Background: In certain masking paradigms, the masker can have two components, energetic and informational. Energetic masking is the traditional peripheral masking, whereas informational masking involves confusions (uncertainty) between the signal and masker that originate more centrally in the auditory system. Sperry et al (1997) used Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (NU-6) words in multitalker babble to study the differential effects of energetic and informational masking using babble played temporally forward (FB) and backward (BB). The FB and BB are the same except BB is void of the contextual and semantic content cues that are available in FB. It is these informational cues that are thought to fuel informational masking. Sperry et al found 15% better recognition performance (∼3 dB) on BB than on FB, which can be interpreted as the presence of informational masking in the FB condition and not in the BB condition (Dirks and Bower, 1969). The Words-in-Noise Test (WIN) (Wilson, 2003; Wilson and McArdle, 2007) uses NU-6 words as the signal and multitalker babble as the masker, which is a combination of stimuli that potentially could produce informational masking. The WIN presents 5 or 10 words at each of seven signal-to-noise ratios (S/N, SNR) from 24 to 0 dB in 4 dB decrements with the 50% correct point being the metric of interest. The same recordings of the NU-6 words and multitalker babble used by Sperry et al are used in the WIN. Purpose: To determine whether informational masking was involved with the WIN. Research Design: Descriptive, quasi-experimental designs were conducted in three experiments using FB and BB in various paradigms in which FB and BB varied from 4.3 sec concatenated segments to essentially continuous. Study Sample: Eighty young adults with normal hearing and 64 older adults with sensorineural hearing losses participated in a series of three experiments. Data Collection and Analysis: Experiment 1 compared performance on the normal WIN (FB) with performance on the WIN in which the babble segment with each word was reversed temporally (BB). Experiment 2 examined the effects of continuous FB and BB segments on WIN performance. Experiment 3 replicated the Sperry et al (1997) experiment at 4 and 0 dB S/N using NU-6 words in the FB and BB conditions. Results: Experiment 1-with the WIN paradigm, recognition performances on FB and BB were the same for listeners with normal hearing and listeners with hearing loss, except at the 0 dB S/N with the listeners with normal hearing at which performance was significantly better on BB than FB. Experiment 2-recognition performances on FB and BB were the same at all SNRs for listeners with normal hearing using a slightly modified WIN paradigm. Experiment 3-there was no difference in performances on the FB and BB conditions with either of the two SNRs. Conclusions: Informational masking was not involved in the WIN paradigm. The Sperry et al results were not replicated, which is thought to be related to the way in which the Sperry et al BB condition was produced.

Maintenant est une revue catholique québécoise fondée par les Dominicains et publiée de 1962 à 1974. Ses animateurs et animatrices sont des catholiques qui adhèrent à la philosophie du personnalisme. D'après celle-ci, la vraie foi catholique est vécue dans l'engagement au sein de la société : chaque croyant et chaque croyante est invité.e à transformer le monde profane selon les critères évangéliques. Les auteurs et autrices du mensuel voient dans les nombreuses institutions catholiques du Québec - la chrétienté - un obstacle à la réalisation de cet idéal et mènent par conséquent une charge à fond de train contre cette « politique » du clergé canadien-français. Pour appuyer leur critique, ils développent une analyse complexe et cohérente du paysage religieux québécois qui lie la chrétienté au conformisme et à l'ignorance religieuse, elle-même facteur décisif dans le décrochage religieux observé à leur époque. À partir du milieu des années 1960, la chrétienté n'existe plus - notamment en raison de l'entrée en vigueur du « Bill 60 » du gouvernement de Jean Lesage - et les auteurs portent progressivement leur attention du côté de la sécularisation des mentalités : ils proposent des réformes pastorales, liturgiques et ecclésiologiques pour adapter le catholicisme à la « mentalité séculière ». Le tout se déroule sur la toile de fond des travaux de Vatican II (1962-1965) qui s'inspirent de la philosophie personnaliste chère à Maintenant. Or, la revue s'avère très critique et déçue des réformes romaines qu'elle juge peu ambitieuses et mal appliquées. / Maintenant is a French Canadian catholic paper created by the Dominican Order and published from 1962 to 1974. Its authors are proponents of Emmanuel Mounier’s personalism. According to this philosophy, the true catholic faith calls for believers to positively transform profane society following evangelical lines. Maintenant’s writers postulate that Québec’s numerous catholic institutions are an obstacle to this ideal : rather than encourage believers to reshape their environment, these institutions seek to isolate them from society in order to shield them from nefarious beliefs and temptations. This « system », la chrétienté, is relentlessly criticized and painted as the main cause behind the observed religious decline. Indeed, the monthly publication argues that these institutions are indissociable from an authoritarian stance that breeds conformism and religious ignorance. From 1965 onward, secularism in Québec dramatically reduces the Catholic Church’s institutional presence. The Liberals’ « Bill 60 », for example, makes the government the primary actor in matters of public education. In turn, the intellectuals of Maintenant gradually shift their focus from la chrétienté to secularism’s impact on religious belief and practice. Convinced that Catholicism and the rising secular mentality can coexist, they put forward ideas of pastoral, liturgical and ecclesiological reform aimed at reconciling the two. These propositions are deeply influenced by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) during which a majority of the clergy is won over by personalist ideals. The paper’s authors are nonetheless disappointed by the reforms emanating from the works of the Council as they are deemed unambitious and badly implemented.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped part of the labor market, causing an increase in remote work and consequently the rise of “quiet quitting”. Quiet quitting refers to when an employee does the bare minimum at work, and the specific reasons for its rise, vary, however, there is reason to believe that remote work can be a contributing factor due to its effect on social connections and motivation.    Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between working from home and quiet quitting, and how digital leadership can affect job satisfaction. This is because employers need to recognize and address the contributing factors of quiet quitting to be able to keep job satisfaction. Method: This thesis is a qualitative study using an interpretivist method. The research has been performed though an inductive research approach. The primary data were gathered though 20 semi-structured interviews with 10 companies form various industries located in Småland Sweden. A person in a leading position and an employee were interviewed from each organization and a thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data.    Conclusion: The result from our findings showed that remote work has a significant impact on employee job satisfaction. Many employees experienced a lack of support and feedback from their managers and colleagues, as well as lower cohesion, which many perceived effected their motivation and increase the risk of quiet quitting.  That is why managers should focus on creating “digital cohesion” by reworking their digital work, improving digital communication, and improving digital feedback. This may result in employees feeling more appreciated and committed to the organization, thus mitigating the risk of quiet quitting.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects motor abilities with increasing severity as the disease progresses. Traditional methods for diagnosing PD require specialists scoring qualitative symptoms using the motor subscale of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS-III). Using force-plate data during quiet standing (QS), this study uses machine learning to target the characterization and prediction of PD and UPDRS-III. The purpose of predicting different subscores of the UPDRS-III is to give specialists more tools to help make an informed diagnosis and prognosis. The classification models employed classified PD with a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 83.1%. Stepwise forward regression indicated that features correlated with base of support were most useful in the prediction of head rigidity (r-square = .753). Although there is limited data, this thesis can be used as an exploratory study that evaluates the predictability of UPDRS-III subscores using QS data. Similar prediction models can be implemented to a home setting using low-cost force plates as a novel telemedicine technique to track disease progression.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Pendant les années 1950 et 1960, Montréal se modernise sur plusieurs aspects. L’influence de l’administration de la ville sur cette modernisation est bien connue. Toutefois, les perspectives des acteurs extérieurs sont souvent ignorées. Ce mémoire examine donc les opinions de la Chambre de commerce de Montréal sur la modernisation de la métropole québécoise lors de ces deux décennies. La source principale utilisée pour effectuer cette étude a été la revue hebdomadaire de la Chambre, Commerce-Montréal. Dans le premier chapitre, les opinions de la Chambre de commerce sur la gouvernance municipale sont examinées. Celles-ci montrent que la Chambre percevait l’assainissement des moeurs politiques et l’amélioration de l’efficacité administrative comme intrinsèques à la modernisation de Montréal. Le deuxième chapitre porte sur la circulation automobile et le transport en commun. La Chambre proposait des moyens d’accélérer le débit de la circulation qu’elle jugeait crucial pour la modernisation de la métropole. Le troisième chapitre traite du développement urbain. D’après la Chambre, la modernisation de Montréal exigeait le renouvellement du cadre bâti de la ville, tant résidentiel que commercial. L’étude de ces trois thèmes confirme que, pendant la période 1950-1970, la Chambre de commerce a contribué de manière significative aux débats concernant la modernisation de Montréal. Nous relevons aussi que l’organisme, malgré son désir de paraître apolitique, a été influencé par sa fonction de représentant de la communauté d’affaires francophone. L’importance accordée à la rentabilité de la modernisation, ainsi que la hiérarchisation sociale attribuée à certains sujets, confirment notamment les orientations conservatrices de l’organisme. / During the 1950s and 1960s, Montréal was becoming increasingly modernized. It is well known that the municipal administration had a considerable influence on this modernization. However, the perspectives of exterior actors have often been ignored. As such, this thesis examines the opinions of the Chambre de commerce de Montréal (the city’s francophone chamber of commerce) on the modernization of Québec’s metropolis during the above-mentioned decades. The main source that was used for this study was the Chambre’s weekly publication, Commerce-Montréal. The first chapter examines the Chambre’s opinions on municipal governance. It shows that, for the Chambre, the modernization of Montréal required the elimination of corrupt political practices and an increase in government efficiency. The second chapter studies traffic flow. It explains the Chambre’s positions on measures aimed at increasing the speed of traffic. The organization saw this as crucial to the modernization of the city. The third chapter discusses urban development. According to the Chambre, Montréal’s modernization necessitated a renewal of both its residential and commercial built environment. Studying these three themes confirmed that, from 1950 to 1970, the Chambre de commerce contributed to the debates concerning the modernization of Montréal, advocating in favour of it. It is also evident that the organization, despite its desire to appear apolitical, was influenced by its position as representative of the francophone business community. In particular, the Chambre’s emphasis on the profitability of modernization, as well as its focus on social stratification (regarding certain issues) attest to the organization’s conservative nature.

Title: Differences in postural activity during quiet standing when breathing abdominally. Aim and purpose: Aim of this study was to examine the effects of abdominal breathing on selected muscles and stability during quiet standing to find empirical evidence if it can reduce the strain and change the activity pattern, which erect standing demands from the muscles. Methods and materials: This thesis begins with an introduction to theoretical part in which we gathered all the already existing and written information needed to form the knowledge base for our experiment. Continuing in 9th chapter, methodology and experiment procedure are described where we measured muscle activity using surface EMG and to monitor changes in stability we used force- plate for posturography where only linear parameters were acquired. Both devices were used simultaneously while the subject was in quiet stance for a period of 90 seconds. Results: Results shown decrease in most of the muscles, with a higher increase in body sway in medio- lateral than in antero-posterior direction. Signal didn't change to a more distinct wave-like pattern of rhythmic oscillations, as we had thought it would. Keywords: Posture, quiet standing, abdominal breathing, diaphragm, system interrelation, EMG, posturography

La thèse porte sur la génération de fronts d’ondes de test en milieu réverbérant pour la mesure d’antennes Ultra Large Bande. L’objectif est de générer des fronts d’ondes déterministes convergents, respectant les standards de mesure d'antennes, dans un milieu diffusif caractérisé par une décohérence spatiale, temporelle et fréquentielle. Les performances intéressantes, visées pour l’application, sont la génération temps réel, l’utilisation d’un nombre limité de sources et l’obtention d’un rendement de conversion d’énergie élevé. Tout d’abord, nous présentons des concepts de mesure d’antennes et montrons, les limites des méthodes actuelles pour la réalisation de caractérisations rapides permettant un niveau de rapport signal à bruit satisfaisant et n'utilisant pas de sources multiples. Puis, nous introduisons notre moyen d’essai, le système Time reversal Electromagnetic Chamber (TREC), constitué notamment d’une chambre réverbérante, dans laquelle un principe non standard de retournement temporel est utilisé pour générer des fronts d’ondes cohérents et convergents d’espace libre. Nous cherchons alors à étendre les capacités de la TREC à la génération des fronts d’ondes de test convergents et localement plans. Dans une phase d'étude préalable, nous développons deux approches pour synthétiser la propagation en espace libre des fronts d’ondes de mesure. Les techniques utilisées reposent sur l’utilisation de l’opérateur Slepian, permettant la résolution des contraintes imposées par les propriétés spécifiques des distributions de champ. La solution optimale de caractérisation a permis de générer des fronts d'ondes comportant une résolution angulaire. La synthèse des fronts d'ondes de test est utilisée dans des simulations électromagnétiques de TREC 2D et 3D. Les résultats ont validé la faisabilité de la génération de fronts d’ondes convergents, localement plans et résolus angulairement. / This contribution corresponds to the generation of test wavefronts in reverberation chamber for antenna Ultra Wide Band characterization. We were interested in generating deterministic convergent wavefronts, fulfilling the antenna measurement standard, in a diffusive medium characterized by a spatial, temporal and frequency decoherence. The interesting performances referred to the application, are the real-time synthesis, the use of a limited number of sources and the high energy conversion efficiency. First we present the concepts of antenna measurement and the limitations of current methods for achieving quick characterization with a sufficient signal to noise ratio without multiple sources. Then, we introduce our system, the Time Reversal Electromagnetic Chamber (TREC), which is mainly constituted by a reverberation chamber, in which a non-standard time reversal principle is used for coherent convergent free space wavefronts generation. Then we try to extend the TREC capacities to the generation of free space convergent and locally plan wavefronts. In a preliminary study, we develop two approaches to synthesize the free space propagation of the wavefronts. The used techniques are based on the utilization of the operator Slepian, allowing the resolution of the constraints determined by the specific properties of the field distribution. The optimal solution allowed generating wavefronts characterized by angular resolution. Test wavefronts synthesis is used in 2D and 3D TREC electromagnetic simulations. Results validated the feasibility of the generation of locally plan convergent wavefronts with angular resolution.

Les mythes américains génèrent des symboles et des stéréotypes fréquents dans l’imaginaire collectif. Leur usage dans la littérature québécoise exclut toute idéologie, privilégiant l’acte fondateur d’une nouvelle mythologie. Les mythes québécois se sont d’abord distingués de ceux de l’Amérique. Ils ont porté un regard critique sur la globalisation que peut susciter le territoire américain. En élaborant leur littérature nationale, les auteurs québécois de la Révolution tranquille ont formulé d’autres pistes interprétatives autour des mythes américains. L’américanité offre des perspectives anthropologiques fluides à l’adaptation du mythe au cinéma et en littérature. Le mythe tel que le définit Roland Barthes permet une interprétation contemporaine de chaque mythe québécois présenté dans cette étude. Le corpus est donc composé d’œuvres québécoises et étatsuniennes, de films de Denys Arcand et Clint Eastwood, de romans et textes argumentatifs de notre auteur tranquille référent, Jacques Godbout mais aussi de Jacques Poulin, Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, Antonine Maillet, Anne Hébert, Jack Kerouac. / American myths generate recurring symbols and stereotypes in the collective imagination. In Quebec literature, the use of these myths ignores ideology, favouring the founding act of a new mythology. Quebec myths firstly distinguished themselves from American myths, carrying with them a critical perspective on the globalising process driven by the American territory. In developing their national literature, Quebec authors from the Quiet Revolution shaped new interpretations of American myths. Americanness offers changing anthropological perspectives for the adaptation of myths into film and literature. The myth as Roland Barthes defines it, enables a contemporary interpretation of each Quebec myth you can find in this study. Thus, the corpus in my dissertation is made up of Quebec and American works, movies directed by Denys Arcand and Clint Eastwood and novels or argumentative essays by the quiet author who is the subject of this dissertation, Jacques Godbout as well as Jacques Poulin, Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, Antonine Maillet, Anne Hébert and Jack Kerouac.

Literature, films, and even the daily news often address war, an event that unfortunately has been a constant in modern society. Large scale, modern warfare with global involvement began with the First World War, and following the war, a global war literature boom occurred. Two bestselling novels whose anti-war themes still resound today, Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front) by Erich Maria Remarque and Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, emerged from this sea of literature. Both of these novels focus on the pain that is inherent in warfare and its detrimental effects on society as well as on individual soldiers. The graphic imagery and anti-war sentiment that is present in these novels has generated controversy throughout their histories; however, the popularity of both works has prevailed, and Remarque and Trumbo’s novels remain two of the most referenced in academic disciplines as well as in popular culture. This thesis explores the long-lasting success of these two works as anti-war novels, as measured by initial sales and popularity as well as by a plethora of mass cultural adaptations.