NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Évaluation de l'implantation et des effets perçus du pilote du Groupe de réflexion sur les drogues (2e génération)

Adolescence is a critical moment to prevent substance abuse considering that it is a period favourable for first experiments with drugs. It is especially important to offer programs to at-risk teenagers because they are more inclined to develop an addiction. This research project aims to describe the fidelity of implementation and identify the perceived effects of the pilot of the Groupe de réflexion sur les drogues (2nd generation) (GRD), an innovative prevention program for teenagers with problematic substance use or at risk of becoming it. The sample includes four teenagers residing in two readaptation units of the Centre Jeunesse de Montréal – Institut Universitaire as well as to educators having delivered the program. Logs, questionnaires and individual interviews allowed to collect data. Descriptive quantitative analysis and qualitative thematic analysis were performed. Overall, results show that the GRD was established as it was conceived and that the participants benefited from the activities intended in the instructor’s guide. Results also show some possible effects, especially on increasing motivation to change, modifying consumption patterns, learning new knowledge on drugs and using protective behavioral strategies. Involvements for research and practice are also discussed.

Keyphrases: consommation de substances psychoactives, adolescences, Substance use, Prevention program, Pilot project, Harm reduction, Adolescence, Implementation, Effects
Trajectoires de l’Aufklärung : autour de la polémique Kant-Herder

This thesis aims at deepening our understanding of the short debate that took place between Kant and Herder in 1784 and 1785. Often presented as a dialogue of the deaf between a Kant at the heights of his glory and an obsolete Herder, we want to demonstrate not only that, despite appearances, that debate was fruitful for both philosophers and that the philosophy of Herder, far from being obsolete, is rather a philosophy of the Enlightenment just as Kant’s is. Herder simply offers another trajectory for the Enlightenment: immanentism, which is opposed to the transcendentalist way of Kant. Thus, we want to show the irreducibly plural character of the Enlightenment.

Keyphrases: Kant, Herder, Enlightenment, Kant-Herder debate, Reflection, Transcendentalism, Immanentism, Criticism, Philosophy of history, Humanity
Débruitage d’image par fusion de filtrage spatio-fréquentielle

In this work, we are interested in the fusion of two different algorithms of denoising and operating in the space domain for one of the two and in the frequency domain for the other one. The proposed technique will merge (fuse) the essential characteristics of these two algorithms. One of them is based on the fact that any natural image inherently exhibits spatial self-similarities (Non-Local means algorithm) and this property turns out to be especially efficient for denoising the contours, details and the spatial high frequencies of an image. The other algorithm is based on the fact that the image/signal is sparse and by this fact, each part of the image can be broken into a small number of periodic elementary functions (via the Discrete Cosine Transform). This latter denoising algorithm has proven to be especially effective for denoising homogeneous regions existing in a natural image. The image, degraded by a Gaussian additive noise is first denoised in both domains and segmented for contour detection. The three estimates are then fused to obtain the final denoised image. The article [15] and the article [73] will allow us to detect contours. Our experiments give good results of denoising. The evaluation of these results, based on the visual aspect, the mean squared error (MSE) and the signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), demonstrates the relevance and effectiveness of the approach. This technique gives better results than those of [11] and [55, 78].

Keyphrases: restauration, image processing, denoising, filtering, restoration, noise reduction
Les princesses Médée et Himiko : une étude comparative des mythologies grecque et japonaise

Mythology is often considered a key component of the culture for a given society. It is often used to explain natural and social phenomenon particular to the aforementioned society. The hypothesis guiding this research is that, although mythology is considered culturally linked to a society, there is a basis for creating myths that is common to human kind, like some sort of a mythological blueprint common to all cultures. To verify this hypothesis, this study will focus on comparing Greek and Japanese mythology through the princesses Medea and Pimiko. At first, these princesses might seem to have nothing in common, however after a thorough study, it is possible to see that they are similar in more ways than one. They are, however, not completely identical. This is because some cultural traits truly are unique to a given society. By studying these differences, it is possible to determine what is truly similar between two cultures. However, with the study of mythology, it is considered normal that some information is missing. This can be the result of two deciding factors. The first one is that this piece of information was destroyed at some point in time. The second one is that it never existed in any written form and simply disappeared. This second factor will be discussed at length in this paper.

Keyphrases: Medea, Greek mythology, Japanese mythology, Comparison
La noblesse castillane et la mer durant la Guerre de Cent ans : étude des récits de voyage du Victorial et du Canarien

The main purpose of this very text is to study the evolution of the French and Castilian nobilities at the end of the medieval ages through the manuscripts of the Victorial and the Canarian. The development of the nobility’s role is important to see the relationship of some nobles with the oceanic environment and the diplomatic impacts it had created at the beginning of the 15th century. Meanwhile, changes relatively to the relationship between nobility and royalty are also obvious, du to the disruption occasioned by the Hundred Years war. On the other hand, violence at sea also brings an interesting aspect to this study. It helps to understand the upcoming of new responsibilities to the nobles living on the coasts. Finally, the Victorial and the Canarian represent an important side of this work, not only because it shows the stylistic influence of the "amour courtois" literary movement, but also because they are posthumous testimony of the life of don Pero Niño and Jean de Béthencourt. All this proves that, even if the implication of nobles into major enterprises among the sea remains very limited, it is very clear that oceanic side becomes a new reality of war and political alliances at the end of the Middle Ages.

Keyphrases: Navigation, Nobility, Royalty, Chivalric values, Admiralty, Violence at sea, Privateering, Diplomacy, Piracy
Étude exploratoire des effets du vieillissement normal lors de tâches réalisées dans un environnement virtuel

Neuropsychological assessments can reveal cognitive changes in normal aging, most notably in the executive system. Moreover, virtual reality seems interesting to observe these changes due to its higher sensitivity and ecological validity. This study aims to understand how virtual tasks can affect both the cognitive workload and performances of elderly subjects, while considering their aptitude with technology. We compared performances of 14 young adults and 11 healthy elderly on standard neuropsychological tests of executive functions and on the Virtual Multitasking Test-2 (VMT-2), a 3D virtual apartment where the subjects must complete tasks similar to those done in everyday life. Descriptive analyses indicated there were no differences among the groups on many variables, such as: scholarship, state of depression and anxiety or cognitive status (Montreal Cognitive Assessment; MoCA). However, elderly subjects performed worse on standard tests (Color-Word Interference Test, Trail Making Test, Zoo Map Test), required more time in the VMT-2, completed less tasks, and reported being more cognitively overloaded as compared to younger ones. Correlation analyses revealed that to execute tasks in the VMT-2, one required processing speed, visual scanning, cognitive flexibility and action planning. We suggest that the difference in performances between the groups in the VMT-2 are related to aging and to the greater difficulties that the elderly experienced when interacting with the virtual environment.

Keyphrases: Virtual reality, Healthy aging, Cognitive functions, Executive functions, Cognitive workload, Mental workload, Clinical neuropsychology, Charge mentale
Étude de faisabilité portant sur l’évaluation de la production et de la compréhension du langage oral en français

Children learning French as a first language show morphosyntactic competence even before it is taught to them in elementary school (Marquis, Royle et al. 2012). School-aged French native speakers are also sensitive to semantic and morphosyntactic violations (Courteau, Royle et al. 2013). The purpose of this case study is to test the feasibility of using, in children with specific language impairment (SLI), two tests evaluating morphosyntactic production as well as semantic and morphosyntactic violation detection. We evaluated a five-year-old child without SLI who had completed kindergarten and an eight-year-old child with SLI who had completed his second year of elementary school, using a French “ passé compose ” (perfect past) verb production task (Marquis, Royle et al. 2012), and a semantic and morphosyntactic violation detection task in a visual auditory modality with noun phrases (Royle, 2010). Data analysis confirms the possibility of using these tasks with children who have SLI.

Keyphrases: Semantic violations, Morphosyntactic violations, Language acquisition, Specific language impairment
Validation d'une tâche de classement à l'intérieur du Virtual Multitasking Test (VMT-2) et effets du vieillissement normal

Normal aging is a natural process characterized by cognitive, functional and neuroanatomic changes. Executive functions (EF) are sensible to age effects. A dysfunction in this area is closely related to impairment in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). To date, traditional neuropsychological evaluation is the most widely used approach for cognitive assessment. However, its low ecological validity is often questioned. Virtual reality (VR) is presented as an interesting alternative because it evaluates the degree of functionality by reproducing more accurately real-life situations. The use of VR technology in the field of cognitive aging is still at its early stages. Thus, the objectives of this research were the following: (1) to differentiate healthy younger and older adults in a sorting task of the Virtual Multitasking Test (VMT-2) and (2) to study the validity of the sorting task regardless of participants’ age, on the one hand, and by controlling for age effect on the other hand. The final sample size (n = 25) included 14 “younger adults” participants and 11 “older adults” participants. Results suggest that elderly took more time to complete the task than younger adults. Significant correlations were also found between VMT-2 measures and performance on neuropsychological measures, especially on executive functioning. However, nuances must be made when we consider the age effect. In conclusion, VMT-2 seems to be a valid tool for cognitive and functional assessment in normal aging. Future research should investigate its utilization with elderly at risk of developing a neurocognitive disorder. This can promote early intervention and thus help maintain functional independence.

Keyphrases: Normal aging, Executive functions, Virtual reality, Neuropsychological evaluation
Trouble de stress post-traumatique chez des travailleurs humanitaires de retour de mission : vers une meilleure identification des facteurs de risque et de protection

Humanitarian aid workers (HAW) are defined as the personnel of non-profit aid agencies that provide material and technical assistance in humanitarian relief contexts. Literature suggests that HAW are repeatedly exposed to various sources of stress, including potentially traumatic events (PTE). As a result, they are at high risk of developing mental health problems, including elevated risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The aim of the current thesis project is to expand our current knowledge on the different sources of stress encountered during a humanitarian mission and on the predictors of PTSD within an application of the diathesis-stress model to traumatic stress in a sample of 248 expatriate HAW back from a mission for less than a year. A first study focuses on the development and validation of a self-administered questionnaire measuring the level of chronic stress experienced by the HAW during a humanitarian mission. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to explore the underlying structure of the 22-item scale and results supported a two-factor structure, corresponding to operational and organizational stress, as proposed in the literature. The psychometrics properties of the scale were analyzed and the findings indicated the CSQ-HAW was a reliable and valid measure of chronic stress encountered by HAW while on the field. The CSQ-HAW significantly correlated with general stress and both posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms. In addition to identifying the most frequent sources of stress and quantifying the degree of stress associated with each stressor, this new instrument may serve as a meaningful tool in screening and preventing psychological distress in HAW. A second study intend to expand the current knowledge on predictors of PTSD within an application of diathesis-stress model to traumatic stress in a sample of 248 expatriate HAW back from a mission for less than a year. More specifically, this study aims to determine the prevalence rate of PTSD and examine the predictive relationship of exposure to PTE, chronic stress, dissociation, Type D personality, social and organizational support on PTSD symptomatology among expatriate HAW. In our sample, 15.8% of HAW reported levels of PTSD symptoms indicative of a PTSD diagnosis. The proposed model accounted for a large portion of the variance (45.0%) in PTSD symptomatology scores. Chronic stress accounted for the largest proportion of PTSD unique variance, followed by dissociation, indirect and indirect exposure to PTEs, and finally social and organizational support. One significant interaction effect was detected between sex and direct exposure to PTEs. Results will be shared with NGO in order to provide them with potential ways to develop specific interventions suitable for their workers.

Keyphrases: Stress, Validation, Humanitarian Aid Workers, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Stress, Etiology, Risk factors, Gender differences, Hierarchical regression, Scale construction, Factor Analysis
Négocier la domination autoritaire au Soudan : développement participatif et dynamiques de pouvoir dans la province du Nord Kordofan

In 1989, a coup launched by a coalition of Islamists and military officers implemented a new authoritarian regime in Sudan. Existing theories of authoritarian resilience are unable to fully explain why this regime, which is characterized by its internal instability, has endured for twenty-eight years. The pervasiveness of repression and the repeated failures of the regime in terms of development are especially puzzling. By analyzing the implementation of a policy of participatory development in the province of North Kordofan, the dissertation demonstrates that development does not contribute to authoritarian resilience only when it bears results, but also through its discourses and practices. Launched in 2013, the Renaissance of North Kordofan is based on participatory devices that enable local authorities to extend their power upon the population, while using simultaneously a depoliticizing discourse that portrays the initiative as consensual. This discourse conceals how dissenting voices are silenced and how various vested interests are at play within the projects. It especially makes it possible to avoid talking about the central government’s responsibility in the current economic situation of North Kordofan, even though the government is indeed taking part in the Renaissance. Popular participation is channeled by local authorities to push the central state to fund the initiative. Through this mechanism, a win/win relationship between the two governance levels is implemented, since participation is also a pacification strategy, mitigating the potential threat of popular insatisfaction. The dissertation thus demonstrate that this local development policy contributes to entrench the authoritarian regime. In doing so, it brings new insights about the multidimensional aspect of authoritarian power, which is not exercised nor experienced the same way in all the areas that are subjected to it.

Keyphrases: Authoritarianism, Resilience, Participatory development, Local authorities, Sudan, North Kordofan
L'imaginaire de l'arbre dans le Zhuangzi

The present study delineates the meanings and the specificity of the imaginary of the tree in the Zhuangzi, a proto-Daoist work co-written by multiple authors beginning in the 4th century BCE. The tree imaginary evinces the Zhuangzi’s novelty by presenting a vision of wisdom radically opposed to the prevailing values of the time. Indeed, its principal function is to restore the status of nature vis-à-vis culture. More precisely, the tree imaginary gives expression to the struggle against anthropocentrism by advocating a return to the human being’s natural, instinctive, and authentic qualities – over and against specifically human creations.  In the aim of de-compartmentalizing different ways of philosophizing, the present study bases its theoretical framework on the work of Gilbert Durand, particularly Les structures anthropologiques de l’imaginaire and L’imagination symbolique. Durand restores the imagination’s place in the field of philosophy by destroying the ostensible dichotomy between rationality and the imaginary. He defines the latter as a dialectical activity of the mind as well as the main factor in achieving psycho-social equilibrium.  The Zhuangzi’s tree imaginary calls into question the moral rules governing society as well as discursive logic. The authors criticize the former because they run counter to natural impulses ; the latter, because it produces oppositions that fail to account for reality. The tree also evokes the free blossoming of the natural particularities of each person, a process which goes hand in hand with the acceptance and encouragement of difference. This free flourishing becomes possible only if one transforms the way one regards one’s environment and oneself so as to recognize the value of each being above and beyond one’s own perspective. In other words, this process – designated here by the term “plural vision” – implies embracing and comprehending a plurality of perspectives. Lastly, the tree points to the ultimate stage of wisdom, i.e., mystical strolling, understood as an inner experience of emptying oneself in order to put oneself in unison with the constitutive emptiness of the Dao 道, the immanent generative, transformative, and unifying principle of all things. This experience must be understood in terms of feeling an inner emptiness that is fully free and joyful.   Insofar as the tree illustrates nature par excellence, the present study’s originality consists in revealing the proto-ecological import of the Zhuangzi by bringing out a conceptual kinship among the key themes of the tree imaginary and the aim of better adapting the human being to the environment. Indeed, by completely opposing anthropocentrism and the instrumental vision of nature, the principal themes of the Zhuangzi’s tree lay out a bio-centric vision that can foster a way of being and acting in harmony with nature.

Keyphrases: Zhuangzi, Chinese philosophy, Imaginaire, Imagination, Nature, Mysticism, Philosophy, Tree
Sélection de modèles robuste : régression linéaire et algorithme à sauts réversibles

Model selection and parameter estimation are two main aspects of statistical analysis. This thesis discusses these aspects from a Bayesian point of view via three papers. The first one deals with a computational procedure, named the reversible jump algorithm, that allows to simultaneously select models and estimate parameters. This sampler being difficult to tune in practice, we aim at providing guidelines to users for an optimal implementation. An optimally tuned sampler corresponds to a sampler that generates Markov chains that optimally explore their state space. Our goal is achieved through the optimisation of a stochastic process that corresponds to the limit (in distribution) of the sequence of stochastic processes engendered by the algorithm. In the second paper, a strategy leading to robust estimation of the parameters of a linear regression model in presence of outliers is presented. The strategy is to make assumptions that are more adapted to the eventual presence of outliers, compared with the traditional model assuming normality of errors. This normality assumption is indeed replaced by a super heavy-tailed distribution assumption. Robustness, which is represented by the convergence of the posterior distribution of the parameters (based on the whole sample) towards that arising from the nonoutliers only, is guaranteed when the number of outliers does not exceed a given threshold. Finally, the results presented in the first two papers are combined to introduce a Bayesian robust principal component regression approach that involves model selection in the prediction process. The characteristics of this approach contribute to increase the accuracy of the predictions produced.

Keyphrases: Bayesian inference, Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, Outliers, Principal component analysis, Random walk Metropolis algorithm, Robustness, Super heavy-tailed distributions
La profession d'interprète Langue des signes québécoise-français : vers un profil de sortie de la formation

The profession of interpreting between Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) and French has yet to be formally recognized in Quebec, and employees working in this field are not required to have any specific training. Many studies have indicated a general dissatisfaction among users, employers, and even interpreters themselves regarding the skill level within the profession. In the field of education, competency-based learning aims to make training an integral part of professional practice. When designing curriculum using a competency-based approach, the exit profile should be the first point of order. This profile includes the full list of competencies that students should have acquired during their studies. The aim of this thesis, which combines qualitative and applied research, was to establish an exit profile for professional training in LSQ-French interpretation. This was done by gathering and dissecting best practices in professional interpretation through group interviews with three groups: interpreters, Deaf people, and employers. The data was analysed using an inductive approach to identify the professional activities of interpreters and the dedicated resources that these require. Based on the results, the theoretical framework, and survey obtained expert recommendations, this thesis proposes an exit profile consisting of eight principal competencies, associated in turn with a set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes. It ultimately suggests that a program inspired by this exit profile be designed and implemented using a program based approach. This would address the dissatisfaction expressed by interpreters, employers, and the Deaf community and facilitate professionalization in the interpreting field.

Keyphrases: LSQ, Curriculum, Competency-based approach, Didactic transposition, Interpreting, Exit profile, Deaf