NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Variabilité stylistique des occupations du Sylvicole moyen ancien (400 av. n.è. – 500 de n.è.) sur la station 3-arrière de Pointe-du-Buisson : approche typologique

This thesis focuses on the variability observed within an assemblage, made up of lithic and ceramic artefacts, that is felt to be representative of the largest collection dominated by an Early Middle Woodland component known in Quebec. The characteristic traits of the pots transported, discarded, and partly manufactured on the station 3-arrière of the Pointe-du-Buisson complex, are apprehended via a holistic understanding of the notion of «style» which includes all aspects of the attributes it covers, i.e. technological, morphological, decorative and functional ones. Thanks to the application of a typological method, a long forsaken approach, at least in eastern north America, whose specific merit resides in its ability to treat the artefact as a whole, behavioural (cognitive and procedural) patterns visible on the decorated rim sherds have been identified. These are intimately related to the decorative techniques used by the makers, and seem to have changed through time as follows: «vertical or simple» type, preceding the more recent «push-pull» and «rocker-stamp» types.  A comparative analysis, based on a sample of sites located in the Upper St-Lawrence and neighbouring regions, has also revealed great similarities between the ceramic assemblage of the Early Middle Woodland component of BhFl-1d’ and those of Vieux-Pont (Eastern Townships, QC), Oka (Ottawa River), Pointe-du-Gouvernement (Upper Richelieu) and Winooski (Lake Champlain area, Vermont) sites. These results argue for the existence of a cultural manifestation that is very closely related to both the Canoe Point and Winooski phases of the Point Peninsula tradition.  Following the aforementioned conclusions and based on others resulting from recent inquiries, further taxonomic considerations have emerged. While a complete overhaul of the Middle Woodland pattern would be premature, rethinking this taxon appears necessary. Therefore, taxa such as Early Horticultural Period (Snow) or Initial Woodland (Wright, Clermont) are revived and discussed since they may prove to be useful in defining more general, but also maybe more appropriate, anthropological traits concerning the populations that lived along the Saint Lawrence River and its tributaries from the Early Woodland to the end of the Late Middle Woodland.

Keyphrases: Pointe-du-Buisson, Early Middle Woodland, Upper Saint Lawrence River, Pottery, Typology, Behavioural archaeology
La diminution des espaces ouverts en Israël depuis 1948 : exploration et discussion des facteurs contribuant à un problème de société

This research examines the loss of open space in Israel, one of the most acute environmental problems facing this country, according to several Israeli environmental organizations. This situation is peculiarly ominous since the beginning of the 1990s while the area occupied by open space has decreased significantly. Fears linked to the proliferation of built area have led to the implementation of national outline plans (NOP 31, NOP 35) which aim specifically to concentrate future development into the main metropolitan regions (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba) to ensure that the remaining open spaces will be protected optimally. Several factors are responsible for the loss of open space in Israel. Thus, one of the research objectives is to identify and analyze how these factors have influenced the extent of open spaces. Furthermore, this research provides an update of the open spaces’ evolution over the years. Finally, the last chapter discusses the current issues regarding open space as well as some solutions to enhance its protection. In order to obtain a thorough picture of the situation, the temporal field of this study spans from 1948, founding year of the State of Israel, to 2010.

Keyphrases: Open space preservation, Aménagement territorial, Land use planning, Population growth, Political geography, Israel
Le rôle des collections dans la légitimation de l'art marginal : le cas de la collection d'art pathologique Prinzhorn

Modern art began its rise at the beginning of the twentieth century in both France and Germany. Somme art theorists like Francastel, propose an identifying characteristic of modern art is the deconstruction of the classic plastic space. During the two World Wars, many artists used this deconstructive process, thus reinvigorating art with ‘‘primitive’’ styles which challenged the ‘‘civilized’’ art of the day. This fascination with the ‘‘primitive’’, including art from children, amateurs, and the ‘‘mentally ill’’, is apparent in many art collections of the time. By collecting these forms of art, the collectors were supporting this new ideology in opposition to occidental rationalism. The psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn, along with the art sellers Wilhelm Udhe and the artists Andre Breton, Jean Dubuffet and Arnulf Rainer, are a few of the notable collectors. They each influenced the progress of Modern Art; the impact of which is now evident in contemporary art. The individuality of their unique collections offers different interpretations of the marginalized ‘‘outsider art’’. By analyzing the terminologies employed by these collectors, particularly in regards to ‘‘pathological art’’, we may outline a portrait of the development of ‘‘outsider art’’ as it progressed along side modern art.

Keyphrases: modern art, outsider art, collectors, France and Germany, Twentieth century
The institutional choices of politicians : how and why legislators shape Lower Chambers

This thesis is about the institutional choices of legislators. It provides a comparative and diachronic analysis of the institutional development of the National Chambers of Deputies of Argentina and Chile from the 1940s to the 2000s. Based on Cartel Theory (Cox and McCubbins 1993), it focuses on the role played by parties in this institutional development. It demonstrates that despite their differences, the various majorities and pluralities, single-parties and coalitions that ruled these Chambers have maintained and adopted a constellation of organizational rules and norms that advantaged their interests. In other words, they have behaved as procedural coalitions. The analysis of the reforms to the rules of these Chambers and of their directing board and committee systems indicates that ruling parties and coalitions have increased their power during the period, controlled the legislative agenda, structured the committee system, and adopted rules that benefit them on the floor.  In particular, the results suggest that Chilean ruling coalitions have endowed several offices, such as the Presidency, the Chairs of committees, the committee on Finance (Hacienda) and on Rules, with negative agenda-setting power, and that some of them are more powerful than their Argentine’s counterparts. In the case of the Argentine Chamber, specifically since the 1960s, ruling parties have kept control of the Chamber not only by reforming the rules and structuring the committee system but also creating and distributing powerless but permanent positions to the opposition.  The analysis also confirms previous findings made by recent studies in the subfield, specially the professionalism of the Chilean Committee system and the amateur character of Argentine legislators. By contrast, it shows differences in the agenda control between the Argentine and Chilean Chambers that were overlooked.    The thesis is divided into seven chapters. Chapter I introduces the general hypothesis, the purposes and main questions of the thesis, and explains why the institutional choices of legislators matter. Chapter II presents the theory and the methodology. It provides the definition of institutional development and the criteria and predictions used to test the general hypothesis. Chapters III (Argentina) and V (Chile) offer an account of each country’s politics and a description of the Chambers’ organization during the period. Chapters IV (Argentina) and VI (Chile) analyze the reforms to the rules of the Chambers, and the evolution of the directing board and committee systems and conclude with a summary of the patterns found and a preliminary assessment of the general hypothesis. Chapter VII concludes. It sums up the findings, provides a final assessment of the theory, and suggests further avenues of research.

Keyphrases: Institutional Development, Political Parties, Lower Chambers, Legislators, Cartel Theory, Agenda Control, Argentine, Argentina, Chile, Institutional Design
Configuration et exploitation d'une machine émotionnelle

This work explores the feasibility of equipping computers with the ability to predict, in a context of a human computer interaction, the probable user’s emotion and its intensity for a wide variety of emotion-eliciting situations. More specifically, an online framework, the Emotional Machine, is developed enabling computers to «understand» situations using OCC model of emotion and to predict user’s reaction by combining refined versions of Artificial Neural Network and k Nearest Neighbours algorithms. An empirical procedure including a web-based anonymous questionnaire for data acquisition was designed to provide the chosen machine learning algorithms with a consistent knowledge and to test the application’s recognition performance. Results from the empirical investigation show that the proposed Emotional Machine is capable of producing accurate predictions. Such an achievement may encourage future using of our framework for automated emotion recognition in various application fields.

Keyphrases: Automated emotion recognition, Human computer interaction, Machine learning, Affective computing
L’intégration professionnelle : perception des médecins immigrants

 Problem: In spite of the increasing number of immigrant physicians who choose to live in Quebec, and of the shortage of physicians, many will not succeed in establishing themselves as physicians in Quebec. Previous studies were often not specific to the professional integration of immigrant physicians in Quebec. And new barriers emerged in each study, justifying the need for an exploratory approach to better understand the subject. Objectives: The objective of this study is to identify and analyze barriers to professional integration and facilitating factors perceived by immigrant international medical graduates who choose to install themselves as physicians in Quebec. Method: The strategy adopted is a case study. It is a qualitative research based primarily on analysis of 22 semi-structured interviews, realized with immigrant international medical graduates, native of 15 different countries. The sample retained is of maximum variation type, according to the country of origin, initial training, professional experience and according to the professional stage of integration in Quebec. Recruitment was conducted primarily with the collaboration of the Centre for Evaluation of Health Sciences at Laval University, the organization "l’Hirondelle" and the Department of Health Administration of the University of Montreal. The various themes that were addressed in the interview were derived from the perceived barriers cited in literature, most of which are not specific to immigrant physicians. These general themes are represented by linguistic constraints, socio-cultural, informational, financial, procedural and discriminatory barriers. Facilitating factors that were examined are: financial factors, informational factors, assistance and support to professional integration. Results: The 22 participants consisted of 13 men and 9 women, aged 29-53 years from 15 different countries and with a length of stay in Quebec from 2-15 years. The professional integration barriers perceived by immigrant physicians are primarily procedural, but also institutional, and to a lesser extent, sociocultural. The principal procedural barriers relate to the informational factors, to the assessment of medical knowledge and skills, but especially to the absence of guarantee of residency matching, even after having succeeded in all the required exams. The most important facilitating iv factors are the harmonization of provincial and federal procedures, the relative improvement of information, language support for non-French speakers and the shortage of physicians. Conclusions: The reduction of the many barriers identified in this research, will not only allow to facilitate the professional integration of the immigrant physicians, but also to contribute to reduce the shortage of these healthcare professionals in Quebec.

Keyphrases: Professional integration, immigrant physicians, integration barriers, facilitating factors
Le cycle des astres : oeuvre de création suivi d'un essai sur la mise en récit du quotidien

The source/matter for Le Cycle des astres stems from a stenography of the present, snapshots of daily-life that leave trace through diversified forms of writing that I called écriture-temps. The inscription of the present becoming signs from the past represent the double temporality of the texts used as material used in my creative work where drafts, poetry and autography co-occur, and leave trace of a writing project in which the construction of Meaning unfolds through the process. I studied the recycling of archives and the interplay of temporalities, but mostly the construction of the narrative put forward by the text, and its effect on subjectivity. Du surgissement à l’oeuvre furthers this exploration of fragmentary and heteregeneous writing through a critical reading of Annie Ernaux's L’Événement. Writing is shown here as a means by which the essence of a subjective experience is embodied in a text that reestablishes its coherence.

Keyphrases: Annie Ernaux, fragment, écriture-temps, writing, heterogeneity, subjectivity, temporality
Réflexion sur la mise en œuvre du programme de suivis intensifs différenciés (SID) dans la communauté

In 2005, in the wake of the adoption of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) and its attendant restrictions on incarceration, the Centre jeunesse de Montréal - Institut universitaire (CJM-IU) [Montreal youth centre - University institute] launched a community-oriented intensive differential case management program (IDCMP). The clinical internship reported here had the following objectives: allow participation in the cross-sectional implementation of the program, improve the program’s robustness, support program specialists, and develop an assessment tool that would improve this program’s referral process. The results of this internship indicated the necessity of reviewing the IDCMP’s implementation process, specifically through constructive, pedagogical assessment of the congruence of the plan’s theoretical model and day-to-day application, as well of the obstacles encountered. A qualitative methodology appeared appropriate for these purposes. Two techniques were used: field participant observation, and content analysis of written documents (committee minutes). Chen's Program Action Model and the Texas Christian University (TCU) Program Change Model provided the conceptual framework for the internship report. The former’s six components were the basis for an assessment checklist and oriented the global overview of the implementation of the IDCMP, while the latter provided a model of the main stages of change and the individual, organizational, and program-specific factors that favour or hinder innovation. The results indicate that overcoming obstacles to the application of the IDCMP would not require any significant changes to the program’s underlying theoretical basis. Modifications of the program’s implementation process are presented. In conclusion, we consider that the successful implementation of the IDCMP is dependent on certain conditions, and will always be subject to constraints.

Keyphrases: Probation, Huey T. Chen, Approche cognitive-comportementale, Program Action Model, Texas Christian University (TCU) Program Change Model, Delinquency, Probation, Action plan implementation, Cognitive behavioral approach, Differential evaluation and response perspective
Infrastructures urbaines et participation publique : le cas de la modernisation de la rue Notre-Dame

This master's thesis is an analysis of participative mechanisms in the planning of road infrastructures in urban zones. The modernization of Notre-Dame Street, in Montréal, for which a decision has yet to be made, and which has been the object of controversy over the past thirty years, serves as a case study.  In order to arrive at a compromise, elected representatives agreed to have several actors participate in public consultations. The analysis centers around requests formulated by participants in the course of these consultations. While the requests that were made were quite similar, they were also very different, thus rendering the actors' other characteristics irrelevant from an analytical standpoint. Municipal and provincial representatives were then placed in a difficult position if they were to modernize the main highway. This entailed arriving at a sociopolitical compromise. In fact, three main discourses characterized the debate. Each of them dismissed, in various ways, matters related to social regulation and public policy. This analysis finally illustrates the limits of public consultation on actors' participation.

Keyphrases: discours, public participation, governance, urban highway, discourses
Régulation du cycle cellulaire par le récepteur natriurétique de type C dans les cellules du muscle lisse vasculaire : mécanismes moléculaires

We have previously shown that natriuretic peptide receptor-C (NPR-C) activation by C-ANP4-23 decreased the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) induced by vasoactive peptides (Ang II, ET-1 and AVP). Since, VSMC from SHR also exhibit an enhanced proliferation as compared to VSMC from WKY, we undertook the present study to investigate if C-ANP4-23 could also attenuate the enhanced proliferation of VSMC from SHR and to further explore the underlying mechanisms responsible for this response. The proliferation of VSMC from SHR was significantly increased as compared to VSMC from WKY as determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation and was attenuated by C-ANP4-23 in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore the expression of cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (cdk2) and phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (pRb) was enhanced in VSMC from SHR compared to WKY which was attenuated by C-ANP4-23. In addition, the inhibitor of cdk4/cyclinD1 (NSC 625987) and cdk2 (NU2058) also attenuated the enhanced proliferation of VSMC from SHR in a concentration-dependent manner. VSMC from SHR also exhibited the enhanced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and AKT as compared to WKY which was attenuated by C-ANP4-23.. Furthermore, the enhanced expression of cyclin D1, cdk2 and pRb in VSMC from SHR were also attenuated by pertussis toxin that inactivates Giα protein, PD 98095, a MEK kinase inhibitor, wortmannin, PI3K inhibitor as well as by losartan, an AT1 receptor antagonist. These results suggest that NPR-C activation attenuates the enhanced proliferation of VSMC from SHR which may be attributed to Giα /MAP kinase/PI3K-mediated inhibition of the expression of cell cycle components.

Keyphrases: hypertension, SHR, NPR-C, Gi, AKT, cell cycle
Régulation transcriptionnelle du gène HSPG2 codant pour Perlecan et son implication dans l’ostéoarthrite

Recent work has shown an increase of Perlecan production associated with the terminal stage of osteoarthritis (OA). Dr Moreau’s team demonstrated a loss of expression of the transcription factor Pitx1 in osteoarthritis suggesting its putative role as a negative regulator of the HSPG2 gene coding for Perlecan. To study the transcriptional regulation of this gene, promoter fragments were cloned upstream of a luciferase reporter gene and tested in transient transfection assays. Co-transfections with variable quantities of pSI-mPitx1 and with constructs made with fragments of different lengths of the mHSPG2 promoter demonstrated a transcriptional activity and enhancement of this activity in presence of Pitx1, with variable results depending on cell types. In addition, expression analysis by qPCR on transgenic mice osteoblasts that overexpress Pitx1 showed that the overexpression of Pitx1 correlates with an augmentation of p53, a known Pitx1 target and Perlecan expression. The link between Pitx1 and Perlecan is still poorly understood and a clear pathway involving those two players is not yet established. A better understanding of mechanisms regulating normal and pathological transcription of the HSPG2 gene encoding for Perlecan would allow a better comprehension of osteoarthritis development and the putative role of Perlecan in its progression.

Keyphrases: Perlecan, HSPG2, Pitx1, osteoarthritis, p53
Mécanismes de subversion de l'immunité innée par le virus de l'Hépatite C (VHC)

Hepatitis C infection is a worldwide health problem since the risk to develop a persistent infection is relatively elevated (40 to 60%) and nearly half of the infected patients do not respond to the classical anti-HCV therapy based on a combination of PEG-IFNα and ribavirin. Viral persistence is based on powerful evasion strategies of the host’s innate immune system. In our study, we characterized antiviral response in primary human normal and chronically HCV-infected hepatocytes, a cutting-edge in our field due to the difficulty to isolate this particular cell type. In order to better define the antiviral response in freshly isolated human primary hepatocytes, we stimulated these cells with extracellular and intracellular dsRNA to trigger TLR3/TRIF and RIG-I-MDA5/CARDIF-mediated antiviral signaling pathways. By using qRT-PCR and microarray analysis, we report that both detection pathways are functional in normal human hepatocytes, their activation leading to the expression of both common (IFIT1, OASL, ISG15 and CXCL10) and specific genes (IL28A, IL28B and IL29), these last ones being a signature of the intracellular dsRNA-mediated pathway. HCV NS3/4A plays a key role in the viral polyprotein processing and upon viral RNA detection by interfering with the host’s antiviral signalling cascades. We report that major antiviral genes induction following activation of RIG-I mediated pathway are severely impaired in ectopically NS3/4A expressing normal hepatocytes due to CARDIF cleavage, but can be restored by specific NS3/4A inhibitor BILN2061. Our microarray analysis also revealed a role for NS3/4A following TRL3-mediated pathway activation on regulation of apoptosis and programmed cell death, which could be linked to strategies for the virus to persist in its host. Despite HCV strategies to circumvent the host’s immune defense system, we observed significant upregulation of ISGs and chemokines in liver biopsies and corresponding isolated hepatocytes from chronically HCV-infected patients. However, no type I and III interferon, neither key-antiviral genes (e.g., CCL5) were detected, underlying an ongoing –but inefficient- antiviral response unable to eradicate the virus. Moreover, we obtained significant inverse correlations between ISGs mRNAs and viral RNA in addition to CARDIF decrease, clearly unravelling efficient viral interfering strategies in a context of chronic HCV infection. This sustained -albeit incomplete- hepatic innate immune response is certainly associated to the failure of the classical IFN-based therapy in half of the infected patients and to the chronic inflammation causing liver damages and eventually leading to hepatocarcinoma which is often observed at late stage of the disease.

Keyphrases: NS3/4A, ISGs (Interferon Stimulated Genes), Hepatitis C Virus, Primary Hepatocytes, Viral Interference