The presence of rain over oceans interferes with the measurement of sea surface wind speed and direction from the Sea Winds scatterometer and as a result wind measurements contain biases in rain regions. In past research at the Central Florida Remote Sensing Lab, it has been observed that rain has multi-fractal behavior. In this report we present an algorithm to detect the presence of rain so that rain regions are flagged. The forward and aft views of the horizontal polarization σ0 are used for the extraction of textural information with the help of multi-fractals. A single negated multi-fractal exponent is computed to discriminate between wind and rain. Pixels with exponent value above a threshold are classified as rain pixels and those that do not meet the threshold are further examined with the help of correlation of the multi-fractal exponent within a predefined neighborhood of individual pixels. It was observed that the rain has less correlation within a neighborhood compared to wind. This property is utilized for reactivation of the pixels that fall below a certain threshold of correlation. An advantage of the algorithm is that it requires no training, that is, once a threshold is set, it does not need any further adjustments. Validation results are presented through comparison with the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Microwave Imager (TMI) 2A12 rain retrieval product for one whole day. The results show that the algorithm is efficient in suppressing non-rain (wind) pixels. Also algorithm deficiencies are discussed, for high wind speed regions. Comparisons with other proposed approaches will also be presented.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases are a class of fatal brain disorders better known as Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) in humans, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk. The infectious agent responsible for these diseases is a misfolded prion protein capable of catalyzing a conformational change in normal cellular prion proteins (PrPC) into aberrant disease-causing structural isoforms (PrPSc). Although the etiological agent for TSEs has clearly been defined as PrPSc, there are important gaps in our understanding of how these proteins target and invade brain tissue. It remains to be established how ingested PrPSc ultimately reach the brain and also to understand why these tissues are particularly targeted, notwithstanding that several other tissues highly express prion proteins. Certain viruses, retroviruses in particular, efficiently hijack host proteins and can carry these proteins with them when they are released from a cell. Several lines of evidence have shown that prions and retroviruses can interact and associate at various stages of the retroviral replication cycle. Of special interest is that most retroviruses can cross the blood-brain barrier and could therefore deliver host-derived proteins to neuronal cells. In view of these observations, this thesis investigates whether retroviruses can act as vectors to capture prions from an infected cell and deliver them to a susceptible target cell. In this work, I have cloned human and mouse prion cDNAs from PBMCs and the murine cell line NIH 3T3. Either a FLAG epitope tag or the eGFP reporter protein cDNA was inserted into a region of the prion cDNA that is predicted to be amenable to such genetic insertions without affecting protein folding or expression. I then confirmed using both fluorescent and confocal microscopy and that the recombinant proteins had a similar cell distribution to the endogenous prion protein. Using Western blot analysis, I then showed that endogenous and overexpressed prion proteins can be detected in co-transfected cells producing HIV and murine leukemia virus (MLV) retroviral particles. Finally, I went on to show that prions are also present at high levels in HIV and MLV retroviral particles released from these cells. This work constitutes the first step in determining whether retroviruses can act as vectors for prion dissemination. Establishing a strong and clear association between retroviruses, pathogenic prions and prion disease would provide the rationale for preventive measures to be taken directly against retroviruses in order to protect humans and animals that have been newly exposed to PrPSc-infected products or those who are genetically predisposed to develop prion diseases. Anti-retroviral drugs could also be potentially used to delay disease progression and reduce prion transmission in human and animal tissues. The availability of such a treatment would constitute a significant advancement because there is currently no cure or treatment for prion diseases.

This paper will talk about the videos and sculptural installation in my thesis exhibition. Shooting videos outside of the studio developed into a project overarching any individual video or its particular signs. Thus, this paper will focus on the video project with examples that follow a timeline of development, rather than the actual 6 videos on display in the exhibit. The two-part sculpture "Deer in the Headlights" is created in the context of these videos, and coexists with them in a specific architectural space. This space, as well as the clichéd meaning of the deer's gaze, have a relation to the title of the show.

Název diplomové práce: Aspekty registrace plavidel v mezinárodním právu (oblast mezinárodního práva mořského a registrace námořních plavidel) (Aspects of the registration of vessels in the International Law) Abstrakt: Along with fishing, navigation is the oldest use of the sea, and remains one of the most important. Ships are the most important means of transporting goods on such routes: ninety-five per cent, by weight, of all international trade is seaborne. On the military side is it same important battle field. While almost all costal States and some landlocked (right now without Czech Republic) ones have a merchant navy of some description, one of the remarkable features of the international shipping industry is the degree to which ships are concentrated under the flags of relatively few States. This does not necessarily indicate a similar distribution of ownership. We are talking about "flags of convenience" and it is one of the topics of this thesis. This thesis deals transformation from customary international law to current codified regulation of the registration of vessels. The ascription of nationality to ships is one of the most important means by which public order is maintained at sea. As well as indicating what rights a ship enjoys and to what obligations it is subjects, the nationality of a...

Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) utfärdar varje år listor över hur väl flaggstater presterar vid hamnstatskontroller, uppdelade i en vit, en grå och en svart lista, där den svarta listan visar de flaggstater vars fartyg belagts med kvarstad flest gånger. Med hjälp av deskriptiv statistik analyserades fartyg som seglat under en flagg som presenteras på Paris MoUs svarta och grå lista, och som trafikerat Östersjön och Västerhavet. Arbetet baseras på data från 841 fartyg som trafikerade Östersjön och Västerhavet mellan åren 2013 och 2017. Studien undersöker om det finns något som utmärker fartygen, hur ofta de byter flagg och om det finns ett samband mellan flaggstater och klassningssällskap. Det som framgick var att fartyg som tillhör svart- eller grålistade flaggstater kan utgöra ett potentiellt hot för den svenska närmiljön, då nästan hälften av de fartyg som undersöktes har fått miljörelaterade anmärkningar i rapporterna från hamnstatskontroller. Fartygen är även äldre än genomsnittet för världshandelsflottan och vid flaggbyten byter de oftare till flaggstater som har en lägre prestanda med avseende på hamnstatskontroller. Det visade sig dessutom finnas ett samband mellan klassningssällskap som har en sämre rankning av Paris MoU och fartyg tillhörande svartlistade flaggstater. / Each year, Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issues lists of how well flag states perform in Port State Controls, divided into a white, a grey and a black list, where the black list displays the flag states with the largest ratio of detentions. This study uses descriptive statistics to analyse vessels that have sailed under flags presented in the Paris MoU grey and black lists and have trafficked the Baltic Sea, Kattegatt and Skagerrak. The study is based on data from 841 vessels that trafficked the area during the years 2013 to 2017. It investigates if there is anything that distinguishes the vessels, how often they change flags and if there is a connection between flag states and classification societies. The study found that vessels registered under flag states presented in the grey or black list can pose a potential threat to the Swedish marine environment, as nearly half of the examined vessels had received environment related observations during Port State Controls. The vessels were also older than the world fleet average and when changing flags they often changed to flag states with a lower ranking according to Paris MoU. A relationship between classification societies with a lower ranking according to Paris MoU and vessels from blacklisted flag states was also discovered.

Initiée indépendamment par Beilinson et Bernstein et par Brylinski et Kashiwara, l'étude des opérateurs différentiels sur les variétés de drapeaux complets a permis de répondre à une conjecture de Kazhdan et Lusztig. Ayant été poursuivie notamment par les travaux de Borho et Brylinski, cette étude a mis à jour plusieurs propriétés intéressantes sur les opérateurs différentiels sur les variétés de drapeaux. Cependant, en dehors du cas des variétés de drapeaux et du cas des variétés toriques projectives, qui a été étudié de manière combinatoire, les opérateurs différentiels sont plutôt mal compris sur les variétés projectives.Dans cette thèse, nous nous pencherons sur le cas de certaines compactifications magnifiques Y d'espaces symétriques G/H de petit rang, et nous comparerons les résultats obtenus avec ceux connus sur les variétés de drapeaux. Nous allons commencer par construire un opérateur différentiel global sur Y qui ne provient pas de l'action infinitésimale de l'algèbre de Lie de G, ce qui constitue une différence avec le cas des variétés de drapeaux.Ensuite, nous nous intéresserons à trois cas particulier que nous exprimerons comme des quotients GIT d'une certaine grassmannienne X. Grâce à cette description, nous verrons plusieurs similitudes avec le cas des variétés de drapeaux : nous montrerons que l'algèbre des opérateurs globaux sur Y est de type fini, et que pour tout faisceau inversible L sur Y, ses sections globales forment un module simple pour l'algèbre des opérateurs différentiels globaux de Y tordus par L. Enfin, en utilisant des arguments de cohomologie locale, nous montrerons que c'est également le cas pour les groupes de cohomologie supérieurs / Started independently by Beilinson and Bernstein, and by Brylinski and Kashiwara, the study of global differential operators on complete flag varieties has been very useful to answer a conjecture of Kazhdan and Lusztig. In their subsequent work, Borho and Brylinski have discovered many interesting properties on differential operators on flag varieties. But apart from the case of flag varieties, and the case of projective toric varieties, which has been investigated with combinatorial methods, differential operators on projective varieties are rather badly known.In this thesis, we will investigate the case of some wonderful compactifications Y of symmetric spaces G/H of small rank, and we will compare our results with what is known in the case of flag varieties. We will first construct a differential operator on Y which does not come from the infinitesimal action of G, which is different from the case of flag varieties.We will then look at three particular cases, which will be expressed as GIT quotients of some Grassmannian X. With this description, we will find some similarities with the case of flag varieties : we will show that the algebra of global differential operators is of finite type, and that for each invertible sheaf L on Y, the module of its global sections is simple as a module over the algebra of global differential operators of Y twisted by L. Finally, using arguments of local cohomology, we will show that it is still the case for higher cohomology groups

Cette thèse porte sur le comportement des élites politiques durant les périodes de crise nationale et plus particulièrement sur leurs réactions aux attentats terroristes. Elle démontre que les crises terroristes sont tout comme les conflits militaires ou diplomatiques propices aux unions nationales et notamment aux ralliements des partis d’opposition auprès du gouvernement. L’analyse statistique d’actes terroristes s’étant produits dans cinq états démocratiques (Allemagne, Espagne, États-Unis d’Amérique, France et Royaume-Uni) entre 1990 et 2006 révèle que l’ampleur d’un attentat en termes de pertes humaines ainsi que la répétition de ces attentats influencent dans une large mesure la réaction des élites politiques. Ainsi plus l’ampleur d’un attentat est élevée, plus la probabilité d’un ralliement est grande. En revanche, la multiplication des attentats augmente la possibilité de dissension entre l’opposition et le gouvernement. Par ailleurs, l’opposition est plus susceptible de se rallier au gouvernement lorsque l’attentat est perpétré par des terroristes provenant de l’étranger. L’analyse quantitative indique également que l’existence d’un accord formel de coopération dans la lutte antiterroriste entre le gouvernement et l’opposition favorise l’union des élites. Enfin, les données analysées suggèrent que la proportion des ralliements dans les cinq pays est plus importante depuis les attentats du 11 septembre 2001. Une analyse qualitative portant exclusivement sur la France et couvrant la période 1980-2006 confirme la validité des variables identifiées dans la partie quantitative, mais suggère que les élites réagissent au nombre total de victimes (morts mais aussi blessés) et que la répétition des actes terroristes a moins d’impact lors des vagues d’attentats. Par ailleurs, les analyses de cas confirment que les élites politiques françaises sont plus susceptibles de se rallier quand un attentat vise un haut-fonctionnaire de l’État. Il apparaît également que les rivalités et rancœurs politiques propre à la France (notamment suite à l’arrivée de la gauche au pouvoir en 1981) ont parfois empêché le ralliement des élites. Enfin, cette analyse qualitative révèle que si l’extrême gauche française soutient généralement le gouvernement, qu’il soit de gauche ou de droite, en période de crise terroriste, l’extrême droite en revanche saisit quasi systématiquement l’opportunité offerte par l’acte terroriste pour critiquer le gouvernement ainsi que les partis de l’establishment. La thèse est divisée en sept chapitres. Le premier chapitre suggère que le comportement des élites politiques en période de crises internationales graves (guerres et conflits diplomatiques) est souvent influencé par la raison d’État et non par l’intérêt électoral qui prédomine lors des périodes plus paisibles. Le second chapitre discute du phénomène terroriste et de la littérature afférente. Le troisième chapitre analyse les causes du phénomène d’union nationale, soumet un cadre pour l’analyse de la réaction des élites aux actes terroristes, et présente une série d’hypothèses. Le quatrième chapitre détaille la méthodologie utilisée au cours de cette recherche. Les chapitres cinq et six présentent respectivement les résultats des analyses quantitatives et qualitatives. Enfin, le chapitre sept conclut cette thèse en résumant la contribution de l’auteur et en suggérant des pistes de recherche. / This thesis focuses on the behaviour of political elites during periods of national crisis and particularly on their reactions to acts of terrorism. It demonstrates that terrorist crises, much like military and diplomatic conflicts, represent a fertile ground for rallies around the flag. The statistical analysis of terrorist events that occurred in five democracies (France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) from 1990 to 2006 indicates that the magnitude of the attack in terms of fatalities and the repetition of attacks influence in large measures the reaction of the political elite. The higher the magnitude is, the more likely the rally. However, the repetition of attacks increases the likelihood of dissention between opposition and government. Moreover, the opposition is more likely to support the government when the attack is perpetrated by terrorists originating from abroad. The quantitative analysis also indicates that the existence of a formal antiterrorist pact between government and opposition increases the likelihood of a rally. Finally, the data suggest that elites are more likely to rally around the flag since the events of 9/11. A qualitative analysis focusing solely on France and examining cases from the period 1980-2006 confirms the validity of the variables identified in the quantitative part but suggests that elites react to the total number of victims (including wounded) and that the repetition has less impact during waves of attacks. Furthermore, the case studies confirm that French political elites are particularly prone to rally when high-ranking representatives of the state fall victim to the terrorists. In addition, it appears that political rivalries and resentment (in particular following the Left’s return to power in 1981) have on occasion thwarted the rallying of elites. Finally, this analysis indicates that whereas the far-left generally supports the government (left-wing or right-wing), the far-right uses almost every opportunity to criticize the government and the parties of the establishment. The thesis is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one suggests that during intense foreign policy crises (military and diplomatic) the behaviour of the political elite is often influenced by the national interest, rather than the electoral interest that predominates in quieter periods. Chapter two discusses the terrorist phenomenon and the corresponding literature. Chapter three analyses the rally-around-the-flag phenomenon, lays out a framework for analysing the reaction of elites, and presents a series of hypotheses. Chapter four details the methodology used. Chapters five and six present respectively the results of the quantitative and qualitative analyses. Finally, chapter seven concludes with a summary of the author’s contribution and suggests avenues of research.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases are a class of fatal brain disorders better known as Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) in humans, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk. The infectious agent responsible for these diseases is a misfolded prion protein capable of catalyzing a conformational change in normal cellular prion proteins (PrPC) into aberrant disease-causing structural isoforms (PrPSc). Although the etiological agent for TSEs has clearly been defined as PrPSc, there are important gaps in our understanding of how these proteins target and invade brain tissue. It remains to be established how ingested PrPSc ultimately reach the brain and also to understand why these tissues are particularly targeted, notwithstanding that several other tissues highly express prion proteins. Certain viruses, retroviruses in particular, efficiently hijack host proteins and can carry these proteins with them when they are released from a cell. Several lines of evidence have shown that prions and retroviruses can interact and associate at various stages of the retroviral replication cycle. Of special interest is that most retroviruses can cross the blood-brain barrier and could therefore deliver host-derived proteins to neuronal cells. In view of these observations, this thesis investigates whether retroviruses can act as vectors to capture prions from an infected cell and deliver them to a susceptible target cell. In this work, I have cloned human and mouse prion cDNAs from PBMCs and the murine cell line NIH 3T3. Either a FLAG epitope tag or the eGFP reporter protein cDNA was inserted into a region of the prion cDNA that is predicted to be amenable to such genetic insertions without affecting protein folding or expression. I then confirmed using both fluorescent and confocal microscopy and that the recombinant proteins had a similar cell distribution to the endogenous prion protein. Using Western blot analysis, I then showed that endogenous and overexpressed prion proteins can be detected in co-transfected cells producing HIV and murine leukemia virus (MLV) retroviral particles. Finally, I went on to show that prions are also present at high levels in HIV and MLV retroviral particles released from these cells. This work constitutes the first step in determining whether retroviruses can act as vectors for prion dissemination. Establishing a strong and clear association between retroviruses, pathogenic prions and prion disease would provide the rationale for preventive measures to be taken directly against retroviruses in order to protect humans and animals that have been newly exposed to PrPSc-infected products or those who are genetically predisposed to develop prion diseases. Anti-retroviral drugs could also be potentially used to delay disease progression and reduce prion transmission in human and animal tissues. The availability of such a treatment would constitute a significant advancement because there is currently no cure or treatment for prion diseases.

The purpose of this study is to trace how Sara Willis Parton achieved unprecedented literary celebrity status as Fanny Fern during the first three years of her professional career, 1851-1853. While most critics point to her famously lucrative contract with the most popular newspaper of the 1850s, the New York Ledger, in 1854 as the beginning of her fame, I argue that she had already fully achieved that fame and had done so by writing for small Boston newspapers and publishing a highly successful collection of her articles by 1853. Further, Fern was able to achieve such a high level of success because of a keen business sense, intuitive marketing savvy, an ability to promote herself, an original writing style, and a creative use of personas. My study provides an important addition to Fern scholarship by addressing the largely overlooked early years of her writing career. To date, scholars either make no mention of her first three years or do so only to demonstrate the point that Fern achieved notable success when she signed a contract for one hundred dollars a column with Robert Bonner, publisher and editor of the New York Ledger. Prior to that contract, Fern worked as a freelance writer for the Boston Olive Branch and the Boston True Flag, earning less than five dollars for each sketch she submitted. The critical assumption has been that her initial work prepared her for the fame she would achieve writing for Bonner, but in fact Bonner would not have hired her had she not already achieved significant fame, for Bonner hired only highly celebrated writers. My study explores how Fanny Fern became a famous writer. When she began writing, Fern wrote under a number of previously unknown pseudonyms for local newspapers, but within three years her distinctive style, rhetorical skill, and iconoclastic persona had made ―Fanny Fern a household name. Fern‘s unique ability to engage a popular audience, I would argue, is the principal difference between Fern and other famous contemporary women writers.

Ce mémoire a pour objectif de vérifier s'il est possible d'expliquer la résurgence de l'Arctique dans les priorités de politique étrangère du gouvernement canadien depuis 2006 par un phénomène de politique intérieure, jusqu'ici étudié uniquement aux États-Unis, nommé le "rally 'round the flag". L'hypothèse avancée est que les présentations des politiques canadiennes en Arctique sont articulées en termes sécuritaires, visant à créer un sentiment de menace, à raviver le patriotisme et à promouvoir une identité canadienne nordique, de façon à provoquer un ralliement de la population derrière les dirigeants politiques. Le phénomène de "rally 'round the flag" impliquant immanquablement la présentation d'une « crise » internationale à la population, la présente étude se concentrera au niveau de l'individu, c'est-à-dire sur les acteurs ayant le plus de poids pour parler de sécurité, soit le Premier ministre, le Ministre des Affaires étrangères et le Ministre de la Défense. Les documents qui feront l'objet d'une analyse seront ceux qui ont pour but d'établir la position officielle du gouvernement relativement à l'Arctique, de même que ceux qui établissent les actions à entreprendre. Suite à une analyse thématique des prises de paroles de ces acteurs par le biais du cadre constructiviste critique, nous vérifierons l'impact de ces présentations sur l'imaginaire sécuritaire populaire. Pour se faire, l'étude se penchera sur les sondages portant sur l'Arctique ayant été effectué auprès de la population canadienne depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir du gouvernement Harper. La dernière étape sera de vérifier si l'intégration, par la population, de la rhétorique de peur relative à l'Arctique entraîne une hausse du soutien populaire dont bénéficient les Conservateurs grâce aux sondages sur les intentions de vote. Nous concluons, sur la base de nos analyses, que les discours sécuritaires sur l'Arctique semblent avoir une influence réelle sur les intentions de vote bien que l'effet de ralliement soit très faible en raison de la non-existence d'une crise à proprement dit dans la région pour le moment. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Arctique, "Rally 'round the flag", Canada, "Sécuritisation", Rhétorique de peur.