This diploma thesis deals with an analysis of subject’s movement during measurements with funcional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It focuses on methods of a movement artifacts detection and their removal in fMRI images. Thesis deals with metrics which are used for the movement rate of measured subjects evaluation. Metrics and a correction of movement are implemented into the programme in MATLAB. Comparison of subjects suffering from Parkinson’s disease with a group of healthy control was carried out. Tresholds of individual metrics were suggested and a criterion for the removal of subjects with high movement rate was determined.

La recherche porte sur la perception de qualité des artefacts en béton, et ce depuis la perspective disciplinaire du design industriel. Afin de documenter et examiner les applications et perceptions contemporaines de ce matériau, nous nous attardons à l’évolution des technologies du béton en termes de recettes, techniques de mise en forme, usages, ainsi que ses différentes appréciations. Une revue de littérature a permis de formuler la problématique et d’organiser les données recueillies afin de répondre à nos questions de recherche. Ainsi, nous avons identifié certains événements marquants ayant provoqué des développements importants dans l’évolution du béton. De plus, nous avons regroupé plusieurs témoignages illustrant différentes perceptions du matériau dans des contextes d’usages variés. Les résultats de la recherche ont été interprétés en mettant de l’avant une méthodologie qualitative de recherche. Nous avons également étudié une sélection d’artéfacts en béton à travers des observations empiriques non participatives ainsi que deux cas sélectionnés. Cependant, ce type de recherche à la première personne est influencé par l’auteure, ses expériences vécues, son bagage culturel ainsi que son regard disciplinaire. Ainsi, il était important de valider ces observations teintées par l’appréciation de l’auteure, et ce en triangulant les données avec celles regroupées de documents historiques, scientifiques, techniques et médiatiques. Plusieurs méthodes et outils analytiques ont été mobilisés afin d’organiser les résultats de la recherche. Des cartes chronologiques nous ont permis d’isoler et d’illustrer les étapes déterminantes ayant affecté l’histoire du béton (i.e. la découverte du ciment Portland, etc.). À des catégorisations, nous avons pu classer et comparer certaines données plus spécifiques aux recettes et applications du matériau (i.e. les bétons primitifs – modernes, les bétons structuraux – non-structuraux, etc.). Des cartographiques sémantiques nous ont permis d’interpréter les témoignages compilés des différentes perceptions du béton et ce en se basant sur une échelle sémantique bipolaire (i.e. le béton est laid – beau, le béton est froid – chaud, etc.). Enfin, nous nous sommes basés sur le cadre d’expériences de produits et matériaux (product and material experiences framework) proposé par Desmet et Hekkert (2007) afin d’interpréter les appréciations des artéfacts en béton recueillis à travers la revue de littérature ainsi que les observations empiriques à la première personne. La recherche montre que la perception de qualité du béton fait face à un dualisme qui oppose ses avantages techno-économiques avec son impact environnemental ainsi que la détérioration prématurée de sa surface. Malgré l’appréciation générale de sa versatilité, accessibilité et performance technique, une prise de conscience collective semble rendre les acteurs plus conscients de l’empreinte écologique résultant du cycle de vie du béton. De plus, la recherche démontre que les idéologies sont en train d’évoluer vers des pratiques et modes de vies plus durables malgré les habitudes de surconsommation de la société moderne. En mettant moins l’emphase sur la perfection superficielle, les designers sont de plus en plus motivés à trouver inspiration dans des pratiques plus sensibles et résilientes afin de trouver des solutions durables face aux enjeux urbains. Les dernières tendances révèlent l’émergence d’alternatives plus éco-responsables et innovantes comparées au béton traditionnel. Ainsi, nous trouvons des recettes de béton plus écologiques (i.e. substitution du ciment Portland avec des produits dérivés d’autres industries, etc.) ou des techniques de mise en forme plus optimisées afin de réduire les pertes en offrant un langage esthétique surprenant (i.e. impression 3D, etc.). Ces technologies donnent naissance à de nouvelles applications du béton dans différents domaines inattendus en dehors de l’architecture et de l’ingénierie (i.e. design de produits, art, cinématographie, etc.). La recherche met en lumière changement de paradigme quant à la perception de qualité du béton qui semble être entrainé par la migration des idéologies sociétales vers un modèle qui trouve de la valeur et de la beauté dans les imperfections. Ainsi, des acteurs semblent de plus en plus apprécier le béton avec ses imperfections naturelles, et ont tendance à plus vouloir préserver les artéfacts vieillissants. / The research investigates the quality perceptions of concrete artifacts from an industrial design standpoint. In order to document and examine how the material is being used and perceived nowadays, the study looks into the evolution of concrete technologies including its recipes, manufacturing techniques, and uses, as well as its appraisals. A literature review helped us understand the problem field and organize the data amassed in order to find answers to our research questions. We were thus able to identify the critical milestones that triggered change throughout concrete’s historical evolution, as well as gather different testimonies of its perceptions within various contexts. Qualitative research methods were used to interpret our findings. We validated the data based on selected cases as well as non-participatory empirical observations of urban concrete artifacts from a first-person view. This method is influenced by the author’s lived experiences, cultural background, and disciplinary gaze. Therefore, it was necessary to complement the author’s interpretation by triangulating the data retrieved with information gathered from historical, scientific, technical, and mediatic literature. The results were organized and analyzed using various analytical tools and methods. Timeline mappings were used to isolate and illustrate critical milestones triggering change and important developments (e.g. the discovery of Portland Cement, etc.). Categorizations helped us clarify and compare the data gathered to provide a more specific overview of concrete recipes and uses (e.g. primitive – modern concretes, structural – non-structural recipes, etc.). Semantic mappings allowed us to interpret the complied testimonies on how concrete artifacts are perceived in addition to helping us isolate semantic qualities within a bipolar semantic space (e.g. concrete is ugly – beautiful, concrete is cold – warm, etc.). Lastly, a product and material experiences framework (Desmet & Hekkert, 2007) was used to interpret concrete artifacts’ appraisals as found within the testimonies retrieved, in addition to the first-person empirical observations. The research revealed that concrete’s quality perception is facing a dualism which draws attention to its ecological footprint as well as its surface’s premature deterioration with time. Although many seem to appreciate the material’s versatility, accessibility, and structural performance, the dualism can be partially attributed to the evolving collective consciousness which makes actors more aware of concrete’s environmental impacts across its lifecycle. The study thus showed that, despite modern society’s production and consumption habits which focus on the superficial perfection of the material world, ideologies are seen to be evolving and are increasingly interested in more sustainable practices and lifestyles. This can help motivate designers to seek inspiration from emotionally-durable and resilient principles, thus allowing them to better address urban challenges. The latest trends revealed new concrete mixes (e.g. substitution of Portland Cement with by-products of other industries, etc.) and manufacturing techniques (e.g. 3D-printing, etc.) which can offer eco-friendly and innovative alternatives to traditional concrete productions. These emerging solutions are seen to pave the way for unexpected applications in various fields (e.g., product design, art, cinematography, etc.), thus attracting other disciplines beyond engineering and architecture. The changing paradigm in the perception of concrete artifacts shows that value and beauty are not always associated with superficial perfection. In fact, more and more actors are found to reject premature obsolescence by embracing materials’ natural and imperfect behavior as they age with time.

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) and its extension, multi-exposure laser speckle contrast imaging (MELSCI) are non-invasive techniques to monitor peripheral blood perfusion. One of the main drawbacks of LSCI and MELSCI in clinical use is that the techniques are sensitive to tissue movement. Moreover, the image background contributes to unnecessary data. The aim of this project was to develop and evaluate different methods to detect local motion artifacts and image backgrounds in LSCI and MELSCI. In this project, three different methods were developed: one using statistical analysis and two using machine learning. The method based on classical statistics was developed in MATLAB with a dataset made up of 1797 frames of 256 x 320 images taken from a recording of a hand where the thumb and middle finger were taking turns making small movements while the middle finger was the subject of three different states made by an occlusion cuff (baseline, occlusion, and reperfusion). The main filter that was used in the first method was the Hampel filter. Furthermore, networks for the machine learning method were developed in Python using the same dataset but with 20,000 small patches extracted from the dataset of sizes 3 x 3 to 21 x 21 pixels. The first machine learning method was based on two-dimensional data patches, hence no time dimension was included, while the second machine learning method used three-dimensional data patches where the time dimension was included (from 1s to 10s). The generation of ground truth for the dataset was manually created frame by frame in a ground truth generation graphical user interface (GUI) in MATLAB. To assess the three methods, the Dice coefficient was used. The statistical method resulted in a Dice coefficient of 0.7557. The highest Dice coefficient for the machine learning method with a 2D dataset was 0.2902 (patch size 13 x 13) and the lowest was 0.2372 (patch size 7 x 7). For the machine learning method with 3D datasets, the patch size of 21 x 21 x 4 resulted in the highest Dice coefficient (0.5173), and the 21 x 21 x 40 model had the lowest Dice coefficient (0.1782). Since the two methods based on temporal data proved to be performing best in this project, one conclusion for further development of an improved model is the usage of temporal data in the training of a model. However, one important difference between the statistical method and the three-dimensional machine learning method is that the statistical method does not handle fast perfusion changes as well as the machine learning method and can not detect image background and static tissue. Therefore, the overall most useful method to further develop is the three-dimensional machine learning method.

Past, Present, Future is an immersive and interactive art installation that seeks to put displaced Congolese and African artwork - commonly displayed in world museums - into their original cultural context. The exhibit's immersive experience sheds light on the colonial exploitation of African peoples and their lifestyles: specifically the expropriation of lived African spiritual and artistic expressions. These artifacts - sometimes stolen outright, sometimes obtained through imbalanced terms of trade, and sometimes obtained by fair bargain - often appear in exhibits as disembodied objects devoid of explanation or reinterpreted through the conceptions of the exploiters. This phenomenon has historically supported the consciousness of colonialism and now of post- and neo-colonialism, maintaining its propagation through museums, schools, and other institutions worldwide. The exhibition is composed of a virtual environment in addition to projection mapping. The visual, aural, and interactive elements engage with and challenge the viewer's culturally conditioned ways of thought regarding artwork "consumption." This thesis, building on the exhibition, examines the possibilities of employing evolving technology and coding toward the long-term task of "softly" repatriating displaced artifacts while starting a conversation about physical repatriation and providing a model that Congolese scholars and artists can use to preserve and reclaim their cultural heritage. / Master of Fine Arts / Pieces of art from Congo and much of Africa are often perceived in the Western world as exotic objects to be looked at and photographed. To the Congolese people, those objects are an essential part of their ongoing life. It goes without saying that they are central to the collective spirit, sense of the world, cultural identity, and ancestral history. Past, Present, Future is an immersive art installation that takes displaced works from Congo and other settings in Africa and restores their living context through a Congolese artist's lens. This paper examines the process by which they were extracted from their home and found their way onto Western institutions, what they were and what was lost, and how through contemporary technology-integrated creative expression, they may be made whole for the enrichment of those from whom they came, their current hosts, and people everywhere.

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La recherche en didactique de l’histoire a analysé de nombreuses approches et ressources employées pour atteindre les diverses visées éducatives de l’enseignement des sciences sociales au secondaire. Elle traite cependant peu de l’usage des artéfacts ou des sites historiques pour faire apprendre aux élèves la démarche critique associée à la pensée historienne et à son mode de lecture. Dans le cadre de cette recherche qualitative et exploratoire, nous avons tenté de réduire cette lacune en documentant et en analysant l’apport d’un cours-voyage virtuel pour enseigner l’euristique de contextualisation partir d’artéfacts et de sites historiques de la Grèce ancienne pris comme objets d’interprétation de l’histoire. Cette étude de cas s’est déroulée dans un collège privé de la région métropolitaine de Montréal durant l’année scolaire 2019-2020. Les participants de cette étude (n= 23), âgés de 16 et 17 ans, étaient inscrits à un cours d’histoire hors programme menant à un voyage en Grèce. L’annulation des voyages scolaires au Québec à la mi-mars 2020 a eu pour effet de « virtualiser » le cours-voyage en intégrant le mode découverte (TD) du jeu vidéo à caractère historique Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Afin de décrire l’apport de ce cours-voyage virtuel sur la mobilisation de l’euristique de la contextualisation, nous avons opté pour l’analyse de sources multiples et variées, comme le questionnaire, les lettres de motivation, l’observation participante, les productions didactiques et les entretiens de groupe. Les résultats obtenus montrent entre autres que les élèves accordent une grande confiance aux artéfacts, sites historiques et restitutions archéologiques pour étudier le passé. De plus, les élèves contextualisent des artéfacts et des sites historiques lorsqu’ils sont engagés dans une enquête historienne à titre d’interprètes de l’histoire. Enfin, les résultats indiquent que l’action médiatrice de l’enseignant dans les démarches d’apprentissage représente un atout pour la mobilisation des composantes de l’euristique de la contextualisation par les élèves. Ces résultats apportent un éclairage dans le champ indépendant, récent et à défricher de cette euristique de l’histoire, tout en interrogeant l’effet des pratiques enseignantes sur la mobilisation des composantes de la mise en contexte pour la compréhension des réalités sociales. Les résultats serviront de guides pour (re)penser nos cours, ainsi que pour juger de la progression des élèves et de l’efficacité de nos interventions éducatives. / Research in history didactics has analyzed many approaches and resources used to achieve the various educational aims of teaching social sciences in secondary school. However, it does not deal much with the use of artifacts or historical sites to teach students the critical approach associated with historical thinking and its mode of reading. As part of this qualitative and exploratory research, we have tried to reduce that gap by documenting and analyzing the contribution of a virtual field trip to teach a heuristic from artifacts and historical sites of ancient Greece taken as objects of interpretation of history. This case study took place in a private college in the Montreal area during the 2019-2020 school year. The participants in this study (n = 23) between the ages of 16 and 17 years old, were enrolled in an extra-curricular history course leading to a trip to Greece. The cancellation of school trips in Quebec in mid-March 2020 had the effect of “virtualizing” the initial field trip by integrating the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece. To document and describe the contribution of this virtual field trip on the mobilization of the heuristics of contextualizing, we opted for the analysis of multiple varied sources such as a questionnaire, motivation letters, participant observation, historical inquiry, and group discussions. The results obtained show, among other things, that the students perceive artifacts, historical sites, and archaeological restitutions as documents of great confidence for the study of the past. Furthermore, students contextualize artifacts and historic sites when engaged in a historical inquiry as interpreters of history. Finally, the results indicate that the mediating action of the teacher in the learning process represents an asset for the mobilization of the components of the heuristic of contextualization by the students. These results shed light on the independent and recent field of research of this heuristic, while questioning the effect of teaching practices on the mobilization of the components of contextualization for the understanding of social realities. They will serve as guides for (re)thinking our courses, as well as for assess student progress and the effectiveness of our educational interventions.

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