L'expérience CMS auprès du LHC, grand collisionneur de hadrons, est un détecteur généraliste qui permet d'étudier tous les aspects des collisions proton-proton produites par le LHC : de l'étude du Modèle Standard et du boson de Higgs à la recherche de signaux de nouvelle physique au-delà du Modèle Standard.La première partie de cette thèse est dédiée à la calibration en énergie des jets dans CMS, un des plus grands défis et une étape fondamentale pour la réussite du programme de physique dans cet environnement hadronique. Plus particulièrement, l'étude des événements multijets permet de contraindre l'échelle en énergie des jets au-delà du TeV. Les corrections en énergie ainsi extraites sont primordiales pour les analyses de physique utilisant des jets, et sont utilisées par toute la collaboration CMS.La deuxième partie est consacrée à la recherche de particules de spin 0 se désintégrant en paires de quarks top-antitop. En effet, de nombreux modèles de nouvelle physique prédisent de nouvelles particules scalaires ou pseudoscalaires avec un fort couplage au quark top. Une étude phénoménologique de deux de ces modèles est présentée, à savoir les modèles à deux doublets de Higgs (2HDM) et l'extension supersymétrique minimale du Modèle Standard (MSSM). Ces modèles offrent tous deux un secteur de Higgs enrichi avec entre autre deux bosons de Higgs neutres additionnels, un scalaire et un pseudoscalaire. Une analyse du spectre de masse invariante des paires top-antitop utilisant les données collectées par CMS en 2012 à une énergie dans le centre de masse de 8 TeV visant à mettre en évidence l'existence de telles particules est menée. Cette analyse prend en compte pour la première fois les effets des interférences entre la production des paires top-antitop du Modèle Standard et la production résonante à travers la nouvelle particule de spin 0. Il est montré que l'impact des interférences ne peut être négligé. Aucune déviation par rapport aux prédictions théoriques du Modèle Standard n'a été observée dans le spectre de masse invariante des paires top-antitop. Un premier aperçu des données à 13 TeV est également présenté / The CMS experiment at the LHC, the Large Hadron Collider, is a general-purpose detector built to study the proton-proton collisions produced by the LHC, corresponding to a broad physics programme ranging from studying the Standard Model and the Higgs bosons to searching for signal of new physics beyond the Standard Model.The first part of this thesis is dedicated to the jet energy calibration in CMS, one of the most challenging and crucial steps for the sucess of the physics programme within the hadronic environment. More specifically, the study of multijet events allows to constraint the jet energy scale beyond the TeV-scale. The jet energy corrections thus obtained are fundamental for the physics analyses using jets, and are used by all the CMS collaboration.The second part of this manuscript is dedicated to the search for new spin 0 particles decaying into top-antitop quarks pairs. Indeed, several new physics models predict new scalar or pseudoscalar particles with an enhanced coupling to the top quark. A phenomenological study of two of those models is presented, namely the two higgs doublet models (2HDM) and the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). These models both offer an enriched Higgs sector with in particular two additional neutral Higgs bosons, one scalar and one pseudoscalar. The analysis of the top-antitop pairs mass spectrum using data collected by CMS in 2012 at an energy in the center of mass of 8 TeV is presented, looking for such particles. This search takes into account for the first time the effects of interference between Standard Model top-antitop pairs production and its resonant production through the spin 0 particle. This work shows the impact of interference cannot be neglected. No deviation from the Standard Model predictions has been observed in the top-antitop mass spectrum. A first look at 13 TeV data is also presented

The first measurement of the spin correlation strength in pairs of top quarks at √s=8 TeV is presented, using data collected using the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb⁻¹. Dileptonically decaying tt^- events are selected with two high-pT leptons and at least two jets, one of which is required to be b-tagged. The azimuthal angle between the two charged leptons, Δφ, is used to measure the degree of spin correlation of top quark pairs. The extracted value of fSM, which is a measure of the spin-correlation strength, is fSM=1.20 ± 0.14. This is the most precise spin-correlation measurement to date. Using the Δφ distribution, a search for Supersymmetric top squarks is performed, with the assumption that the top squarks decay to a top quark and a neutralino. No excess of events is observed and top squarks with masses between the top quark mass and 191 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, extending previous limits.

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Abstract This thesis deals with the rotation-vibration theory and high resolution infrared spectroscopy of semirigid C3 molecules. Semirigid molecules form a class of molecules which are strongly bound with one well defined structure, and without low frequency internal motions. The theory, as well as the experimental studies of semirigid molecules are of special importance in the field of rotation-vibration spectroscopy. They provide a good starting point for interpreting and analyzing the spectra of practically all types of molecules. In this work, the theory is reviewed fromthe standpoint of one particular molecule, 13CH3I, which is a prolate symmetric top with C3 symmetry. The origin and the properties of the rotation-vibration Hamiltonian are discussed in detail. Molecular symmetry plays an important role in these studies. The expansion of the Hamiltonian for nuclear motion in powers of the vibrational operators converges rapidly as numerical examples thoughout the treatment indicate. The molecule is thus a good subject for the perturbation calculations, also reviewed here in detail. 13CH3I can be considered as a model example of semirigid molecules. From the spectroscopic point of view, this thesis is a study of the six fundamental bands of 13CH3I. The rotational analysis of the vibrational ground state is first given. Special attention is paid to obtaining the axial rotational constants which are problematic for symmetric top molecules. The relatively high energy level density of 13CH3I leads to several resonances. The fundamental bands, especially the higher ones, must therefore be treated as parts of band systems. Care is paid to properly take into account the effects of the near-lying vibrational levels on the constants of the fundamentals. Certain ambiguities in the rotation-vibration Hamiltonian of 13CH3I are also discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Timothy A. Bolton / This dissertation describes a search for the pair production of scalar top quarks, tilde[subscript] 1, using a luminosity of 995 pb[superscript-1] of data collected in p[bar over]p collisions with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at a center-of-mass energy sqrt[s] = 1.96 TeV. Both scalar top quarks are assumed to decay into a charm quark and a neutralino, [tilde chi superscript 0 subscript 1]where [(tilde chi superscript 0 subscript 1)]is the lightest supersymmetric particle. This leads to a final state with two acoplanar charm jets and missing transverse energy. The yield of such events in data is found to be consistent with the expectations from known standard model processes. Sets of tilde [subscript 1] and tilde chi [superscript 0 subscript 1] masses are excluded at the 95% confidence level that substantially extend the domain excluded by previous searches. With the theoretical uncertainty on the pair production cross section taken into account, the largest limit for m[subscript tilde subscript 1] is m[subscript tilde chi subscript 1> 150 GeV, for m [subscript tilde chi negative 0 subscript 1]= 65 GeV.

To determine the optimum nitrogen application level required for the production of good quality ‘Drumhead’ cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) transplants, a glasshouse experiment was conducted. Depending on water requirements, transplants were fertigated every two days (for the first four weeks) and every day (for the last two weeks) by floating trays in plastic tubs containing nutrient solution at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 mg•L-1 N until field capacity was reached. Increasing nitrogen from 0 to 120 mg•L-1 increased shoot and root mass of cabbage transplants with more dry mass being partitioned to the shoot than to the roots. Nitrogen at 120 mg•L-1 N produced greatest fresh and dry shoot mass, plant height, leaf area, leaf tissue nitrogen, net assimilation rate, relative growth rate and leaf mass ratio. Nitrogen at 90 mg•L-1 improved dry root mass, pulling success, specific leaf area and leaf area ratio. Greatest values of root: shoot ratio and root mass ratio were obtained at 0 mg•L-1 N. Nitrogen at 90 mg•L-1 was best as it produced transplants with more vigorous root growth which pulled out easily from the seedling trays. To determine the best combination of spacing and nitrogen top-dressing for improved cabbage production under local conditions, a field experiment was conducted. Cabbage ‘Copenhagen Market’ transplants were spaced at 30 x 50 cm, 40 x 50 cm or 50 x 50 cm and fertilized with nitrogen as top-dressing at 50, 100 or 150 kg•ha-1 N applied in two splits (fourth and eighth week after transplanting). There were no interactions between spacing and nitrogen top-dressing for all measured variables. Nitrogen and spacing did not influence dry matter production and leaf tissue nitrogen. Furthermore, spacing did not affect core height and yield (per unit area) of trimmed cabbage heads. Nitrogen at 100 kg•ha-1 produced the greatest head mass and yield for untrimmed cabbage heads. The 30 x 50 cm spacing produced the highest yield of untrimmed heads while 50 x 50 cm spacing produced heavier heads. For trimmed heads, 100 kg•ha-1 N again produced the greatest head mass, head diameter, head height, core diameter and yield. Spacing did not affect the yield for trimmed heads. However, 40 x 50 cm spacing improved head diameter, head height and head mass while core diameter was larger with 50 x 50 cm spacing. The split application of 100 kg•ha-1 N as top-dressing was best for head mass and yield (per unit area) for trimmed and untrimmed heads. Choice of spacing would depend on whether trimmed or untrimmed heads are targeted. / Dissertation (M Inst Agrar (Horticulture))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

This thesis presents measurements of the the spin correlation strength in top anti-top quark pair production at the LHC using the ATLAS detector. The data used corresponds to 4.6 fb−1 of integrated luminosity taken during 2011 at the LHC at a center of mass energy of 7 TeV. The spin correlation is studied utilising different observables with different sensitivities to the production mechanism, in particular to gluon-gluon fusion in the like or unlike helicity state, quark anti- quark annihilation in the unlike helicity state, or a combination of the three. In addition cuts are made on the invariant mass of the ttbar system to enhance or suppress contributions from different initial state production mechanisms. The analysis presented is a precision test of both ttbar production and decay in the SM. These measurements are compared to the most current theoretical predictions. No deviation from the SM expectation was observed. In a subset of the data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.1 fb−1, the hypothesis of zero spin correlation is excluded at 5.1 standard deviations.

Chapter 1: When Environmental Subsidies Backfire: The Case of Black Liquor and the Alternative Fuel Mixture Tax Credit: In 2005, the US government introduced the Alternative Fuel Mixture Tax Credit (AFMTC), which paid fifty cents/gallon for alternative fuel that was mixed and burned with traditional fuel. The American chemical pulp industry, which has traditionally burned ‘Black Liquor’, a residue of the pulping process, was able to make large claims on this subsidy in 2009 by mixing diesel fuel into a process where it was not required. This scenario exhibits two main downfalls of environmental subsidies: (i) the majority of the subsidy is paid to free-riders, and (ii) there are strong incentives towards overproduction and increased pollution. In this paper, the value of the AFMTC per tonne of chemical pulp is computed and used in a simulation using the Global Forest Products Model (Buongiorno, 2001) to calculate the effects of the AFMTC on the American and Canadian chemical pulp industries. The simulation suggests that the total amount paid to the American chemical pulp industry was US$7.63 billion, that American chemical pulp production rose by 2.5 million tonnes from the baseline, and Canadian production and exports to the US fell by 285,000 and 255,000 tonnes respectively, costing Canadian chemical pulp producers US$132 million in lost production. Using Canadian chemical pulp production and pollutant release data, production/release averages were developed. These averages suggest that the increase in American chemical pulp production led to significant increase in releases of greenhouse gases, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Chapter 2: The Alternative Fuel Mixture Tax Credit and the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program: A Policy Comparison: In 2009, chemical pulp mills in the US and Canada were able to take advantage of two subsidy programs that paid mills fifty cents for every gallon of ‘Black Liquor’ burned during the pulping process. Black Liquor is a residue product from the production of chemical pulp, and is traditionally used as a fuel in further pulp production. These subsidies were the Alternative Fuel Mixture Tax Credit (AFMTC) in the US and the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) in Canada. Even though the AFMTC was a subsidy that applied to many industries, and the PPGTP was only available to chemical pulp mills, in the context of the chemical pulp industry only, the subsidies were almost identical: Both paid mills the same amount for undertaking the same activity, and mills were able to claim the subsidies for roughly the same amount of time. The key difference between the two programs was stipulations on how the money was to be spent. In the US, the AFMTC was a refundable tax credit, and simply another source of revenue for a recipient mill. In Canada, a recipient of PPGTP funds was required to spend the money on some form of capital investment that would increase energy efficiency or lower pollution emissions from the mill. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model with a representative chemical pulp mill in order to compare the effects that these two subsidies would have on the mill’s production of pulp (and in turn its production and use of black liquor), and its decision in whether to invest in a one-time capital improvement that would increase energy efficiency at the mill. The results from this model show that the PPGTP was a more effective policy than the AFMTC, in that it encouraged increased investment in energy efficiency, whereas the AFMTC did not. However, the PPGTP provides incentives to increase production, similar to the AFMTC, in two out of three possible outcomes. Even though the PPGTP is shown to be more effective than the AFMTC, it still exhibits several properties inherent in a second-best policy - because the subsidy is tied to production, it encouraged increased production, and may not have allocated funding in an efficient manner. Chapter 3: Naming, Shaming, and Abatement: Do Published ‘Top Emitter’ Lists Provide Incentive for Increasing Pollution Prevention Activities? Several works have measured the effects that publically disclosed pollutant release information has on the firms and facilities reporting the information. Most of these studies quantify the negative response that the information garners with the media, through some measure of media coverage, and measure the negative impact that this attention has on the firm; for example, by showing a negative effect on the respective company’s publically traded stock performance. Subsequent studies have then shown how these negative impacts from publicity cause firms to report lower emissions levels in following years. What is currently missing from this body of literature, however, is an examination of the step in between the firm receiving negative press and reporting lower emissions, namely, increased pollution abatement efforts on behalf of the publically labeled facility. In this paper, we attempt to gain a better understanding of this relationship by examining Canadian self-reported facility level data on pollution prevention activities from the National Pollutant Release Inventory. Two consistent samples of data are used to empirically test the effects that ‘Top Ten’ emitter lists, published by Environment Canada in the late 1990’s, had on the number of pollution prevention activities undertaken by facilities in the following year. The results from this work were inconclusive: Between these two samples, there was a noticeable decrease in the amount of pollution prevention activities reported in years after the cessation of the Top Ten publications. Under certain model specifications, a facility that was labeled as a Top Ten emitter is estimated to have 20% more pollution prevention activities undertaken compared to a facility that was not so labeled. It was also shown that a firm that reported new pollution abatement activities also had a significant reduction in releases. This finding, along with the decreasing trend in reported activities, raises a significant policy issue, as measures that clearly reduce reported emissions are being reported with less frequency in Canada.

The Master's thesis focuses on election campaign and communication strategy of political party TOP 09 in elections in 2013. The goal of this thesis is to analyze communication strategy of political party TOP 09 in election campaign, to analyze individual tools of communication and to evaluate the quality of their implementation. The thesis is divided into two parts. First theoretical part aims to define political marketing and his individual concepts and models, and then election campaigns and strategies. In analytical part of thesis it will be accomplished the strategic analysis of party TOP 09 and then analysis of communication strategy. Evaluation of communication strategy of political party TOP 09 and proposals to streamline is the important part of this thesis.

The passive perception of irrelevant actions can facilitate or interfere with the execution of one’s own actions, known as ‘automatic imitation’ (AI). For example, when one is pressing down on a button, reaction times (RTs) are faster when observing a finger depression (compatible action) and slower whilst observing a finger lift (incompatible action). This phenomenon has been attributed to the mirror neuron system and is thought to represent a laboratory model of spontaneous motor mimicry which facilitates social interactions. AI is typically reduced or absent when the observed movement is produced by a non-human agent. However, previous findings suggest that the magnitude of this ‘human bias’ can be modulated by top-down factors, such as attention and prior instructions regarding whether the movement was produced by a human or non-human agent. This thesis aimed to further examine the role of attention and belief regarding stimulus agency in automatic imitation. Participants were required to perform a pre-specified key press or release response to a diffuse yellow flash go signal. This response was either compatible or incompatible with the finger or object movement, which was presented simultaneously. AI was measured by subtracting compatible from incompatible RTs to calculate the compatibility effect. Experiments 1a, 1b, 2 and 7 focused on exploring the role of attention in AI. Experiment 1a revealed that the human bias is dependent on when the go signal occurs. AI was greater for the finger stimulus relative to the object stimulus when the go signal occurred during the movement, but not after the movement. It is suggested that attention to the movement is reduced when the go signal occurs after the movement. This implies that the human bias in AI is dependent on attention being directed towards the movement. Experiments 1b and 2 indicated that AI was removed if a visual dual task was added, but that AI remained and was greater when an auditory dual task was added. This indicates that AI was removed when the visual dual task competed for cognitive resources with action observation. The facilitation of AI when an auditory dual task was added suggests that the additional cognitive load may have occupied cognitive resources required for the inhibition of imitation. These findings highlight that AI is susceptible to attentional load, implying that AI is not a strongly automatic process. Experiment 7 explored whether the spread of attention modulates the magnitude of AI by comparing a ‘diffuse’ go signal to a ‘focused’ go signal which directed attention to the stimulus movement. Significantly larger AI effects were produced for the group of participants who saw the focused flash first, indicating that focusing attention on the spatial location of the movement increased AI, and furthermore that initially observing the focused flash ‘trained’ participants to pay attention to the stimulus movement in the diffuse flash condition. Experiments 3 and 4 examined why AI effects for non-human stimuli are more likely to be significant when trials are presented in separate blocks (e.g. human vs. non-human stimuli) as opposed to randomly mixed trials. It was hypothesised that this pattern of previous results could be due to less attention being drawn to stimulus differences when stimuli are presented separately as opposed to mixed with a block of trials. However, in both experiments, AI effects were present for the object stimulus in the group of participants who observed the block of finger trials first. This suggests that the prior observation of the finger movement caused a carry-over of human agency to the object stimulus. Experiments 5, 6, 8 and 9 directly explored the role of belief regarding stimulus agency in AI by instructing participants that the object movement was generated by a human finger movement. Experiments 5, 6 and 8 provided preliminary evidence that AI is affected by belief instructions, but the effects were weak or confounded by spatial stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) effects (i.e. compatibility effects based on spatial correspondence of the stimulus and response location). Experiment 9 was designed to differentiate imitative compatibility from SRC effects, thus providing a pure measure of imitative compatibility. Imitative compatibility was present for the object stimulus after the belief manipulation. This demonstrates that a human belief regarding stimulus agency of the object modulated imitative compatibility effects due to the top-down knowledge that the movement was human generated, and not due to increased attention and SRC effects. The presented work has provided multiple lines of evidence which demonstrate that so-called ‘automatic’ imitation effects are strongly susceptible to top-down influences, including attention and belief regarding stimulus agency. The current work could be used to evaluate top-down modulation of imitation in autistic populations, as it has been proposed that top-down modulation of the automatic imitation pathway may be atypical in autism.