L’Institut National des Produits Chimiques de l’Académie des Sciences du Vietnam (INPC) développe depuis plusieurs années une activité autour de la recherche de nouveaux médicaments issus de la biodiversité. Le développement d’un nouveau médicament prend de l’ordre d’une dizaine d’années et passe par plusieurs phases. Dans la phase de découverte, l’activité des composés chimiques sur une cible biologique est mesurée afin de mettre en évidence une action inhibitrice. Le développement d’approches in silico pour le criblage virtuel des composés chimiques est une alternative aux approches classiques in vitro beaucoup plus coûteuses à mettre en œuvre. L’utilisation de la grille a été identifiée comme une voie économiquement prometteuse pour accompagner la recherche de nouveaux médicaments au Vietnam. En effet, le développement de nouvelles stratégies basées sur l’utilisation de plates-formes de soumission de tâches (DIRAC, HTCaaS) a permis d’améliorer considérablement le taux de succès et le confort des utilisateurs, ouvrant la voie à une démocratisation de la grille.Dans ce contexte, l’objectif poursuivi dans le cadre de cette thèse est d’étudier dans quelle mesure des plates-formes multidisciplinaires pouvaient répondre aux besoins des chimistes de l’INPC. Le travail s’est concentré sur les modalités d’un partage équitable d’une plate-forme de soumission de tâches sur la grille par une ou plusieurs communautés d’utilisateurs. L’ordonnancement des tâches sur un serveur commun doit permettre que les différents groupes aient une expérience positive et comparable. Sur les infrastructures de grille EGEE et EGI en Europe , on peut distinguer deux grandes catégories d’utilisateurs : les utilisateurs « normaux » qui vont solliciter les ressources pour des tâches requérant typiquement de quelques dizaines à quelques centaines d’heures de calcul, et les « gros » utilisateurs qui vont lancer des grandes productions nécessitant le traitement de plusieurs milliers de tâches pendant des dizaines, voire des centaines de milliers d’heures de calcul. Les stratégies d’ordonnancement déployées aujourd’hui sur les plates-formes comme DIRAC ou HTCaaS ne permettent pas de servir de façon optimale et simultanée ces deux familles d’utilisateurs.Le manuscrit présente une évaluation par simulation des performances de plusieurs stratégies d’ordonnancement des tâches d’une plate-forme soumettant des jobs pilotes. L’outil SimGrid a permis de simuler l’infrastructure de grille régionale déployée en Auvergne à partir de traces archivées de son utilisation. Après évaluation des performances de plusieurs politiques d’ordonnancement tirées de la littérature, une nouvelle politique a été proposée dans laquelle les utilisateurs normaux et les très gros utilisateurs sont gérés de façon indépendante. Grâce à cette politique, le ralentissement expérimenté par les très gros utilisateurs est réduit significativement sans pénaliser excessivement les utilisateurs normaux. L’étude a été étendue à une fédération de clouds utilisant les mêmes ressources et arrive aux mêmes conclusions. Les performances des politiques d’ordonnancement ont ensuite été évaluées sur des environnements de production, à savoir l’infrastructure de grille européenne EGI et l’infrastructure nationale de supercalculateurs de la Corée du Sud. Un serveur DIRAC a été adossé aux ressources de l’organisation virtuelle biomédicale d’EGI pour étudier les ralentissements observés par les utilisateurs de ce serveur. Pareillement, les ralentissements expérimentés par les utilisateurs de la plate-forme HTCaaS au KISTI ont été observés en excellent accord avec les résultats de simulation avec SimGrid.Ces travaux confirment la faisabilité et l’intérêt d’une plate-forme unique au Vietnam au service des communautés scientifiques consommatrices des ressources académiques de grille et de cloud, notamment pour la recherche de nouveaux médicaments. / Virtual Screening (VS) is a computational technique used in the drug discovery process to select the most promising candidate drugs for in vitro testing from millions of chemical compounds. This method can offer an efficient alternative to reduce the cost of drug discovery and platform. The Natural Products Chemistry Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Vietnam (INPC) collects samples from local biodiversity and determines the 3D structure of single molecules. Their challenge is to set up a virtual screening platform on grid computing for their chemists to process their data. However, as the number of users who might have a wide range of virtual screening applications (in terms of the number of tasks and execution time) increases with limited available computing resources, it becomes crucial to devise an effective scheduling policy that can ensure a certain degree of fairness, user satisfaction and overall system throughput. In this context, the thesis focuses on an effective scheduling policy for the virtual screening workflow where multiple users with varying numbers of tasks are actively sharing a common system infrastructure. We have researched in theory and proposed some candidate policies. With the simulation results and the experimentation results in real system, we proposed the best policy for the fairness between users, which can be applied to INPC virtual screening platform.

Suite à un long processus, la Turquie a obtenu le statut de pays candidat en 1999 et elle a commencé les négociations avec les institutions européennes en 2005. En effet, la Turquie s’engage à l’harmonisation de ses systèmes juridique, politique et institutionnel avec celui de l’UE. Certes, c’est l’État turc qui exclusivement participe à ces négociations, ses collectivités locales sont cependant concernées. Depuis 2003, le gouvernement a mis en place une série de réformes pour moderniser l’administration publique. Cette modernisation s’appuie sur « la décentralisation à la turque » qui permet de réorganiser les relations et les répartitions des compétences entre l’État et ses collectivités locales auxquelles les lois confèrent une autonomie administrative et financière. Grâce à l’introduction des instruments variés, le droit des collectivités locales est en pleine mutation. Plusieurs indices mentionnés révèlent, que les revendications et le droit de l’UE sont à l’origine de cette mutation. Partant de l’idée que la pratique des pays membres, conduit à reconnaître que l’UE et les entités infra-étatiques sont comme des partenaires, les collectivités locales turques cherchent un nouveau rôle vis-à-vis de l’UE. Ce partenariat se base sur la gouvernance à multi-niveaux. Cependant, ni le droit turc ni le droit de l’UE ne privilégient la place des collectivités locales turques dans cette politique. D’ailleurs, certaines relations que les collectivités locales entretiennent avec leurs homologues européens au sein de l’UE et ses institutions engendrent une véritable intégration / After a long process, Turkey became a candidate country in 1999 and started to negotiate with the European institutions in 2005. Turkey is indeed committed to harmonizing its political, juridical and institutional system with the EU. Certainly, it is only Turkish state which is taking part in in these negotiations, local authorities are however concerned. Since 2003, the government has established reforms in order to modernize public administration. This modernization is based on “Turkish decentralization” which enables to reorganize relationships and the division of expertise between the state and local administration to which laws give administrative and financial autonomy. Thanks to the introduction of various instruments, territorial communities law is changing. Many indications that the EU is at the origin of these mutations. Assuming that the practice of member states leads to the recognition that the EU and local administrations function as partners, the Turkish local administrations are aspiring to a new role regarding the EU. This partnership is based on multi- level governance. Nevertheless, neither the Turkish law or the EU law, favor the position of local administrations in this politic. Besides, some relations that local administrations have within the EU, lead to a true integration

The aim of this thesis has been to study boundary-making in addiction care practitioner’s perceptions of substance use and treatment. The four papers are based on three data collections in Swedish outpatient addiction care: a) a survey conducted in 2006 (n=655), b) a factorial survey using randomly constructed vignettes conducted in 2011 (n=474), and c) a focus group interview study from 2013 (n=30) with a sample of the respondents from the factorial survey. The analyses show that practitioners tend to draw boundaries between various forms of substance use, with alcohol use being perceived as a less severe problem than narcotics use and requiring less extensive treatment measures. There are also partially varying perceptions in different parts of addiction care. By comparison with social services staff, regional healthcare staff generally see a greater need for treatment, recommend medical treatment to a greater extent, and display less confidence in the possibility of handling problematic use without professional treatment. Despite an ongoing medicalization at the policy level, psychosocial treatment interventions appear to have legitimacy in both regional healthcare and social services settings. Boundary-making processes are also found in relation to the specific user’s age, family situation, socio-economic status and in some cases gender, with young women’s drinking being seen as more severe than young men’s drinking for example. The boundary-making between different substance users may be interpreted as a sign of an approach based on a professional consideration of the person’s socially exposed situation, which might require more comprehensive support. At the same time, it may be an expression of a stereotyped approach, involving a normative evaluation of women’s behaviour as being more deviant than men’s, thereby having a limiting effect on the conduct norms that regulate women’s behaviour and making the problems of men invisible. To avoid disparities in addiction care delivery, it is of major importance that practitioners are given room to reflect upon the assumptions and values that underlie the assessments they make in practice. Combining a factorial survey with focus group interviews is proposed as one means of facilitating this type of reflection. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted.</p>

Multilevel voltage source inverters have been receiving more and more attention from the industry and academia as a choice for high voltage and high power applications. The high voltage multilevel inverters can be constructed with existing low voltage semiconductor switches, which already have a mature technology for handling low voltages, thus improving the reliability of the overall inverter system. These multilevel inverters generate the output voltage in the form of multi-stepped waveform with smaller amplitude. This will result in less dv/dt at the motor inputs and electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by switching is considerably less. Because of the multi-stepped waveform, the instantaneous error in the output voltage will be always less compared to the conventional two-level inverter output voltage. It will reduce the unwanted harmonic content in the output voltage, which will enable to switch the inverter at lower frequencies. Many interesting multi level inverter topologies are proposed by various research groups across the world from industry and academic institutions. But apart from the conventional 3-level NPC and H-bridge topology, others are not yet highly preferred for general high power drives applications. In this respect, two different five-level inverter topologies and one three-level inverter topology for high power induction motor drive applications are proposed in this work. Existing knowledge from published literature shows that, the three-level voltage space vector diagram can be generated for an open-end winding induction motor by feeding the motor phase windings with two two-level inverters from both sides. In such a configuration, each inverter is capable of assuming 8 switching states independent of the other. Therefore a total of 64 switching combinations are possible, whereas the conventional NPC inverter have 27 possible switching combinations. The main drawback for this configuration is that, it requires a harmonic filter or isolated voltage source to suppress the common mode currents through the motor phase winding. In general, the harmonic filters are not desirable because, it is expensive and bulky in nature. Some topologies have been presented, in the past, to suppress the common mode voltage on the motor phase windings when the both inverters are fed with a single voltage source. But these schemes under utilize the dc-link voltage or use the extra power circuit. The scheme presented in chapter-3 eliminates the requirement of harmonic filter or isolated voltage source to block the common mode current in the motor phase windings. Both the two-level inverters, in this scheme, are fed with the same voltage source with a magnitude of Vdc/2 where Vdc is the voltage magnitude requires for the NPC three-level inverter. In this scheme, the identical voltage profile winding coils (pole pair winding coils), in the four pole induction motor, are disconnected electrically and reconnected in two star groups. The isolated neutrals, provided by the two star groups, will not allow the triplen currents to flow in the motor phase windings. To apply identical fundamental voltage on disconnected pole pair winding, decoupled space vector PWM is used. This PWM technique eliminates the first center band harmonics thereby it will allow the inverters to operate at lower switching frequency. This scheme doesn’t require any additional power circuit to block the triplen currents and also it will not underutilize the dc-bus voltage. A five-level inverter topology for four pole induction motor is presented in chapter-3. In this topology, the disconnected pole pair winding coils are effectively utilized to generate a five-level voltage space vector diagram for a four pole induction motor. The disconnected pole pair winding coils are fed from both sides with conventional two-level inverters. Thereby the problems like capacitor voltage balancing issues are completely eliminated. Three isolated voltage sources, with a voltage magnitude of Vdc/4, are used to block the triplen current in the motor phase windings. This scheme is also capable of generating 61 space vector locations similar to conventional NPC five-level inverter. However, this scheme has 1000 switching combinations to realize 61 space vector locations whereas the NPC five-level inverter has 125 switching combinations. In case of any switch failure, using the switching state redundancy, the proposed topology can be operated as a three-level inverter in lower modulation index. But this topology requires six additional bi-directional switches with a maximum voltage blocking capacity of Vdc/8. However, it doesn’t require any complicated control algorithm to generate the gating pulses for bidirectional switches. The above presented two schemes don’t require any special design modification for the induction machine. Although the schemes are presented for four pole induction motor, this technique can be easily extend to the induction motor with more than four poles and thereby the number of voltage levels on the phase winding can be further increased. An alternate five-level inverter topology for an open-end winding induction motor is presented in chapter-4. This topology doesn’t require to disconnect the pole pair winding coils like in the previous propositions. The open-end winding induction motor is fed from one end with a two-level inverter in series with a capacitor fed H-bridge cell, while the other end is connected to a conventional two-level inverter to get a five voltage levels on the motor phase windings. This scheme is also capable of generating a voltage space vector diagram identical to that of a conventional five-level inverter. A total of 2744 switching combinations are possible to generate the 61 space vector locations. With such huge number switching state redundancies, it is possible to balance the H-bridge capacitor voltage for full modulation range. In addition to that, the proposed topology eliminates eighteen clamping diode having different voltage ratings compared to the NPC inverter. The proposed topology can be operated as a three-level inverter for full modulation range, in case of any switch failure in the capacitor fed H-bridge cell. All the proposed topologies are experimentally verified on a 5 h.p. four pole induction motor using V/f control. The PWM signals for the inverters are generated using the TMS320F2812 and GAL22V10B/SPARTAN XC3S200 FPGA platforms. Though the proposed inverter topologies are suggested for high-voltage and high-power industrial IM drive applications, due to laboratory constraints the experimental results are taken on the 5h.p prototypes. But all the proposed schemes are general in nature and can be easily implemented for high-voltage high-power drive applications with appropriate device ratings.

In this dissertation, we introduce a novel text representation method mainly used for text classification purpose. The presented representation method is initially based on a variety of closeness relationships between pairs of words in text passages within the entire corpus. This representation is then used as the basis for our multi-level lightweight ontological representation method (TOR-FUSE), in which documents are represented based on their contexts and the goal of the learning task. The method is unlike the traditional representation methods, in which all the documents are represented solely based on the constituent words of the documents, and are totally isolated from the goal that they are represented for. We believe choosing the correct granularity of representation features is an important aspect of text classification. Interpreting data in a more general dimensional space, with fewer dimensions, can convey more discriminative knowledge and decrease the level of learning perplexity. The multi-level model allows data interpretation in a more conceptual space, rather than only containing scattered words occurring in texts. It aims to perform the extraction of the knowledge tailored for the classification task by automatic creation of a lightweight ontological hierarchy of representations. In the last step, we will train a tailored ensemble learner over a stack of representations at different conceptual granularities. The final result is a mapping and a weighting of the targeted concept of the original learning task, over a stack of representations and granular conceptual elements of its different levels (hierarchical mapping instead of linear mapping over a vector). Finally the entire algorithm is applied to a variety of general text classification tasks, and the performance is evaluated in comparison with well-known algorithms.

This thesis examines how regional-level factors combined with firm-level factors influence innovation in an emerging economy – India. Past literature has shown that differences in both country contexts and firm-level factors influence innovation. The bulk of this literature tended to focus on developed economies. The handful of studies that have considered contextual differences have studied these at the country-level or within regional blocks such as regions of Europe or Africa. There is a paucity of research, which investigates how differences in state-level factors within a single country combined with firm-level factors influence innovation within firms. Therefore, it is an open question whether the findings derived from developed economies and country-level studies apply equally to emerging economies, particularly at the state level within a single country. Thus, there is a gap in the literature regarding our understanding of the impact of combined state- and firm-level factors on innovation within a single country. This thesis aims to contribute to a better understanding of how state and firm-level factors drive innovation in India, an emerging economy. India is selected because it is a fast-growing emerging economy that is increasingly being integrated into the globalized world economy and thus understanding how these factors influence innovation in an emerging economy would complement the literature that focuses on developed countries. Moreover, India is a huge country with substantial varieties in resources, capabilities, institutions (both formal and informal institutions) as well as ethnic, religious, and cultural varieties. Contextually, these state-level differences are quite different from regions in the developed world where institutional differences tend to be relatively consistent (less varieties). Thus, the insights generated from this study of the Indian context complement prior research by identifying the state and firm factors that combine to drive firm-level innovation. This study also extends the innovation literature by focussing on state-level differences within a single emerging economy, for which there is limited research. The findings could also have practical managerial and policy implications. From a policy perspective, policymakers in India can get a deeper understanding of the relevant factors that influence firm-level innovation so that they can direct policy and resources to promote innovation in their respective states. From a managerial perspective, managers can also get a better understanding of strategies and investments they should take to enhance innovation within their firms. This study is based on data gathered from various sources including the World Bank Enterprise Survey and several sources from within India (Indiastat.com, NCAER State Investment Potential Index, India Innovation Index). The World Bank Enterprise Survey provides firm-level data while state-level data were obtained from the other reputable sources in India. The data were analyzed using logistic regression and multi-level modeling, given that firms are nested within states, thus, we can simultaneously model the micro and macro levels to assess the relevance of the regional context. The results of this study show that regional factors such as regulatory quality, corruption, and rule of law barriers negatively influence innovation in firms that invest in internal R&D to promote innovation. The results also show that regions that devote a higher proportion of their gross domestic product to innovation achieve higher levels of innovation. Further, regions that have higher levels of human capital stock (more skilled workers) and export technology tend to be more innovative. At the firm level, investments in both internal and external R&D and those that have highly experienced managers are more innovative than their peers. These results suggest that governments and policymakers can increase innovative activities of firms by providing a highly skilled labor force, invest heavily in R&D, reduce corruption, regulatory quality, and the rule of law barriers. For firm-level managers, this study indicates that higher levels of managerial capability and greater investments in both internal and external R&D can enhance the technical and innovative capabilities (absorptive capacity) of their firms. This may result in a competitive advantage through increased innovation.

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att studera om scenariot off-grid är en potentiell riktning i framtidens svenska energilandskap, samt undersöka vad som kan driva en sådan utveckling. För detta examensarbete har en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi tillämpats, genom ett abduktivt förhållningssätt till funnen empiri och teori. En empirisk datainsamling har genomförts i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett tiotal aktörer på den svenska elnätsmarknaden. Därefter har en tematisk analys utförts, där det empiriska materialet ställts mot teori. Studien påvisar att det idag finns flertalet faktorer som kan vara drivande för en utveckling mot ett off-grid elsystem. I studiens empiriska material går det att finna tecken på att flertalet informanter tror att en förändring av dagens svenska elsystem behövs. Dock hur troligt det är, att en sådan förändringsprocess sker, finner studien inga belägg eller grunder för. De faktorer som skulle driva utvecklingen mot ett elsystem som karaktäriseras som off-grid kan identifieras som prisutveckling, utveckling i andra sektorer, ändrad tariffsättning, decentralisering, lagstiftning, ökad popularitet samt exempel där off-grid har realiserats. / The purpose of this master thesis is to study whether the off- grid scenario is a potential direction in the Swedish energy landscape of the future, and to investigate what can drive such development. For this master thesis, a qualitative research strategy has been applied, through an abductive approach towards the found empirical material and theory. An empirical data collection has been carried out in the form of semi-structured interviews with ten actors in the Swedish electricity grid market. Subsequently, a thematic analysis has been carried out, in which the empirical material is set against the theory. The study shows that there today are several factors that can drive the development towards an off-grid electricity system in Sweden. In the study’s empirical material, it is possible to find signs that most informants believe that change in today’sSwedish electricity system is needed. However, how likely it is that such a change process will take place, the study finds no evidence for. The factors that would drive the development towards an electricity system characterized by off-grid can be identified as price development, development in other sectors, changed tariff set, decentralization, legislation, increased popularity and examples where off-grid has been realized.

Sustainable transportation solutions are the goal for the future. With the technological shit happening in the transportation market towards electric vehicles, the electric road system (ERS) is a necessary technology required to reach the sustainability goals for the future. While many studies show the role of innovation in a socio-technical landscape, many neglect the diffusion process of the innovation which occurs to create a socio-technical change. The nature of this thesis is an exploratory case study with a qualitative approach. To address the study, a literature review for the diffusion of innovation, its characteristics, multi-level perspective, and technology readiness level (TRL) was presented in order to provide a better understanding and build a foundation for the research. A review of scientific articles regarding the electric road system was performed to provide insights and obtain information on the technology. The data from scientific articles were complemented by interviews from experts regarding electric road systems to obtain an understanding of technology if it was to be implemented in the future in Sweden. The empirics collected were analyzed using the literature framework and conclusions were drawn. Analyzing the data was required to find the factors hindering the technology and if there is a window of opportunity for the technology to exist in the Swedish market. Environmental sustainability has been the driving factor, but the rate of diffusion for the technology will depend on the complexity and the maturity of the technology to function as a whole working system. The study contributes to evaluating the implementation of an inductive electric road system in the Swedish context and if it could be a viable solution in the transportation market. The perspectives of the technology in the Swedish market and the motivation for the solution are discussed. An analytical contribution by evaluating if the technology could exist in the future and insights on the diffusion of the technology into the existing landscape.

Concrete has proven to be, by far, one of the most reliable materials for the construction of critical infrastructure. However, despite its structural capacity, concrete members are susceptible to damage mechanisms that may decrease its performance and durability throughout its service life. One such mechanism is alkali-silica reaction (ASR), which takes place when unstable siliceous phases present in coarse or fine aggregates react with the alkali hydroxides from the concrete pore solution, generating a secondary product (i.e., ASR gel); this product swells upon moisture uptake from the surrounding environment, leading to cracking and expansion of the affected concrete. In severe cases of ASR-affected infrastructure, structural safety could become a problem, and thus requiring the demolition of affected members. It is, therefore, necessary to adopt effective protocols for the diagnosis and prognosis of aging infrastructure, to ensure its performance over time along with properly planning for rehabilitation strategies, whether required. This work presents a two-stage case study of the S.I.T.E. building at the University of Ottawa for the diagnosis and prognosis of ASR-affected members (i.e., columns) after nearly 20 years in service. The diagnosis phase was conducted with the aim of evaluating the cause and extent of distress and interpreting its impact on the performance of the affected structure. First, a visual inspection was conducted to evaluate potentially damaged members, in order to select the best location for core-drilling. Once ASR was confirmed through petrographic examination, specimens were evaluated through the multi-level assessment (i.e., coupling of microscopic and mechanical assessment). A range of damage was discovered among the examined columns (i.e., 0.03%, 0.05%, and 0.08% expansion). Moreover, evidence of developing freeze and thaw (FT) damage was discovered in columns with greater levels of expansion, raising future concerns regarding the durability and serviceability of members affected by this coupling of damage (i.e., ASR+FT). For the second stage of this project (i.e., prognosis), a novel ASR semi-empirical model was developed with the aim of predicting future ASR-induced expansion and damage in the S.I.T.E. building. The above model was developed and validated (using ASR exposure site data) through the coupling of existing chemo-mechanical macro-models, which were used to predict material behaviour on the structural scale, and novel mathematical relationships for the prediction of anisotropy in the columns. Moreover, the use of the multi-level assessment to predict the mechanical implications of predicted distress was found to enhance the model’s capacity for prognosis and demonstrated important potential for the accurate prediction of multi-level damage in the S.I.T.E. columns.

Diploma thesis "Influence of the European Union on the mobility of volunteers coming to the Czech Republic" deals with the mobility of volunteers from partner countries of the EU who participate in the European Voluntary Service - the EU programme of. non -formal education in the Czech Republic. The thesis follows the existing development of mobility of people till 2004, when the Council of the EU used its increased competence in the area of freedom, security and justice and approved the Directive 2004/114/EC on the conditions of admission of third - country nationals for the purpose of studies, pupils exchange, unremunerated training or voluntary service. It is the first time ever when the Directive mentions the volunteers as a specific target group of the mobility for educational purpose. The paper evaluates if the directive reflects the present challenges of recognition of the non - formal education on the European level. Further on, it focuses specifically on the year 2007 when the influence of the European legislature entered into the immigration policy of the Czech Republic, particularly in the amendment of the act on residence of foreigners on the territory of the Czech Republic n. 326/1999 Sb. which among others allows the volunteers in the age of 18 till 25 years old to apply for the...