A study examining the content strategies within Twitter posts, from nine charitable nonprofit organizations was conducted. The content analysis was conducted to identify content strategies (relationship cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship) behind each Twitter post from these nine organizations, within a one-week period. The study also looked at levels of engagement on each tweet as well as interactivity from the organization. The results showed that these nine charitable nonprofit organizations were primarily using stewardship strategies and techniques in their posts. The study also found that relationship cultivation yielded higher levels of retweets and that the relationship cultivation and solicitation combination strategy received higher levels of likes, while the organizations lacked in interactivity (two-way communication). The results from this study add a level of Twitter analysis to the ongoing research of fundraising on social media, and provide questions for future research.

Le projet SIMUSURF consiste en l’utilisation d’un robot hexapode de mouvement pour l’analyse de la réponse biomécanique d’un sujet positionné sur un plateau mobile et soumis à des mouvements de translation et/ou de rotation. Ce robot permet l’apprentissage d’activités sportives nécessitant des conditions particulières d’équilibre. Les sports de glisse tels que le surf, le ski ou le snowboard sont des activités qui nécessitent la conduite de trajectoire du support (planche de surf, skis ou snowboard) et l’équilibre du sportif. Pour un simulateur de surf, l’hexapode équipé de plates-formes de forces permettra alors d’établir des relations entre figures et réponse biomécanique du surfeur, d’étudier la variabilité interindividuelle pour exécuter un mouvement donné et d’optimiser le geste sportif dans un but d’aide à la performance.L’étude concernant le développement de ce simulateur à partir de l’hexapode a été abordée sous deux aspects.- D’un point de vue instrumentation et acquisition, la simulation des trajectoires correspondant aux mouvements de l’ensemble {surfeur + planche} sur l’eau a nécessité la constitution d’une base de données expérimentales permettant notamment d’identifier un modèle dynamique de comportement d’interactions entre le surfeur, sa planche et la vague. Pour ces mesures in situ, l’instrumentation d’une planche a été nécessaire. La conception d’une planche instrumentée et la mise en place d’un protocole d’acquisition dans les conditions extrêmes que représente l’environnement marin ont été un des verrous technologiques associés à ce projet.- D’un point de vue mécanique et robotique, il a été indispensable d’optimiser le pilotage de cette machine (au total 6 vérins avec des vitesses potentielles de 5 m/s) pour atteindre les trajectoires désirées ou les efforts multiaxiaux à imposer dans le cas particulier d’un pilotage complexe en effort.Afin d’être réaliste, un simulateur de surf réalisé autour d’un hexapode devait être capable de reproduire les mouvements complexes et de dynamiques élevées d’une planche de surf sur une vague et soumis aux efforts du surfeur. Ces performances ont été atteintes en tenant compte des phénomènes de couplage dynamiques existants entre ses actionneurs et en mettant en œuvre une approche de commande multivariable efficace : une approche CRONE permettant de synthétiser des lois de commande à la fois performantes et robustes, c’est-à-dire résistant à une connaissance imparfaite du système commandé. / The project SIMUSURF consists in using an hexapod to analyze the biomechanical response of a human subject positioned on the moving platform of the hexapod and submitted to a translation and/or rotation movement. This robot allows practice of sport activities where balanced specific conditions are required. Riding sports such as surf, ski or snowboard are sports for which special skills to steer the support (surfboard, snowboard or ski for instance) are needed. The development of a surf simulator, using the hexapod equipped with multi-axis force plates, will allow to study the relations between figure and biomechanical response of the surfer, the interindividual variability to execute a given movement and to optimise the actions of the person aiming at better performances.The development of this simulator from the hexapod has been approached from two aspects.- From an instrumentation and acquisition point of view, simulation of the trajectories corresponding to the movements of the set {surfer + board} on the ocean required the constitution of an experimental database to identify such a behavioral dynamic model of the interactions between the surfer, his board and the wave. For these in situ experimentations, instrumentation of a surfboard was required. The design of an instrumented board and the implementation of an acquisition protocol in the extreme conditions due to the marine environment have been one of the technological hurdles associated.- From a mechanical and robotics point of view, it was essential to optimize the control of the hexapode (a total of 6 actuators with the potential speed of 5 m/s) to reach the desired trajectory or multiaxial efforts to impose in the special case of a force complex command.To be realistic, a surfing simulator designed with an hexapod had to be able to reproduce the complex movements and high dynamic of a surfboard on a wave and submitted to the efforts of surfer. These specifications were reached by taking account of existing dynamic coupling phenomena between actuators and implementing effective multivariable control approach: CRONE approach synthesizing control laws both powerful and robust, that is resistant to imperfect knowledge of the controlled system.

The present study provides a systematic overview of the most important software requirement prioritization techniques. Software requirement prioritization is a process in software engineering that precludes the actual development of software application programs and deals with assigning priorities to single requirements to define the order of their implementation. The study aims to help researchers and practitioners in deciding about the right technique since each has its advantages and limitations. Compared to the existing reviews, the current one not only captures the most promising techniques but the more general trends behind them. The study utilizes the review protocol method that aims to answer four research questions about the most popular techniques, their taxonomy, their limitations, and involved processes. The empirical data was collected from six databases for scientific manuscripts and put under scrutiny to identify the most relevant and elaborated papers. The results from 53 selected manuscripts and 106 discovered techniques demonstrate that there is evidence of a gradual shift from purely manual elicitation methods to computed-assisted and/or algorithmic ones.

Pela primeira vez em sua história o mercado de capitais nacional lida com uma real, ainda que localizada, tendência de dispersão da titularidade acionária e com certo nível de popularização do investimento em companhias abertas, estimulados por um crescimento econômico, de consumo e de investimento estrangeiro também sem precedentes. A última década foi, de fato, um período fascinante para os entusiastas do direito societário; um período de crescente complexificação e especialização no ambiente societário nacional, que, em conjunto com o desenvolvimento recente das tecnologias de comunicação, vem desafiando os fundamentos da Lei das Sociedades por Ações, de 1976, e testando a capacidade de adaptação das instituições legais e regulatórias brasileiras. Nesse contexto, o estudo dos mecanismos de exercício do direito de voto, dos pedidos públicos de procuração e para o voto e participação à distância nas assembleias, mostrou-se um meio efetivo de contribuição para a construção de uma ponte entre o antigo e o novo mercado de capitais brasileiro. Para tanto, são três as contribuições principais pretendidas por este estudo. A primeira consiste na análise sistematizada inaugural, na doutrina nacional, da legislação e da regulação aplicáveis aos pedidos públicos de procuração, voto e participação à distância nas assembleias gerais. Essa análise conclui pela necessidade da realização de determinados ajustes na regulação do mercado de capitais brasileiro. Entre esses ajustes, estão (i) a construção de uma disciplina para a inclusão de propostas de acionistas no material de pedidos públicos de procuração da administração e (ii) a elaboração de normas que regulem o exercício do direito de voto e a participação à distância nas assembleias gerais, normas essas que devem pressupor ambos como direitos legalmente garantidos aos acionistas e que devem prever a possibilidade de implementação escalonada das correspondentes obrigações das companhias, de acordo com a evolução dos meios tecnológicos disponíveis. A segunda contribuição consiste na reflexão, também seminal no cenário brasileiro, a respeito dos efeitos da dissociação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto no mercado de capitais contemporâneo, bem como dos efeitos decorrentes da correlata defasagem entre a compreensão doutrinária do direito de voto e a compreensão doutrinária do exercício desse direito. A desatualização da legislação, da regulação e principalmente da doutrina brasileira em relação às normas em vigor nos mercados mais desenvolvidos, no que diz respeito à assimilação do desenvolvimento tecnológico e dos instrumentos financeiros pelo direito societário, é agravada pelo fato de que as transações realizadas no mercado local já envolvem os mais modernos e complexos instrumentos financeiros utilizados globalmente. O consequente descolamento entre o direito e a realidade, verificados concretamente em casos como o aluguel de ações, o uso de derivativos e a venda do voto, por exemplo, desestabiliza as bases para responsabilização pelo cometimento de abusos no exercício do direito de voto, na medida em que a relação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto já não é mais tão clara. Este trabalho procura trazer à superfície essas questões e realinhar o entendimento científico a respeito do exercício do direito de voto com as práticas atuais do mercado. A terceira contribuição consiste no questionamento por este estudo da capacidade da Lei das Sociedades por Ações de enfrentar uma nova realidade, em que deixa de ser certa a existência da polarização de poder entre um controlador majoritário e acionistas minoritários atomizados, e na qual necessidades históricas de fisicalidade e concomitância deixam de ser pressupostos obrigatórios na construção de conceitos relacionados ao relacionamento entre acionistas, administradores e a companhia. O trabalho constata que a Lei das Sociedades por Ações não está inteiramente preparada para uma realidade em que nem sempre haverá um acionista controlador definido e em que o acionista minoritário nem sempre será um pequeno e pouco informado investidor, mas eventualmente um investidor institucional, com escala e recursos suficientes para efetivamente processar as informações divulgadas pela companhia e interferir em sua gestão. No mesmo passo, constata-se também que a ideia da realização de assembleias que deixem de ser delimitadas no espaço e no tempo, e que não mais dependam da interação física e simultânea de seus participantes, perfeitamente aceitável na atual dimensão das interações sociais, está ainda longe de ser consistentemente recepcionada pela legislação societária nacional. Uma análise abrangente dos efeitos para o mercado Brasileiro dos limites de uma magistral, mas já trintária lei societária, em contraste com o impacto do desenvolvimento financeiro e tecnológico experimentado pelo mundo em anos recentes, já era, assim, mais do que devida. Este estudo procura, assim, fazer frente a essa necessidade ao identificar alguns dos sinais de defasagem da lei societária e colocá-los em discussão. / For the first time in history the country is dealing with a real, although restricted, tendency of corporate dispersion, and a certain level of popularization of the investment in listed companies, all stimulated by an unprecedented expansion of the economy, consumption, and foreign investments. It has been indeed a fascinating period for the corporate law enthusiasts; a period of growing complexity and specialization in the national corporate environment, which, altogether with the new communication technologies, has been challenging the foundations of the Brazilian Corporation Law, enacted in 1976, and testing the capacity of adaption of Brazilian legal and regulatory institutions. In this scenario, studying the mechanisms of voting, proxy solicitation, and remote voting and participation in shareholders meetings, seemed to be the most natural way to contribute to build a bridge between the old Brazilian market and the new one. The main contributions expected from the thesis are threefold: First, an inaugural analysis of the new legislation and regulation applicable to proxy voting, remote voting and participation in Brazil. The analysis concluded for the necessity of certain adjustments on the Brazilian regulation, e.g. (i) the construction of a discipline for the inclusion of shareholders proposals in the management proxy material, and (ii) the enactment of rules governing remote voting and participation that assumes them as a right of the shareholder, while consenting to the companies certain flexibility of implementation connected to the development of the technologies available. Second, a thorough and also seminal study on the effects of the decoupling of shares ownership and exercise of voting rights in the contemporary market, and a contribution to update the scientific comprehension of the act of voting in corporate law, rather than simply the comprehension of the right to vote. While the Brazilian law and regulation are in certain aspects still trying to catch up with modern markets regulation, concerning the assimilation of new communication and financial technologies by the corporate legal framework, the local transactions already involve the most updated and complex financial instruments. The legal gap created, and concretely identified in cases as the lending of stocks, the use of derivatives instruments, and the sale of votes, puts in risk the stability of the market and destabilizes the discipline of liability for the abusive use of voting power as Brazilian law and courts are used to know, as the link between share ownership and vote are not as clear as before. The study seeks to bring to light these issues and to realign the scientific comprehension of voting with the current markets practices. Third, a first questioning of the Brazilian Corporation Law capacity to face a reality where there may be no power polarization between an absolute controlling shareholder and small minority shareholders, and where historical necessities of physicality and concomitance are, as a consequence of the new means of communication, no longer mandatory elements of the concepts connected to the relationship among shareholders, management, and the company. The study verifies that Brazilian Corporation Law is not prepared for a reality where there may be no clear controlling shareholders anymore and where minority shareholders may not be an uninformed small investor, but a resourceful hedge fund. On the same token, the idea of a shareholder meeting that is not delimited in space and time, and that does not depend on the physical and simultaneous interaction between parties, perfectly acceptable by our current society, is still far from any consistent reception by the corporation legal framework. A comprehensive analysis on the effects for the Brazilian markets of the limits of a great but old law, in contrast with the impact of recent years financial and technological development, were more than due. This study aims to fulfill this scientific gap, identifying some of the items in need of updating and starting discussion over them.

Few U.S. nonprofit organizations meet annual operational costs. Facing government funding cuts, U.S. nonprofit leaders have had to seek other revenue streams to remain operable and ensure that the clients they serve continue to receive support. Leaders often seek out large donors but lack strategies for successfully doing so. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies successful nonprofit leaders have used to capture the attention of committed, large donors in Southern California. Government failure theory and independence theory constituted the conceptual framework. The purposeful sampling method consisted of 3 nonprofit agency managers who had operated a nonprofit for at least 5 years, while securing a longstanding partnership of large, committed donors. These managers substantiated having met the criteria in having successfully gained committed large donor(s), and operating in a geographic setting with no less than 50,000 residents. Data included participant interviews and company websites. Transcribed data were analyzed by comparing meanings that formulated clusters into themes, and then triangulated across sources to bolster the trustworthiness of interpretations. From these clusters, 5 distinctive themes were identified: cultivating donors, building personal relationships with donors, promoting the mission, understanding relationship contribution, and detailing directly what the donation will accomplish. Findings impact social change by fortifying nonprofits with committed large donors, to reduce need in society, and create greater financial independence within communities.

Competition over mating opportunities is a conspicuous characteristic of animal behaviour. In many butterfly species the males establish territories in places advantageous for encountering females. This thesis addresses questions about how territoriality has evolved and is maintained in butterflies. The studies have been conducted using the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, as a model species. Males of P. aegeria are found in sunspots on the forest floor (paper I-V), on the lookout for females visiting the sunspots. However, males are only found in sunspots above a certain size (paper III). This behavior is maintained by a mating success advantage, where using large sunspots instead of small sunspots as perching areas generates a higher reproductive output (paper I). The mating success asymmetry is not explained by female choice or by a female preference for large sunspots per se (paper I, V), but rather the large sunspot facilitates visual performance of perching males and improves flight pursuit and interception of females (paper III). Winners of territorial contests gain sole ownership of large sunspot territories, while losers search for a new suitable sunspot territory (paper I, II & IV) or use smaller, suboptimal sunspots as perching sites (paper II). Territorial contests between P. aegeria males are not settled due to an obvious morphological/physiological asymmetry (paper I). Rather, variation in resource value and motivational asymmetries are important for settling contests (paper IV). A majority of male-female interactions (paper V) and matings (paper I) are initiated by a perching male detecting and intercepting a flying female. Furthermore, females can affect their chances of being detected by a perching male by behaving more conspicuously (paper V). This thesis highlights the role of female behaviour, variation in resource value and motivation asymmetries to understand the evolution of territoriality in butterflies.

Pela primeira vez em sua história o mercado de capitais nacional lida com uma real, ainda que localizada, tendência de dispersão da titularidade acionária e com certo nível de popularização do investimento em companhias abertas, estimulados por um crescimento econômico, de consumo e de investimento estrangeiro também sem precedentes. A última década foi, de fato, um período fascinante para os entusiastas do direito societário; um período de crescente complexificação e especialização no ambiente societário nacional, que, em conjunto com o desenvolvimento recente das tecnologias de comunicação, vem desafiando os fundamentos da Lei das Sociedades por Ações, de 1976, e testando a capacidade de adaptação das instituições legais e regulatórias brasileiras. Nesse contexto, o estudo dos mecanismos de exercício do direito de voto, dos pedidos públicos de procuração e para o voto e participação à distância nas assembleias, mostrou-se um meio efetivo de contribuição para a construção de uma ponte entre o antigo e o novo mercado de capitais brasileiro. Para tanto, são três as contribuições principais pretendidas por este estudo. A primeira consiste na análise sistematizada inaugural, na doutrina nacional, da legislação e da regulação aplicáveis aos pedidos públicos de procuração, voto e participação à distância nas assembleias gerais. Essa análise conclui pela necessidade da realização de determinados ajustes na regulação do mercado de capitais brasileiro. Entre esses ajustes, estão (i) a construção de uma disciplina para a inclusão de propostas de acionistas no material de pedidos públicos de procuração da administração e (ii) a elaboração de normas que regulem o exercício do direito de voto e a participação à distância nas assembleias gerais, normas essas que devem pressupor ambos como direitos legalmente garantidos aos acionistas e que devem prever a possibilidade de implementação escalonada das correspondentes obrigações das companhias, de acordo com a evolução dos meios tecnológicos disponíveis. A segunda contribuição consiste na reflexão, também seminal no cenário brasileiro, a respeito dos efeitos da dissociação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto no mercado de capitais contemporâneo, bem como dos efeitos decorrentes da correlata defasagem entre a compreensão doutrinária do direito de voto e a compreensão doutrinária do exercício desse direito. A desatualização da legislação, da regulação e principalmente da doutrina brasileira em relação às normas em vigor nos mercados mais desenvolvidos, no que diz respeito à assimilação do desenvolvimento tecnológico e dos instrumentos financeiros pelo direito societário, é agravada pelo fato de que as transações realizadas no mercado local já envolvem os mais modernos e complexos instrumentos financeiros utilizados globalmente. O consequente descolamento entre o direito e a realidade, verificados concretamente em casos como o aluguel de ações, o uso de derivativos e a venda do voto, por exemplo, desestabiliza as bases para responsabilização pelo cometimento de abusos no exercício do direito de voto, na medida em que a relação entre a titularidade da ação e o exercício do direito de voto já não é mais tão clara. Este trabalho procura trazer à superfície essas questões e realinhar o entendimento científico a respeito do exercício do direito de voto com as práticas atuais do mercado. A terceira contribuição consiste no questionamento por este estudo da capacidade da Lei das Sociedades por Ações de enfrentar uma nova realidade, em que deixa de ser certa a existência da polarização de poder entre um controlador majoritário e acionistas minoritários atomizados, e na qual necessidades históricas de fisicalidade e concomitância deixam de ser pressupostos obrigatórios na construção de conceitos relacionados ao relacionamento entre acionistas, administradores e a companhia. O trabalho constata que a Lei das Sociedades por Ações não está inteiramente preparada para uma realidade em que nem sempre haverá um acionista controlador definido e em que o acionista minoritário nem sempre será um pequeno e pouco informado investidor, mas eventualmente um investidor institucional, com escala e recursos suficientes para efetivamente processar as informações divulgadas pela companhia e interferir em sua gestão. No mesmo passo, constata-se também que a ideia da realização de assembleias que deixem de ser delimitadas no espaço e no tempo, e que não mais dependam da interação física e simultânea de seus participantes, perfeitamente aceitável na atual dimensão das interações sociais, está ainda longe de ser consistentemente recepcionada pela legislação societária nacional. Uma análise abrangente dos efeitos para o mercado Brasileiro dos limites de uma magistral, mas já trintária lei societária, em contraste com o impacto do desenvolvimento financeiro e tecnológico experimentado pelo mundo em anos recentes, já era, assim, mais do que devida. Este estudo procura, assim, fazer frente a essa necessidade ao identificar alguns dos sinais de defasagem da lei societária e colocá-los em discussão. / For the first time in history the country is dealing with a real, although restricted, tendency of corporate dispersion, and a certain level of popularization of the investment in listed companies, all stimulated by an unprecedented expansion of the economy, consumption, and foreign investments. It has been indeed a fascinating period for the corporate law enthusiasts; a period of growing complexity and specialization in the national corporate environment, which, altogether with the new communication technologies, has been challenging the foundations of the Brazilian Corporation Law, enacted in 1976, and testing the capacity of adaption of Brazilian legal and regulatory institutions. In this scenario, studying the mechanisms of voting, proxy solicitation, and remote voting and participation in shareholders meetings, seemed to be the most natural way to contribute to build a bridge between the old Brazilian market and the new one. The main contributions expected from the thesis are threefold: First, an inaugural analysis of the new legislation and regulation applicable to proxy voting, remote voting and participation in Brazil. The analysis concluded for the necessity of certain adjustments on the Brazilian regulation, e.g. (i) the construction of a discipline for the inclusion of shareholders proposals in the management proxy material, and (ii) the enactment of rules governing remote voting and participation that assumes them as a right of the shareholder, while consenting to the companies certain flexibility of implementation connected to the development of the technologies available. Second, a thorough and also seminal study on the effects of the decoupling of shares ownership and exercise of voting rights in the contemporary market, and a contribution to update the scientific comprehension of the act of voting in corporate law, rather than simply the comprehension of the right to vote. While the Brazilian law and regulation are in certain aspects still trying to catch up with modern markets regulation, concerning the assimilation of new communication and financial technologies by the corporate legal framework, the local transactions already involve the most updated and complex financial instruments. The legal gap created, and concretely identified in cases as the lending of stocks, the use of derivatives instruments, and the sale of votes, puts in risk the stability of the market and destabilizes the discipline of liability for the abusive use of voting power as Brazilian law and courts are used to know, as the link between share ownership and vote are not as clear as before. The study seeks to bring to light these issues and to realign the scientific comprehension of voting with the current markets practices. Third, a first questioning of the Brazilian Corporation Law capacity to face a reality where there may be no power polarization between an absolute controlling shareholder and small minority shareholders, and where historical necessities of physicality and concomitance are, as a consequence of the new means of communication, no longer mandatory elements of the concepts connected to the relationship among shareholders, management, and the company. The study verifies that Brazilian Corporation Law is not prepared for a reality where there may be no clear controlling shareholders anymore and where minority shareholders may not be an uninformed small investor, but a resourceful hedge fund. On the same token, the idea of a shareholder meeting that is not delimited in space and time, and that does not depend on the physical and simultaneous interaction between parties, perfectly acceptable by our current society, is still far from any consistent reception by the corporation legal framework. A comprehensive analysis on the effects for the Brazilian markets of the limits of a great but old law, in contrast with the impact of recent years financial and technological development, were more than due. This study aims to fulfill this scientific gap, identifying some of the items in need of updating and starting discussion over them.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur les mécanismes de plasticité et d'endommagement des aciers complexe-phase (CP). La microstructure bainitique de ces aciers, permets d’acquérir de bonnes propriétés de formabilité, qui intéressent les constructeurs automobiles. Cependant, la complexité de ces microstructures, qui se caractérisent par une grande quantité de joints de grains et une densité élevée de dislocations, influence la plasticité et les mécanismes d'endommagement. Afin d'estimer l'impact de la microstructure, une étude des caractéristiques métallurgiques des aciers à phases complexes est réalisée. Les mécanismes de plasticité sont ensuite étudiés par des tests de tension-compression afin d’étudier les mécanismes d’écrouissage du matériau. Ensuite, l’évolution de l’endommagement au sein de la microstructure est analysée à différente taux de triaxialité des contraintes afin d’obtenir la fraction de surface volumique ainsi que le nombre et le diamètre moyen des vides en fonction de la déformation plastique. Enfin, pour examiner la stabilité thermique de ces paramètres (microstructure, plasticité et endommagement), des expériences sont effectuées dans une plage de températures allant de 20 ° C à 600 ° C. / This PhD work investigates plasticity and damage mechanisms of complex phase steels. The bainitic microstructures of such steels, which feature retained austenite islands, result in these steels exhibiting good formability properties, which are of interest to automotive companies. However, the complexity of these microstructures, which are characterised by a high amount of grain boundaries and a high density of dislocations, influences plasticity and damage mechanisms. In order to estimate the impact of a steel's microstructure on these properties, the investigation of metallurgical features of complex phase steels provided by the company Faurecia is performed. Plasticity mechanisms are then investigated by tension-compression tests to determine the influence of long- and short-range interactions on the motion dislocation. Thereafter, the evolution of damage within microstructures is analysed at different stress triaxialities in order to obtain the volume area fraction and the number and average diameter of voids as functions of plastic strain. Finally, to examine the thermal stability of these parameters (microstructure, plasticity, and damage), experiments are performed at a range of temperatures between 20°C and 600°C.

The purposes of this study were to determine and describe the roles of persons other than professional development staff in the solicitation of major gifts from private individuals for selected senior colleges and universities as perceived by senior development officers. The activities of four groups of nondevelopment staff, trustees, president/chancellor, private citizens, and nondevelopment staff/faculty, were examined through the four steps of the major gift solicitation process: identification and rating, cultivation, the in person solicitation, and the thank-you process following the gift. The population encompassed all accredited, degree granting four year colleges and universities in the United States which solicit major gifts from private individuals. The sample consisted of the 223 schools which had received one or more gifts of one million dollars or more from private individuals as reported in Giving USA. Philanthronin Digest, or The Chronicle of Higher Education, between January 1, 1985, and December 31, 1987. The research instrument was a mailed questionnaire which was sent to the Chief Development Officer of the 223 schools in the sample. Replies were received from 162 institutions, for a response rate of 72.7%. Examination of the results of this study indicated that the services of nondevelopment personnel were used in the major gift solicitation process at the vast majority of schools in the United States, that over half of the major gift dollars solicited were attributable to the efforts of these individuals, and that the president/chancel lor was the most important advocate for an institution's development program followed by the trustees, private citizens, and finally the nondevelopment staff/faculty. Further examination of the data revealed specific determinants which a senior development officer should, for different nondevelopment groups, weigh more or less heavily when deciding which individual(s) will have the greatest likelihood of being influential with major donor prospects.

Les briques de terre compressée (BTC) à la façon traditionnelle au Bénin présentent de piètres propriétés mécaniques, ce qui explique que les populations recourent aux parpaings de ciment relativement trop couteux et dont l’emploi affecte fortement les ressources en eau et en énergie. Ce travail propose des pistes d’amélioration des BTC pour l’écoconstruction par l’ajout de fibres végétales à des sols usités localement pour la construction. Cette stratégie permet de valoriser les matières premières minérales et végétales dans un domaine d’activités qui concerne une grande partie de la population. Dans un premier temps, un sol a été choisi d’après sa composition chimique, ses propriétés physiques, mécaniques et technologiques. Le choix de la fibre de kénaf pour le renforcement de la matrice minérale se justifie par ses excellentes propriétés mécaniques spécifiques et sa disponibilité à très faible coût. Les effets des fibres sur le comportement du sol au jeune âge, puis sur les comportements mécanique et hygrothermique des matériaux consolidés sous 5 MPa (pression applicable avec les équipements facilement disponibles au Bénin), ont été étudiés pour trois taux massiques de fibres (0,5%; 1% et 1,5% relativement au sol) dans différentes longueurs (5, 10, 20 et 30 mm). Les résultats indiquent une nette amélioration du comportement mécanique des BTC renforcés par le kénaf en termes des résistances à la flexion et à la compression, et de la résistance à la rupture catastrophique (comportement pseudo ductile). Les résultats les plus élevés sont obtenus pour une teneur de 0,5% de fibres de longueur 30 mm. L’ajout de ciment seul au sol fibré (taux de 3, 5 et 7%) ou de ciment associé au laitier de haut fourneau (taux de 3-5% et 5-10%, respectivement) permet en sus d’améliorer de façon importante la résistance à la prise d’eau. Les meilleurs résultats sont obtenus avec 5% de ciment et 10% de laitier de haut fourneau. Les mesures réalisées en chambre biclimatique ont permis de caractériser les matériaux comme paroi séparatrice, en étudiant les transferts de chaleur et de vapeur d’eau. Les résultats mettent en évidence l’effet significatif de l’ajout d’un liant au BTC : L’ajout d’un liant diminue le déphasage et augmente l’atténuation du matériau. Les meilleurs résultats de comportement hygrothermique sont obtenus pour le sol fibré.Cette étude démontre qu’il est possible de produire au Bénin, à partir de matières premières locales et avec des équipements peu onéreux, des éco-matériaux aux propriétés mécaniques et hygrothermiques satisfaisantes pour la construction d’habitat de type R+1. / Traditional Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) in the Republic of Benin have poor mechanical properties, this justifies why people rely on relatively expensive cement blocks; the use of which greatly affects resources such as water and energy. In this work we have proposed ways to enhance CEB properties for eco-construction by adding plant fibers to locally used construction's soils. This strategy makes it possible to value mineral and vegetable raw materials in a field of an activity that is common to a large part of the population. At first, a soil was chosen according to its chemical composition, its physical, mechanical and technological properties. The choice of kenaf fiber for the reinforcement of the mineral matrix isjustified by its excellent specific mechanical properties and its availability at very low cost. The effects of fibers on soil behavior at young age and on the mechanical and hygrothermal behavior of consolidated materials under 5 MPa (pressure applicable with equipment readily available in Benin) were studied for three mass content of fibers relatively to the soil (0.5% 1% and 1.5%) and different lengths (5, 10, 20 and 30 mm). The results indicated a remarkable improvement in the mechanical behavior of kenaf-reinforced CEBs in terms of flexural and compressive strengths and tolerance to damage. The highest results were obtained with 0.5% of fibers 30 mm long. The addition of a binder (3, 5 and 7% of cement) or (3-5% and 5-10% of cement and blast furnace slag mix) allowed an important reduction in water uptake. The best mechanical results were obtained for a biocomposite made up with BAK soil, 0.5% of flax fibers 30 mm long and a mix of 5% cement and 10% blast furnace slag. Measurements carried out in a biclimatic chamber made it possible to characterize the hydric and thermal behavior of the soil-based materials. The addition of a binder decreases the phase shift and increases the attenuation of the material. These different results show that it is possible to produce in Benin with the available equipment, CEB with mechanical and hygrothermal properties sufficient enought for the construction of type R + 1 habitat.