NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Théorie des émotions et émotions animales

Do animals have emotions? This question constitutes a sizable challenge for the philosophical theories of emotions, which already struggle to find consensus in a definition of human emotions. However, the evidence of emotional life in animals is undeniable. We believe that any successful theory of emotions must be able to account for the existence of animal emotions while respecting the criterion of intentionality of emotions. In this dissertation, we provide a brief overview of three approaches to the theory of emotions that hold that animals are capable of emotional experiences. First, we discuss the evolutionary approach (Darwin, Ekman and Plutchik) which centers its definition of emotion around its usefulness for the survival of the organism and defends the universalism of basic emotions. Next, we examine the somatic approach to emotions (James, Damasio and Prinz) which maintains that emotions are sensations and bodily changes. Finally, we observe the judgmental cognitivist theory (Solomon, Nussbaum) which considers that emotions are fundamentally evaluative judgments. As our investigation progresses, we apply the criteria of the various theories of emotions to non-human animals in order to highlight their potentially problematic elements. Finally, we evaluate the implications of the philosophical presuppositions of animal emotions in a practical aim in animal ethics.

Keyphrases: philosophy, emotion, non-human animals
Dialogue et solidarité en démocratie : l
’éducation dialogique comme complément à la délibération politique

Philosophy and dialogue are known to go hand in hand, while the relationship between dialogue and politics remains unclear. Using deliberation, a well-established type of discourse in our societies, as a comparative standpoint, this memoire will show how dialogue can be complementary to deliberation to form a proper democratic society. To get a wide enough conception of what dialogue means, we will explore how it pertains to identity, rationality, intersubjectivity, and education. A shift from an egocentric perspective, an authentic ear, and a critical open mindedness, being essential elements to dialogue, will help us to demonstrate how it can not only show a greater inclusiveness than deliberation can, but also respond in and of itself to crucial socio-political needs such as cooperation and solidarity. Education will be shown to be an excellent way to promote dialogue onto the political grounds, letting it then accomplish its purpose of facilitator for the establishment of a harmonious civic life. And to go even further, we propose that democratic education, if it is to accomplish its goals, must make use of dialogue.

Keyphrases: dialogue, education, deliberation, solidarity, perspectives
Utilisation de l’estimateur d’Agresti-Coull dans la construction d’intervalles de confiance bootstrap pour une proportion

A few bootstrap approaches exist to create confidence intervals. Some difficulties appear for the specific case of a proportion when the usual estimator, the proportion of success in a sample, is 0. In the classical case where the observations are independently and identically distributed (i.i.d.) from a Bernoulli distribution, the bootstrap samples only contain zeros with probability 1 and the resulting bootstrap confidence intervals are degenerate at the value 0. We are facing the same problem in the survey sampling case when we apply the bootstrap method to a sample with all observations equal to 0. A possible solution is suggested by the estimator found in the confidence intervals of [Wilson, 1927] and [Agresti et Coull, 1998] where they use ˜p the proportion of success in a augmented sample consisting of adding two successes and two failures to the original sample. The proposed solution is to use the bootstrap method on ˆp but where the bootstrap is based on the augmented sample with two additional successes and failures, whether the sample comes from i.i.d. Bernoulli variables or from a simple random sample. Results show that a version of the percentile method is the most efficient bootstrap method to construct confidence intervals for a proportion both in the classical setting or in the case of a simple random sample. Our results also show that this percentile interval can compete with the best traditional methods.

Keyphrases: bootstrap, pseudo-population, binomial proportion estimate, sampling, pseudo-population, bootstrap weights, bootstrap confidence interval
On improving variational inference with low-variance multi-sample estimators

Advances in variational inference, such as variational autoencoders (VI) (Kingma and Welling (2013), Rezende et al. (2014)) along with its numerous modifications, have proven highly successful for learning latent representations of data. Importance-weighted variational inference (IWVI) by Burda et al. (2015) improves the variational inference by using multiple i.i.d. samples for obtaining tighter variational lower bounds. Recent works like hierarchical importance-weighted autoencoders (HIWVI) by Huang et al. (2019) and joint distribution modeling by Klys et al. (2018) demonstrate the idea of modeling a joint distribution over samples to further improve over IWVI by making it sample efficient. The underlying idea in this thesis is to connect the statistical properties of the estimators to the tightness of the variational bounds. Towards this, we first demonstrate an upper bound on the variational gap in terms of the variance of the estimators under certain conditions. We prove that the variational gap can be made to vanish at the rate of O(1/n) for a large family of VI approaches. Based on these results, we propose the approach of Conditional-IWVI (CIWVI), which explicitly models the sequential and conditional sampling of latent variables to perform importance-weighted variational inference, and a related approach of Antithetic-IWVI (AIWVI) by Klys et al. (2018). Our experiments on the benchmarking datasets MNIST (LeCun et al. (2010)) and OMNIGLOT (Lake et al. (2015)) demonstrate that our approaches perform either competitively or better than the baselines IWVI and HIWVI as the number of samples increases. Further, we also demonstrate that the results are in accordance with the theoretical properties we proved. In conclusion, our work provides a perspective on the rate of improvement in VI with the number of samples used and the utility of modeling the joint distribution over latent representations for sample efficiency in VI.

Keyphrases: Variational Inference, Variance Reduction
Leveraging deep reinforcement learning in the smart grid environment

While modern statistical learning is achieving impressive results, as computers start exceeding human baselines in some applications like computer vision, or even beating pro- fessional human players at strategy games without any prior knowledge, reliable deployed applications are still in their infancy compared to what these new opportunities could fathom. In this perspective, with a keen focus on sequential decision theory and recent statistical learning research, we demonstrate efficient application of such methods on instances involving the energy grid and the optimization of its actors, from energy storage and electric cars to smart buildings and thermal controls. We conclude by introducing a new hybrid approach combining the modern performance of deep learning and reinforcement learning with the proven application framework of operations research, in the objective of facilitating seamlessly the integration of new statistical learning-oriented methodologies in concrete applications.

Keyphrases: Buildings, Deep Learning, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Energy Consumption, Optimal Control, Optimization, Power Consumption, Smart Grid
La « Ludo-simulation » : étude de la simulation comme matière créative dans la construction d’un jeu de survie

This master thesis aims to study the survival game genre through the prism of the simulation.  Most of the computer games published today present atypical game structures with a tendency  to liberate the player from any prescribed constraint for the benefit of a more expressive play.  Minecraft (Mojang, 2010) is a prime example not explicitly offering “modalities of play” to the  player, confronting most of the more traditional ludic forms, like game or sport, in which  objectives are usually more convenient to determine. This tendency of games to develop complex  agencies without necessarily prescribing an associated “must do” is the basis of several ongoing  questions. Imposing a simulation perspective for the benefit of game studies makes possible to  answer several of these questions by focusing research attention on the broader “modalities of  doing” rather than on the prescriptions of uses which tend more and more to disappear.   The objective of this work is to reflect on the contributions of simulation in a corpus of six  survival games in order to study the crossing between game and simulation to understand how a  game perspective increases the creativity of a simulation which, in turn, increases the practicable  complexity of the game. In order to achieve this, we first develop the necessary theoretical  foundation to tackle the question of simulation. Then, an exposition of survival in games is offered  in chapter 2 in order to fully understand how the subject is modelled inside the medium. Our  methodological presentation in chapter 3 aims to develop a descriptive introduction of the results  and an interpretative analysis of the survival of the corpus in chapter 4. The objective of this work  is to advance two new concepts for video game studies: Ludic-simulation as a research posture  and the Videogame survivalist as a player posture. These two concepts are further defined in  chapters 1 and 2 and questioned in chapter 4.

Keyphrases: ludic simulation, simulation, survival, video game, videogame survivalist
Du son et de la musique à la concrétion sonore : structuration audio du conflit en jeu vidéo

This dissertation is the result of research in ludomusicology, game studies and cinema studies. It is an exploration of sound in the context of a conflict situation present in a video game. We apprehend the sound construction of the conflict situation, characterized by a fight between a playable character and an antagonist. We propose the following questions: how is sound constructed in a video game conflict situation? What does this construction bring to the player?  By studying the cinema and then animation, we consider sound in its audio-visual structure, linked to a moving image. It quickly appears that the sound in relation to the image has functions that allow the listener-spectator to apprehend, even amplify both the story and the emotions.  Through cognitivism, we then transpose these functions to video games, taking into account the paradigm of playability. By focusing on the player, we start from his listening attitudes to suggest the construction of a sound concretion, a set of sounds and music inherent to any audio-visual situation. It is no longer a question of separating sounds, music and noises, but rather of prioritizing them according to the player's needs, which are determined by the gaming situation. A case study allows us to explain the sound concretion.  Finally, we specify the stakes related to sound concretion in the context of the conflict situation. It appears through our research that sound, noises and music have functions that depend less on their structure than on the entire sound assembly. Many examples will present sound layers with multiple functions. Music and sound can be both an aid and a hindrance to playability. Production techniques (volume, spatialization, sound complexity) allow the player to prioritize the sound concretion to enjoy a better audio-visual experience.

Keyphrases: video game, fighting, sound design, listening, audio-visual, sound functions, antagonist
L'importance de la Lumière et du "laser spirituel" dans l'enseignement du maître Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov (1900-1986)

Disciple of Bulgarian Master Beinsa Douno (Peter Deunov) (1864-1944), Michaël Ivanoff (1900-1986) has been known under the name of Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov since 1960. Between 1938 and 1985, he taught a spiritual teaching on Light in France. This teaching was inspired by the Christian esoterism of the Johannist tradition, by Transcendentalism, Kabbalah, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Buddhism. When Mikhaël Ivanoff returned from India in 1960 after a one-year trip, he developed the concept of the spiritual laser, transferring by analogy the physician Theodore Maiman’s recent discovery into a practice of individual and collective meditation on the spiritual Light, which would have the aim of awakening the consciousness of human beings all around the world.  The present M. A. thesis studies the teachings on the spiritual Light, called Vidélina in Bulgarian, which were given by master Aïvanhov in the period 1938 to 1980, in the multireligious heritage where they come from. It also presents the practice of the spiritual laser that he created in 1962, through the review of his lectures and the participating observation of this practice from 1980 to 1995, then from 2011 to 2020 at three centers of the Universal White Brotherhood of this master. Finally this thesis draws the adequate conditions to ensure the continuity of this collective spiritual practice.

Keyphrases: Imagination formatrice, Méditation collective, Spiritual light, Spiritual laser, Formative imagination, Collective meditation
«En finir avec la géographie» : détournements ludiques de l’écriture du voyage dans Six degrés de liberté de Nicolas Dickner et Document 1 de François Blais

Influenced by travel and exploration stories, as well as the American and Quebec road narratives, the contemporary novels Six Degrees of Freedom by Nicolas Dickner and Document 1 by François Blais subvert travel writing by challenging its conventions and assumptions, while interrogating a stable understanding of space. These two novels feature unusual journeys: whether on board a refrigerated container or through the web, crossing vast territories or confined, Blais and Dickner’s protagonists transform the cartographic purpose of travel. As they rewrite codified travel narratives and take over a number of topoï and clichés, these two texts deploy singular cartographies, which mix invention and reality, geographical spaces and imaginary places. This thesis therefore intends to focus on the representation of space and travel in these two novels, with a particular attention to the way novelists play with their reader, for it is through a ludic irony that Document 1 and Six degrees of freedom observe and record today’s reality.

Keyphrases: Nicolas Dickner, François Blais, Roman contemporain, Quebec litterature, Contemporary novel, Space, Irony
Azacyclopeptide synthesis and their neuroprotective activity against Aβ toxicity

Protein misfolding and aggregation are the fundamental causes of amyloid diseases. Deposits of proteins in the form of amyloid fibrils and plaques are the characteristic features of more than twenty degenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. Synthetic cyclic D,L-α-peptide nanotubes can mimic the structural and biochemical properties of amyloid proteins. The introduction of aza-residues into cyclic D,L-α-peptides was studied to enhance intermolecular hydrogen bonding between stacked rings within the tube structures. The resulting cyclic aza-D,L-α-peptides were also expected to exhibit enhanced propensity to interact with the sheet structures of amyloid oligomers.  The lead peptide CP-2 features the sequence [l-J-w-H-s-K] in which lower and upper-case letters indicate D- and L-amino acids, respectively, square brackets designate a cyclic structure, and J denotes norleucine. There are no reports for introduction of aza-residues into cyclic D,L-α-peptides. Considering the potential for semicarbazides to enhance intermolecular hydrogen bonding, we performed an aza-glycine scan of the CP-2 sequence by preparing a focused library of azapeptides. All the cyclic aza-glycine peptides were tested for neuroprotective activity against amyloid using cell viability assay (MTT assay). The aza-glycine replacing D-serine i.e., [azaG2]-CP-2 (4) was found to be more potent than CP-2. This is the first example of introducing an aza-amino residue into a cyclic D, L-α-peptide, and these results could be extrapolated to other cyclic D, L-α-peptides of therapeutic interest.

Keyphrases: Azapeptides, Amyloid, Alzheimer’s disease, Cyclic D, L-α-peptides, Tubular structures
Identité et bien-être des adultes latino-américains en couple immigrants au Canada

During immigration, individuals are asked to come into contact with the new society and the relationship between the identity of the culture of origin and that of the host culture would be decisive for the well-being of the individual. Developing coherence between the two cultures, i.e. giving them equal importance, is associated with high well-being. However, despite the importance of the phenomenon of identity integration, research on this subject has considered it exclusively as a consequence of the relationship between the individual and the culture, without ever taking into account that individuals often immigrate as a couple. The present research aimed to assess the relationship between the integration of cultural identities, the integration of the identity of the partner in the self and well-being among 239 Latin American individuals in a couple relationship and who have immigrated to Canada. More specifically, this research aimed to determine whether the integration of the identity of the partner into the self can have an impact on the well-being of individuals in a couple when they integrate their cultural identities. The data obtained with two different scales of identity integration (MULTIIS and IOS) revealed that the more an individual integrates their cultural identities, the more they will integrate the identity of their partner in the self, which will lead them to feel more well-being. More specifically, this study demonstrated that the integration of cultural identities promotes the integration of the partner's identity into the self which, in turn, will have a positive impact on well-being.

Keyphrases: Immigration, Couples
La place du bonheur dans la doctrine de la vertu

The reader of the Critique of Practical Reason is often puzzled by Kant’s claim in the Analytic that happiness must not play any role in the motivation to act according to the moral law, whereas the Dialectic unexpectedly reintroduces the topic of happiness as a reasonable expectation from the part of the virtuous moral subject. In fact, both Fichte and Schopenhauer had reservations about this move. In this paper I argue that the three explanations usually provided in order to make sense of the hope for happiness are questionable: 1) the ontological dualism (intelligible/sensible), 2) Kant’s religious prejudice (F. Schroeter), and 3) a concession made by Kant to the weakness of human nature (L. W. Beck). I give another explanation, based on Kant’s conception of practical reason.

Keyphrases: Kant, Fichte, Schopenhauer, Remuneratio gratuita, Highest good, Happiness, Salary
Culture, gender and development in Sub-Saharan Africa

This dissertation investigates the deep roots of differences in gender roles and development across societies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chapter 1 examines the deep origins of differences in gender roles in Africa. I test empirically Engels (1884) hypothesis, that the origin of differences in gender roles in Africa was the historical domestication of cattle. To address potential endogeneity in historical cattle adoption, I adopt an instrumental variables approach that leverages geo-climatic factors affecting the suitability of lands for cattle-raising. I find empirical support for Engels (1884) hypothesis. Further, the results show that these differences in gender roles have persisted to present day. In chapter 2, which is co-authored with Raphael Godefroy and Joshua Lewis, we study the short- and long-run consequences of the 1890s African Rinderpest Epizoodic. We adopt a difference-in-differences strategy that combines differences across ethnic homelands in cattle-suitability with contemporaneous local drought conditions to identify ethnic groups that were more or less exposed to the outbreak. We find that the societies exposed to rinderpest experienced relative decreases in cattle-ownership in the decades after the outbreak. We uncover large relative long-run decreases in wealth among descendants of affected ethnic groups. These persistent economic losses appear to be partially driven by distressed migration. In chapter 3, I investigate how sibling gender composition affects women’s transition to first marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. To address potential endogeneity in the final sibling gender composition, I exploit the random assignment of the second child’s gender in household with at least two children. I find that female with a younger sister get married younger, with negative consequences for her education and literacy. The effects are stronger within countries that traditionally pay bride price at marriage.

Keyphrases: Transmission culturelle, Patriarchal values, Cattle, Bargaining power, Cultural transmission, Rinderpest, Ethnicity, Development, Drought, Sibling gender, Marriage patterns, Bride price, Resource constraints, Africa