1 ABSTRACT: This thesis deals with Dutch primary school headmaster profession standard analysis. Its goal is to break down facts, how this standard is framed, how does it relate to theory, what are the headmaster's job criteria, how is his/her post determined, and lastly, how is this standard used. One of the parts is the analysis of headmaster's position and personal plan as a tool for further education. Considering the size of text and language differences, content text analysis is used. The standard itself, based on competencies, their models, and effective leadership characteristics as tools for headmaster's as well as children education, is going through a lot of change. These changes are widely described in this work, which also mentions what parts of this standard are possible to take into consideration in the Czech republic. KEYWORDS: Standard - kompetence - effective leadership - Personlijk plan

“A picture is worth a thousand words”. If this proverb were taken literally we all know that every person interprets images or photos differently in terms of its content. This is due to the semantics contained in these images. Content-based image retrieval has become a vast area of research in order to successfully describe and retrieve images according to the content. In military applications, intelligence images such as those obtained by the defence intelligence group are taken (mostly on film), developed and then manually annotated thereafter. These photos are then stored in a filing system according to certain attributes such as the location, content etc. To retrieve these images at a later stage might take days or even weeks to locate. Thus, the need for a digital annotation system has arisen. The images of the military contain various military vehicles and buildings that need to be detected, described and stored in a database. For our research we want to look at the effects that the rotation and elevation angle of an object in an image has on the retrieval performance. We chose model cars in order to be able to control the environment the photos were taken in such as the background, lighting, distance between the objects, and the camera etc. There are also a wide variety of shapes and colours of these models to obtain and work with. We look at the MPEG-7 descriptor schemes that are recommended by the MPEG group for video and image retrieval as well as implement three of them. For the military it could be required that when the defence intelligence group is in the field, that the images be directly transmitted via satellite to the headquarters. We have therefore included the JPEG2000 standard which gives a compression performance increase of 20% over the original JPEG standard. It is also capable to transmit images wirelessly as well as securely. Including the MPEG-7 descriptors that we have implemented, we have also implemented the fuzzy histogram and colour correlogram descriptors. For our experimentation we implemented a series of experiments in order to determine the effects that rotation and elevation has on our model vehicle images. Observations are made when each vehicle is considered separately and when the vehicles are described and combined into a single database. After the experiments are done we look at the descriptors and determine which adjustments could be made in order to improve the retrieval performance thereof. / Dr. W.A. Clarke

Après la découverte du boson de Higgs par les expériences ATLAS et CMS au LHC, annoncée le 4 juillet 2012 au CERN, l'heure est maintenant à la mesure des propriétés de cette nouvelle particule pour vérifier sa compatibilité avec le boson scalaire prédit par le Modèle Standard. Son couplage aux autres particules est une mesure importante car toute déviation par rapport à la valeur prédite par la théorie peut être le signe d'une nouvelle physique, au-delà du Modèle Standard. Cette thèse présente la mesure des couplages du boson de Higgs dans son mode de désintégration en deux photons, utilisant l'ensemble des données collectées en 2011 (4.5 fb^{-1} à 7 TeV) et 2012 (20.3 fb^{-1} à 8 TeV) par le détecteur ATLAS. Les événements sont classifiés en fonction des objets produits en association avec le Higgs : deux jets pour la production VBF, lepton et énergie transverse manquante pour le higgsstrahlung (WH et ZH) et jets de b pour le ttH, les événements restants étant produits majoritairement par le processus de production dominant ggH. L'impact de la modélisation du moment transverse du Higgs, dans son mode de production par fusion de gluons, est aussi estimé. Les derniers développements théoriques dans ce domaine permettent d'atteindre une précision à l'ordre NNLO+NNLL (QCD), avec la prise en compte de l'effet des masses finies des quarks top et bottom dans la boucle jusqu'à l'ordre NLO+NLL, implémentée dans le programme HRes. Une méthode de pondération est dérivée pour prendre en compte ces dernières avancées, en prenant en compte la corrélation avec le nombre de jets. Les résultats finaux sont en bon accord avec les prédictions du Modèle Standard, en prenant en compte les barres d'erreur. A la masse mesurée par la combinaison des canaux diphoton et quatre leptons dans ATLAS, mH = 125.4 +/- 0.4 GeV, la section efficace totale ramenée à celle attendue par le Modèle Standard est : mu = 1.17^{+0.28}_{-0.25} = 1.17 +/- 0.23(stat) ^{+0.10}_{-0.08}(syst) ^{+0.12}_{-0.08}(théorie) et le rapport du nombre d'événements mesurés pour chaque mode de production à celui prédit par le Modèle Standard est : mu_ggH = 1.32 +/- 0.32(stat.) ^{+0.13}_{-0.09}(syst.) ^{+0.19}_{-0.11}(théorie) ; mu_VBF = 0.8 +/- 0.7(stat.) ^{+0.2}_{-0.1}(syst.) ^{+0.2}_{-0.3}(théorie) ; mu_WH = 1.0 +/- 1.5(stat.) ^{+0.3}_{-0.1}(syst.) ^{+0.2}_{-0.1}(théorie) ; mu_ZH = 0.1 ^{+3.6}_{-0.1}(stat.) ^{+0.7}_{-0.0}(syst.) ^{+0.1}_{-0.0}(théorie) ; mu_ttH = 1.6 ^{+2.6}_{-1.8}(stat.) ^{+0.6}_{-0.4}(syst.} ^{+0.5}_{-0.2}(théorie) / After the Higgs boson discovery in the first LHC data, the focus is now on its properties measurement. Among these properties, its couplings are of particular importance since any deviation from the expected value can be an indication of new physics, beyond the Standard Model. This thesis is oriented towards the Higgs couplings measurements with the ATLAS experiment, using the diphoton decay channel. Selected diphoton events are classified into different categories to disentangle the five Higgs production modes by tagging the objects produced in association with the Higgs boson: two jets for the VBF production mode, lepton and missing transverse energy for the higgsstrahlung (WH and ZH), b-jets for ttH, the remaining events being mostly produced via the dominant production mode ggH. The impact of the Higgs pT modelling in the ggH production mode is also investigated. Theoretical developments provide predictions of the pT shape at NNLO+NNLL accuracy, including top and bottom mass effects in the loop up to NLO+NLL, implemented in the HRes program. A reweighting technique to take into account these latest theoretical improvements is derived, taking into consideration the correlation with the number of jets. Its impact on the final measurement is estimated to be of the order of a few percent. The final couplings results, measured at the Higgs mass obtained by the combination of the H->gamma gamma and H->ZZ*->4l channels in ATLAS (mH = 125.4 +/- 0.4 GeV) do not show any statistically significant deviation from the Standard Model. The observed signal strength mu = sigma^{obs} / sigma^{exp} is found to be: mu = 1.17^{+0.28}_{-0.25} = 1.17 +/- 0.23(stat) ^{+0.10}_{-0.08}(syst) ^{+0.12}_{-0.08}(theory). The ratio of the observed number of events in each production mode to the expected ones are measured at: mu_ggH = 1.32 +/- 0.32(stat.) ^{+0.13}_{-0.09}(syst.) ^{+0.19}_{-0.11}(theory) ; mu_VBF = 0.8 +/- 0.7(stat.) ^{+0.2}_{-0.1}(syst.) ^{+0.2}_{-0.3}(theory) ; mu_WH = 1.0 +/- 1.5(stat.) ^{+0.3}_{-0.1}(syst.) ^{+0.2}_{-0.1}(theory) ; mu_ZH = 0.1 ^{+3.6}_{-0.1}(stat.) ^{+0.7}_{-0.0}(syst.) ^{+0.1}_{-0.0}(theory) ; mu_ttH = 1.6 ^{+2.6}_{-1.8}(stat.) ^{+0.6}_{-0.4}(syst.} ^{+0.5}_{-0.2}(theory)

Cette thèse, conduite dans le contexte de la recherche du boson de Higgs, dernière pièce manquante du mécanisme de brisure de la symétrie électrofaible et qui est une des plus importantes recherches auprès des collisionneurs hadroniques actuels, traite de la phénoménologie de ce boson à la fois dans le Modèle Standard (SM) et dans son extension supersymétrique minimale (MSSM). Après un résumé de ce qui constitue le Modèle Standard dans une première partie, nous présenterons nos prédictions pour la section efficace inclusive de production du boson de Higgs dans ses principaux canaux de production auprès des deux collisionneurs hadroniques actuels que sont le Tevatron au Fermilab et le grand collisionneur de hadrons (LHC) au CERN, en commençant par le cas du Modèle Standard. Le principal résultat présenté est l'étude la plus exhaustive possible des différentes sources d'incertitudes théoriques qui pèsent sur le calcul : les incertitudes d'échelles vues comme une mesure de notre ignorance des termes d'ordre supérieur dans un calcul perturbatif à un ordre donné, les incertitudes reliées aux fonctions de distribution de partons dans le proton/l'anti--proton (PDF) ainsi que les incertitudes reliées à la valeur de la constante de couplage fort, et enfin les incertitudes provenant de l'utilisation d'une théorie effective qui simplifie le calcul des ordres supérieurs dans la section efficace de production. Dans un second temps nous étudierons les rapports de branchement de la désintégration du boson de Higgs en donnant ici aussi les incertitudes théoriques qui pèsent sur le calcul. Nous poursuivrons par la combinaison des sections efficaces de production avec le calcul portant sur la désintégration du boson de Higgs, pour un canal spécifique, montrant quelles en sont les conséquences intéressantes sur l'incertitude théorique totale. Ceci nous amènera à un résultat significatif de la thèse qui est la comparaison avec l'expérience et notamment les résultats des recherches du boson de Higgs au Tevatron. Nous irons ensuite au-delà du Modèle Standard dans une troisième partie où nous donnerons quelques ingrédients sur la supersymétrie et sa mise en application dans le MSSM où nous avons cinq bosons de Higgs, puis nous aborderons leur production et désintégration en se focalisant sur les deux canaux de production principaux par fusion de gluon et fusion de quarks $b$. Nous présenterons les résultats significatifs quant à la comparaison avec aussi bien le Tevatron que les résultats très récents d'ATLAS et CMS au LHC qui nous permettront d'analyser l'impact de ces incertitudes sur l'espace des paramètres du MSSM, sans oublier de mentionner quelques bruits de fond du signal des bosons de Higgs. Tout ceci va nous permettre de mettre en avant le deuxième résultat très important de la thèse, ouvrant une nouvelle voie de recherche pour le boson de Higgs standard au LHC. La dernière partie sera consacrée aux perspectives de ce travail et notamment donnera quelques résultats préliminaires dans le cadre d'une étude exclusive, d'un intérêt primordial pour les expérimentateurs. / This thesis has been conducted in the context of one of the utmost important searches at current hadron colliders, that is the search for the Higgs boson, the remnant of the electroweak symmetry breaking. We wish to study the phenomenology of the Higgs boson in both the Standard Model (SM) framework and its minimal Supersymmetric extension (MSSM). After a review of the Standard Model in a first part and of the key reasons and ingredients for the supersymmetry in general and the MSSM in particular in a third part, we will present the calculation of the inclusive production cross sections of the Higgs boson in the main channels at the two current hadron colliders that are the Fermilab Tevatron collider and the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), starting by the SM case in the second part and presenting the MSSM results, where we have five Higgs bosons and focusing on the two main production channels that are the gluon gluon fusion and the bottom quarks fusion, in the fourth part. The main output of this calculation is the extensive study of the various theoretical uncertainties that affect the predictions: the scale uncertainties which probe our ignorance of the higher–order terms in a fixed order perturbative calculation, the parton distribution functions (PDF) uncertainties and its related uncertainties from the value of the strong coupling constant, and the uncertainties coming from the use of an effective field theory to simplify the hard calculation. We then move on to the study of the Higgs decay branching ratios which are also affected by diverse uncertainties. We will present the combination of the production cross sections and decay branching fractions in some specific cases which will show interesting consequences on the total theoretical uncertainties. We move on to present the results confronted to experiments and show that the theoretical uncertainties have a significant impact on the inferred limits either in the SM search for the Higgs boson or on the MSSM parameter space, including some assessments about SM backgrounds to the Higgs production and how they are affected by theoretical uncertainties. One significant result will also come out of the MSSM analysis and open a novel strategy search for the Standard Higgs boson at the LHC. We finally present in the last part some preliminary results of this study in the case of exclusive production which is of utmost interest for the experimentalists.

Le 4 Juillet 2012, la découverte d'une nouvelle particule scalaire d'une masse de l’ordre de 125 GeV a été annoncée par les collaborations ATLAS et CMS.Une nouvelle ère s'annonce : celle au cours de laquelle il faudra déterminer précisément les propriétés de cette nouvelle particule.Cela est crucial afin d'établir si cette particule est bien la trace du mécanisme responsable de la brisure de la symétrie du secteur électro-faible. Cela permettrait aussi de repérer tout élément susceptible d'être associé à une « nouvelle physique » dans le cas où le mécanisme de brisure ferait intervenir des ingrédients autres que ceux prédits par le Modèle Standard.Dans cette thèse, nous avons essayé de comprendre et de caractériser jusqu’à quel point ce nouveau champ scalaire est le boson de Higgs prédit par le Modèle Standard. Nous avons établi les applications d'une telle découverte dans le contexte de théories supersymétriques et de modèles décrivant la matière noire.Dans une première partie consacrée au Modèle Standard de la physique des particules, nous étudions après une courte introduction au domaine, le processus de production d'une paire de bosons de Higgs au LHC. Un résultat majeur est que ce mode de production permettra de mesurer le couplage trilinéaire du Higgs qui est un paramètre essentiel à mesurer afin de reconstruire le potentiel du Higgs et donc représente la dernière vérification à effectuer pour confirmer l'origine de la brisure spontanée de la symétrie électro-faible.La deuxième partie traite des théories supersymétriques. Après une introduction au sujet, un de nos importants résultats est d'avoir fortement contraint un certain nombre de modèles supersymétriques après la découverte du boson de Higgs. Nous avons aussi introduit une nouvelle approche qui permet aux physiciens expérimentateurs de rechercher de manière efficace les bosons de Higgs supersymétriques dans les expériences actuelles et futures du LHC.La troisième partie concerne la matière noire. Nous présentons des résultats qui établis-sent d'importantes limitations sur des modèles où la matière noire interagirait avec le boson de Higgs. Nous discutons aussi de scénarios alternatifs qui font intervenir de la matière noire hors équilibre avec le bain thermique. Dans un premier temps nous dé-montrons qu'il existe un lien étroit entre la température de réchauffement de l'univers et le schéma de brisure du groupe de jauge du Modèle Standard et dans un deuxième temps nous étudions la genèse de matière noire par l'intermédiaire de nouveaux bosons Z’. / On the 4th of July 2012, the discovery of a new scalar particle with a mass of order 125 GeV was announced by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations. An important era is now opening: the precise determination of the properties of the produced particle. This is of extreme importance in order to establish that this particle is indeed the relic of the mechanism responsible for the electroweak symmetry breaking and to pin down effects of new physics if additional ingredients beyond those of the Standard Model are involved in the symmetry breaking mechanism. In this thesis we have tried to understand and characterize to which extent this new scalar field is the Standard Model Higgs Boson and set the implications of this discovery in the context of Supersymmetric theories and dark matter models.In a first part devoted to the Standard Model of particle physics, we discuss the Higgs pair production processes at the LHC and the main output of our results is that they al-low for the determination of the trilinear Higgs self-coupling which represents a first important step towards the reconstruction of the Higgs potential and thus the final verifica-tion of the Higgs mechanism as the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking.The second part is about Supersymmetric theories. After a review of the topics one of our result is to set strong restrictions on Supersymmetric models after the Higgs discov-ery. We also introduce a new approach which would allow experimentalists to efficiently look for supersymmetric heavy Higgs bosons at current and next LHC runs.The third part concerns dark matter. We present results which give strong constraints on Higgs-portal models. We finally discuss alternative non-thermal dark matter scenario. Firstly, we demonstrate that there exists a tight link between the reheating temperature and the scheme of the Standard Model gauge group breaking and secondly we study the genesis of dark matter by a Z’ portal.

A presente pesquisa tem como contexto linguístico dois bairros da cidade de Jundiaí, formados inicialmente por imigrantes italianos. Desse modo, buscamos responder a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: como a língua italiana, por meio da memória e do sentimento de pertencimento, se faz presente nas representações sociais das comunidades dos bairros Traviú e Colônia? Este trabalho se justifica pelo fato de, ainda, não existirem pesquisas com base científica sobre as variedades linguísticas das comunidades acima destacadas. Portanto, a tese tem como objetivo central realizar um estudo nesse local para analisar os processos de silenciamento e substituição, oriundos dos contatos entre a língua materna (o português), e língua de imigração (as línguas minoritárias de diferentes regiões da Itália que ali chegaram com os imigrantes). A análise tem como base a modalidade oral, coletada por meio de entrevistas com os descendentes, e a escrita, com base nos poucos registros escritos e preservados, nas variedades da língua italiana ou na língua italiana standard. Os resultados deste trabalho são apresentados com base nas particularidades evidentes nos excertos analisados, em relação às pesquisas referentes ao contato linguístico entre a língua materna brasileira e as línguas dos imigrantes, em nosso caso o português brasileiro e as variedades da língua italiana. Conjuntamente, faz parte desta investigação uma reflexão sobre as dissertações, delimitadas à análise lexical, coordenadas pelo Programa de Língua, Literatura e Cultura Italianas, da Universidade de São Paulo, para destacarmos um estudo que apresente outras possibilidades de estudar as confluências, o silenciamento, a substituição e o quadro atual desses acontecimentos nas comunidades discursivas analisadas. Para tanto, nosso referencial teórico está embasado nos conceitos da Análise do Discurso de linha francesa, iniciados por Michel Foucault, sistematizados por Michel Pêcheux e, no Brasil, a contribuição de Eni Pulcinelli Orlandi. Nas análises do corpus de nosso estudo, verificamos que o processo lento de silenciamento das variedades da língua italiana se afirma com a falta de interlocutores, no entanto, o sentimento de pertencimento, a memória e a busca pela ascendência, têm contribuído para o estudo da língua italiana standard, apresentando um quadro que procura valorizar e registrar o que ainda se faz presente nas comunidades discursivas dos bairros Colônia e Traviú, de Jundiaí SP. Dados que, assim, formam o patrimônio linguístico imaterial com sentidos e valores não substituídos por outros signos linguísticos em tais comunidades. / This research sets its linguistic context in two districts of the city of Jundiaí, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Such districts were initially formed by immigrants of Italian descent. Thereby, we seek to answer the following research question: how is the Italian language, by means of memory and the feeling of belonging, present in the social representations of the communities of these districts of Traviú and Colônia? This research is relevant due to the fact that, so far, no scientifically based research has been made on the linguistic varieties in the communities aforementioned. Thus, the main objective of this thesis is to study the processes of silencing and substitution arising from the contact between the mother tongue (Portuguese), and the immigrants languages (several varieties of the Italian language from different minorities coming from different parts of Italy). This analysis is based on the oral modality, collected through interviews conducted with descendants, and through the writing modality, based on the few preserved written samples of the Italian varieties or the standard Italian. The results presented here are based on the specificities found in the excerpts analyzed, concerning researches on the linguistic contact between the Brazilian mother tongue and the immigrants languages, or, for us, the Brazilian Portuguese and the Italian language varieties. It is also part of this research, considerations on the dissertations which are limited to the lexical analysis, under the coordination of the Program of Italian Culture, Literature and Language in the University of São Paulo, so as to bring into focus a study that presents other possibilities for studying the convergences, the silencing, the substitution and the current status of such events in the discursive community studied. For such purpose, our theoretical framework is based on the French School of Discourse Analysis, which began with Michel Foucault and was systematized by Michel Pêcheux and which counts with the contributions of Eni Pulcinelli Orlandi in Brazil. In the analyses of the corpus studied we found that the slow process of silencing of the Italian language varieties occurs through the lack of interlocutors, although, the feeling of belonging, the memory and the research of ancestry have been contributing to the studies of the standard variety of the Italian language, revealing a scenario where it is sought to value and register what is still present in the discursive communities in the Colônia and Traviú districts. Such data thus, constitutes the immaterial linguistic heritage with meanings and values that are not substituted by other linguistic signs in those communities.

A presente pesquisa tem como contexto linguístico dois bairros da cidade de Jundiaí, formados inicialmente por imigrantes italianos. Desse modo, buscamos responder a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: como a língua italiana, por meio da memória e do sentimento de pertencimento, se faz presente nas representações sociais das comunidades dos bairros Traviú e Colônia? Este trabalho se justifica pelo fato de, ainda, não existirem pesquisas com base científica sobre as variedades linguísticas das comunidades acima destacadas. Portanto, a tese tem como objetivo central realizar um estudo nesse local para analisar os processos de silenciamento e substituição, oriundos dos contatos entre a língua materna (o português), e língua de imigração (as línguas minoritárias de diferentes regiões da Itália que ali chegaram com os imigrantes). A análise tem como base a modalidade oral, coletada por meio de entrevistas com os descendentes, e a escrita, com base nos poucos registros escritos e preservados, nas variedades da língua italiana ou na língua italiana standard. Os resultados deste trabalho são apresentados com base nas particularidades evidentes nos excertos analisados, em relação às pesquisas referentes ao contato linguístico entre a língua materna brasileira e as línguas dos imigrantes, em nosso caso o português brasileiro e as variedades da língua italiana. Conjuntamente, faz parte desta investigação uma reflexão sobre as dissertações, delimitadas à análise lexical, coordenadas pelo Programa de Língua, Literatura e Cultura Italianas, da Universidade de São Paulo, para destacarmos um estudo que apresente outras possibilidades de estudar as confluências, o silenciamento, a substituição e o quadro atual desses acontecimentos nas comunidades discursivas analisadas. Para tanto, nosso referencial teórico está embasado nos conceitos da Análise do Discurso de linha francesa, iniciados por Michel Foucault, sistematizados por Michel Pêcheux e, no Brasil, a contribuição de Eni Pulcinelli Orlandi. Nas análises do corpus de nosso estudo, verificamos que o processo lento de silenciamento das variedades da língua italiana se afirma com a falta de interlocutores, no entanto, o sentimento de pertencimento, a memória e a busca pela ascendência, têm contribuído para o estudo da língua italiana standard, apresentando um quadro que procura valorizar e registrar o que ainda se faz presente nas comunidades discursivas dos bairros Colônia e Traviú, de Jundiaí SP. Dados que, assim, formam o patrimônio linguístico imaterial com sentidos e valores não substituídos por outros signos linguísticos em tais comunidades. / This research sets its linguistic context in two districts of the city of Jundiaí, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Such districts were initially formed by immigrants of Italian descent. Thereby, we seek to answer the following research question: how is the Italian language, by means of memory and the feeling of belonging, present in the social representations of the communities of these districts of Traviú and Colônia? This research is relevant due to the fact that, so far, no scientifically based research has been made on the linguistic varieties in the communities aforementioned. Thus, the main objective of this thesis is to study the processes of silencing and substitution arising from the contact between the mother tongue (Portuguese), and the immigrants languages (several varieties of the Italian language from different minorities coming from different parts of Italy). This analysis is based on the oral modality, collected through interviews conducted with descendants, and through the writing modality, based on the few preserved written samples of the Italian varieties or the standard Italian. The results presented here are based on the specificities found in the excerpts analyzed, concerning researches on the linguistic contact between the Brazilian mother tongue and the immigrants languages, or, for us, the Brazilian Portuguese and the Italian language varieties. It is also part of this research, considerations on the dissertations which are limited to the lexical analysis, under the coordination of the Program of Italian Culture, Literature and Language in the University of São Paulo, so as to bring into focus a study that presents other possibilities for studying the convergences, the silencing, the substitution and the current status of such events in the discursive community studied. For such purpose, our theoretical framework is based on the French School of Discourse Analysis, which began with Michel Foucault and was systematized by Michel Pêcheux and which counts with the contributions of Eni Pulcinelli Orlandi in Brazil. In the analyses of the corpus studied we found that the slow process of silencing of the Italian language varieties occurs through the lack of interlocutors, although, the feeling of belonging, the memory and the research of ancestry have been contributing to the studies of the standard variety of the Italian language, revealing a scenario where it is sought to value and register what is still present in the discursive communities in the Colônia and Traviú districts. Such data thus, constitutes the immaterial linguistic heritage with meanings and values that are not substituted by other linguistic signs in those communities.

Contrast Ces travaux abordent la question de l'impact des comparaisons ascendantes imposées sur l'auto-évaluation, ainsi que leurs conséquences en termes d'allocation de ressources attentionnelles et d'investissement dans la tâche. Nous défendons la thèse selon laquelle lorsqu'autrui représente un standard, la comparaison ascendante serait menaçante alors que lorsqu'il représente un but, la comparaison ascendante ne serait plus menaçante. Dans une première partie, nous allons donc tester l'hypothèse selon laquelle la comparaison ascendante peut menacer l'auto-évaluation. Nous présenterons cinq études qui démontrent les conséquences attentionnelles de la comparaison ascendante et la nécessité d'avoir recours à la notion de menace de l'auto-évaluation pour rendre compte de ces effets. Dans une seconde partie, nous argumenterons qu'un état d'approche transmet une impression permettant d'activer autrui comme but. Nous testerons cette hypothèse dans cinq études dans lesquelles nous montrerons qu'un état d'approche, d'une part, a un impact positif sur l'auto-évaluation et sur l'investissement dans la tâche et, d'autre part, favorise l'inclusion de la représentation d'autrui dans la représentation du soi. Dans l'ensemble, ces travaux contribuent à éclaircir les différentes façons de réagir à une comparaison ascendante en pointant, d'une part, les conséquences de la comparaison ascendante et, d'autre part, un déterminant crucial des effets de la comparaison ascendante : l'état d'approche. / This research deals with how people react to imposed upward social comparison. More specially, it questions the consequences of these comparisons on self-evaluation and how attentional resources are allocated. We defend the following thesis: when others are perceived as a standard, upward comparison threatens self-evaluation while when others are perceived as a goal, upward comparison will no longer be threatening and can be regarded as a source of self-improvement. In the first part of this work, we will argue that upward comparison can threaten self-evaluation. We will present five studies shedding light on attentional consequences of upward comparison and pointing the need to take self-evaluative threat into account in this research domain. In the second part of this work, we will argue that a state of approach conveys a feeling activating others as a goal. We will test this hypothesis in five studies by showing that, in one hand, a state of approach influences positively selfevaluation and task investment, and, on the other hand, its leads individuals to include upward comparison target's representation into the self representation. Taken together, these studies shed light on the different reactions to upward comparison, pointing out the consequences of this comparison and by identifying a crucial determinant of these effects: a state of approach.

We live in an age where we willingly provide our social security number, credit card information, home address and countless other sensitive information over the Internet. Whether you are buying a phone case from Amazon, sending in an on-line job application, or logging into your on-line bank account, you trust that the sensitive data you enter is secure. As our technology and computing power become more sophisticated, so do the tools used by potential hackers to our information. In this paper, the underlying mathematics within ciphers will be looked at to understand the security of modern ciphers. An extremely important algorithm in today's practice is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which is used by our very own National Security Agency (NSA) for data up to TOP SECRET. Another frequently used cipher is the RSA cryptosystem. Its security is based on the concept of prime factorization, and the fact that it is a hard problem to prime factorize huge numbers, numbers on the scale of 2^{2048} or larger. Cryptanalysis, the study of breaking ciphers, will also be studied in this paper. Understanding effective attacks leads to understanding the construction of these very secure ciphers.

Studying chaotic behavior in nonlinear systems requires numerous computations in order to simulate the behavior of such systems. The Standard Map Machine was designed and implemented as a special computer for performing these intensive computations with high-speed and high-precision. Its impressive performance is due to its simple architecture specialized to the numerical computations required of nonlinear systems. This report discusses the design and implementation of the Standard Map Machine and its use in the study of nonlinear mappings; in particular, the study of the standard map.