NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
L’harmonisation du droit d’asile dans l’Union Européenne : de Tampere à Stockholm

This thesis relates to the right of asylum in the European Union. It is not only a legislative analysis on the implementation of the Common European Asylum System  as a consequence of the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice by the Amsterdam Treaty, but also it is an assessment of the harmonization level that this Common European Asylum System has reached within the EU, and finally it is an appraisal of the relationship between  the implementation of this Common European Asylum System  on one side and the respect for human rights of asylum seekers and international protection seekers  by Member States and by the Community on the other side.

Keyphrases: Asylum, European Union, Common European Asylum System (CEAS), Harmonization of Legislation, Human Rights, International Protection
Notions d'éthique dans la brevetabilité des inventions : une étude de droit comparé

Patent law has for primary goals to promote new tehnological and industrial developments. However, patent law has been currently confronted to some questioning about its role raised particulary by the new advancement made in biotechnologies. Difficult fondamental questions must be addressed at different levels: socialy, moraly and legaly. Following these obersvations, the question to answer, in this study, is whether regulation should be more significant by taking into account some moral and ethical considerations in the process of patentability.  The goal of this study is to compare and estimate the various solutions provided by Europe, the USA and Canada, to determine what could be the answer of that problematic. For exemple, in this context, we can point out the European approach, where the EPC and the Directive of the European Parliamment on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions (98/44/CE) seem to introduce ethical notions in their legislation. Such approach brings elements which can be discribed as indistinct and progressive in a process apparently defined as technical. But if we take the North American approach, its patentability critea are not based on any moral consideration. So by analysing these elements, an approach could be defined to a more appropriate patent legislation fitting the actual necessities.

Keyphrases: Europe, Canada, Intellectual property, Patent, Ethics, United States
Analyse des réponses neuronales du cortex visuel primaire du chat à la fréquence spatiale suite à des adaptations répétées

Primary visual cortex neurons in adult cat are selective to different image properties as orientation, contrast and spatial frequency. This selectivity is characterized by action potentials as electrical activity from the visual neurons. This response occurs during the presentation of a luminous bar in the receptive fields of the neurons. Spatial frequency is the amount of luminous bars in a grating presented from a precise distance from the eyes and is measured in cycles per degree. Furthermore, it was establish until recently that cortical organisation in the adult remains inflexible following the critical period after birth. However, our results have revealed that spatial frequency selectivity is able to change after an imposition of a non-preferred spatial frequency, also called adapter. Following cortical activity recordings, there is a shift of the spatial frequency tuning curves in the direction of the adapter. A second adaptation at the same non-preferred spatial frequency produced a different neural response from the first adaptation. This “short-term plasticity” was already observed in the primary visual cortex for orientation selective neurons but not yet for spatial frequency. The results presented in this study suggest that such plasticity is possible and that visual neurons regulate their electrical responses through modulation of the weights of their synaptic afferences.

Keyphrases: Area 17, Cat, Grating, Multiunit recordings, Primary visual cortex, Receptive field, Repetitive adaptation, Short-term plasticity, Spatial frequency, Tuning curve
Justice pour les crimes contre l’humanité et génocides : point de vue et attentes des victimes

Human rights violations cause thousands of victims every year. Justice mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court, have been developed to respond to these crimes, but victims remain under consulted. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Rwandan and Cambodian victims of crimes against humanity. Using social justice theories as a theoretical framework, this study examines victims’ perceptions of justice. The results show that while criminal justice is central in victims’ definition of justice, reparation and truth also are essential components. However, the criminal court’s ability to achieve truth is criticized by respondents creating a gap between the truth that they seek and the truth that they obtain. The quality of decision-making as well as how victims are treated also contribute to victims’ perception of justice. However, victims’ justice objectives vary according to the social and historic context.

Keyphrases: justice post-conflit, Rwanda, victims, crimes against humanity, international criminal justice, post-conflict justice, procedural justice, distributive justice, Cambodia, justice distributive
Obstacles à la persévérance scolaire d’adultes ayant des problèmes d’apprentissage lors de leur passage à l’éducation des adultes

In Quebec, there are many adults whithout a highschool diploma. Among them, several have learning disabilities. Few researches adress the question of their participation to adult education programs. The purpose of this study is to identify the barriers faced by adults with learning disabilities when participating in the public adult  education system. In this qualitive study, twelve learning-disabled adults between the age 18-50 were interviewed. From the analyses of these interviews we observed that the most frequently cited obstacles are dispositionnal and institutionnal. Interpreting these results leads us to conclude that the adjustment and diversification of the institutionnal practices  in the adult education system could increase school perseverance and success among adults with learning disabilities.

Keyphrases: Adults, Learning disabilities, Adult education, School perseverance
Préparation d'échantillons pour l'étude par GISAXS des mécanismes de déformation des matériaux par faisceaux d'ions lourds de haute énergie

The machanisms underlying structural deformations following swift heavy ion beam a-Si irradiation are subject of debate. We investigated the hypothesis of the presence of a liquid phase in the wake of the energetic ions in the thermal spike framework. a-Si samples were prepared in order to track a transient liquid phase by implanting Cu or Ag on the a-Si surface and exposing the sample to a 70 MeV Ag12+ beam. Cu and Ag are both very sensitive to segregation in Si and are therefore thought to be capable of keeping track of a molten transient state by concentrating on the ion track. Samples are to be investigated with GISAXS. Nanoscale implantation masks were developed from nanoporous alumina membranes in order to impose a pattern on the ion impact sites and thus improve GISAXS sensitivitity. An alignment method is also developed for the positioning of pores parallel to the ion beam direction. A nearly equidistant impact sites pattern was achieved by irradiating fused silica through these implantation masks.

Keyphrases: Heavy ion, thermal spike, Structural deformation, Segregation, Phase transition, Traces liquides, Liquid track, Alumine, Alumina, Anodisation, Anodisation
Danse, film, théâtre : une exploration de la collaboration créative entre la musique et les arts de nature visuelle

Université de Montréal's Film and Multimedia Music Composition program encourages the creation of three compositions in differing styles: acoustic, electro-acoustic, and mixed. These compositions each support a visual project. A choreography, two short films and a theatrical piece were created in a collaborative effort to explore the range and diversity of visual media. An acoustic score played by a small ensemble was used for the choreography X/Y. Both acoustic and digital instruments were used in recording sessions for the score of the two short films Mi Feng and Motel Pluton. The score for L'Araignée, the theatrical piece, is electro-acoustic, using samples, audio files, and digital signal processing (DSP).

Keyphrases: Film, Soundtrack, Short film, Choreography, Contemporary dance, Theater, Film scoring
Banque mondiale et développement. Pertinences scientifiques des discours et pratiques de développement de la Banque mondiale dans les PED des années 80 à nos jours

 « Our days, Samoff and Carrol note, the World Bank must be considered at the same time as a bank, an agency of development and an institute of research” (2004, p9). The institution of Bretton Woods indeed became in particular within the framework of the development of the Developing Countries, at the same time “ a bank of loan” and a “bank of knowing”. « The laboratory of ideas on the most significant development in the world”, Wilks and Lefrançois (2002) specify.  Ideological and financial partner for the development of the Developing Countries, the World Bank is in addition also, an important figure of world predominance today;  in the landscape of the contemporary international economic relations, a true super power. And so the programs of development which it professes and implements in the Developing Countries, are there also the speeches and practical development dominant.  But this speech of development of the World Bank in the Developing Countries, in addition to it is the dominant ideology of the development there, wants to be an erudite speech also: a body of knowledge of development of scholarship, which in its formulation as in its contents, asserts the membership of a certain rationality, aims at a certain “scientificity”. Therefore, the question which organizes the present thesis is as follows: is the program of development which the World Bank intends for the Developing Countries, for as much rational and reasonable? In other words: which scientific and moral credit this program can enjoy; of which coherence, of which realism, and which social adequacy, can be prevailed such a system of thoughts and actions of development? But to question the epistemological cogency of the PDBM in the Developing Countries, also amounts questioning this position of predominance which the World Bank in these countries occupies. Also we also wonder: this capacity of authority of the World Bank in the Developing Countries, does it draw its legitimacy from a rational base? Can it in this direction resist a critical examination  who wants to be rational?  The feeling which animates us here and which is also the general assumption that this work of thesis tries to validate, is that with good of regards the PDBM enracine rather in a knowingly founded and maintained ideological confusion, that in a rational step convincing, able to resist criticism. Here as in other similar registers, it could be well that indeed, like Gilbert Rist writes it, “the truth or orthodoxy hardly depends on the contents of the speech but rather of the capacity of that which manages to impose it.” (2003)

Keyphrases: World Bank, Developping countries, Development policies, Virtual Development
Le financement public de l’enseignement supérieur et ses impacts au Pérou : une analyse longitudinale (1993 – 2003)

This research deals with public financing of higher education in Peru and its impacts in a longitudinal perspective. It covers a ten-year period from 1993 to 2003. This period is important since this country witnessed major changes in public financing of higher education and in the configuration of its higher education system. The research is based mainly in secondary analyses of relevant data published by national as well as international agencies. Analyses are conducted within an input-output scheme. Financial and human resources (professors and students) are considered inputs, and graduation rates (internal effectiveness) and market labour demands as outputs (external effectiveness). Dependency theory is used as framework for the interpretation of the relationships between public financing and institutional responses and its consequences. In the period considered, public financing diminished by 32% resulting from a progressive disengagement of the State. A major consequence of this disengagement was the rapid growth of the private sector of higher education. While in 1993 there were 24 private institutions of higher education, ten years later there were 46 institutions. The decline in public financing and the growth of the private sector of higher education had measurable consequences on selectivity rates, professorial status, research involvement, and graduation rates. Selectivity rates in the period considered increased in public institutions but decreased in the private ones. Thus the public sector reacted to the decline in financing by becoming more selective; the private sector responded to the increase in selectivity in the public sector by decreasing its rates which translates into a higher student market share. Also, in both sectors, professors are hired on a part-time basis which impacts on participation to academic life and on research production. Moreover, universities, both public and private, favoured applied contractual research as a means of gaining alternative funding to compensate for scarce financial resources. Paradoxically, whereas in the private sector selectivity rates diminished in the decade considered, graduation rates increased and so more than in the public sector. Finally, training programs with higher enrolments in both public and private sectors are those which require less investment in infrastructure and equipments without consideration of societal relevancy. This research reveals that higher education organisations which face an environment with diminishing financial resources devise survival strategies which might have a negative impact on the quality and relevance of higher education.

Keyphrases: Higher education, public financing, Peru, internal effectiveness, external effectiveness, resource dependency theory, selectivity, graduation rates
L’élaboration d’un langage musical basé sur la musique traditionnelle québécoise et influencé par les musiques savantes

This work explains and elaborates the artistic approach of a composer that works primarily with traditional Quebec music and wishes to give momentum to his work by inspiring himself with the jazz and classical idiom. It is divided in three chapters in which pieces of the traditional repertoire and of the classical and jazz repertoires are analyzed in detail. The first chapter describes works of Joseph Allard, Louis « Pitou » Boudreault, Jos Bouchard, and Aimé Gagnon and aims at defining some stylistic elements specific to Quebec's traditional style. The second chapter addresses the pieces Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson and Waltz for Debby by Bill Evans and explores a jazz in balance between conservatism and innovation. The third chapter deals with original approaches to modality through the analysis of two musical pieces rich in variations: Pagodes by Claude Debussy and Ostinato by Béla Bartók. The fourth chapter presents my own creative process.

Keyphrases: Composition, Reel, Jazz, Folklore, Moderne, Creative process, Folk, Traditional music, Quebec, Analysis, Classical, Bill Evans, Bélà Bartók, Claude Debussy, Oliver Nelson, Louis Boudreault, Jos Bouchard, Aimé Gagnon, Joseph Allard
Rôle de GPR40 dans la survie et la prolifération cellulaires induites par l’oléate dans les cellules de cancer du sein MDA-MB-231 et de cancer de la prostate DU145

The relationship between obesity and cancer, although established by epidemiological studies, remains relatively unknown. However, about 25 % of cancers could be attributed to obesity. Among cancers that are affected by obesity, colon cancer, post-menopausal breast cancer and prostate cancer are the more frequent. Studies on animal models have suggested a positive association between high fat diets and de development of mammary and prostate cancer.   We have studied the molecular mechanisms by which fatty acids influence breast and prostate cancer cells fate. This work has shown that unsaturated fatty acids, including oleate, can induce cellular proliferation while saturated fatty acids, including palmitate, reduce proliferation. An oleate treatment stimulates lipid droplets formation in the cytoplasm of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and prostate cancer cells DU145 while a palmitate treatment induces apoptosis. The action mechanism of oleate on proliferation was studied more closely. Using pharmacological inhibitors, we determine that oleate-induced cell proliferation involves PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, ERK1/2 signaling pathway and the activation of one or many G protein coupled receptor(s) (GPCR). Oleate induces rapid Akt and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and prostate cancer cells DU145.   In the last few years, two GPCRs were identified as being activated by medium and long chain fatty acids, GPR40 and GPR120. GPR40 being expressed in many breast and prostate cancer cell lines while GPR120 expression was null in most cell lines tested, we studied the role of GPR40 in oleate-induced proliferation. Human epithelial mammary cells in primary culture did not express GPR40 nor GPR120 and failed to respond to oleate-induced cell proliferation or activation of signaling pathways. Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways activation by oleate in MDA-MB-231 and DU145 cells is potentiated by GPR40 over-expression and inhibited by the use of an siRNA directed against that receptor. However, oleate-induced cell proliferation does not seem to be affected by the presence of the siRNA directed against GPR40. Oleate being a fatty acid, it can enter cells freely by crossing the plasma membrane and part of its effects on proliferation could be attributed to its metabolism. A GPR40 agonist, GW9508, is able to activate GPR40 without entering the cells nor activating oleate’s metabolism. GW9508 stimulates Akt and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and prostate cancer cells DU145, but does not induce cell proliferation as does oleate.   These results help us to understand the action mechanism of oleate in breast and prostate cancer cells. Oleate induces GPR40 signalization which is involved in the rapid Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways activation. On the other hand, oleate-induced cell proliferation is carried out by a GPR40-independent mechanism, possibly linked to oleate’s metabolism.

Keyphrases: Akt, Cancer, ERK1/2, GPR40, Oleate, Proliferation
Téléphone, phonographe et radio : l'imaginaire sonore entre textualité et reproduction technique

This thesis focuses on sound reproduction devices (telephone, phonograph and radio) that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These aural technologies brought forth a new social and cultural context in which hearing became a distinctive characteristic of modern communication. But more importantly, they present new figures which translate different modalities of technological mediation. Technical means to inscribe, preserve, and broadcast matter are embedded socially in a constellation of institutions, practices and discourses ; they also configure particular relations that present a singular worldview that literary thought articulates. Understanding the unfolding of modern sound technologies and how we embody them calls for a critical account of a cordoned off visualist imaginary that accompanies technocultural analysis. This study takes up this question by elaborating a concept which encompasses the imaginary intertwined with sound reproduction media. The telephone, the phonograph and radio use a device called a « transducer ». By conceiving this specific object’s tropological and material structure, I argue that this transduction apparatus presents a new interpretative model that conveys the resonance of modern auditory cultural productions.

Keyphrases: Transduction, Transduction, Literature, Technologie, Technology, Son, Sound, Reproduction, Reproduction
La représentation sociale des soins palliatifs chez un groupe de professionels de CLSC

In the present social context, the identification and the comprehension of palliative care workers representations is at the base of their professional education and behaviours as well as of the many changes occurring in health care institutions. The aim of the present research is to describe and better comprehend the representations of a group of health care professionals working in a continuum of palliative care services in the Quebec health care and social services network. It is also to propose educational and organizational interventions in order to bring workers closer to the palliative care philosophy. Semi directed interviews and a content analysis revealed a large variety of representations that were both similar and different in each group as well as in the different groups. Many different meanings were given to each theme explored.  The health care workers palliative care representations contain a variety of highly practical knowings and knowledges that bring together a vast majority of common sense meanings. One point is crucial: palliative care philosophy education should be at the base of palliative care interventions. The education content should take into account the multiple non scientific and ambiguous components of daily work in a palliative care settings since they are part of the process conducting to the appropriation of the palliative care philosophy.

Keyphrases: representations sociales, continuum de services, social representations, socio constructivism, palliative care, health care workers, professional practivce, local community health centres, continuum of services