 3. series III: transparency (redaction, sépulcre, f o r e s t f o r t h e t r e e s, let(in) ) In each of these series the focus of the analytical breakdown will vary slightly as the process and content shifts to zoom in on different aspects more relevant to each series’ formal influence. In general the points I will touch on will be: 1. What aspects in the extra-musical material I chose to ‘translate’ or interpret, and why? 2. How each piece fits into its proper series, and how the exploration developed as the series continued. 3. How the form and structure of the piece link to the extra-musical source; 4. How the rhythmic and pitch behavior link to the extra-musical rules and behavior.

Keyphrases: Transparence, Extramusical, Emergence, Translation, Transparency, Prosody, Emotional contagion, Extramusical
Exercer le métier de compositeur au cirque contemporain : approches musicales et sociales du travail créateur

This master thesis explores the occupation of contemporary circus composer through musical and social issues inherent to its practice, which are intimately linked to the specificities of the context and the collective nature of creation. Using the tools of sociomusicology and interactionist sociology, the author conducted an ethnographic investigation in the form of a semi-directed interview with four professional composers, who worked on the creation of the circus collective's show of the 7 Fingers, and six graduating students from the National Circus School of Montreal as well as their musical advisor. Given the shortness of the creative periods and the division of work, determined by both vertical (hierarchical) and horizontal authority (depending on the disciplinary specialty), the analysis of the results reveals that the main "problem" in practicing the profession of contemporary circus composer is to understand the musical demands made by the artistic direction - generally composed of non-musicians - and to satisfy these demands while valuing personal ideas and ensuring effective coordination work. This study reveals that practicing the profession of composer in contemporary circus is a know-how and requires musical skills, especially with technology, and social skills, in communication and coordination, for example. We note in particular that while the activity of composing music for contemporary circus sometimes requires the ability to make compromise and is similar to a service providing activity, its idiosyncratic nature is also a source of appreciation and valuation.

Keyphrases: Coopération, Composer, Occupation, Creative Processes, Music, Contemporary Circus, Creative Work, Expertise, Cooperation, Musicology, Sociology
Mise au point d’un protocole de recellularisation d’une matrice bronchique équine décellularisée

The interactions between the bronchial extracellular matrix and the bronchial smooth muscle contribute to the asthmatic bronchial remodeling. Results from in vitro studies indicate that the in vitro monolayer models do not recapitulate the complex interactions occurring in vivo. Decellularized tissues are natural three-dimensional matrices permitting the investigation of these interactions as closely as possible to the in vivo models. The aim of this study was to develop a protocol for the decellularization and recellularization of an equine bronchus by bronchial smooth muscle cells. Its purpose is to investigate how the asthmatic bronchial extracellular matrix affects the bronchial smooth muscle cells phenotype. A good decellularization is characterized by a respiratory bronchus completely free of cells while the architecture and the matricial composition remain unchanged. The elimination of the cellular material is necessary to not confound the native cells of the tissue with the cells of culture and to not affect the quality of the recellularization. Following the decellularization of an equine respiratory bronchus using Triton / Sodium deoxycholate protocol, we obtained an acellular bronchus (scaffold) presenting very low double-stranded DNA concentrations (less than 100 pg/100 mg dry weight) and the molecular weight of the remnant DNA was less than 100 base pair. This scaffold maintained a very good architecture and the protein content remained almost unchanged. The recellularization of this matrix gave usable results between 31 and 41 days. The histological evaluation of the recellularizations showed a specific colonisation of the muscular extracellular matrix by bronchial smooth muscle cells. This study shows that it is possible to decellularize an equine bronchus while maintaining a protein composition and an architecture favorable to its recellularization by bronchial smooth muscle cells. This represents a valid basis for the subsequent study of the effect of the extracellular asthmatic matrix on the smooth muscle cells phenotype.

Keyphrases: Cheval, Smooth muscle cell, Bronchus, Scaffold, Tissue engineering, Asthma, Horse
L’origine, l’étendue et les limites de la connaissance a priori selon Kant

This presentation of the first half of the CPR stresses from the start the fact that the main concern of this ‘theory of knowledge’ is in truth the possibility of metaphysics, and by extension, the possibility of a priori cognition in general. If transcendental Aesthetics and Analytic proceed with the establishment of an inventory of the a priori “forms” of cognition, these pure forms can only produce true cognition when they are associated with “matter,” which is always empirical, hence a posteriori, namely sensation. The Analytic of the principles clearly bear witness of this restriction that limits the validity of a priori cognition to the field of experience. This settles from the start the outcome of dogmatic metaphysics, which pretends outright to transcend experience.

Keyphrases: Kant, A priori, Sensation, Metaphysics, Pure forms
L’idée transcendantale et son objet

The three ideas of the Transcendental Dialectic of the CPR are presented here as « beings of mere reason » and as « schemata » of a particular type. If transcendental illusion is arrived at through a subreption taking place in the syllogism, which produces consequently ideas as entia rationis ratiocinantis, a critically trained power of judgment can however arrive at beings of reason that are correctly deduced: entia rationis ratiocinatae. And these transcendental ideas, when they are well understood, can play a regulative role if they function as schemata, and not as hypostatized objects, making the application of the rules contained in their concept easier, for the sake of the systematic unity of cognition. In other words, dialectical illusion happens when the schema is taken for a real object.

Keyphrases: Kant, Illusion, Ens rationis, Transcendental dialectic, Schema
Habermas et la mission de l’université contemporaine

While he was carrying out his philosophical work during the sixties, Habermas did not hesitate to address the issues related to the role of the university in society as an institution of higher learning. The stand he took in this regard is not without relation with the type of philosophy he was then advocating : a critical epistemology fully aware of its political implications. However the recasting of his work in terms of a theory of communicative action has obliged Habermas to reconsider his position toward the role of science and the status of the university. This becomes clear in the lecture given in Heidelberg «The Idea of University – Learnprocesses» (1986). University in no more primarily the forum for a critique of technology and science as ideology, but rather a privileged area where theoretical activity takes place on the basis of an open and free communication between researchers, which remains in a certain way paradigmatic for interaction in the lifeworld.

Keyphrases: Habermas, University, Critical epistemology, Communicative action, Llifeworld
Corticospinal excitability, mental rotation task, motor performance and disability in subjects with musculoskeletal disorders of the wrist and hand

The objective of the thesis was to investigate for the presence of changes in cortical sensorimotor processes (corticospinal excitability and the body schema measured with the Left Right Judgment Task (LRJT) performance), in participants with Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) of the wrist/hand. A second objective was to determine the relationship between these cortical sensorimotor processes and measures of sensory and hand motor function, disability, pain and pain related psychosocial factors. First, an observational cross-sectional study was conducted to explore corticospinal excitability of muscles in the hand and cortical sensorimotor processes, utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation and the LRJT in healthy, pain-free participants and participants with chronic wrist/hand pain. Increased corticospinal excitability for the abductor pollicis brevis of the affected hand in participants with chronic MSD of the wrist/hand was found and these changes were significantly correlated with pain intensity, disability, and negatively correlated with spinal motoneuronal excitability. Differences in LRJT performance were also found between healthy control participants and participants with pain for both LRJT accuracy and reaction time.  In a second cross-sectional study, LRJT performance, motor, sensory and cognitive assessments were performed on sixty-one participants with MSD of the right dominant wrist/hand. The multiple linear regression model revealed that taking pain medication, participating in (social, work, household and leisure) activities, two-point discrimination, and motor performance explained performance on the LRJT of the right (affected) hand. Those participants that took pain medication on the day of the evaluation performed more poorly on both LRJT accuracy and reaction time of the right (affected) hand. These participants had higher pain severity and disability scores and decreased cognitive and motor function.  Collectively, these results suggest that participants with heterogeneous MSD of the wrist/hand display altered cortical sensorimotor processes. Whereas corticospinal excitability appears to be related to pain intensity and disability, the LRJT may be associated with a confluence of factors (sensory, motor, cognitive-affective, and behaviours). These findings suggest that cortical sensorimotor changes do not simply appear to be the result of the condition but involve a complex interaction between pain, sensorimotor and cognitive-affective processes, and possibly behavioural responses to the condition. The findings also provide valuable insight as to those persons who may benefit from cognitively directed interventions in addition to peripherally driven rehabilitative treatments.

Keyphrases: Musculoskeletal disorders, Pain, Neuroplasticity, Corticospinal excitability, Transcranial magnetic stimulation, Motor imagery, Motor performance, Disability, Body schema, Sensorimotor integration, Mental rotation task, Implicit motor imagery
L’influence d’un traitement à la N-Acétylcystéine sur la motivation à s’auto-administrer de la cocaïne chez le rat

Chronic cocaine intake decreases basal levels of glutamate in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region associated with motivated behaviour and reward processing. Importantly, the reduction in glutamate correlates with relapse vulnerability. A contributing factor in this reduction is a downregulation in the cysteine/glutamate antiporter located on glial cells. Indeed, the vulnerability to relapse in cocaine-experienced rats is reduced when the function of the antiporter is pharmacologically restored via the systemic administration of the cysteine prodrug, N-acetylcysteine (NAC). However, drug addiction involves several behavioral symptoms that involve relapse to drug use during abstinence, but also an increased motivation to take drug. Indeed, spending much time and effort obtaining, consuming and recovering from drugs is one of the diagnostic criteria for addiction.  The main goal of this thesis was to determine the influence of NAC on motivation to self-administer cocaine in rat. To achieve this, we performed a first study to evaluate effect of several NAC treatments (acute or chronic) on the motivation to take cocaine, as measured with a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Results showed that acute administration of NAC decreased the motivation to take cocaine without affecting the motivation for food. Chronic NAC administration during withdrawal from cocaine, however, had no effect on the motivation to take the drug. Nevertheless, chronic NAC administration prior each cocaine self-administration session reduced both cocaine intake and the subsequent motivation to take cocaine. These findings constitute an important advance because it is the first preclinical evidence that NAC alters cocaine consumption and motivation to take the drug. Since the motivation to take cocaine and sensitization to the psychomotor effect of cocaine share common neural substrates, we carried out a second study to determine whether acute NAC administration decreases the expression of cocaine-induced sensitization. Data revealed that acute NAC administration decreased the expression of cocaine sensitization, but not acute locomotor stimulant effect of cocaine. Finally, we chose to measure directly the influence of an acute NAC administration on the enhancement effect of cocaine on brain stimulation reward, using an intracranial self-stimulation procedure. Results showed that an acute NAC administration does not alter the reward signal and does not alter the enhancement effect of cocaine on reward. These findings allow us to conclude that attenuating effect of NAC administration on cocaine intake and motivation to take the drug is not due to an aversive state induced by NAC.  These findings contribute to a growing literature suggesting that NAC deserves clinical attention as a treatment for cocaine addiction.

Keyphrases: Addiction, Motivation, N-acetylcysteine, Cocaine, Self-administration, Intracranial selfstimulation, Psychomotor sensitization
Study of the role of the adaptor protein MyD88 in the iron-sensing pathway and of the effect of curcumin in the development of anemia in a DSS-induced colitis mouse model

Hepcidin is the peptide hormone essential for the regulation of systemic iron homeostasis. Hepcidin binds and triggers the degradation of ferroportin, the only known iron protein exporter, avoiding, in this case, the development of iron overload or iron deficiency. Hepcidin mRNA expression is controlled by two major pathways, the inflammatory and iron sensing signaling pathways. It has been reported that MyD88, the adaptor protein involved in the activation of cytokines via toll-like receptor stimuli, contributes to hepcidin expression in the inflammatory pathway. Thus, since both pathways, the iron sensing, and the inflammatory, reveal overlap in hepcidin induction, we investigated the potential role of MyD88 in iron sensing by analyzing iron metabolism in MyD88-deficient mice (MyD88-/-). We also analyzed the potential mechanism of action of MyD88 in the BMP/SMAD4 signaling pathway for hepcidin induction. Furthermore, we investigated the modulation of MyD88 protein expression in chronic inflammation settings associated with systemic iron imbalance. We evaluated the effect of the anti-inflammatory and MyD88 modulator agent curcumin, the active ingredient of the rhizome Curcuma longa that also has iron chelating properties in a murine model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We analyzed the effects of systemic iron balance and hepcidin expression in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-defined colitis mouse model fed on an iron-sufficient diet supplemented with curcumin. We found that MyD88-/- mice have a high concentration of iron in the liver due to their inability to control hepcidin levels, and they revealed low Smad4 protein. Furthermore, we showed that MyD88 interacts with SMAD4 and induces hepcidin mRNA expression. Moreover, we reported that BMP6 stimulation, which increases SMADs inhibitor SMAD6 expression also induces MyD88 proteasomal degradation as a negative feedback mechanism to limit hepcidin induction. We showed that the MyD88 gain-of-function L265P mutation, frequently encountered in B-cell lymphomas, enhances hepcidin expression and iron accumulation in B cells. In this way, we highlighted a new role for MyD88 in the SMAD signaling pathway and iron homeostasis regulation outside the context of toll-like receptor signaling. Finally, we found that mice fed with curcumin prior to DSS administration developed aggravated colitis and mild anemia following iron depletion in the spleen and liver tissues and the decrease of hepcidin expression. In conclusion, these studies provide new insights into iron-sensing pathway regulation and a better understanding and management of the potential therapeutic target of curcumin in chronic disease such as inflammatory bowel disease.

Keyphrases: MyD88, SMAD4, Hepcidin, Iron-sensing pathway, Curcumin
Les associations potentielles de gènes KIR avec la susceptibilité/résistance au développement de la maladie de Crohn

The KIR (Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptor) gene family comprises six activating genes, others being inhibitory ones. Due to the existence of different KIR haplotypes, humans differ from one another in the number of inherited activating KIR genes. They may inherit zero to a full complement of six of these genes. The KIR gene variations have been shown to affect human’s susceptibility to a wide variety of human diseases. In this study, we sought to determine whether variations in the numbers of activating KIR gene in humans bear any associations with Crohn disease (CD), a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract in which genetic factors have been shown to play an important role. We used the candidate gene approach, whereby we genotyped cases and controls for all six activating KIR genes by PCR using gene-specific primers in three independent cohorts (Montreal, Ottawa and Winnipeg) of Canadian Caucasian CD patients and determined associations using unconditional logistic regression. We observed strong associations between most of the genes and CD in all the three cohorts of the patients. An overall analysis for all the cohorts showed strong associations with four of the genes. We also investigated the expression of KIR and non-KIR receptors and different integrins on peripheral blood NK cells in Crohn disease (CD) patients vis-a-vis healthy control subjects. Furthermore, we also determined recent degranulation history and cytotoxic potential of NK cells using freshly isolated peripheral blood from both CD patients and healthy control subjects. Our results show that NK cells from CD patients expressed higher levels of activating KIR as well as other non-KIR activating receptors. They also showed increased frequencies of the cells expressing these receptors. NK cells from the patients also expressed increased levels of different gut-homing integrin molecules. Furthermore, NK cells from CD patients showed a recent history of increased cytotoxic events and exhibited higher cytotoxicity. Collectively, this study shows that activating KIR genes confer risk for CD in both children and adults and peripheral blood NK cells in CD patients are more activated and more cytotoxic compared with their counterparts from healthy individuals. Our results provide novel insights on the immuno-pathogenesis of the disease and bear implications for devising novel immunotherapies.

Keyphrases: Crohn disease, NK cells, KIR genes, Cytotoxicity