Floodplain lakes are strongly regulated by river connectivity because floodwaters exert strong influence on the water balance, the physical, chemical and biological limnological conditions, and the influx of contaminants. The Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) in northern Alberta (Canada) is a hydrologically complex landscape and is an important node in the upper Mackenzie River Drainage Basin. The ecological integrity of the PAD is potentially threatened by multiple environmental stressors, yet our understanding of the hydroecology of this large floodplain remains underdeveloped. Indeed, ever since the planning and construction of the WAC Bennett Dam (1960s), concerns have grown over the effects of upstream human activities on the lakes of the PAD. More recently, concerns over the health of the PAD have intensified and come to the fore of national and international dialogue due to water abstraction and mining and processing activities by the rapidly expanding oil sands industry centred in Fort McMurray Alberta. Currently, widespread perception is that upstream human activities have reduced water levels and frequency of flooding at the PAD, which have lowered nutrient availability and productivity of perched basin lakes, and have increased supply of pollutants from oil sands. However, these perceptions remain based on insufficient knowledge of pre-impact conditions and natural variability. Current and past relations between hydrology and limnology of PAD lakes are mostly undocumented, particularly during the important spring freshet period when the effects of river flood waters are strongest. Similarly, knowledge of the deposition of oil-sands- related contaminants in the PAD remains insufficient to determine whether anthropogenic activities have increased the deposition of important oil-sands-related contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) relative to natural processes. Such knowledge gaps must be filled to achieve effective monitoring, policy and governance concerning impacts of industrial development and the protection of human and environmental health within the PAD and Mackenzie drainage basin. This thesis examines the effects of river flooding (and the lack of) on water clarity, nutrients, chemistry, phytoplankton abundance, epiphyton community composition and the deposition of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in lakes of the Peace-Athabasca Delta. To determine the role of flooding on contemporary epiphytic diatom communities (an abundant and diverse guild of primary producers in PAD lakes), a field experiment was conducted examining the community composition and abundance of epiphytic diatoms in four PAD lakes. Two of these four lakes had received floodwaters that spring and two had not. Epiphytic diatom communities in each lake were sampled during the peak macrophyte biomass period (summer) from two macrophyte taxa (Potamogeton zosteriformis, P. perfoliatus var. richardsonii) and from polypropylene artificial substrates previously deployed that spring. A two-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) test identified that epiphytic diatom community composition differed between lakes that flooded and those that did not flood. From the use of similarity percentage (SIMPER) analysis, diatom taxa were identified that discriminate between flooded and non-flooded lakes. The relative abundance of ‘strong flood indicator taxa’ was used to construct an event-scale flood record spanning the past ~180 years using analyses of sedimentary diatom assemblages from a closed-drainage lake (PAD 5). Results were verified by close agreement with an independent paleo-flood record from a nearby flood-prone oxbow lake (PAD 54) and historical records. Comparison of epiphytic diatoms in flooded and non-flooded lakes in this study provides a promising approach to detect changes in flood frequency, and may have applications for reconstructing other pulse-type disturbances such as hurricanes and pollutant spills. Additionally, this study demonstrates that artificial substrates can provide an effective bio-monitoring tool for lakes of the PAD and elsewhere. To improve our understanding of the hydrolimnological responses of lake in the PAD to flooding, repeated measurements over three years (2003-05) were made on a series of lakes along a hydrological gradient. This allowed the role of river flooding to be characterized on limnological conditions of lakes and to identify the patterns and timescales of limnological change after flooding. River floodwaters elevate lake water concentrations of suspended sediment, total phosphorus (TP), SO4 and dissolved Si (DSi), and reduce concentrations of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), DOC and most ions. River flooding increases limnological homogeneity among lakes, because post-flood conditions are strongly affected by the river water properties. After floodwaters recede, limnological conditions become more heterogeneous among lakes in response to diversity of local basin influences (geology, slope, vegetation, depth, fetch, and biological communities and processes), and limnological changes occur at two distinct timescales. In the weeks to months after flooding, water clarity increases as suspended sediments and TP settle out of the water column. In the absence of flooding for many years to decades, evaporative concentration leads to an increase in most nutrients (TKN, inorganic N, and dissolved P), DOC and ions. Contrary to a prevailing paradigm, these results suggest that regular flooding is not required to maintain high nutrient concentrations. In light of anticipated declines in river discharge, limnological conditions in the southern Athabasca sector will become increasingly less dominated by the short-term effects of flooding, and resemble nutrient- and solute-rich lakes in the northern Peace sector that are infrequently flooded. To determine the roles of the Athabasca River and atmospheric transport as vectors for the deposition of PACs in the PAD, sediment cores spanning the last ~200 years were collected from three lakes within the delta. A closed-drainage basin elevated well above the floodplain (PAD 18) was selected to determine temporal patterns of change in PAC concentration due to atmospheric deposition and within-basin production of PACs. Known patterns of paleohydrological changes at the other two lakes (PAD 23 and 31) were used to assess the role of the Athabasca River in delivering PACs to the Athabasca Delta during the ~200 year. Well- dated sediment core samples were analysed for 52 alkylated and non-alkylated PACs (method EPA 3540/8270-GC/MS). Sediments deposited in the non-flood prone lake (PAD 18) contained lower concentrations of total PACs compared to sediments deposited during flood-prone periods in the other study lakes, and were dominated by PACs of a pyrogenic rather than bitumen origin. Multivariate analysis of similarity tests identified that the composition of PACs differs between sediments deposited during not flood-prone and flood-prone periods. Subsequent Similarities Percentage (SIMPER) analysis was used and identified seven PACs that are preferentially deposited during flood-prone periods. These seven PACs are bitumen-associated, river-transported and account for 51% of the total PACs found in oil-sands sediment. At PAD 31, which has been flood-prone both before and since onset of Athabasca oil sands development, identified no measureable differences in both the proportion and concentration of the river-transported indicator PACs in sediments deposited pre-1940s versus post-1982. Our findings suggest that natural erosion of exposed bitumen along the banks of the Athabasca River and its tributaries is the main process delivering PACs to the Athabasca Delta, and that the spring freshet is a key period for contaminant mobilization and transport. Such key baseline environmental information is essential for informed management of natural resources and human-health concerns by provincial and federal regulatory agencies and industry, and for designing effective long-term monitoring and surveillance programs for the lower Athabasca River watershed in the face of future oil sands development. Further monitoring activities and additional paleolimnological studies of the depositional history of PACs and other oil-sands- and non-oil-sands-related contaminants is strongly recommended. Overall, results of this research identify that river flooding exerts strong control on physical, chemical and biological conditions of lakes within the PAD. However, contrary to prevailing paradigms, the PAD is not a landscape that has been adversely and permanently affected by regulation of the Peace River and industrial development of the oil sands along the Athabasca River. Instead, data from contemporary and paleolimnological studies identify that natural processes continue to dominate the delivery of water and contaminants to the delta. Regular and frequent flooding is not essential to maintain the supply of nutrients and productivity of delta lakes, which has been a widespread paradigm that developed in the absence of objective scientific data. Instead, nutrient concentrations rise over years to decades after flooding and lake productivity increases. During the thesis research, novel approaches were developed and demonstrated to be effective. Namely, new artificial substrate samplers were designed for aquatic biomonitoring that accrue periphyton and can identify the occurrence of flood events. Also, paleolimnological methods were employed to characterize the composition and concentration of PACs supplied by natural processes prior to oil sands industrial activity, which serves as an important benchmark for assessing industrial impacts. These are effective methods that can be employed to improve monitoring programs and scientific understanding of the factors affecting this world-renowned landscape, as well as floodplains elsewhere.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:48:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FabianoP_DISSERT.pdf: 3905877 bytes, checksum: 0721827c114aec9f61c1c690dc27dd1d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-05 / The visualization of three-dimensional(3D)images is increasigly being sed in the area of medicine, helping physicians diagnose desease. the advances achived in scaners esed for acquisition of these 3d exames, such as computerized tumography(CT) and Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI), enable the generation of images with higher resolutions, thus, generating files with much larger sizes. Currently, the images of computationally expensive one, and demanding the use of a righ and computer for such task. The direct remote acess of these images thruogh the internet is not efficient also, since all images have to be trasferred to the user?s equipment before the 3D visualization process ca start. with these problems in mind, this work proposes and analyses a solution for the remote redering of 3D medical images, called Remote Rendering (RR3D). In RR3D, the whole hedering process is pefomed a server or a cluster of servers, with high computational power, and only the resulting image is tranferred to the client, still allowing the client to peform operations such as rotations, zoom, etc. the solution was developed using web services written in java and an architecture that uses the scientific visualization packcage paraview, the framework paraviewWeb and the PACS server DCM4CHEE.The solution was tested with two scenarios where the rendering process was performed by a sever with graphics hadwere (GPU) and by a server without GPUs. In the scenarios without GPUs, the soluction was executed in parallel with several number of cores (processing units)dedicated to it. In order to compare our solution to order medical visualization application, a third scenario was esed in the rendering process, was done locally. In all tree scenarios, the solution was tested for different network speeds. The solution solved satisfactorily the problem with the delay in the transfer of the DICOM files, while alowing the use of low and computers as client for visualizing the exams even, tablets and smart phones / A visualiza??o de imagens tridimensionais (3D) est? cada vez mais presente na ?rea da medicina, auxiliando os m?dicos no diagn?stico de doen?as e na emiss?o de laudos. Com o avan?o dos equipamentos que geram imagens tomogr?ficas dos pacientes, como os de Tomografia Computadorizada (TC), est?o sendo geradas imagens cada vez mais n?tidas e, portanto, com resolu??es e tamanhos maiores. Atualmente, as imagens contidas em um exame de TC geralmente ocupam o tamanho de dezenas e centenas de megabytes, tornando o processo de visualiza??o 3D cada vez mais pesado - exigindo do usu?rio um equipamento com bom poder computacional. O acesso remoto ? estas imagens, via internet por exemplo, tamb?m n?o ? muito eficiente, pois todas as imagens precisam ser transferidas para o equipamento do usu?rio antes que o processo de visualiza??o 3D seja iniciado. Diante destes problemas (tamanho das imagens e acesso remoto), este trabalho envolve a cria??o e an?lise de um servi?o web para renderiza??o remota de imagens m?dicas 3D, denominado RR3D. Nele, todo o processo de renderiza??o volum?trica ser? realizado por um servidor, ou cluster de servidores, com alto poder computacional e somente a imagem 3D resultante ser? enviada ao cliente, permitindo que este ainda possa fazer opera??es como rota??o, zoom etc. O servi?o web ser? desenvolvido utilizando a linguagem Java e na arquitetura do projeto ser?o utilizados o programa de visualiza??o cient?fica Paraview, o framework ParaviewWeb e o servidor DCM4CHEE

Submitted by Daniele Santos (danielesantos.htl@gmail.com) on 2017-02-21T21:04:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Eduardo.pdf: 1544695 bytes, checksum: ad700b85bc86a6f4889a9f52275ab887 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2017-02-23T17:38:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Eduardo.pdf: 1544695 bytes, checksum: ad700b85bc86a6f4889a9f52275ab887 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-02T13:43:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eduardo.pdf: 1544695 bytes, checksum: ad700b85bc86a6f4889a9f52275ab887 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-10 / Today there exist a myriad of different types of physical access control systems (PACS) that use a smart card or mobile device as a key. The mobile device enabled smart locks, as they are often referred to, operate using either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. This thesis has explored the use of a third emerging wireless technology called Near Field Communication (NFC) available in mobile devices such as smartphones. Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is a relatively new technology that is on the rise and is included in almost every new mobile device. By leveraging Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled mobile devices, a highly secure access control system can be achieved and developed taking advantage of the computational power of smartphones in comparison to traditional methods the business implications are huge, Several different authentication and encryption protocols, mobile operating systems and Near Field Communication (NFC) modes of operation where analyzed and evaluated. After considerations technical considerations the Secure Remote Password authentication protocol on top of Near Field Communication (NFC) card emulation (CE) scheme with the client application running on smartphones operating system (OS) was selected. This thesis shows that Near Field Communication (NFC) enables a mobile device to act as a key in a secure access control system (PACS) and as the user base for NFC grows larger so will the likelihood that we will come to see more of these types of systems in business and organizations.

O principal tema desenvolvido nesta tese é o estudo de efeitos nucleares na produção de diléptons por meio do processo Drell–Yan para energias compatíveis com as de RHIC e de LHC. Dois modelos são usados: o formalismo de dipolos de cor e o modelo de pártons com momentum transversal intrínseco. No primeiro capítulo, uma breve introdução histórica e a motivação para o estudo são apresentadas. No Cap. 2, o espalhamento profundamente inelástico (EPI) no modelo de pártons é revisado e são discutidas as distribuições partônicas de prótons (CTEQ) e de nucleons (EKS, EPS08 e EPS09). O EPI no formalismo de dipolos também é discutido. O Cap. 3 é dedicado ao embasamento teórico do formalismo de dipolos e ao estudo das seção de choque de dipolos. As principais equações que governam a evolução de dipolos são expostas, seguidas pelas parametrizações fenomenológicas GBW, DHJ, BUWe ABGS. Um novo modelo é proposto: a parametrização AGBS com flutuações. Quando ajustada aos dados de HERA, a nova parametrização não difere da antiga AGBS, indicando que flutuações não são necessárias para descrever os dados de EPI nas presentes energias. No Cap. 4, é apresentado o modelo de pártons no processo Drell–Yan. O formalismo é discutido em ordem dominante, em ordem seguinte à dominante (OSD) e em OSD com momentum transversal intrínseco, já que apenas na última possibilidade o momentum transversal do dilépton pode ser gerado de maneira consistente com os experimentos. Posteriormente, o formalismo de dipolos aplicado ao mesmo processo é debatido, que em ordem dominante possui distribuição em momentum transversal consistente com os experimentos. Os resultados são cálculos para o fator de modificação nuclear (RpA) para rapidezes negativas como função de rapidez e momentum transversal. A aplicação para rapidezes negativas do formalismo de dipolos é uma contribuição original, bem como a comparação deste formalismo com o modelo de pártons com momentum transversal intrínseco. Efeitos de grande (efeito EMC e anti-sombreamento) e de pequeno x (sombreamento) são observados. Mostra-se que o momentum transversal intrínseco é particularmente importante, alterando o fator de modificação nuclear em torno de 10%. Quando as diferentes parametrizações da seção de choque de dipolos são comparadas, a produção de diléptons não apresenta variações significativas, indicando que ela não é sensível aos detalhes das parametrizações, como a possível violação de escalamento geométrico presente na parametrização DHJ. Adicionalmente, os resultados do modelo de pártons são estendidos para rapidezes positivas e comparados com resultados do condensado de vidros de cor. Para energias de RHIC, os formalismos concordam, enquanto que para LHC, a menos que a parametrização nuclear tenha um sombreamento muito forte (caso da EPS08), os formalismos discordam, devido aos comportamentos distintos do sombreamento de glúons e do sombreamento de quarks. Como perspectiva, é discutido o modelo unidimensional, que é uma simplificação drástica da evolução de dipolos sem deixar de incluir os efeitos de flutuações. Em particular, as possibilidades de escalamento geométrico e escalamento difusivo nas seções de choque são discutidas. / The main topic of this thesis is the study of nuclear effects in Drell–Yan dilepton production at RHIC and LHC energies. Two approaches are employed: the color dipole approach and the parton model with intrinsic transverse momentum. In the first chapter, a brief introduction and the motivation to the study are presented. Chapt. 2 reviews the deep inelastic scattering (DIS) in the parton model and the parton distribution functions of protons (CTEQ) and of nucleons (EKS, EPS08 e EPS09) are examinated. The DIS in the dipole frame is also discussed. Chapt. 3 reviews the theoretical foundations of the color dipole approach and the dipole cross section. The main equations that drive the dipole evolution are shown, followed by the phenomenological parameterizations GBW, DHJ, BUW, and ABGS. A new model is proposed: the AGBS parameterization with fluctuations. When fitted to HERA data, the new parameterization does not differ from the old AGBS, indicating that fluctuations are not needed to reproduce DIS data at current energies. Chapt. 4 discusses the parton model in the Drell–Yan process. This approach is considered at leading order, at next-to-leading order (NLO), and at NLO with intrinsic transverse momentum, as only in the last case the dilepton transverse momentum distribution can be obtained in agreement with experiments. Afterwards, the color dipole approach applied to the process is examined, giving at leading order a transverse momentum distribution compatible with experiments. The results are calculations to the nuclear modification factor (RpA) at backward rapidities as function of rapidity and transverse momentum. The use of backward rapidities of the color dipole approach is an original contribution, as well as the comparison of this approach with the parton model with intrinsic transverse momentum. Effects of large (EMC effect and antishadowing) and of small x (shadowing) are seen. It is shown that the intrinsic transverse momentum is particularly important, changing the nuclear modification factor of about 10%. When different parameterizations of the dipole cross section are compared, the dilepton production does not show significant discrepancies, suggesting the it is not sensitive to the parametrization details, such as the possibility of geometric scaling breaking present in DHJ parameterization. Furthermore, the parton model results are extended to forward rapidities and compared with results of the color glass condensate. At RHIC energies, the approaches agree, while at LHC energies, unless the nuclear parameterization shows a very strong nuclear shadowing (EPS08 case), the approaches disagree, due to the different behaviors of gluon shadowing and quark shadowing. The unidimensional model, a toy model of the dipole evolution that includes the fluctuation effects is also investigated. Specificaly, the possibilities of geometric scaling and difusive scaling in cross sections are discussed.

O principal tema desenvolvido nesta tese é o estudo de efeitos nucleares na produção de diléptons por meio do processo Drell–Yan para energias compatíveis com as de RHIC e de LHC. Dois modelos são usados: o formalismo de dipolos de cor e o modelo de pártons com momentum transversal intrínseco. No primeiro capítulo, uma breve introdução histórica e a motivação para o estudo são apresentadas. No Cap. 2, o espalhamento profundamente inelástico (EPI) no modelo de pártons é revisado e são discutidas as distribuições partônicas de prótons (CTEQ) e de nucleons (EKS, EPS08 e EPS09). O EPI no formalismo de dipolos também é discutido. O Cap. 3 é dedicado ao embasamento teórico do formalismo de dipolos e ao estudo das seção de choque de dipolos. As principais equações que governam a evolução de dipolos são expostas, seguidas pelas parametrizações fenomenológicas GBW, DHJ, BUWe ABGS. Um novo modelo é proposto: a parametrização AGBS com flutuações. Quando ajustada aos dados de HERA, a nova parametrização não difere da antiga AGBS, indicando que flutuações não são necessárias para descrever os dados de EPI nas presentes energias. No Cap. 4, é apresentado o modelo de pártons no processo Drell–Yan. O formalismo é discutido em ordem dominante, em ordem seguinte à dominante (OSD) e em OSD com momentum transversal intrínseco, já que apenas na última possibilidade o momentum transversal do dilépton pode ser gerado de maneira consistente com os experimentos. Posteriormente, o formalismo de dipolos aplicado ao mesmo processo é debatido, que em ordem dominante possui distribuição em momentum transversal consistente com os experimentos. Os resultados são cálculos para o fator de modificação nuclear (RpA) para rapidezes negativas como função de rapidez e momentum transversal. A aplicação para rapidezes negativas do formalismo de dipolos é uma contribuição original, bem como a comparação deste formalismo com o modelo de pártons com momentum transversal intrínseco. Efeitos de grande (efeito EMC e anti-sombreamento) e de pequeno x (sombreamento) são observados. Mostra-se que o momentum transversal intrínseco é particularmente importante, alterando o fator de modificação nuclear em torno de 10%. Quando as diferentes parametrizações da seção de choque de dipolos são comparadas, a produção de diléptons não apresenta variações significativas, indicando que ela não é sensível aos detalhes das parametrizações, como a possível violação de escalamento geométrico presente na parametrização DHJ. Adicionalmente, os resultados do modelo de pártons são estendidos para rapidezes positivas e comparados com resultados do condensado de vidros de cor. Para energias de RHIC, os formalismos concordam, enquanto que para LHC, a menos que a parametrização nuclear tenha um sombreamento muito forte (caso da EPS08), os formalismos discordam, devido aos comportamentos distintos do sombreamento de glúons e do sombreamento de quarks. Como perspectiva, é discutido o modelo unidimensional, que é uma simplificação drástica da evolução de dipolos sem deixar de incluir os efeitos de flutuações. Em particular, as possibilidades de escalamento geométrico e escalamento difusivo nas seções de choque são discutidas. / The main topic of this thesis is the study of nuclear effects in Drell–Yan dilepton production at RHIC and LHC energies. Two approaches are employed: the color dipole approach and the parton model with intrinsic transverse momentum. In the first chapter, a brief introduction and the motivation to the study are presented. Chapt. 2 reviews the deep inelastic scattering (DIS) in the parton model and the parton distribution functions of protons (CTEQ) and of nucleons (EKS, EPS08 e EPS09) are examinated. The DIS in the dipole frame is also discussed. Chapt. 3 reviews the theoretical foundations of the color dipole approach and the dipole cross section. The main equations that drive the dipole evolution are shown, followed by the phenomenological parameterizations GBW, DHJ, BUW, and ABGS. A new model is proposed: the AGBS parameterization with fluctuations. When fitted to HERA data, the new parameterization does not differ from the old AGBS, indicating that fluctuations are not needed to reproduce DIS data at current energies. Chapt. 4 discusses the parton model in the Drell–Yan process. This approach is considered at leading order, at next-to-leading order (NLO), and at NLO with intrinsic transverse momentum, as only in the last case the dilepton transverse momentum distribution can be obtained in agreement with experiments. Afterwards, the color dipole approach applied to the process is examined, giving at leading order a transverse momentum distribution compatible with experiments. The results are calculations to the nuclear modification factor (RpA) at backward rapidities as function of rapidity and transverse momentum. The use of backward rapidities of the color dipole approach is an original contribution, as well as the comparison of this approach with the parton model with intrinsic transverse momentum. Effects of large (EMC effect and antishadowing) and of small x (shadowing) are seen. It is shown that the intrinsic transverse momentum is particularly important, changing the nuclear modification factor of about 10%. When different parameterizations of the dipole cross section are compared, the dilepton production does not show significant discrepancies, suggesting the it is not sensitive to the parametrization details, such as the possibility of geometric scaling breaking present in DHJ parameterization. Furthermore, the parton model results are extended to forward rapidities and compared with results of the color glass condensate. At RHIC energies, the approaches agree, while at LHC energies, unless the nuclear parameterization shows a very strong nuclear shadowing (EPS08 case), the approaches disagree, due to the different behaviors of gluon shadowing and quark shadowing. The unidimensional model, a toy model of the dipole evolution that includes the fluctuation effects is also investigated. Specificaly, the possibilities of geometric scaling and difusive scaling in cross sections are discussed.

Modern democracies rest on a foundation of values essential to their prosperity. Two of those values are freedom of speech and political equality. To many, these values appear to coexist effortlessly. However, what this thesis aims to expose are some of the problems that quickly arise when attempts to interpret the values fail. The thesis investigates a specific US Supreme Court ruling called Citizens United. The ruling enabled corporations and unions to use their own treasuries for unlimited independent political expenditures. Previous laws that prohibited such corporate and union expenditures were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court for violating the First Amendment’s right to freedom of speech. The ruling also paved the way for another court ruling in the US called SpeechNow.org. Facilitated by the two court rulings the so called Super PACs and 501(c)(4) organizations could receive and spend unlimited money to expressly support or oppose political candidates and parties in American elections. With an analytical framework consisting of John Rawls’s theories the Veil of Ignorance and the Difference Principle a conclusion concerning Citizens United’s righteousness can be made. The thesis concludes that the Supreme Court based its ruling on a misinterpretation of the value of freedom of speech and that Citizens United resulted in greater political inequality in the US.

Le droit des règlements pécuniaires entre époux consécutifs au divorce a pendant longtemps été fondé sur l’idée de sanctionner le conjoint responsable de la rupture que ce soit en France, au Canada ou dans la province canadienne de Québec. Bien que de traditions juridiques différentes, les droits français et canadien reconnaissaient ainsi un rôle central à la faute dans leur droit du divorce. Face à l’évolution concomitante des sociétés française et canadienne vers un individualisme plus marqué et une volonté croissante de pacifier les conflits, ces droits ont dû tendre vers une plus grande objectivation du divorce et de ces conséquences. Parallèlement à un mouvement de quasi-disparition de la faute, de nouvelles institutions sont apparues dans les droits étudiés, institutions fondées sur des idées de compensation, d’équité mais aussi de solidarité avec la survie ou l’apparition d’obligations alimentaires. Aujourd’hui, les droits étudiés sont marqués par une diversité d’institutions avec pour certaines des fondements multiples et des intitulés qui, malgré la différence de tradition juridique, peuvent se répondre comme, par exemple, la pension alimentaire non compensatoire canadienne qui n’est pas sans rappeler la prestation compensatoire que nous qualifions d’alimentaire française. Cette diversité amène alors à s’interroger sur la nécessité de repenser et de rationaliser les institutions existantes pour les rendre tout à la fois plus compréhensibles mais aussi plus accessibles par les futurs ex-époux. Cette simplification doit en effet s’accompagner d’une plus grande liberté contractuelle permettant aux conjoints divorcés de se réapproprier leur séparation avec l’aide d’un avocat, d’un médiateur ou encore du juge. Le divorce pacifié, se pose alors la question de la pacification de la rupture des autres couples que sont les unions libres ou encore les PACS et union civile. Ces unions hors mariage se développant, il est nécessaire aujourd’hui de prendre en considération les conséquences de leur dissolution voire d’envisager un droit commun des règlements pécuniaires consécutifs à toute séparation. / Historically post-divorce laws between spouses was based in France, Canada and Quebec on penalizing the responsible party of the separation. Although from different law traditions, Canadian and French law recognized an important place to the fault in their divorce laws. However, the tendency of the French and Canadian societies to be more individual and to pacify conflicts, divorce law had to change to become more objectivized. The movement of removing the fault in divorce permitted the creation of new institutions based on compensation, equity and solidarity which is symbolized by spousal support and alimony. The studied laws are characterized by diverse institutions, are founded on different grounds. These institutions inspired by different law traditions are thus very similar such as the Canadian on compensatory spousal support and the French compensatory obligation that we call "alimony compensatory obligation". This diversity impose us to think about the possibility of a renewal and rationalization of the existent institutions in order to be simplified and comprehensible for the future divorce spouses. A greater freedom of contract should also ensure the appropriation of the divorce's consequences by the divorced spouse with help of lawyers, mediators and judges. Once the divorce humanized, the question of the pacification of the dissolution/ ruptures of other types of union such as common law marriage or civil partnership. The increasing number of those new couples, it is becoming a necessity to take in consideration the consequences of their dissolution and draw a new common law for their dissolution.

Many polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) are toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic. As a result, their effects on aquatic biota and ecosystems are of great concern. Research on PACs in aquatic biota often overlooks the role of amphibians, alkylated PACs, and sediment as an uptake route. In order to study the accumulation and toxicokinetics of PACs following sediment and aqueous exposure, and to compare the bioaccumulation potentials of parent and alkyl PACs, two accumulation-elimination experiments using wood frog tadpoles (Lithobates sylvaticus) of Gosner stage 28-32 were conducted (one evaluating exposure to contaminated sediment and water, and the other to contaminated water alone). A complementary field study was then conducted near Fort McMurray, Alberta to assess PAC body burdens in field-collected amphibian larvae, and to determine whether PAC body burdens are related to exposure to sediment and/or water in the field. The results of our studies showed that PAC concentrations and uptake rates in wood frog tadpoles were highest when they were exposed to PAC-contaminated sediment. Consequently, we determined that the dominant route of exposure of wood frog tadpoles to PACs is sediment rather than water. This finding supports other studies that have shown dietary uptake to be an important route of PAC exposure in other aquatic organisms. In both the laboratory and field study, alkyl PAC concentrations exceeded those of parent PACs in wood frog tadpoles, which also demonstrated petrogenic PAC profiles. Interestingly, parent PACs seemed to have greater bioaccumulation potential than alkyl PACs in the laboratory-exposed wood frog tadpoles (in relation to sediment), possibly due to greater bioavailability or lower metabolism of parent PACs or alternatively, due to a saturation in uptake of alkyl PACs. Nevertheless, only a few compounds, including anthracene, fluoranthene, retene, and C1-benzofluoranthenes/benzopyrenes, were found to have higher bioaccumulation potentials. Lithobates sylvaticus tadpoles seemed to be efficient at eliminating and metabolizing both parent and alkyl PACs. However, the elimination of some compounds, such as C4-naphthalenes, was not as efficient. Furthermore, C3-fluorenes and C2-dibenzothiophenes were isolated as potential markers of amphibian larvae exposure to PAC-contaminated sediment due to their positive correlation with the wetland sediment concentrations. Additional field collections in the Athabasca oil sands are warranted to verify the utility of these markers in the natural environment. Evidently, this thesis highlights the importance of including sediment exposure and alkylated PACs in toxicological and field studies of benthic and epibenthic organisms. The results of this study are the largest, most comprehensive set of toxicokinetic and bioaccumulation information of PACs (52 analytes) in the amphibian larvae Lithobates sylvaticus obtained to date.

Aim: The aim of this study is to analyse potential determinants of cycle commuting speed, with the following research questions: 1. How does cycle commuting speed relate to amount of gears, access to shower facilities, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE), when sex, age, weight, body mass index (BMI), duration, last digit in self-reported duration, and cycling area are controlled for? 2. How are the earlier found relationships between speed and duration, and speed and sex, affected when amount of gears, access to shower facilities, and RPE are added to the control variables age, weight, BMI, last digit in self-reported duration, and cycling area?   Method: In this cross-sectional study, 1526 adult cycle commuters (67% females) in Stockholm County, Sweden, were recruited through advertisements. In a self-administered questionnaire, the respondents reported their sex, age, height, weight, duration of their typical cycle commuting journey, amount of gears, access to shower facilities at the destination, and rating of perceived exertion (measured by the Borg RPE Scale) while cycling. They also drew their cycling route on an individually adjusted map. Multiple linear regression was used to facilitate the analyses.   Results: In a regression model with the independent variables sex, age, weight, body mass index, duration, last digit in self-reported duration (1–4 or 6–9 compared to 0 or 5), cycling area (inner urban compared to suburban and suburban – inner urban), gears, shower facilities, and RPE, the dependent variable cycle commuting speed was positively related to using a bicycle with five or more (as compared to four or fewer) gears, having convenient (as opposed to inconvenient or non-existent) access to shower facilities, and perceiving a higher degree of exertion while cycling. Gears, showers, and RPE were also found to substantially affect the earlier found relationships between speed and duration, and speed and sex. The respondents showed a clear tendency of giving odd-numbered, compared to even-numbered, ratings of perceived exertion.   Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of gears, showers, and RPE in activities such as estimating, planning or taking measures in relation to cycle commuting. It also shows that adding new factors to control for might change earlier established relationships within this field. When the Borg RPE Scale is used, correct instructions strengthens the validity. / Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med denna studie är att analysera potentiella påverkansfaktorer gällande cykelpendlingshastighet, med följande frågeställningar: 1. Hur relaterar hastighet till antal växlar, tillgång till duschfaciliteter och skattning av egenupplevd fysisk ansträngningsgrad (RPE), när kön, ålder, vikt, BMI, duration, slutsiffra i självrapporterad duration samt cykelområde kontrolleras? 2. Hur påverkas de tidigare funna förhållandena mellan hastighet och duration, samt hastighet och kön, när antal växlar, tillgång till duschfaciliteter och RPE adderas till kontrollvariablerna ålder, vikt, BMI, slutsiffra i självrapporterad duration, och cykelområde?   Metod: I denna tvärsnittsstudie rekryterades 1526 vuxna cykelpendlare (67% kvinnor) i Stockholms län genom annonser. I ett själv-administrerat formulär rapporterade de kön, ålder, längd, vikt, duration vid deras typiska cykelpendlingsresa, antal växlar, tillgång till duschfaciliteter vid destinationen, och skattning av egenupplevd fysisk ansträngningsgrad (enligt Borgskalan) under cyklingen. De ritade även in sin cykelväg på en individuellt anpassad karta. Multipel linjär regression användes för att möjliggöra analyserna.   Resultat: I en regressionsmodell med de oberoende variablerna kön, ålder, vikt, BMI, duration, slutsiffra i självrapporterad duration (1­–4 eller 6–9 jämfört med 0 eller 5), cykelområde (innerstad i jämförelse med ytterstad samt ytterstad – innerstad), växlar, duschmöjligheter och RPE, var den beroende variabeln cykelhastighet positivt relaterad till användandet av en cykel med fem växlar eller fler (i jämförelse med fyra eller färre), att ha bekväm tillgång till dusch (i motsats till obekväm eller ingen tillgång alls) samt att uppleva en högre grad av fysisk ansträngning under cykling. Växlar, duschmöjligheter och RPE visade sig även substantiellt påverka de tidigare funna förhållandena mellan hastighet och duration, samt hastighet och kön. Respondenterna visade en tydlig tendens att ge ojämna, i jämförelse med jämna, RPE-skattningar.   Slutsats: Denna studie belyser vikten av växlar, duschmöjligheter och egenupplevd ansträngningsgrad vid exempelvis bedömning, planering eller vidtagande av åtgärder i relation till cykelpendling. Den visar även att nya kontrollfaktorer kan förändra tidigare etablerade förhållanden inom detta fält. Korrekta instruktioner stärker validiteten vid användandet av Borgskalan.

Locution issue du langage courant, le « train de vie » a été importée dans la sphère juridique dès la fin des années 1930 pour lutter contre la fraude fiscale. Depuis les années 1960 et surtout 2000 elle est utilisée dans toutes les branches du droit privé. Elle n’a pourtant reçu aucune définition. Partant de ce constat, la première partie de cette thèse s’intéresse au contenu juridique de la notion de train de vie. Elle y est définie comme la jouissance, à titre habituel d’une certaine quantité de biens et de services, caractérisant à la fois un niveau de vie et une habitude de vie. Il ressort de cette définition que tant les biens que les services peuvent être le support du train de vie, que cette notion s’apprécie en jouissance et non en propriété et qu’une condition de durée doit être remplie. La seconde partie de cette thèse s’intéresse aux effets qui sont attachés au train de vie. Il est toujours utilisé en tant que point de référence mais n’est pas toujours invoqué par la même personne. Ainsi, le train de vie peut être soit opposé à son bénéficiaire par un tiers, soit opposé par son bénéficiaire à un tiers. Dans le premier cas, il est un point de référence permettant d’identifier une disproportion, à laquelle sont attachées des conséquences juridiques néfastes pour le bénéficiaire du train de vie. Dans le second cas, il sert de point de référence pour apprécier et traiter une situation de rupture patrimoniale. Caractérisant une situation économique habituelle, le train de vie est doté d’une certaine inertie,qui nécessite qu’il ne soit pas arrêté brutalement. Il est alors de nature à conférer des droits à son bénéficiaire. / An expression usually found in everyday language, the « train de vie », or standard of living, wasbrought into the legal sphere as early as the late 1930’s in a bid to fight fiscal fraud. Since the 1960’s, and evenmore so since the 2000’s, it is found in all branches of private law. It has, however, never been defined.Therefore, the first part of this thesis looks into the legal content of the idea of « train de vie ». It is definedhere as the enjoyment of a certain quantity of goods and services that has come to be the habitual, markingboth a standard of living and a life habit. This definition of the expression leads to the conclusion that as goodsand services can support of the « train de vie », this is a notion that is to be assessed in enjoyment and not inpropriety, and that a condition of length of time is to be fulfilled. The second part of this thesis focuses on theeffects attached to the « train de vie ». It is still used as a reference point but not always invoked by the sameperson. Therefore, the “train de vie” can either be set against it’s beneficiary by a third party, or by it’sbeneficiary against a third party. In the first case, it becomes a point of reference allowing to identify a lack ofproportion, unto which are attached legal consequences unfavorable to the beneficiary of the « train de vie ».In the second case, it serves as a point of reference to asses and deal with a situation of a patrimonial break.Charaterizing a habitual economic situation, le “train de vie” is endowed with a measure of inertia, whichrequires that it not by stopped suddenly. It is thusfore of a nature to create rights for it’s beneficiary.