Le piégeage et la manipulation d'objets à la surface d'un guide d'onde est une approche intéressante, qui permet d'envisager des développements nouveaux dans le domaine des microsystèmes intégrés. Mais la mise au point de tels dispositifs, était jusqu'à maintenant limitée par la difficulté à comprendre et à maîtriser les phénomènes physiques mis en jeu dans une expérience. Ces points-clé empêchaient la démonstration de la manipulation d'objets biologiques, comme des cellules, sur ces structures. L'utilisation de guides d'ondes optiques représentatifs de technologies de fabrication différentes nous a ainsi permis de juger expérimentalement des forces et des faiblesses propres à chaque technologie et déterminer les conditions les plus favorables en vue d'un déplacement de matériel biologique. L'utilisation de guides en nitrure de silicium a permis une amélioration significative des performances de piégeage et de manipulation de particules sur ces structures.<br />Ceci nous a ainsi permis de réaliser un démonstrateur de propulsion optique et a rendu possible l'application de cette technologie à des objets de masse ou de taille supérieures ainsi qu'à d'autres domaines scientifiques, comme la chimie ou la biologie. Nous avons effectué la première démonstration expérimentale à notre connaissance de la propulsion d'objets biologiques par ondes évanescentes. En particulier, nous avons réalisé des expériences de tri cellulaire de sous-populations dans un mélange. Ceci démontre la capacité à réaliser, sur une faible surface, des expériences biologiques simples grâce à de tels dispositifs et renforce l'espoir d'utiliser une telle technique dans une approche de type laboratoire-sur-puce.

La thèse porte sur une nouvelle méthode de tri non supervisé de potentiels d'action et sur son application à l'analyse de l'activité neuronale des ganglions de la base. Le développement de nouvelles approches au tri de potentiels d'action est actuel en vue de nouveaux outils nécessaires à l'électrophysiologie effectuée pendent la neurochirurgie fonctionnelle, autant que pour l'efficacité des l'expériences électrophysiologiques en temps réel. <br />La méthode présentée dans la première partie de cette thèse est une nouvelle approche à ce problème qui décrit les potentiels d'action à l'aide des équations différentielles avec perturbation caractérisant la variation interne de leur forme. Le logiciel permettant le tri de potentiels d'action non supervisé développé à partir de cette méthode comprends un algorithme automatique d'évaluation d'étalons de classes et de leurs rayons. <br />La seconde partie présente l'application de la méthode à l'analyse de l'activité neuronale des ganglions de la base. Les donnés pour les analyses ont été recueillis au bloque chirurgical du département de neurochirurgie de l'Hôpital Universitaire de Grenoble pendent l'électrophysiologie intra chirurgicale et représentent le STN (950 enregistrements), le GPI (183) et le SNR (105) de 13 patients parkinsoniens et 2 patients souffrant de dystonie. Les analyses sont destinées à définir les formes typiques de potentiel d'action et à révéler un parallèle entre la nature de l'activité neuronale et la gravité des symptômes de la maladie de Parkinson.

<p>A ‘religion means Christianity’ equivalence seem to be predominant within the academic publications on religion and film. If a ‘philosophical’ film does not fit within the Christian doctrine, secular philosophies are usually applied to it. This paper tries to do a Buddhist analysis of the film Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999). The Yogacara Buddhist doctrine is used as a base for the thematic analysis, its vocabulary is applied on the narrative progression of the films protagonist. Structure: The paper starts with an introduction on how Buddhism came about through the life story of the Buddha, and then goes deeper into the Buddhist doctrine of thought. It concludes by using Yogacara Buddhist theories and vocabulary in a thematic analysis of the film Fight Club.</p>

The purpose of this research was to develop and va lidate a Risk Scale for Postpartum Weight Retention in low-income tri-ethnic women. In Study I, the scale was created in 187 subjects given six questionnaires and monitored for weight from 0 - 6 months postpartum. There were a total of 263 items derived from the questionnaires and 39 were related to weight change at 6 months postpartum (r = -0.20 to 0.61, p < 0.005). Expert review and exploratory multivariate analyses were used to reduce the questionnaire to six items that included weights, fat habits, weight control practices and self-esteem. Weight change was calculated as weight in kilograms retained from prepregnancy to 6 months postpartum. An initial method of evaluation, multiple regression, accounted for 45.8% of the variance in weight change (p < 0.001). A simpler method for clinicians, a ROC curve, discriminated between women who retained < 10 kg prepregnancy weight vs >̲ 10 kg. Area under the curve was 0.87; sensitivity was 76% and specificity, 80%. In Study II, validity was determined in a sample of 75 women who visited health clinics at 1.5 and 6 months postpartum. The risk scale and a demographic questionnaire were administered at 1.5 months postpartum; weight and waist circumference were measured at 1.5 and 6 months after delivering a child. When cross-validated in this sample, multiple regression explained 35.7% of the variance in weight. The ROC curve classified 81% of subjects into correct weight categories, with sensitivity of 65% and specificity, 89%, (p < 0.001). To enhance the predictive ability and reliability of the risk scale, weight at 1.5 months was replaced by waist circumference at 1.5 months postpartum. In the revised scale, multiple regression explained 41.5% of the variance in weight retention (p < 0.001). The updated ROC curve had an area under the curve of 0.83; with a sensitivity and specificity of 65 and 92%, respectively (p < 0.01). These results indicate that the risk scale is a valid measure of postpartum weight retention, using either complex multiple regression or simpler ROC methods. Additionally, waist circumference greatly increases its predictive power in Study II. / text

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This dissertation examines two main research questions: Why do firms deviate from their predicted level of toxic emissions, and how do these differences relate to financial performance? The objective is threefold: (1) to understand deviation in corporate environmental performance by looking at both industry and firm level variables, (2) to see how this deviation relates to both profitability and fluctuations in financial performance, and (3) to see if, and how, corporate environmental legitimacy affects the relationship between corporate environmental deviation and corporate financial performance. To achieve this objective the construct “corporate environmental performance deviation” is developed. It is defined as the extent to which a firm’s environmental performance deviates from its predicted performance, and is used to capture within-firm strategic choices in environmental management. Predicted environmental performance is calculated based on certain firm characteristics such as size and industry. Actual environmental performance is calculated using a weighted score of air emissions obtained from the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database. The difference between these two values represents a corporation’s environmental performance deviation. Corporate environmental performance deviation focuses on strategic choices related to environmental management, while recognizing that environmental management is the result of both institutional pressures and within-firm strategic decisions. Aligned with this focus, variables 2 related to this strategic choice are used to explain deviation in environmental management, including an environmental integration capability, firm strategy, and industry munificence and dynamism. Associated with the internal and external organizational analysis, institutional theory and the resource-based view (RBV) are used to explore the tension between deviation to increase competitiveness versus isomorphism to attain legitimacy. The sample is composed of 311 U.S. firms who have reported their toxic air releases to the TRI from 1998-2007. The sample is broken down into two subsets, those that exceed (positive deviation) or fail to meet (negative deviation) predicted environmental performance. Results of a longitudinal analysis show that positive environmental deviation is related to a greater capacity to strategically integrate environmental issues into a firm’s existing business approach, less munificence and dynamism in the task environment, and reduced financial fluctuations. Negative environmental deviation is decreased through a demonstrated capacity to strategically integrate environmental issues into a firm’s existing strategic approach, and related to greater munificence and dynamism in the task environment, reduced profitability and increased financial fluctuations. Lastly, although there are no significant main effects for corporate environmental legitimacy, the paradoxical combination of negative deviation and environmental legitimacy can reduce the severity of the negative financial results to negative deviation, both in terms of profitability and financial fluctuations.

Downtowns contribute significantly to the economy of cities and as a result, decision makers are increasingly recognizing the fundamental value and importance of maintaining viable downtown cores. Following the post-war era of urban decay and suburban expansion, there have been widespread attempts nationwide to reverse trends and to revitalize downtowns. In the Winnipeg context, urban renewal was practiced throughout the 1960s and 1970s; tripartite agreements were utilized during the 1980s; and development corporations were introduced throughout the 1980s and 1990s as a way to encourage private sector investment with targeted public sector investments. This practicum investigates the relationship between planning and development in the downtown revitalization context. In particular, this research aims to discover the extent to which a downtown development agency may have facilitated the better integration of planning and development in a city’s downtown, where revitalization has been very much on the public agenda. Winnipeg’s CentreVenture Development Corporation was used as a case study to explore this relationship. It was established in 1999 and continues to operate today. This paper attempts to determine the extent of its involvement, and the manner by which this arms-length government agency has aided and influenced tangible development in Winnipeg’s downtown. Furthermore, the case study was used to understand the nature, scope and form of related downtown revitalization, and to distill any learning about the general topic that might be applicable in other comparable settings. The practicum concludes by providing potentially transferable best practices to cities with similar characteristics and with recommendations for both CentreVenture Development Corporation and its shareholder, the City of Winnipeg.

Comment aborder l'éthique médicale à l'heure de la grande confusion entre déontologie, morale, éthique, éthique de la biomédecine, éthique appliquée, éthique du care, méta-éthique, bioéthique...? Peut-être par un retour " aux choses mêmes " comme aurait dit Husserl, un retour à la médecine pour y chercher, comme nichée en son sein, matière à penser l'éthique de la médecine et non une éthique fabriquée de toute pièce qui constituerait, au final et de façon définitive, une éthique pour la médecine.Un mode d'exercice particulier, la médecine d'urgence, permet d'étudier l'acte médical, dans sa puissance et son actualisation (au sens que prennent ces termes chez Aristote) et ses intersections avec le geste technique. Qu'est-ce qu'un acte médical, qu'est-ce qu'un geste technique et comment les distinguer ? Ou encore, comment reconnaître un acte sans geste et un geste sans acte ? C'est le médecin, auteur de l'acte, qui fait de l'acte un acte médical. Même lorsque le geste technique recouvre la totalité d'un acte, il ne peut que se distinguer de l'acte médical si son auteur n'est pas médecin, non en qualité statutaire mais en celle de dépositaire du savoir (épistémè) médical. L'acte sans geste rencontré au cours de la régulation médicale est la preuve que la médecine d'urgence ne se réduit pas à des gestes techniques.Comme beaucoup de disciplines à orientation scientifique, la médecine d'urgence tend à transformer le temps en espace pour mieux quantifier sa pratique mais finit par se heurter à la vérité d'adéquation des autres spécialités médicales. La vérité qui se réduit à l'exactitude mathématique donne à la paraclinique la place centrale de l'exercice médical, participant peu à peu à éloigner le médecin du patient.Le tri médical, exercice singulier de la médecine de masse, de la médecine de catastrophe, met en évidence, de façon inattendue, l'éthique médicale. La catégorisation des victimes, au principe du tri médical n'est qu'un reflet exacerbé de la pensée rationnelle. Car penser, c'est trier. L'irruption du tiers dans la relation médecin malade limite la responsabilité médicale laquelle, sinon, serait insupportable. La responsabilité infinie de chacun vis-à-vis de l'autre, redoublée par la condition de soignant précède et fonde la liberté. Le Tiers empêche de faire l'impossible pour Autrui, il contraint à partager. Introduit au moment du tri médical, il donne la chance au politique de s'enraciner profondément dans l'éthique.

This dissertation examines two main research questions: Why do firms deviate from their predicted level of toxic emissions, and how do these differences relate to financial performance? The objective is threefold: (1) to understand deviation in corporate environmental performance by looking at both industry and firm level variables, (2) to see how this deviation relates to both profitability and fluctuations in financial performance, and (3) to see if, and how, corporate environmental legitimacy affects the relationship between corporate environmental deviation and corporate financial performance. To achieve this objective the construct “corporate environmental performance deviation” is developed. It is defined as the extent to which a firm’s environmental performance deviates from its predicted performance, and is used to capture within-firm strategic choices in environmental management. Predicted environmental performance is calculated based on certain firm characteristics such as size and industry. Actual environmental performance is calculated using a weighted score of air emissions obtained from the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database. The difference between these two values represents a corporation’s environmental performance deviation. Corporate environmental performance deviation focuses on strategic choices related to environmental management, while recognizing that environmental management is the result of both institutional pressures and within-firm strategic decisions. Aligned with this focus, variables 2 related to this strategic choice are used to explain deviation in environmental management, including an environmental integration capability, firm strategy, and industry munificence and dynamism. Associated with the internal and external organizational analysis, institutional theory and the resource-based view (RBV) are used to explore the tension between deviation to increase competitiveness versus isomorphism to attain legitimacy. The sample is composed of 311 U.S. firms who have reported their toxic air releases to the TRI from 1998-2007. The sample is broken down into two subsets, those that exceed (positive deviation) or fail to meet (negative deviation) predicted environmental performance. Results of a longitudinal analysis show that positive environmental deviation is related to a greater capacity to strategically integrate environmental issues into a firm’s existing business approach, less munificence and dynamism in the task environment, and reduced financial fluctuations. Negative environmental deviation is decreased through a demonstrated capacity to strategically integrate environmental issues into a firm’s existing strategic approach, and related to greater munificence and dynamism in the task environment, reduced profitability and increased financial fluctuations. Lastly, although there are no significant main effects for corporate environmental legitimacy, the paradoxical combination of negative deviation and environmental legitimacy can reduce the severity of the negative financial results to negative deviation, both in terms of profitability and financial fluctuations.

Traditional Balinese architecture is commonly related to culture and traditional reasoning. When subjected to several modem problems such as energy demand, pollution, and impact of urbanisation and tourism, traditional architecture becomes less attractive since the definitions behind traditional reasoning are not clear and can be interpreted in different ways. To understand this feature, the study of traditional Balinese architecture starts by using several key parameters such as wind engineering and heat transfer, as presented and used in several countries. The flow patterns around a cubic building have been studied by many researchers. The velocity profile at the model position and the local surface roughness are specific to each building model and cannot be estimated from general tests of a standard building shape, therefore specific velocity profiles and conditions are used in this particular study. The air flow around a cluster of traditional Balinese buildings is extremely complicated and difficult to determine by modelling an isolated building (via symmetric conditions) since the buildings are linked to each other. Full scale models of traditional buildings have been investigated by using CFD to predict the above aspects. Simulations using this method can be done more quickly and less expensively than with wind tunnel experiments, and are capable of delivering more detailed and comprehensive information about the flow structure. Two-dimensional models of traditional Balinese building arrangements are simulated by using a commercial code Fidap based on the finite element method to assess the effects of type of roof, fence and surface roughness. Three-dimensional models are simulated by using a commercial code CFX based on the finite volume method to verify some traditional definitions. A standard к-ε model is adopted because it needs less computational power and has achieved notable successes in calculating a wide variety of thin shear layer and recirculating flows without the need of adjustment of the model constants, but with the imposition of boundary conditions to reduce the over-prediction near windward edges. Adopting lower values of к and ε combined with multi-blocks is shown to reduce this over-estimation. For a cubic building, the results can be compared with several other turbulence models. It appears that traditional Balinese architecture has a strong and significant correlation with several engineering fields, therefore traditional communities can develop by considering the Tri Hita Karana concept in order to improve thermal comfort and reduce cooling loads, with corresponding energy savings.