Cette thèse porte sur William Gaddis (1922-1998), écrivain majeur de la littérature américaine, traditionnellement associé à la mouvance postmoderne, et sur son premier roman The Recognitions (1955). Ce travail s’inscrit dans une perspective interdisciplinaire, il est à la croisée des champs d’étude entre la littérature, la peinture, la philosophie et l’histoire des religions. L’enjeu principal consiste à montrer que le William Gaddis de 1955 est un écrivain moderne – c’est-à-dire ni moderniste ni postmoderniste – car son premier roman l’est. La réflexion de Gaddis sur l’absence de centre, liée à la perte d’une origine stable, témoigne de sa modernité. Son ironie à l’égard du passé et sa distance critique à l’encontre de la religion et de l’esthétique souligne sa modernité. Son approche nouvelle de l’origine en art la met en évidence. De même, son étude sur le faux et l’authenticité, sur l’art et l’origine indique sa modernité. L’interaction qui se joue entre peinture et écriture dans The Recognitions contribue également à la révéler. L’acentralité, le cubisme narratif et la modernité de l’origine sont les trois concepts critiques proposés qui permettent d’analyser la modernité à l’œuvre dans The Recognitions. Ils envisagent trois variations de la modernité dans le roman qui mènent à une réflexion sur la création. / This doctoral dissertation focuses on The Recognitions (1955), which was the first novel by the major American writer, William Gaddis (1922-1998), who is generally classified as a postmodernist. By addressing this work through an interdisciplinary lens, I have chosen to place it at a crossroads between literature, painting, philosophy and the history of religions. The aim is to show that especially in Gaddis’s initial literary effort, the author can be seen as an exponent of a kind of modernity—which is not entirely modernist or postmodernist as traditionally defined--notably in his exploration of centerlessness, as articulated in the loss of a stable origin. In the same modern vein is the author’s ironic attitude toward the past and his maintaining of a certain critical distance from religion and aesthetics. His inventive approach to the theme of origins in art as well as his treatment of fakeness, forgery and authenticity highlight his modernity. In addition, his modern approach in The Recognitions will be shown to be revealed in the interplay between painterly and literary techniques and concerns. Centerlessness and cubism in the novel’s narrative techniques and the notion of origin in art are three critical concepts. They allow us to envision three variant threads of Gaddis’s modernity, opening up a profound meditation on artistic and literary creation.

Plasmodium falciparum, the primary causative agent of malaria in humans, is responsible for life-threatening infections and disease in many tropical regions of the world. In 2018, there were over 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths due to malaria infection, according to World Health Organization estimates. While there has been recent progress in decreasing mortality rates attributed to malaria, the emergence of widespread antimalarial drug resistance in recent decades has endangered such progress. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new antimalarial drugs with a novel mechanism of action. Plasmodium kinases could serve as attractive drug targets due to their essential functions in all stages of the parasite’s life cycle. Plasmodium falciparum Aurora-related kinases (PfArks) have essential regulatory roles in all stages of the parasite’s asexual intraerythrocytic life cycle. As a result, it is hypothesized that PfArks are excellent potential molecular targets for novel antimalarial development. The intent of this study was to identify potent and selective inhibitors of Plasmodium from an Aurora kinase-focused commercial inhibitor library of 3,000 compounds. An initial phenotypic screen was performed at a fixed inhibitor concentration of one micromolar to identify novel compounds with potency against the P. falciparum chloroquine-resistant Dd2 strain. From this library, we have identified multiple compounds with submicromolar antiplasmodial activity in asexual intraerythrocytic life cycle stages and adequate selectivity. Additionally, this project aimed further to characterize the cellular mechanism of action of hit compounds. Multiple compounds were found to exhibit inhibitory effects against early intraerythrocytic asexual life cycle stages as well as liver stages. At this time, one hit compound (DC-6275) was found to inhibit asexual intraerythrocytic as well as liver stage parasites in addition to PfArk1 amongst other Plasmodium protein kinases tested. Overall, we believe that these identified compounds have great potential to serve as scaffolds for future antimalarial drug development.

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If poetry is the act of looking twice, or again, at the world, then I propose that each looking, whether the first, the second, or the last, is done so as filtered by the mind, so that to look is actually an act of creation, a wedding between intention and observation.

Bluetooth Data collection technique is recently proven as a reliable data collection technique that provides the opportunity to modify traditional methodologies to improve system performance. Actual volume in the network is a result of the timing plans which are designed and modified based on the volume which is generated using existing timing plans in the system. This interdependency between timing plan and volume on the network is a dynamic process and should be captured to obtain actual traffic states in the network. The current practice is to calculate synthetic origin destination information based on detector volume that doesn't necessarily represent the volume scenario accurately. The data from Bluetooth technology can be utilized to calculate dynamic volume on the network which can be further used as input for signal timing design. Application of dynamic volume improves the system performance by providing the actual volume in system to design optimal timing plans. This thesis proposes a framework that can be used to integrate data obtained from the Bluetooth technology with the traditional methods to design timing plans. The proposed methodology utilizes the origin destination information obtained from Bluetooth data, detector data, characteristics of intersections such as number of lanes, saturation flow rate and existing timing plans as a basis for the calculation of the dynamic volume for the various movements at each intersection. The study shows that using the Bluetooth based OD matrix to calculate accurate dynamic volumes results in better system performance compared to the traditional way of using the static detector volume alone. / Master of Science

The solid-metal/silicate-melt partition coefficient for W has been determined experimentally for the temperature and oxygen fugacity conditions at which eucritic basalts formed. The partition coefficient for W is 25 ± 5 at 1190°C and an oxygen fugacity of 10⁻¹³∙⁴. The solid-metal/silicate-melt partition coefficient for P, D(P), has been determined experimentally at 1190°C and 1300°C. The dependence of the partition coefficient on oxygen fugacity is consistent with a valence state of 5 for P in the silicate melt. The experimental partition coefficients are given by: (1) log D(P) = -1.21 log fO₂ -15.95 at 1190°C (2) log D(P) = -1.53 log fO₂ -17.73 at 1300°C The partition coefficients may be used to interpret the depletion of W/La and P/La ratios in the Earth, Moon, and eucrites relative to Cl chondrites. The depletion of the W/La ratios in the eucrites may be explained by partitioning of W into 2% to 10% solid metal assuming equilibration and separation of the metal from the silicates at low degrees of partial melting of the silicates. The depletion of P/La ratios requires an additional 5% to 25% sulfur-bearing metallic liquid. The depletion of both P/La and W/La ratios in the Moon can be explained by partitioning of P and W into liquid metal during formation of a small lunar core by metal-silicate separation at low degrees of partial melting of the silicates. The W/La ratios in the Earth and Moon are virtually indistinguishable, while P/La ratios differ by a factor of two. The concentrations of FeO also appear to be different. These observations are difficult to reconcile with the hypothesis of a terrestrial origin of the Moon following formation of the Earth's core, but are consistent with an independent formation of the Earth and Moon. In contrast to the Moon and eucrites, the depletion of P/La and W/La ratios in the Earth cannot be explained by an internally consistent model involving equilibrium between metal and silicate at low pressures.

O efeito placebo tem sua origem atrelada aos estudos ligados às ciências médicas e farmacológicas e, basicamente, consiste na capacidade de produtos inertes produzirem efeitos por meio do seu uso ou consumo. Esse efeito passou a fazer parte do escopo do Marketing em 2005, quando estudos mostraram a capacidade do preço gerar modificações sobre o desempenho de um produto. A ideia do efeito placebo desencadeado pelo preço dos produtos está ancorada no fato das crenças globais, que associam preço baixo a produtos de má qualidade, anteciparem as expectativas do consumidor acerca da resposta do produto e, a partir disso, alterarem o seu desempenho. Nessa mesma linha, o estereótipo do país de origem também se apresenta como uma crença global, em que produtos oriundos de países com estereótipo negativo são associados a produtos inferiores e de má qualidade. Sendo assim, esta pesquisa analisou a ocorrência do efeito placebo desencadeado pelo país de origem do produto, analisando, ainda, a interação da força das expectativas e do preço do produto na geração deste efeito. Para tanto, três estudos experimentais foram operacionalizados. O primeiro estudo apresentou as testagens iniciais sobre o efeito placebo gerado pelo país de origem e mostrou que o país de origem com estereótipo negativo é capaz de gerar um efeito placebo negativo sobre o desempenho do produto. Não foi identificado, no entanto, a ocorrência de efeito placebo gerado pelo estereótipo positivo do país de origem. No segundo estudo, analisou-se o efeito placebo do país de origem em cenário de alta e baixa expectativa. Como resultado, obteve-se, em cenário de baixa expectativa, a ocorrência de efeito placebo negativo gerado pelo estereótipo negativo do país de origem. Já em cenário de alta expectativa, os resultados indicam que o fortalecimento das expectativas eliminou o efeito placebo negativo e, além disso, promoveu a ocorrência de um efeito placebo positivo gerado pelo estereótipo positivo do país de origem. O último estudo observou a interação do país de origem e do preço do produto sobre a geração de efeito placebo. Os resultados mostram que, em cenário de preço baixo, há efeito placebo negativo gerado pelo país de origem com estereótipo negativo, mas não foi observada a ocorrência de efeito placebo positivo gerado pelo estereótipo positivo do país de origem. Já, em cenário de preço alto, não se observou a ocorrência de nenhum efeito placebo, nem positivo, nem negativo. Ou seja, o preço elevado do produto foi capaz de anular o efeito placebo negativo gerado pelo estereótipo negativo do produto, mostrando a capacidade do preço em compensar os efeitos negativos causados pelo país de origem com imagem desfavorável. Com base nisso, os achados desta tese contribuem para o avanço teórico dos estudos sobre efeito placebo em Marketing, uma vez que adicionam o país de origem como um elemento gerador deste tipo de efeito e, ao analisar a interação do país de origem com o fortalecimento das expectativas e o preço do produto, confirmam as bases conceituais sobre a relação entre esses elementos. Além disso, seus achados, em termos gerenciais, podem promover reflexões por parte das organizações que compõem o seu mix de produtos com bens importados e também que operaram no exterior e fazem investimentos externos diretos em diversas partes do mundo. / The placebo effect has its origin linked to studies related to medical and pharmacological sciences and basically consists in the ability of inert products to produce effects through its use or consumption. This effect became part of the Marketing scope in 2005 when studies showed the ability of pricing to generate changes on the performance of a product. The idea of the placebo effect triggered by product price is anchored on the fact that global beliefs, which associate low price to low quality products, anticipate consumer expectations about the response of the product and, from there, change its performance. Along the same line, the stereotype of the country of origin also presents itself as a global belief in that products from countries with negative stereotypes are associated with inferior and bad quality products. Thus, this research analyzed the occurrence of the placebo effect triggered by the country of origin of the product, also analyzing the interaction of the strength of expectations and of product price in the generation of this effect. For this purpose, three experimental studies were operationalized. The first study presented initial testings on the placebo effect generated by the country of origin and showed that the country of origin with negative stereotypes is able to generate a negative placebo effect on product performance. However, the occurrence of the placebo effect generated by positive stereotypes in the country of origin was not identified. In the second study, the placebo effect of the country of origin in a scenario of high and low expectations was analyzed. As a result, in a scenario of low expectations, the occurrence of a negative placebo effect generated by the negative stereotype of the country of origin was obtained. However, in a scenario of high expectations, results indicate that the strengthening of the expectations eliminated a negative placebo effect and in addition, promoted the occurrence of a positive placebo effect generated by the positive stereotype of the country of origin. The last study observed the interaction of the country of origin and the price of the product upon the generation of the placebo effect. The results show that in a scenario of low price, there is a negative placebo effect generated by the country of origin with a negative stereotype, but the occurrence of a positive placebo effect generated by the positive stereotype of the country of origin was not observed. However, in a scenario of high prices, there was no occurrence of a placebo effect, whether positive or negative. In other words, the high price of the product was able to cancel the negative placebo effect generated by the negative stereotype of the product, showing the capacity of the price to compensate for the negative effects caused by the country of origin with an unfavorable image. Based on this, this thesis’ findings contribute to the theoretical progress on the studies about the placebo effect in Marketing, once the country of origin is added as a generating element of this type of effect, and when analyzing the interaction of the country of origin with the strengthening of expectations and the price of the product, the conceptual foundations about the relationship between these elements are confirmed. Moreover, its findings in management terms can promote reflections by organizations that compose the product mix with imported goods and also that operate overseas and make foreign direct investments in various parts of the world.

<p>As globalization has contributed to the increased availability of foreign products across global markets, it is nowadays believed by some that a prerequisite for being able to compete on increased competitive levels is to adapt a global perspective. In this sense, marketing strategies aimed at promoting brands and products must be designed to function even on a global scale. Whereas it has in the past been useful to associate brands and products to specific nations in order to create an exotic appeal, it is questionable if such a marketing strategy would be of use today.</p><p> </p><p>With this in mind, this thesis aims to answer why associating a brand to a nation would be used as a marketing strategy and how such an association would be expressed in practice by having performed a single case-study of the company of Orrefors Kosta Boda and its two brands’ marketing activities.</p><p> </p><p>What this study concludes is that the main reason as to why Orrefors Kosta Boda’s two brands are associated to Swedish attributes, which are both positive and unique, is that there is a belief that this strategy allows the brands to be differentiated from other brands, and hence increases both brands’ equity. In addition, this study concludes that associations to Swedish attributes are developed by using a combination of two strategies, namely those of the country-of-origin strategy which serves to emphasize upon the products’ Swedish origin in terms of production and quality, and the culture-of-brand-origin strategy which is aimed at communicating culture-based symbolic attributes assigned to, amongst many, the brands’ heritages.</p>

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