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Remediation of contaminated groundwater remains a high-priority national goal in the United States. Water is essential to life, and new sources of water are needed for an expanding population. Groundwater remediation remains a significant technical challenge despite decades of research into this field. New approaches are needed to address the most severely-polluted aquifers, and cost-effective solutions are required to meet remediation objectives that protect human health and the environment. Source reduction combined with Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) is a remediation strategy whereby the source of contamination is aggressively treated or removed and the residual groundwater plume depletes due to natural processes in the subsurface. The USEPA requires long-term performance monitoring of groundwater at MNA sites over the remediation timeframe, which often takes decades to complete. Presently, computational tools are lacking to adequately integrate source remediation with economic models. Furthermore, no framework has been developed to highlight the tradeoff between the degree of remediation versus the level of benefit within a cost structure. Using the Natural Attenuation Software (NAS) package developed at Virginia Tech, a set of formulae have been developed for calculating the TOR for petroleum-contaminated aquifers (specifically tracking benzene and MTBE) through statistical techniques. With the knowledge of source area residual saturation, groundwater velocity, and contaminant plume source length, the time to remediate a site contaminated with either benzene or MTBE can be determined across a range of regulatory maximum contaminant levels. After developing formulae for TOR, an integrated and interactive decision tool for framing the decision analysis component of the remediation problem was developed. While MNA can be a stand-alone groundwater remediation technology, significant benefits may be realized by layering a more traditional source zone remedial technique with MNA. Excavation and soil vapor extraction when applied to the front end of a remedial action plan can decrease the amount of time to remediation and while generally more expensive than an MNA-only approach, may accrue long-term economic advantages that would otherwise be foregone. The value of these research components can be realized within the engineering and science communities, as well as through government, business and industry, and communities where groundwater contamination and remediation are of issue. Together, these tools constitute the Sâ ªEâ ªEâ ªPâ ªAGE paradigm, founded upon the concept of sound science for an environmental engineering, effectual economics, and public policy agenda. The TOR formulation simplifies the inputs necessary to determine the number of years that an MNA strategy will require before project closure and thus reduces the specialized skills and training required to perform a numerical analysis that for one set of conditions could require many hours of simulation time. The economic decision tool, that utilizes a life cycle model to evaluate a set of feasible alternatives, highlights the tradeoffs between time and economics can be realized over the lifetime of the remedial project. / Ph. D.

Dans cette enquête ethno-sociologique sur la solidarité internationale au Maroc auprès de 24 ONG (de nationalités française, espagnole, italienne, canadienne et marocaine), nous avons pris le parti de focaliser notre recherche sur les expatriés et le personnel national (de 9 nationalités différentes) en tenant compte du sens que donnent les acteurs à cet engagement et ces pratiques de solidarité internationale tout en restituant les parcours et les conditions sociales de l’entrée dans la solidarité internationale.La première partie sera consacrée à la description du cadre d’intervention des ONG internationales au Maroc et les catégories objectives du personnel humanitaire : volontaire, stagiaire, bénévole et salarié. Puis, nous présenterons les processus de recrutement et les activités menées dans les ONG internationales tels qu’ils sont décrits par les acteurs. En définitive, nous questionnerons la tension entre travail et engagement, l’enchantement et le désenchantement.Dans un deuxième temps, nous nous attacherons à décrire les caractéristiques sociologiques des 68 acteurs humanitaires rencontrés en mettant en exergue les déterminants objectifs et subjectifs de l’engagement et du travail dans ce domaine d’activité. Nous finirons par établir une typologie des pratiques de la solidarité internationale donnant à voir un éthos commun d’une communauté partageant des affinités et des expériences culturelles d’autre part nous envisagerons les acteurs de la solidarité internationale comme un groupe professionnel.Enfin, la troisième section sera consacrée à questionner d’une part la pratique migratoire que constitue la mission de solidarité internationale et d’autre part les capitaux et pré-dispositions nécessaires pour la concrétiser. Nous montrerons que l’analyse du travail et de l’engagement via le cosmopolitisme permet de comprendre le sens à la fois objectif et subjectif que revêt ce type d’activité expatriée. Finalement, le travail en ONG est un moyen pour se réaliser et s’émanciper entre filiation et désaffiliation. Alors que cette action transnationale, orientée en valeurs et vers les autres, suppose une rencontre cosmopolite réussie, nous examinerons, à l’aune de la vie quotidienne, les décalages entre la rencontre attendue et la rencontre réalisée. / This dissertation contributes to the work of international solidarity NGOs in Morocco through examining the motivations and commitments of their personals. The research focuses on expatriates and national staff, by analysing their career paths and social background, as well as taking into account the sense given to their personal commitments and professional practices while involving in the international solidarity work. The first part devoted to describe the intervention framework of international NGOs in Morocco and the objective of different categories of their humanitarian personals: trainee, volunteer and employee. It examines the processes of recruitment and activities / projects implemented by these international NGOs. Hence, it sought to understand the tensions between job requirements and personal commitments that produced both enchantment and disenchantment among the international solidarity staff. The second part intended to study the sociological characteristics of 68 humanitarian personals that are interviewed from French, Canadian, Spanish, Italian and Moroccan organizations. It highlights the objective and subjective factors that determine their personal commitments and professional performance in this field of work. Therefore, a typology of practices for international solidarity work was set to identify the common ethos within a shared community of different affinities and cultural backgrounds. In addition, it considered the international solidarity actors as professional group. The third part was questioning the migratory practice of the international solidarity mission on the one hand and the financial and pre-arrangements necessary to realize it on the other hand. Furthermore, cosmopolitanism analysis of job requirements and personal commitments was conducted in order to understand the meaning of both objective and subjective in this type of work for the expatriates. Finally, working with international solidarity NGOs becomes a way of achieving and emancipating between affiliation and disaffiliation. While this transnational action is based on values toward others and supposed to develop a successful cosmopolitan encounter, findings from this study reveal the gaps between the expectations and the achievements. / En esta investigación etno-sociológica sobre la solidaridad en Marruecos (24 ONG de nacionalidad francesa, española, italiana, marroquí, canadiense), hemos centrado el estudio sobre los empleados expatriados y locales (de 9 nacionalidades diferentes) considerando a la vez el significado que los actores dan a este compromiso y a las prácticas de solidaridad restituyendo las carreras y las condiciones sociales de la entrada en la ONG. La primera parte está dedicada a la descripción del marco de intervención de las ONG internacionales en Marruecos y las categorías objetivas de los empleados humanitarios: voluntarios, asalariados, voluntarios no retribuidos y pasantes. Después, expondremos los procedimientos de selección y las actividades cumplidas. Finalmente, preguntaremos la tensión entre el trabajo y el compromiso, el encanto y el desencanto que produce el trabajo humanitario. Luego en la segunda parte, realizaremos la descripción de las características sociales de los 68 empleados destacando los determinantes objetivos y subjetivos del compromiso y del trabajo en este sector profesional. Acabaremos estableciendo una tipología de las prácticas de la solidaridad internacional dando a ver un ethos común de una comunidad compartiendo experiencias culturales considerándola como un grupo profesional. Por fin, la tercera parte será centrada por una vez preguntando la práctica migratoria que constituye la misión de solidaridad internacional y por otra vez las predisposiciones necesarias para su realización. Vamos a demostrar que el análisis del compromiso y del trabajo humanitario vía el cosmopolitismo permite entender el sentido objetivo y subjetivo que lleva este tipo de actividad. Finalmente, el trabajo humanitario es un medio para realizarse y emanciparse entre filiación y desafiliación. Mientras esta actividad internacional de valor y dirigida hacia los otros, supone un encuentro cosmopolita exitoso, examinaremos la vida cotidiana de los actores para destacar las disparidades entre un encuentro tan esperado y el encuentro cumplido. / In questa inchiesta etnico-sociologica sulla solidarietà internazionale in Marocco – che prende in esame 24 ONG (di nazionalità francese, spagnola, italiana, canadese e marocchina) – abbiamo scelto di focalizzare la nostra ricerca sugli espatriati e sul personale nazionale (di 9 nazionalità diverse) tenendo conto del senso che gli agenti hanno dato a questo impegno e a queste pratiche di solidarietà internazionale e ricostruendo i percorsi e le condizioni sociali dalla loro entrata nella solidarietà internazionale. La prima parte sarà dedicata alla descrizione dell’intervento delle ONG internazionali in Marocco e alle categorie oggettive del personale umanitario: volontari, stagisti, impiegati. Successivamente, presenteremo in cosa consiste il processo di selezione e assunzione del personale e parleremo delle attività svolte nelle ONG internazionali, esattamente come vengono descritte dagli agenti stessi. In ultima analisi, ci interrogheremo sulla tensione tra lavoro e impegno, ciò a cui aspiriamo e ciò che effettivamente realizziamo. In un secondo momento, descriveremo le caratteristiche sociologiche dei 68 agenti umanitari che abbiamo incontrato, valorizzando le caratteristiche oggettive e soggettive dell’impegno e del lavoro in questo campo di attività. Finiremo per stabilire l’esistenza di un modello di pratica di solidarietà internazionale, mostrando che esiste un ethos comune in una comunità che condivide delle affinità e delle esperienze culturali simili, e dall’altra parte prenderemo in considerazione gli agenti della solidarietà internazionale come gruppo professionale. Infine, la terza sezione sarà dedicata ad approfondire da una parte la pratica migratoria che la missione di solidarietà internazionale costituisce e dall’altra parte i capitali e le predisposizioni necessari per concretizzarla. Mostreremo, poi, che l’analisi del lavoro e dell’impegno permette di comprendere, attraverso il cosmopolitismo, il senso alla volta oggettivo e soggettivo che questo tipo di attività riveste. In ultimo possiamo dire che il lavoro in un’ONG è un mezzo per realizzarsi ed emanciparsi al di là dell’affiliazione e della disaffiliazione alle società. Poiché questa azione trans-nazionale, orientata ne dare valore agli altri, presuppone un incontro cosmopolita funzionante, esamineremo nella vita quotidiana, la differenza tra l’incontro atteso e quello che effettivamente abbiamo realizzato. / تعالج هذه الأطروحة القضايا المتصلة بالتضامن الدولي في المغ رب، وقد تم التركيز فيه على المغتربين والموظفينالوطنيين أخذا بعين الاعتبار المعنى الذي يعطوه هؤلاء الفاعلون لهذا الالتزام ولممارسات التضامن الدولي، مع استحضارالمسارات والشروط الاجتماعية التي أدت إلى دخولهم هذا العالم.وقد خصص الجزء الأول من هذه الأطروحة ل وصف إطار عمل المنظمات غير الحكومية الدولية في المغرب وأنواع أهدافهذه الفئة من الموظفين المشتغلين في المجال الإنساني: المتطوع وذا العالمن والمتدربون والموظفون. وكذا وصف مسلسلات انتقاءالمتعاقد معهم في كل واحدة من هذه الفئات والأنشطة التي تنظمها المنظمات غير الحكومية الدولية كما جاء وصفها علىلسان الفاعلين أنفسهم. حيث درسنا التوترات القائمة بين العمل المهني والالتزام الجمعوي، بين الرغبة الجامحة والإحباط.وقمنا في مرحلة ثانية بوصف الخاصيات والسمات الاجتماعية للفاعلين 68 الذين تم اللقاء بهم بمناسبة إعداد الأطر وحة،وكذا إماطة اللثام عن المحددات الموضوعية والذاتية للالتزام والعمل في هذا المجال. حيث انتهى بنا المطاف بتحديد نوعيةممارسات التضامن الدولي، القائمة على فكر مشترك تتقاسمه مجموعة لها قواسم وتجارب ثقافية مشتركة، على اعتبار العاملينفي هذا المجال مجموعة مهنية قائمة الذات.وعالج الجزء الثالث من الأطروحة ممارسة الهجرة المرتبطة بمهام التضامن الدولي وكذا الرساميل والمؤهلات المستبقة الضروريةلتجسيدها. وسنظهر أن تحليل هذه الجهود وهذا الالتزام عبر منظور الكونية كفيل بتوضيح الصورة وفهم المعاني الموضوعيةوالذاتية المتصلة بهذا النشاط. هذا ويعتبر العمل داخل المنظمات غير الحكومية أخيرا وسيلة لتحقيق الذات والتحرر ما بينالارتباط وفك الارتباط. حيث يقتضي هذا العمل العابر للحدود الوطنية، الموجه من حيث القيم والمستهدف للآخرين،نجاح اللقاء الكوني، وهو ما قمنا بفحصه انطلاقا من الحياة اليومية والتفاوت بين اللقاء المنتظر واللقاء الحقيقي.

We present robust explicit construction of 3D configuration spaces using controlled linear perturbation. The input is two planar parts: a fixed set and a moving set, where each set is bounded by circle segments. The configuration space is the three-dimensional space of Euclidean transformation (translations plus rotations) of the moving set relative to the fixed set. The goal of constructing the 3D configuration space is to determine the boundary representation of the free space where the intersection of the moving set and fixed set is empty. To construct the configuration space, we use the controlled linear perturbation algorithm. The controlled linear perturbation algorithm assigns function signs that are correct for a nearly minimal input perturbation. The output of the algorithm is a consistent set of function signs. This approach is algorithm-independent, and the overhead over traditional floating point methods is reasonable. If the fixed and moving sets are computer representations of physical objects, then computing the configuration space greatly aids in many computational geometry problems. The main focus of computing the configuration space is for the path planning problem. We must find if a path exists from the start to the goal, where the fixed set is the obstacle, and the moving set is the object trying to reach the goal.

La thermographie infrarouge est une méthode largement employée pour la caractérisation des propriétés thermophysiques des matériaux. L’avènement des diodes laser pratiques, peu onéreuses et aux multiples caractéristiques, étendent les possibilités métrologiques des caméras infrarouges et mettent à disposition un ensemble de nouveaux outils puissants pour la caractérisation thermique et le contrôle non desturctif. Cependant, un lot de nouvelles difficultés doit être surmonté, comme le traitement d’une grande quantité de données bruitées et la faible sensibilité de ces données aux paramètres recherchés. Cela oblige de revisiter les méthodes de traitement du signal existantes, d’adopter de nouveaux outils mathématiques sophistiqués pour la compression de données et le traitement d’informations pertinentes. Les nouvelles stratégies consistent à utiliser des transformations orthogonales du signal comme outils de compression préalable de données, de réduction et maîtrise du bruit de mesure. L’analyse de sensibilité, basée sur l’étude locale des corrélations entre les dérivées partielles du signal expérimental, complète ces nouvelles approches. L'analogie avec la théorie dans l'espace de Fourier a permis d'apporter de nouveaux éléments de réponse pour mieux cerner la «physique» des approches modales.La réponse au point source impulsionnel a été revisitée de manière numérique et expérimentale. En utilisant la séparabilité des champs de température nous avons proposé une nouvelle méthode d'inversion basée sur une double décomposition en valeurs singulières du signal expérimental. Cette méthode par rapport aux précédentes, permet de tenir compte de la diffusion bi ou tridimensionnelle et offre ainsi une meilleure exploitation du contenu spatial des images infrarouges. Des exemples numériques et expérimentaux nous ont permis de valider dans une première approche cette nouvelle méthode d'estimation pour la caractérisation de diffusivités thermiques longitudinales. Des applications dans le domaine du contrôle non destructif des matériaux sont également proposées. Une ancienne problématique qui consiste à retrouver les champs de température initiaux à partir de données bruitées a été abordée sous un nouveau jour. La nécessité de connaitre les diffusivités thermiques du matériau orthotrope et la prise en compte des transferts souvent tridimensionnels sont complexes à gérer. L'application de la double décomposition en valeurs singulières a permis d'obtenir des résultats intéressants compte tenu de la simplicité de la méthode. En effet, les méthodes modales sont basées sur des approches statistiques de traitement d'une grande quantité de données, censément plus robustes quant au bruit de mesure, comme cela a pu être observé. / Infrared thermography is a widely used method for characterization of thermophysical properties of materials. The advent of the laser diodes, which are handy, inexpensive, with a broad spectrum of characteristics, extend metrological possibilities of infrared cameras and provide a combination of new powerful tools for thermal characterization and non destructive evaluation. However, this new dynamic has also brought numerous difficulties that must be overcome, such as high volume noisy data processing and low sensitivity to estimated parameters of such data. This requires revisiting the existing methods of signal processing, adopting new sophisticated mathematical tools for data compression and processing of relevant information.New strategies consist in using orthogonal transforms of the signal as a prior data compression tools, which allow noise reduction and control over it. Correlation analysis, based on the local cerrelation study between partial derivatives of the experimental signal, completes these new strategies. A theoretical analogy in Fourier space has been performed in order to better understand the «physical» meaning of modal approaches.The response to the instantaneous point source of heat, has been revisited both numerically and experimentally. By using separable temperature fields, a new inversion technique based on a double singular value decomposition of experimental signal has been introduced. In comparison with previous methods, it takes into account two or three-dimensional heat diffusion and therefore offers a better exploitation of the spatial content of infrared images. Numerical and experimental examples have allowed us to validate in the first approach our new estimation method of longitudinal thermal diffusivities. Non destructive testing applications based on the new technique have also been introduced.An old issue, which consists in determining the initial temperature field from noisy data, has been approached in a new light. The necessity to know the thermal diffusivities of an orthotropic medium and the need to take into account often three-dimensional heat transfer, are complicated issues. The implementation of the double singular value decomposition allowed us to achieve interesting results according to its ease of use. Indeed, modal approaches are statistical methods based on high volume data processing, supposedly robust as to the measurement noise.