A variable that may be associated with performance improvements is goal setting (within and across days). Easy-to-achieve goals will likely produce gradual trends in improvement and difficult-to-achieve goals steeper trends. The purpose of the current experiments was to study the effects of setting easy-to-achieve and difficult-to-achieve goals on the level, trend, and variability of correct, incorrect, and skip responses for math tasks when reinforcement contingencies and numbers of practices were held constant. Five undergraduate students answered math problems on flash cards in 30s timings. Single case design elements were used to evaluate the effects of different types of goals on the speed and accuracy of performance. The results revealed that goal setting primarily increased the frequency of incorrect responses and both the level and trend of skip responses. The implications of these findings and other important variables that influence the effectiveness of goal setting are discussed. In addition, the authors suggest guidelines to follow when implementing goals to improve performance.

Les taux de césarienne sont en constante croissance dans le monde. Ces dernières années, on assiste à une augmentation sans cesse des taux hospitaliers d’accouchement par césarienne dans les pays à faible ressource malgré les recommandations de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé de ne pas dépasser 10 à 15 %. En Afrique au sud du Sahara, en particulier au Sénégal et au Mali, des politiques de subvention de la césarienne ont été introduites à l’échelle nationale à partir de 2005. Ces mesures ont contribué à l’augmentation de l’utilisation des services de maternité et des taux de césarienne. Si l’accessibilité financière à la césarienne a été améliorée substantiellement, la qualité n’a pas toujours suivi. Or, une augmentation trop importante des taux de césarienne peut avoir des effets négatifs sur la santé maternelle et périnatale. Par exemple, l’augmentation des taux institutionnels de césarienne au dessus de 10% en Amérique latine était associée à une augmentation de la mortalité maternelle et périnatale hospitalière. Trois ans après la mise en œuvre des politiques d’exemption des césariennes, le Programme Gesta international (PGI) a été mis en œuvre pour améliorer la qualité des soins obstétricaux dans 23 hôpitaux de référence au Sénégal et au Mali. Ce programme se basait sur l’audit clinque et la formation médicale continue du personnel sur les pratiques optimales en matière de soins intrapartum. Un essai contrôlé randomisé en grappe (essai QUARITE) a été mise en œuvre en 2007-2011 pour tester l’effet du PGI sur la mortalité maternelle hospitalière au Sénégal et au Mali. Initialement prévu pour améliorer la qualité des soins intra-partum, je me suis posé la question de l’efficacité de ce programme sur la pratique et les résultats de la césarienne. Les résultats de notre étude montrent que le PGI a permis de réduire l’évolution des taux de césarienne institutionnels dans les hôpitaux du groupe d’intervention comparativement à l’évolution dans le groupe contrôle. Par ailleurs, nous avons trouvé que le PGI a été plus efficace, en terme de réduction de la mortalité maternelle, parmi les femmes césarisées que parmi celles qui ont accouché par voie vaginale. Nous avons donc recommandé que des programmes d’amélioration de la qualité des soins soient mis en œuvre pour accompagner les politiques de subvention en cours dans la plupart des pays en Afrique au sud du Sahara et limiter ainsi l’utilisation excessive des césariennes dans ces pays. / Cesarean rates are rising steadily worldwide. In recent years, there has been an increasing cesarean rates in low-resource countries despite the World Health Organization recommended to not exceed 10-15%. In Senegal and Mali free cesarean policies were implemented nationally since 2005 and have contributed to increase the access to cesarean section. Access to cesarean deliveries has been improved substantially but quality of care has not always followed. However, excessive increase in cesarean section rates can have negative impacts on maternal and perinatal health. In Latin America, Asia, and Africa, several studies have shown an intrinsic risk of maternal and neonatal mortality associated with cesareans regardless of the initial health status of the mother or fetus. For example, the increase in hospital-based cesarean rates above 10% in Latin America was associated with an increase risk of maternal and perinatal mortality.Three years after the implementation of cesarean sections free policies, The Advances in Labour and Risk Management (ALARM) international program was implemented to improve the quality of obstetric care in 23 referral hospitals in Senegal and Mali. This program was based on maternal death review and staff training on best practices for intrapartum care. A randomized controlled cluster trial (QUARITE trial) was implemented in 2007-2011 to assess the effectiveness of the ALARM international program on in-hospital maternal mortality in Senegal and Mali. Initially planned to improve quality of Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC), we assumed that this program was also effective on the quality of cesarean delivery.Results showed that the ALARM international program slowed down the trends of hospital-based cesarean rates in the 23 participating centers of the intervention group compared to the changes observed in the control group. Furthermore, we found that the program was more effective on maternal mortality among women who delivered by cesarean section than among women who delivered vaginally. We recommend that quality improvement strategies should support free cesarean policies to limit the excessive use of cesarean delivery.

Les vagues de chaleur sont encore peu documentées au Sahel, malgré un impact très fort sur les populations. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'apporter de nouvelles connaissances et une meilleure compréhension des processus et mécanismes mis en jeu dans les vagues de chaleur au Sahel au printemps. L'étude se structure autour de trois axes : (i) la détection des vagues de chaleur, (ii) la documentation de leurs caractéristiques morphologiques, dynamiques et thermodynamiques ainsi que leurs tendances climatiques et (iii) la compréhension des processus et mécanismes en jeu lors de ces événements. Dans un premier temps, une nouvelle méthodologie d’identification des vagues de chaleur, définies ici comme une forte augmentation de la température à des échelles synoptiques à intra-saisonnières, a été développée. Cette définition permet de détecter des vagues de chaleur « météorologiques », associées au temps sensible et qui constituent un véritable enjeu pour la prévision. La détection repose sur trois étapes : (i) un filtrage sélectionne les échelles souhaitées, ici synoptiques à intra-saisonnières ; (ii) les valeurs extrêmes des anomalies de températures ainsi calculées sont conservées, grâce à un seuil limite fixe égal au quantile Q90 ; et (iii) une contrainte morphologique est finalement appliquée pour identifier les événements de grande échelle cohérents dans le temps et l’espace. Par ailleurs, les températures maximales (Tmax) et minimales (Tmin) sont considérées séparément car leurs fluctuations résultent de processus distincts. Cette méthodologie a été appliquée à plusieurs types de jeux de données : un produit basé sur des observations locales (BEST), trois réanalyses météorologiques (ERA-Interim, NCEP2 et MERRA) et des simulations climatiques (CMIP5). Les vagues de chaleur détectées sont ensuite documentées en termes de caractéristiques morphologiques et thermodynamiques, et leurs tendances climatiques sont analysées. L’occurrence de ces événements se concentre particulièrement en début de printemps, et la tendance à la hausse de leurs températures s’explique principalement par le réchauffement moyen au Sahel. Les biais moyens de température dans les simulations, atteignant plus de 5°C dans certaines simulations climatiques, expliquent la plus grande partie des erreurs sur les températures des vagues de chaleur. Les événements détectés dépendent aussi de la méthodologie utilisée, c’est pourquoi nos résultats sont comparés avec ceux obtenus à partir d’autres méthodologies communément utilisées dans la littérature. Les processus et mécanismes mis en jeu lors des vagues de chaleur sont ensuite étudiés. Au printemps, les sols sont secs et le flux de chaleur latente très faible. Les vagues de chaleur détectées sur les Tmax sont anormalement sèches, celles en Tmin anormalement humides. Une dépression est présente lors des deux types d’événements et centrée sur la zone impactée. Les vagues de chaleur diurnes sont associées à un vent de nord-ouest alors que les vagues de chaleur nocturnes correspondent à un vent de sud-ouest, qui favorise l’advection d’humidité par le flux de mousson. La vapeur d’eau joue un rôle majeur sur les vagues de chaleur nocturnes, amplifiant l’effet de serre de l’atmosphère. Une première analyse indique que les vagues de chaleur détectées en Tmax ne sont pas associées à des couches limites plus profondes. Ces résultats soulignent qu’au Sahel, les vagues de chaleur sont associées à des mécanismes différents de ceux observés dans d’autres régions du monde, comme en Europe, où les vagues de chaleur font souvent intervenir des conditions anticycloniques et un assèchement des sols. La méthodologie a été finalement adaptée à la prévision des vagues de chaleur en temps réel et implémentée sur le site Internet http://acasis.sedoo.fr/. Ce travail a permis de suivre et prévoir en temps réel les vagues de chaleur impactant l’Afrique de l’ouest pendant les printemps 2016-2017. / Heat waves are still undocumented over the Sahel, despite great consequences over the population. This PhD aims at improving the knowledge of Spring Sahelian heat waves, together with a better understanding of the processes and mechanisms operating during those events. The work is organized in three parts: the first one on the heat waves detection, the second one on their morphological, dynamical and thermodynamical characteristics as well as their climatological trends and the third one on the understanding of the processes and mechanisms involved in these events. First, a new methodology has been developed to detect heat waves, defined as synoptic to intraseasonal fluctuations of temperature. This definition allows the identification of “meteorological” heat waves, which are an important issue for weather forecast. The new methodology involved three steps: (i) a temperature filtering to select specific temporal scales; (ii) the determination of a temperature thresholds (90th percentile) and (iii) finally the application of a morphological constraint. This methodology was applied separately to the maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperatures, as the mechanisms that drive their fluctuations are distinct. The method was used with several types of datasets: one based on local observations (BEST), three meteorological reanalyses (ERA-Interim, NCEP2 and MERRA) and on several climate model CMIP5 simulations. The detected heat waves are then documented in terms of morphological and thermodynamic characteristics and in terms of trends over the past sixty years. From March to July, the further into the season, the shorter and the less frequent the heat waves become, and from 1950 to 2012, these synoptic to intraseasonal heat waves do not tend to be more frequent but they become warmer. This trend follows the long-term trend of temperature over the Sahel. Simulation temperature biases, which can reach more than 5°C in some climate simulations, explain most of the spread in the temperatures of the detected heat waves. Finally, the method used to define heat waves has an impact on the events, thus a comparison with other methodologies was carried out. Physical mechanisms involved in heat waves are then analyzed. During the Sahelian Spring, the soil is dry and the latent heat flux is very low. Daytime heat waves are abnormally dry, whereas nighttime events are abnormally humid. A depression is involved in both cases, located over the heat wave region for the Tmax heat waves and a larger-scalenorthward depression for the Tmin heat waves. North-easterly winds are predominant for the Tmax events, while south-westerly winds prevail during the Tmin events thus strengthening the moist air advection from the monsoon flow. The water vapor plays a major role on the nighttime heat waves via an enhanced greenhouse effect. Observations also highlight that boundary layers are not deeper during daytime heat waves. In Europe, heat waves are often associated with anticyclonic conditions, stronger sensible heat fluxes and deeper boundary layers: Sahelian heat waves are then associated with different mechanisms. The heat wave detection was adapted to numerical weather forecast and implemented on the website http://acasis.sedoo.fr/. It has allowed to monitor and forecast in real-time West Africa spring heat waves in 2016 and 2017.

Development Trends in Trademark Law Abstract This thesis deals with the development trends in trademark law in terms of the development of the subject matter of trademark law, i.e. trademarks. In particular, it seeks to answer three questions. Firstly, what are the trends of the development of trademark law from the point of view of the subject matter of trademark law. Secondly, whether the abolition of the requirement of graphic representation has the effect on the development of trademarks as intended by Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council. And thirdly, what development of the subject matter of trademark law can be expected in the future. This thesis tries to answer these questions with the help of legal regulations, professional literature, methodological guidelines and decision-making practice of courts and competent authorities. The thesis is divided into six chapters, which are then divided into subchapters. The first chapter theoretically deals with the trademark as such. It focuses mainly on the position of trademark law within the framework of intellectual property law, important trademark principles and the functions of a trademark. The first chapter ends with an analysis of the relationship between trademark law and the law against unfair competition. The second...

Research into cultural dynamics and trend mechanisms has been used to “deconstruct” theinfluence structure of fashion in a way that can be applied to a hypothetical design strategy.The design strategy revolves around designing products with the intension to indirectlycommunicate an idea or ideas and by taking advantage of a products emotional value, toincrease structural and cognitive embeddedness of underlying ideas.The application of the strategy is the design of a smart product called “Gelo”. Gelo is a ‘smartwall’ concept that uses soft robotic actuators to transform its surface to adapt to changinglight conditions, improve room acoustics, and produce dynamic visual displays.By using HASEL soft robot actuators for movement, emerging technology could be exploredthrough the medium a conceptual consumer product while also allowing interestingfunctionality to be implemented to the Gelo concept. The addition of this functionalityallowed for ‘display like’ properties which are used to explore the idea of smart home devicesas a way of provide an enhanced emotional experienced.

This diploma thesis focuses on the general characteristic of the technical analysis and its use in deciding to invest in the stock market. Thesis includes theoretical data, which deal with problems concerning an investment in the capital market. In the practical part are some indicators of technical analysis applied to the selected shares, by means of them is formed investing strategy for the beginning investor. Furthermore, in practical part is described the design of application for technical analysis.

This thesis deals with the design and optimization of an automatic trading system based on trend indicators. This thesis describes entire proces of system development from its parts to the whole system. It focuses on the optimization of each part and the complete system. This thesis also describes the testing proces of the systém on historical data and its application on the latest data.

This thesis analyzes the impact of political risk for investment decision-ing-on invest-ments into large investment projects. The failure of investors in the field of large in-vestment projects is the vast majority caused by the politic-social grounds, whose quan-tification is extremely difficult. Political risk affects economic conditions and the stabil-ity of the environment, therefore knowledge of its development is essential for the prop-er investment decisions. His predictions are quantitative level problematic. The method used qualitative modeling falls within the field of artificial intelligence and used to model the trend. The work describes the process of creating qualitative model, its inter-pretation and recommendations for use in investment decisions.

The object of this thesis is to focus on the major influences of vehicle saleability in Czech Republic in terms of the most important criteria, such as price, fuel consumption, colour etc. Part of the work will be arranged questionnaires. The survey indicates desirability of cars back for the last five years. This creates sales trend with a hint of future development.

This master thesis evaluates the financial situation of the selected e-shop of consumer electronics called czc.cz. For this evaluation, it will be used time series analysis, through which it will be possible to predict the future development of selected indicators. Based on the development of these indicators, e-shop will be compared with the competitors. Through this analysis there will be proposed options to improve the financial situation of the e-shop.