L’émergence des contenus multimédias sur Internet, l’accès aux contenus multimédias et leurs enrichissements constituent un vaste domaine de recherche. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans ce contexte, et présente la réalisation complète et opérationnelle d’une plate-forme de diffusion multimédia interopérable et ouverte. Après avoir spécifié l’architecture de la plate-forme en introduisant le support de tous types de médias, l’indexation efficace, la recherche de contenus et leurs visualisations en ligne, la première contribution de cette thèse est une extension de la norme MPEG 7 permettant d’assurer la gestion des contenus graphiques 3D, ainsi que des informations liées à un système multimédia. Cette extension a permis le développement d’une plate-forme de diffusion gérant tous types de contenus, appelée MyMultimédiaWorld.com, entièrement normalisée à l’aide de MPEG 7 et MPEG 4. La deuxième contribution porte sur les facilités d’accès à la plate-forme multimédia. D’une part, nous avons développé une solution simple et originale d’API d’accès aux contenus multimédia par de applications tierces. D’autre part, nous proposons une solution basée sur le principe d’API pour intégrer dans une plate-forme des algorithmes multimédias. Cette solution permet la création de nouveaux services à partir d’algorithmes externes. A partir des deux APIs, nous proposons une nouvelle approche pour l’évaluation automatique d’algorithmes multimédias. Les aspects clés de cette approche sont l’évaluation en ligne, des conditions identiques pour l’exécution des algorithmes et la mise à jour automatique des résultats. L’approche développée est démontrée à l’aide de deux benchmarks différents, le premier pour l’évaluation des algorithmes de compression de maillage 3D et le second pour le benchmark des descripteurs de formes 3D développé dans le cadre des projets FAME2 et POPS du pôle de compétitivité System@tic. Les avantages de cette approche ont été reconnus récemment par le comité de normalisation MPEG avec sa décision d’adopter www.MyMultimédiaWorld.com pour l’évaluation des algorithmes de compression de maillage 3D. / The emergency of the Internet as a medium for multimedia content, the manner to access the content including means of enriching it with semantic information constitute large research domains. This thesis situates in this context and introduces an operational implementation of an open and interoperable multimedia content distribution platform. After specifying the platform architecture introducing the support of all media types, effective indexation, content search and on-line visualisation, the first contribution of the thesis consists in several MPEG 7 extensions allowing 3D object description, as well as multimedia service specification. These extensions makes it possible a novel approach of asset management systems fully normalised with MPEG 7 and MPEG 4, the concept being demonstrated by the implementation of the www.MyMultimédiaWorld.com platform. The second contribution of the thesis concerns the fundaments and tools to ensure easy access to the multimedia platform. We developed an original solution based on an access API making possible to third party applications to access content and metadata resident into the platform. A second API, makes it possible to integrate multimedia processing algorithm directly in the platform, transforming it into a continuous evolving environment. The Web2.0 paradigm of user generated content is now extended to user generated functionality. Based on the two APIs, we proposed a novel approach for evaluation of multimedia related algorithms. The key aspects are the online processing, evolving content, execution of algorithms in identical conditions, always up-to-date results. The approach is demonstrated for two benchmarks: the first deals with 3D mesh compression algorithms and the second with 3D shape descriptors developed in the FAME2 and POPS projects of the System@tic competitiveness cluster. The advantages of such benchmarking approach were recognized recently by MPEG committee when deciding to adopt www.MyMultimédiaWorld.com as the standard evaluation tool for 3D mesh compression.

Les primates non-humains (PNH) sont un important réservoir de pathogènes et notamment de rétrovirus. Plusieurs agents infectieux ont émergé dans la population humaine à partir de ce réservoir animal, comme par exemple le virus de l’immunodéficience humaine ou le virus T lymphotrope humain (HTLV) de type 1 qui se sont répandus mondialement et causent de graves pathologies. L’émergence de rétrovirus chez l’Homme nécessite plusieurs étapes passant par la transmission primaire du virus du PNH à l’Homme, la persistance du virus dans l’organisme,la transmission secondaire inter-humaine et enfin sa diffusion dans la population. Mes deux projets de thèse ont porté sur l’étude de deux rétrovirus qui ont un potentiel d’émergence chez l’Homme, le virus foamy simien (SFV) et le virus T-lymphotrope de type 4, dans des cohortes d’individus à risque vivant au Cameroun et au Gabon. Les SFV sont des rétrovirus ubiquitaires chez de nombreux PNH. Plus d’une centaine de cas d’infection d’humains par des SFV ont été observés à ce jour, l’origine étant un contact(principalement par morsure) avec un PNH. L’infection est chronique et semble asymptomatique.De plus, aucune transmission secondaire n’a été détectée à ce jour. Le laboratoire a pu isoler, chez deux individus camerounais, deux souches de SFV de gorille et a constaté une forte variabilité génétique au niveau du gène d’enveloppe. Nous avons donc étudié la variabilité du gène d’enveloppe de SFV de gorille mais également de chimpanzé infectant une soixantaine de chasseurs camerounais et gabonais et une trentaine de PNH. Nous avons pu mettre en évidence la co-circulation de souches de SFV présentant des variants moléculaires du gène d’enveloppe différents chez les gorilles et les chimpanzés. Ces mêmes souches peuvent être transmises à l’Homme à l’occasion de morsures, les deux variants pouvant être transmis simultanément. Ces variants diffèrent au niveau d’une région de 753 pb située dans la région codant la glycoprotéine de surface, au niveau du domaine de liaison au récepteur. Ils pourraient ainsi avoir des propriétés fonctionnelles différentes, notamment au niveau de l’élicitation de la réponse immunitaire de l’hôte. Ces variants sont potentiellement issus d’événements de recombinaison.HTLV-4 a été détecté chez un unique individu, un chasseur camerounais, aujourd’hui décédé.En 2014, le réservoir simien a été identifié comme étant les gorilles. Nous avons recherché la présence de HTLV-4 chez 300 individus camerounais et gabonais qui avaient été mordus par un PNH. Nous avons identifié deux chasseurs gabonais infectés par HTLV-4, qui avaient été mordus par des gorilles 9 à 15 ans avant d’être prélevés. Nous confirmons donc la présence de HTLV-4 infectant de manière persistante des humains et étendons sa répartition au Gabon. Nous suggérons très fortement une origine zoonotique de ces infections. L’une des souches isolées est divergente par rapport aux souches déjà connues et permet donc de définir le sous-type B deHTLV-4.Ces travaux confortent la notion que les PNH, et notamment les gorilles, sont une source importante d’agents infectieux pour l’Homme. Des études supplémentaires seront nécessaires pour mieux caractériser l’infection chez l’Homme et notamment l’éventuelle pathogénicité et transmissibilité de ces deux virus. / Non-human primates (NHPs) are an important reservoir of pathogens, including retroviruses. Several retroviruses have emerged in human population from NHP reservoir, like the human immunodeficiency virus and the human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 who have spread globally and are the causative agents of serious pathologies. During my PhD, I interested in two retroviruses who have an emerging potential in human population, the simian foamy virus (SFV) and the human T-lymphotropic virus type 4 (HTLV-4), in cohorts of individuals at risk in Central Africa. SFV are retroviruses ubiquituous in NHPs. A hundred of human infections with SFV are known, originating from contacts with NHP. The infection is chronic, asymptomatic although no secondary transmission has been observed yet. We showed that two envelope molecular variants of SFV are co-circulating in gorilla and chimpanzee populations. These strains can be transmitted to humans through bites. The variants differ in the receptor binding domain on the envelope and could have different functional properties. HTLV-4 had been detected in a single individual (a cameroonese hunter) and the simian reservoir idenfied as gorillas. We have detected two gabonese hunters infected with HTLV-4, who had been bitten by gorillas. Then we confirm the presence of HTLV-4 in humans in Central Africa. One of the strains is divergent and defines the prototype of a new subtype of HTLV-4

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Residential camping has long been used as a tool to reach and teach educational concepts to youth. Since the founding of the first organized residential camp in 1823 at Round Hill School's Summer Camp in Massachusetts, private and public organizations have used camping as a means to teach youth their respective missions and goals. Although a relative newcomer in the camping business when compared to other agencies and groups, 4-H has been involved in camping since the first county camp was conducted in 1915. Virginia has long been in the business of 4-H camping, reaching thousands of youth throughout the years on an annual basis. Now, ranked third nationally in total numbers of youth attending 4-H camping on an annual basis, the 4-H mission "...assisting youth, and adults working with those youth, to gain additional knowledge, life skills, and attitudes that further their development as self-directing, contributing, and productive members of society" continues to be carried out through the residential camping program. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe, record and analyze the concept that provided the foundation for the Virginia 4-H camping program becoming a reality of the 4-H educational centers. It includes the early history of the camping movement in the United States, the beginnings of the 4-H club program in the United States and Virginia, and 4-H involvement in reaching and involving youth audiences through camping programs. The population for this study consisted of early pioneers in the 4-H camping program representing Virginia Cooperative Extension administrators and extension agents, camp staffs, and campers from both white and African-American camping programs, as separate 4-H camping programs were conducted. A systematic document research and structured interviews of the early pioneers was conducted to reach defensible conclusions about the establishment, operation, and purpose of the 4- H camping movement in Virginia. The outcomes of this study are fourfold. First, the study serves to document the organized camping movement in the United States and the beginnings of 4-H. Second, the study explores the early beginnings of the 4-H camping movement in the country with the national 4-H camping movement. Third, the study examined the persons, events, founding and early development of the 4-H camping program in Virginia, including the separate white and African-American camping programs for Whites and African-Americans. Fourth, the study documented the history of Virginia's six 4-H educational centers. The study endeavors to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning the history of the 4-H movement in Virginia. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate how science teachers engaged students under the 4 x 4 block schedule and how the teachers' understanding of how they used instructional strategies influenced their lessons. As an inquiry-based approach has been adopted by the National Science Standards, research has suggested that block scheduling provides more time for teachers to incorporate varied teaching strategies such as inquiry-based teaching. This research investigated the questions: What instructional strategies do science teachers use to engage students on the 4 x 4 block schedule? How do science teachers understand their use of instructional strategies? The methodology was qualitative in nature and involved a multiple case study of three high school science teachers at a large rural county high school. Data sources included pre-observation interviews, classroom observations, post-observation interviews, and the collection of documents and artifacts such as lesson plans, student hand-outs, worksheets, laboratory exercises, homework and other document(s) the teacher used to prepare for or implement a lesson. The evidence observed in this study, suggests that the strategies used by these three science teachers remain mostly didactic in nature. Although the teachers reported in the interview phase that they use a wide variety of strategies, what was observed within the 4 x 4 block structure was the use of didactic strategies, not different strategies. Although the teachers were aware of more holistic strategies, such as inquiry-based and cooperative learning, they were not adopted nor adapted within the lesson. The three teachers used strategies that were consistent with their scientific realist views concerning the nature of science. These scientific realist philosophies are antithetical to a social constructivist approach to teaching and learning, which is what the National Research Council suggests science teachers adopt. / Ed. D.

American high schools have been criticized for failing to meet the demands of a rapidly changing society. These demands have resulted in the implementation of various educational reform measures and innovations. One innovative effort in Virginia secondary schools has been the implementation of the 4 X 4 block schedule. In this scheduling arrangement, a student would complete four courses in a semester by attending four ninety-minute classes each day. Change made in any organization is usually accompanied by problems. The purpose of this study was to determine the kinds and numbers of problems which were experienced related to implementing the 4 X 4 block schedule in Virginia secondary schools. This study also described some of the problem management strategies. In addition, the types of resources available and the relationship between the resources and the problem solutions were investigated. The study involved surveying 28 schools which implemented the 4 X 4 block schedule during the 1994-95 school year. The survey instrument was used as an initial screening device to identify two schools for case studies which demonstrated unique or revelatory cases in the implementation of the 4 X 4 block schedule. The case studies were conducted using interviews to gather in-depth information from key members of each school. The interview protocols were developed to correlate with the survey instrument. Data obtained through the interviews were analyzed. The findings indicated schools that implement the 4 X 4 block schedule will encounter varied kinds and numbers of problems unique to each school. The problems may be related to administrative, instructional, or school climate issues. The administrators at each school used their available resources and creativity to manage problems. Those problems not satisfactorily resolved remained under study. In a school where the perception existed that the school system was willing to do anything it could to help, educators were more contented and creative in solving problems. The perception of limited and withheld resources in a school contributed to squelching the persistence in solving problems. This study presented clear implications for practice. / Ed. D.

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No description available.

One of the amazing properties of human vision is its ability to feel the depth of the scenes being viewed. This is made possible by a process named stereopsis, which is the ability of our brain to fuse together the stereo image pair seen by two eyes. As a stereo image pair is a direct result of the same scene being viewed by a slightly different perspective they open up a new paradigm where spatial redundancy could be exploited for efficient transmission and storage of stereo image data. This thesis introduces three novel algorithms for stereo image compression. The first algorithm improves compression by exploiting the redundancies present in the so-called disparity field of a stereo image pair. The second algorithm uses a pioneering block coding strategy to simultaneously exploit the inter-frame and intra-frame redundancy of a stereo image pair, eliminating the need of coding the disparity field. The basic idea behind the development of the third algorithm is the efficient exploitation of redundancy in smoothly textured areas that are present in both frames, but are relatively displaced from each other due to binocular parallax. Extra compression gains of up to 20% have been achieved by the use of these techniques. The thesis also includes research work related to the improvement of the MPEG-4 video coding standard, which is the first audiovisual representation standard that understands a scene as a composition of audio-visual objects. A linear extrapolation based padding technique that makes use of the trend of pixel value variation often present near object boundaries, in padding the exterior pixels of the reference video object has been proposed. Coding gains of up to 7% have been achieved for coding boundary blocks of video objects. Finally a contour analysis based approach has been proposed for MPEG-4 video object extraction.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.