NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Characterizing the Expression of Cytochrome P450s in Breast Cancer Cells

Several types of cancer cells have shown an innate or accute resistance to anti-cancer agents which in turn causes a failure in treatment. This resistance has been suggested to be caused by the expression of membrane transporters in cancer cells, as well as inter-individual variability in metabolism. Our interest was to evaluate the implication of CYP450 enzymes in the local metabolism of cancer cells. Our first objective was to screen the expression level of six housekeeping genes (HKG) using 23 different cell lines to determine which gene was the most stable. We found that NUP-214 was the most stable HKG across the panel of cell lines tested, with a standard deviation of only 0.55 Ct. Our second objective was to determine the expression level of 19 CYP450 mRNA isoforms in various breast cancer cell lines by RT-PCR. The CYP450 mRNAs showed a large variability between the different cell lines analyzed, where CYP1B1 and 2J2 were strongly expressed in most cell lines. Our third objective was to determine if measurable metabolic activity was present and correlates with mRNA expression in these same breast cancer cell lines using the specific substrates 7-ethoxyresorufin and ebastine for CYP1B1 and 2J2 activities, respectively. The metabolism of 7-ethoxyresorufin showed an excellent correlation of 0.98 with CYP1B1 expression while ebastine demonstrates a strong correlation (r2=0.99) with 2J2 expression. Overall, these results suggest that local metabolism of anti-cancer agents could significantly affect drug disposition and be a source of chemoresistance.

Keyphrases: Cytochromes P450, Cytochrome P450, Breast cancer, Chemotherapy resistance, Drug metabolism, Intersubject variability
Towards the identification of a neighbourhood park typology : a conceptual and methodological exploration

Few studies have characterized park features that may be appealing for youth physical activity (PA). This study assesses the reliability of a youth-oriented direct-observation park assessment tool; identifies park domains captured by the tool using an operationalized conceptual model of parks and PA, and identifies distinct park types.  576 parks were audited using a park observation tool; intra- and inter-rater reliability were estimated. Exploratory principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted and variables were retained if they loaded at 0.3 or higher. A cluster analysis (CA) was conducted using the principal components and park area. The tool was found to be reliable and PCA yielded ten principal components explaining 60% of the total variance. The CA yielded a nine-cluster outcome explaining 40% of the total variance. PCA and CA were found to be feasible methods to use with park data. The operationalization of the conceptual model helped interpret these results.

Keyphrases: Cohorte QUALITY, QUALITY Cohort, Parks, Youth physical activity, Built environment, Park audit tool, Reliability, Exploratory principal component analysis, Cluster analysis
La formation continue à distance des enseignants du secondaire au Bénin : réalités et perspectives

This study focuses on the relevance and feasibility using Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for in-service training of qualified teachers of secondary general public school in Republic of Benin through a distance education program. There were two specific objectives: the identification and analysis of in-service training needs of teachers and the study of administrative procedures, educational and technological development of such a program in the context of Republic of Benin. The population of the study was made up of    1 488 qualified teachers and a sample of 278 teachers representing them in general secondary public education of the Republic of Benin. The research was conducted on the basis of the implementation of two types of questionnaire. We used the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) to generate a data bank for designing a questionnaire to collect information from qualified teachers, and three questionnaires based on the Delphi Technique were submitted to 13 experts from the Beninese education system. It was found that a future in-service training program on distance education for secondary school teachers should include mainly the following three themes, in order of priority:  1. Information Technologies and Communications; 2. Teaching methods; 3. Specific subject areas.  Experts from the Beninese education system used the Delphi Technique and established a list of 23 items corresponding to the administrative procedures, and teaching techniques for the implementation of training. Analysis of the results of the Delphi technique and the answers of the questionnaire to teachers showed that the use/integration of a variety of media to transmit knowledge and support learning is very necessary. The results of the research also showed that teachers in general secondary education need continuing education which can be facilitated by the use of distance education with the aid of ICT. An organizational model of in-service training based on the use of ICT has been suggested.

Keyphrases: West africa, Subsaharan africa, Needs analysis, Training, Teachers skills, ICT
La collaboration des parents de minorités visibles avec les services de la protection de la jeunesse : le rôle du soutien informel parental et des compétences de l’intervenant

This research is in response to the overrepresentation of visible minority families in the Montreal child welfare system. It explores, from the perspective of the practitioner, the role of the practitioner's cultural competencies and of informal parental support in developing collaborative relationships. The analysis looks at data from 24 individual interviews, during which practitioners described 48 different interventions. The results propose a typology based on the collaboration of parents and the involvement of their informal network in the intervention. The practitioners provide a description of the competencies and how they are used with typology profiles. The discussion evokes the concept of social resilience, intervention strategies and social constructionism. Three outcomes result from this research : a view of collaboration that expands on the informal network, a questioning of cultural competencies, and the development of a reflective practice.

Keyphrases: Child welfare, Cultural competence, Recherche qualitative, Qualitative research, Collaboration, Social support
Les origines biologiques de la musique

Music is a universal and ubiquitous human behaviour, but it is still largely ignored by anthropology. While music is well characterised at proximate levels of explanation, the question of their evolutionary origins remains relatively unexplored. Nevertheless, any attempts to explain this phenomena needs to investigate its potential adaptive significance and phylogeny This project consists of an attempt to define music in terms of universals, of a interspecific comparison of the phenomena and of a summary of the phylogenetic history of musical behaviour as well as an analysis of two theories on origins of music (Miller, 2000 ; Mithen, 2006). Their predictions will be confronted to empirical data from a large array of disciplines to evaluate their scientific value. The analysis of the data available allows to produce an inventory of cognitive, structural, emotional, functional and symbolic music universals and to identify certain biological bases of the phenomena. Several evolutionist mechanisms, including natural selection, sexual selection, group selection and kin selection, have been employed by several authors to explain the emergence of music. It seems that music played an important role in the parent-infant relationship throughout evolution, as well as in social cohesion, coordination of social activities and formation of group identity. Regarding the two models analysed in this research, their comparison allows us to conclude that they are mutually exclusive and only discuss part of the musical invariants. In the end, an evolutionary framework that synthesizes and reconciles these hypotheses is proposed.

Keyphrases: Music, Evolution, Anthropology
Les carrefours de la composition. De la musique comme art de la scène

This thesis examines the theme of performing a composition of contemporary music on the stage. The research takes as its basis multiple composition projects putting the idea of music as a performing art at the forefront. Each piece submitted integrates, at different levels, the notion of on-stage performance as a compositional parameter. The first part of this document examines the concepts of the “surroundings” of a piece, compositional processes as metaphors, music and speech interaction, musical references, possible encounters between the body, playacting and objects. The second part of the thesis analyses four compositions. By examining the artistic approach and diverse processes used in these pieces, we will follow the evolution of the theme in its many variations. More generally, this thesis suggests different ways in which the semantic potential of contemporary music can be expanded. List of pieces submitted : Les chiens (2005), Pan-toutt (2007), La Fugue (2007), Quelque composée qu’elle soit (2008), Only When the Tide Goes Out Do You Know Who Has Been Swimming Naked (2009), Bungalopolis (2010), Renaissance (2011). Keywords : contemporary music, compositional parameters, compositional processes, performing arts, theatricalization, theatrical conventions.

Keyphrases: conventions théâtrales, contemporary music, compositional parameters, compositional processes, performing arts, theatricalization, theatrical conventions
Reconceptualisation encyclopédique du corps cyborg dans les textes d’Élisabeth Vonarburg et de Catherine Dufour

The cyborg is an avatar of what science fiction can produce as a territory where heuristics of gender identities are developed. In her Cyborg Manifesto, Donna Haraway reveals the potential of discursive liberty provided by the cyborg’s narrative figure. It appears to me that since its fictionalization as well as its theorization throughout the 1980’s and the 1990’s, the cyborg has evolved within science fiction. Élisabeth Vonarburg’s Le Silence de la Cité and Catherine Dufour’s Le Goût de l’immortalité present characters whose cyborg nature explores questions of humankind’s identities through a certain writing affected by technology. My study of these writing processes is conducted through the analysis of gender. This allows me to better understand the ever-changing fictionalization of the cyborgs found within Vonarburg’s and Dufour’s work. These cyborgs deconstruct the borders of traditional binarist systems by experimenting the trans-genders and trans-species possibilities their excentric bodies enable. As fantasized representations of desires otherwise unmentionable, the science fictional cyborgs attest the inherent uneasiness of couples such as man/woman, human/animal or organic/artificial.

Keyphrases: Cyborg, Catherine Dufour, Élisabeth Vonarburg, Donna Haraway, Science fiction, Cyborg, Catherine Dufour, Élisabeth Vonarburg, Donna Haraway, Cyborg writing, Xenoencyclopedia, Gender identity, Body, Sexuality
Morphologic evaluation of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm by 3D modeling

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is defined as a dilatation of the abdominal aorta exceeding the normal diameter by more than 50%. The standard and widely used approach to assess AAA size is by measuring the maximal diameter (Dmax). Currently, the main predictors of rupture risk are the Dmax, sex, and the expansion rate of the aneurysm. Yet, Dmax has some limitations. AAAs of vastly different shapes may have the same maximal diameter. Dmax lacks sensitivity for rupture risk, especially among smaller AAAs. Thus, there is a need to evaluate the susceptibility of a given AAA to rupture on a patient-specific basis. We present the design concept and workflow of the AAA segmentation software developed at our institution. We describe the previous validation steps in which we evaluated the reproducibility of manual Dmax, compared software Dmax against manual Dmax, validated reproducibility of software Dmax and volume in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies for detection of AAA growth, and evaluated the reproducibility of software measurements in unenhanced computed tomographic angiography (CTA) and in the presence of stent-graft.  In order to define new geometric features associated with rupture, we performed a case-control study in which we compared 63 cases with ruptured or symptomatic AAA and 94 controls with asymptomatic AAA. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed 14 geometric indices associated with AAA rupture. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, adjusting for Dmax and sex, the AAA with a higher bulge location and higher mean averaged surface area were associated with AAA rupture.  Our preliminary results suggest that incorporating geometrical indices obtained by segmentation of CT shows a trend toward improvement of the classification accuracy of AAA with high rupture risk at CT over a traditional model based on Dmax and sex alone.  Larger longitudinal studies are needed to verify the validity of the proposed model. Addition of flow and biomechanical simulations should be investigated to improve rupture risk prediction based on AAA modeling.

Keyphrases: Aorta, Aortic rupture, Abdominal aortic aneurysm, Quantitative analysis, Diameter, Volume, Three-Dimensional imaging, Segmentation, CT angiography, Humans, Analyse quantitative, Volume, Segmentation
Les récepteurs 5-HT4b adoptent différentes conformations ligand-spécifique ayant des 
propriétés de signalisation et de régulation distinctes

Antidepressants currently available are very similar toward their mechanism of action and are more or less effective. One major problem is their long latency to provide a therapeutic effect due to adaptations of pre and post synaptic locations. In an animal model, we recently discovered that the agonist RS67333 of the 5-HT4 receptors was able to produce in three days the same antidepressant effects that normally take two to three weeks to appear with the currently available antidepressants. In addition, we found that the antidepressant effects of this agonist had a resistance to tolerance. There are others agonists of the same receptor such as prucalopride, which does not produce antidepressant effects as RS67333. Since the effectiveness of prucalopride to stimulate 5-HT4Rs is similar if not greater than RS67333, we stated the hypothesis that the 5-HT4 receptor could adopt different active conformations following its activation by various agonists. We decided to explore the major functional responses of 5-HT4B by observing their regulatory and signaling properties.  We showed that the B isoform of the 5-HT4, being highly expressed in the limbic system, has a different signaling and regulation depending on the ligand. Our results indicate that each of the agonists tested (5-HT, RS67333, ML10302, Zacopride, Prucalopride) distinctively modulate cAMP production and receptor internalization. The results have clearly identified that agonists differed in potency and efficacy. Moreover, the order of effectiveness of agonists to modulate the cAMP pathway was (prucalopride> zacopride = 5-HT = ML10302> RS67333) different from their order of effectiveness in inducing receptor regulation by internalization (5-HT> Zacopride> Prucalopride> RS67333 = ML10302). Thus, we have shown that 5-HT4Rs adopt conformations that are ligand-specific. This implies that functional selectivity is an important factor in the mechanisms of antidepressant action of this receptor agonists.

Keyphrases: 5-HT4 receptors, EPAC, 5-HT, RS67333, ML10302, Zacopride, Prucalopride, depression, antidepressants, tolerance, cAMP, desensitization, internalization
Arès dans le quotidien des Grecs à travers l'épigraphie

This study talks about the god of war for the ancient Greeks, Ares.  The historical community asserts that Ares was a god of second order and unloved by the Greeks of this period.  Investigations of historians of XXe century are focus on literary sources and they simply restate, in most cases, the content of them.  To gain a new perspective on the god, Ares was studied through the epigraphic documents to corroborate or not our present knowledge.  We want to know if the Ares, as presented in the literature, has been the same as that was transmitted in the ancient Greek epigraphy.  The answer to this question will help us to see if our current knowledge is right and deepening it.    The epigraphic research is done in five steps.  First, we determine whether the military side of Ares was also predominant in the inscriptions.  Then we pay a specific attention to documents that propose an unloved Ares in the epigraphy.  After, we establish some links between the former oath and Ares.  Finally, we close the epigraphic study with a geographic approach who allows us to determine two important sites that belong to the god of war, the city of Metropolis and the island of Crete.    Through this process we were able to determine the appreciation and the importance, which the Greeks gave to this god, were not unanimous.  The resentment of the Greeks varied among individuals and places.  We were also able to establish some facts about Ares : his dominant sphere remained the military in the inscriptions; he was a reel god, present, respected and praised; he possessed important places of worship in Lato and Metropolis.   In conclusion, we redefine Ares profile, so it would be interesting that a research reviews the literacy sources about him.  Furthermore, an evaluation of all the sources (iconographic, archaeological, numismatic, epigraphic etc…) would also be appropriated.

Keyphrases: Ares, Epigraphy, Greek religion, Ancient Greece
Les pratiques d'attraction et de rétention de la génération Y dans les PME

The owner-managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly interested in human resource management (HRM), which some see as a competitive advantage for the shortage of current workforce. Starting from the assumption that the compatibility between the characteristics of the workforce and the ones of organization can generates positives outcomes (Kristof-Brown and Guay, 2011), our study examines the link between HRM practices in association with Generation Y’s work values and their effect on SMEs’ ability to attract and retain this new cohort within their organization.  This qualitative study was conducted using primary data collected through interviews with managers of four SME in the construction sector and with sixteen Gen Y employees from these companies. We found that the quality of the relationships, both with colleagues and supervisors, usually remains the main source of attraction and retention of this workforce in SMEs. Our results also support that the attraction and retention of Gen Y may be heavily promoted through unlimited two-way communication, strategic communication and freedom in time management and working methods. Balancing work and personal life, various challenges, opportunities of advancement, socially responsible management, recognition of skills and participative management practices are most strongly linked to the attraction and retention of this generation. Moreover, our results showed that the attraction and retention of Y in SMEs is moderately enhanced by teamwork, fair and objective working conditions and competitive compensation package. Otherwise, the presence of information and communication technology and training opportunities are weaker sources of attraction and retention.  Finally, this study contributes to the literature on HRM in SMEs, since the specificities of this type of business were not considered until now. It also allows the recommendation of useful practice for owner-managers and HR professionals involved with the challenge of attracting and retaining Gen Y in their company.

Keyphrases: Attraction, Attraction, Human resource management, Gen Y, Small and medium enterprise, Retention, Work values
Facteurs environnementaux et symptômes des troubles oculaires et cutanés chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans : cas des zones de l’Observatoire de population de Ouagadougou

Risks related to domestic environment, including a lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, poor housing conditions and an unhealthy environment are some of the factors that can explain the poor health of young children in developing countries. The main goals of this research are to assess the influence of such local environmental risks on the prevalence of symptoms of eye and skin diseases among children aged under five and to examine the effects of other possible determinants of these problems in Ouagadougou, capital city of Burkina Faso. Data are from a survey conducted in February 2010 that collected information on the health status and behaviors associated with recent disease episodes; these are linked to data collected in May 2009 by an earlier round of the Ouagadougou DSS on demographic events and the living conditions of households. Our sample consists of 950 children from 736 randomly selected households in five suburbs of the city. The descriptive analysis (cross-tabulations and chi-2 tests) showed that several variables of domestic environment, namely the waste disposal, the type of toilet used by the members of the household and the type of neighborhood are associated with the prevalence of the symptoms of eye diseases. The multivariate analysis using multivariate logistic regressions, however, confirmed only the effect of neighborhood type – zoned versus spontaneous settlements. Concerning the skin diseases, the descriptive analysis indicated that the only aspects of the domestic environment that are associated with their symptoms are the type of floor in the living union and the method of household waste disposal. The multivariate analysis confirmed the significant effects of these variables on children’s health. We note some limitations of the data used, including the relatively small size of the sample, the fact that disease symptoms were reported by the children’s guardians and not verified by doctors, and the cross-sectional nature of the data. The data however do provide unusual information on the domestic living environment and are of relatively good quality. The results of the study may be useful to planners and decision makers who are responsible for the management of urban space, in order to improve the design of policies aiming to improve the structure and living conditions in precarious (spontaneous, non-zoned) neighborhoods to better fight preventable diseases. That said, further research is needed to attain stronger conclusions that are based on larger data sets that are less subject to possible self-reporting inaccuracies.

Keyphrases: Health urbanization and domestic environment, Symptoms of diseases, Skin diseases, Eye diseases, Neighborhood effects
Peinture et comédie : les scènes de théâtre de Cornelis Troost (1696-1750)

This master’s thesis focuses on one of the most famous Dutch painters of his time, Cornelis Troost (1696-1750). Troost’s success derives from the originality of his subjects in the theatrical scenes he depicts five of which are discussed here. Troost himself was a professional actor before devoting himself to the art of painting. Dutch art of the eighteenth century is a topic rarely discussed in art history. Several elements of Netherlandish history, including political changes, are essential in order to acquire a better understanding of Troost's theatrical work. Troost embraces the theatrical source. His works of art bear the same title as the plays from which they are drawn. Troost puts the emphasis on his characters, and this feature helps to put the focus on the emotions of the characters and the action. A parallel is made with Jan Steen and Gerard De Lairesse, other Dutch artists who were inspired by the theatrical world. The narrative aspect in the works of Troost is also an important aspect which needs to be approached in order to understand his theater scenes.

Keyphrases: Cornelis Troost, theater, theater scenes, Netherlands, dutch art of the eighteenth century