In this thesis, a thorough study of the batch top-spray fluidized bed granulation was carried out including experimental study, population balance model (PBM), computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study and control strategy development. For the experimental study, the influence variables of pulsed frequency, binder spray rate and atomization pressure of a batch top-spray fluidized bed granulation process were studied using the Box-Behnken experimental design method. Different mathematical models were developed to predict the mean size of granules, yield, relative width of granule distribution, Hausner ratio and final granule moisture content. Validation experiments have shown the reliability and effectiveness of using the Box-Behnken experimental design method to study a fluidized bed granulation process. The one-dimensional population balance models (ODPBMs) have been developed to model a pulsed top-spray fluidized bed granulation, linking the operating factors of the pulsed frequency, the binder spray rate, and atomization air pressure with the granule properties to predict granule growth behavior at different operating conditions. A multi-stage open optimal control strategy based on the developed ODPBMs was proposed to reduce the model and process mismatch through adjusting the trajectory of the evolution of the granule size distribution at predefined sample intervals. The effectiveness of the proposed modeling and multi-stage open optimal control strategy has been validated by experimental and simulation tests. In addition, an Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model (EETFM) was developed to describe the gas-particle two-phase flow in the fluidized bed granulator. By computational fluid dynamic analysis, it has been proven that the fluidized bed granulation system is not homogeneous, based on which a two-compartmental population balance model (TCPBM) was developed to describe the particle growth in the fluidized bed granulation. Validation experiments have shown the effectiveness and superior accuracy of the TCPBM comparing with the ODPBM in predicting the final particle size distribution.

In this thesis we discuss the issue of searching the best k objects from the multi-users point of view. Every user has his own preferences, which are represented by fuzzy functions and aggregation function. This thesis designs and implements several solutions of searching the best k objects when attributes data are stored on remote servers. It was necessary to modificate existing algorithms for this type of obtaining data. This thesis uses several variants of Fagin algorithm, indexing methods using B+ trees and communication via web services.

In this thesis we discuss the issue of searching the best k objects from the multi-users point of view. Every user has his own preferences, which are represented by fuzzy functions and aggregation function. This thesis designs and implements several solutions of searching the best k objects when attributes data are stored on remote servers. It was necessary to modificate existing algorithms for this type of obtaining data. This thesis uses several variants of Fagin algorithm, indexing methods using B+ trees and communication via web services.

This thesis documents, using an unbalanced panel of Top 1000 World banks with observations for 2005 - 2009, three main aspects related to cost and profit efficiency in banking. First, it established that there is no correlation between a bank's rank in the Top and its rank given by the efficiency scores. However, the size of the banks plays a positive role on the cost efficiency of the institution, big banks having higher cost efficiencies than small banks. Conversely, the profit efficiency is equal across different sizes. Second, it verified that for 2005 - 2009 there is no evidence that banks from the developed countries are more efficient than banks from emerging economies. This finding is further supported by the third aspect, which shows that banks originating in the developed economies, with large exposures to more sophisticated banking products, have been hit the hardest by the financial crisis. However the banks managed to shrink their cost inefficiency while losing efficiency on the revenue side. The post crisis, 2009, proved to be a year in which banks across countries and regions converged in terms of efficiency and plateaued at about 10% and 25% for cost and profit inefficiency respectively.

The aim of this thesis Analysis of Czech television automotive magazines is to describe characteristic elements of television format entitled motoring (or automotive) magazine. This thesis defines the basic terms typical for the issue, describes the history of motoring magazines in the Czech television environment and through the use of content analysis determines content of today's motoring magazines broadcasted in the Czech television environment. Results of the content analysis are afterwards explained by analysis of historical documents and by an interview with one of the authors of television motoring magazine. The content of the magazines (Auto Moto Revue, Autosalon and Garáž) is also aligned with the British motoring show Top Gear and with the original form of Auto Moto Revue, which ranks among the oldest television motoring magazines in the world.

La thèse cherche à comprendre la marge de manœuvre des dirigeants mandataires sociaux pour l’engagement stratégique socialement responsable des entreprises françaises cotées. Notre cadre théorique se définit autour des approches financières et stratégiques de la latitude managériale des dirigeants dans une vision synthétique des théories contractuelles et cognitives de la gouvernance.Nous adoptons une démarche d’exploration hybride alternant logique abductive et déductive. Un design multi-méthodes est mobilisé : entretiens, tests statistiques et étude de cas unique. Nos résultats montrent la prudence des dirigeants d’entreprises françaises cotées concernant leur engagement dans la RSE (Responsabilité Sociale de l’Entreprise) à titre individuel. Ils ne s’engageraient que dans le cas de pratiques proactives de leurs entreprises ou dans le cas de l’atteinte d’une performance financière conséquente. Une importante logique de légitimation de ces acteurs est révélée.Concernant l’influence des dirigeants sur l’engagement dans RSE de leurs entreprises, leur ancienneté en poste y serait positivement associée. Le renforcement de la capacité des dirigeants à percevoir et à répondre à la demande sociale tout au long de leur mandat peut expliquer ce résultat. Les dirigeants rechercheraient aussi leur enracinement à travers la RSE. Celui-ci pourrait être favorable à la performance de long terme des entreprises notamment celles témoignant de systèmes de gouvernance très financiarisés. Pour éviter des dérives personnelles dommageables, nos résultats montrent que l’autonomie acquise par les dirigeants par leur ancienneté se devrait d’être contrebalancée par des mécanismes de contrôle.Nos résultats insistent sur le rôle actif et positif potentiellement endossable par les dirigeants pour le repérage et l’intégration stratégique d’opportunités liées à la RSE dans le cadre d’une création de valeur partenariale / The research aims to understand top managers’ discretion for the strategic commitment of French listed companies to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Our theoretical framework is based on the financial and strategic views of managerial discretion. Our approach simultaneously considers the contractual and cognitive approaches of corporate governance.We conducted an exploratory study based on both abductive and deductive reasoning. A multi-method design is developed and includes interviews, statistical tests and a case study.Our results show the top managers’ caution to be personally committed to CSR. Looking for legitimization, they would only be socially committed when their companies had demonstrated a strong positioning in this field or when they have reached a sufficient financial performance. Top management team’s tenure also appears positively linked to the company’s CSR strategic commitment at an organizational level. Indeed, top managers’ tenure contributes to develop their capabilities to perceive and to answer stakeholders’ expectations. Top managers may also have the possibility, year after year, to seek for their entrenchment through CSR. This managerial entrenchment could be positive for the long term performance of companies characterized by a strongly short-term oriented governance system. To avoid top managers’ personal abuses of their autonomy, control mechanisms may also have to be implemented in the same time.Our results underline the critical but fundamental role of top managers to identify and integrate CSR strategic opportunities for creating shared value

Objectifs et hypothèses :Cette thèse a pour objectif d'explorer les causes de la non observance en contraception orale qui se traduit par un nombre important d'IVG chez des femmes pourtant sous contraception. Nous avons formulé 3 hypothèses : il existe des différences significatives entre les femmes présentant des difficultés d'adhésion thérapeutique et celles qui n'en présentent pas. La 2ème hypothèse a trait à l'existence de relations significatives entre les causes de non observance et la motivation générale. La 3ème hypothèse énonce l'existence de différences significatives entre les moyennes des deux groupes concernant les causes de non observance, la motivation générale et ses différentes dimensions. Population : Elle est composée de 50 femmes âgées de 20 à 55 ans utilisatrices de la contraception orale, (soit deux groupes : 25 femmes présentant des difficultés d'observance et 25 femmes ne présentant pas des difficultés d'observance). Instruments : Deux questionnaires ont été mis au point et utilisés : 1) Un questionnaire sur l'observance en contraception orale et une échelle d'évaluation des causes de non observance en contraception orale. 2) Une échelle de Motivation Globale EMG-28 destinée à l’évaluation du degré de motivation à l'observance de la contraception orale en examinant les degrés d'auto-détermination de la motivation dans la vie en général. Résultats : Les résultats indiquent l'existence de causes de non observance liées à l'utilisatrice (oublis, fausses croyances, peur des effets indésirables, manque d'information), à la contraception orale (routine, lassitude, contrainte de la prise journalière) et à la relation entre le prescripteur et l'utilisatrice (qualité de l'information donnée, relation thérapeutique, écoute, logique de prescription). Conclusion : Le processus d'utilisation de la contraception orale se révèle très complexe. Une prise en charge motivationnelle s'avère nécessaire chez les femmes en situation d'échec de contraception, comme nous le montrons avec les deux cas cliniques présentés. / Objectives and assumptions : This thesis aims explore the causes of non adherence in oral contraception which lead to TOP among women however under contraception. We formulated 3 assumptions: there are significant differences between the women presenting adherence problems and those without problems. The 2nd assumption supposes the existence of significant relations between the causes of non adherence and the general motivation. The 3rd assumption states the existence of significant differences between the averages of the two groups concerning the causes in non adherence, the general motivation and its various components. Population : A survey was carried out based on a sample of 50 women users of oral contraception in Amiens, including a group of 25 women which exhibit adherence problems. Tools : Two questionnaires were developed within the framework of this thesis, 1) A questionnaire on adherence in oral contraception and a scale for the evaluation of the causes of non adherence in oral contraception. 2) A Scale of Global Motivation EMG28 intended to evaluate the degree of motivation for adherence to oral contraception by examining the self-determination degree of motivation in life in general. Results : Collected data confirm the assumptions posed. It reveals existence of causes of non observance related on the user (missing pills, beliefs, fear of undesirable effects, information lack, on the oral contraception (routine, lassitude, constraints …) and the relation between the prescriber and the user (therapeutic relation, quality of information given, model of prescription). Conclusion : The process of use of oral contraception appears very complex. A motivational therapy is necessary among women in situation of failure of contraception, as we show it with clinical cases presented.

[pt] Este trabalho surge no contexto das pesquisas desenvolvidas no Grupo de Pesquisas em Sociologia da Educação – SOCED, especialmente do conjunto de informações reunidas sobre escolas públicas e privadas reconhecidas pela qualidade do ensino, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. O principal aporte teórico e metodológico desta pesquisa foi baseado na obra de Pierre Bourdieu, especialmente voltada para os conceitos de habitus e homologia, e seus desdobramentos nas investigações sobre qualidade do ensino, sucesso e fracasso escolar, que encontram suporte nos conceitos de capital cultural, linguístico e simbólico, definidos pelo autor. Nesta perspectiva, importou-nos caracterizar e entender os processos de constituição dos habitus escolares, focalizando as práticas pedagógicas e familiares que sustentam parte do prestígio destas escolas. Propusemo-nos a investigar comose constroem as disposições, habilidades e valores, que estruturam o habitus escolar, sob a orientação de questões, tais como: Quais são as características das práticas educativas de sucesso nas escolas de prestígio e nas famílias? O que sabemos sobre as relações dos alunos com a escola ou sobre o seu cotidiano com os estudos? A investigação nos setores público e privado oportunizou diferenciar a realidade destas escolas, ultrapassando algumas percepções sustentadas pelo senso comum a respeito dos processos pedagógicos experimentados nestes contextos, bem como sobre as famílias atendidas nestas instituições. O levantamento estatístico e a análise do survey aplicado em 2009 a pais, alunos e professores nos ofereceram pistas instigantes para a sequência da investigação nas escolas nos anos seguintes (2010-2011), que aconteceu através de entrevistas com pais, alunos, diretores e coordenadores pedagógicos e a partir da observação dos espaços e eventos escolares. Por meio da investigação em uma perspectiva macro micro, foi possível realizar uma tipificação dos habitus escolares, caracterizando diferentes conjuntos de disposições acadêmicas e habilidades estudantis, desenvolvidas em diferentes instâncias de socialização, subsumidas nos contextos familiares e escolares, que sustentam a qualidade de ensino reconhecida destas escolas. / [en] This work appears in the context of the research developed in Group Research in Sociology of Education - SOCED, especially the set of information gathered about public and private schools recognized by the quality of education in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The main theoretical and methodological framework was based on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, especially focused on the concepts of habitus and homology, and its developments in research on teaching quality, school success and failure, supported in the concepts of cultural capital, linguistic capital and symbolic capital, defined by the author. In this perspective, it mattered characterize and understand the formation of habitus involved in academic skills, focusing on pedagogical practices that sustain family and part of prestigious of these schools. We set out to investigate how is constructing the rules, skills and values that structure these habitus, under the guidance of questions such as: What are the characteristics of successful educational practices in prestigious schools and families? What we know about the relationships of students with school or about their daily lives with the studies? The investigation in the public and private sectors make possible to differentiate the reality of these schools, overcoming perceptions held by some common sense about the pedagogical processes experienced in these settings, as well as the families involved. The statistical analysis of the survey applied in 2009 to parents students and teachers offered us instigating clues to the continue of research in schools in the following years (2010-2011), which happened through interviews with parents, students, principals and coordinators and the observation of the spaces and school events. The micro macro research perspective it made possible to typify habitus, featuring different sets of rules and academic skills developed in different instances of socialization, subsumed in the family and school contexts, which sustain the quality of these recognized schools.

This thesis describes searches for new heavy resonances that decay into dielectron final state and searches for new physics in the top quark sector. The standard model of elementary particle is introduced in the first chapter. After that, a selection of theories beyond the standard model that predict the existence of new massive resonances are described together with an introduction to the effective field theory that is used to search for new physics in top quark sector. Then, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector are introduced, and the techniques used in order to reconstruct the particles produced in the collisions are discussed afterwards. Finally, two separate analyses are presented.The first analysis is searching for new heavy resonances using dielectron final state. As some beyond Standard Model theories predict the existence of new heavy resonances that can decay into dielectron pair, such as the grand unified theories and theories that introduce extra space-like dimensions. An observation of a local “bump” in the dielectron invariant mass spectrum will be an evidence for the existence of a new heavy resonance. The data used is from CMS experiment collected in 2016 with 35.9 fb-1 and in 2017 with 41.4 fb-1. The event selection is optimized in order to be highly efficiency for high energy electron and avoid loosing potential signal events. The leading background is the Drell-Yan process and it is estimated from simulation. The sub-leading background is from ttbar and ttbar-like processes and it is estimated from simulation also. A data-driven method is used to validate the simulation of sub-leading background. The last background from quantum chromodynamics processes is determined by data-driven approach. After having inspected the final dielectron invariant mass spectrum, no significant excess over the standard model background is observed, and upper limit at 95% confidence level is set on the ratio of production cross-section times branching ratio of a new resonance to the one at the Z boson peak.The second analysis is the search for new physics in the top quark sector with dielectron and dimuon final states using data collected by the CMS experiment in 2016 with 35.9 fb-1. Because of its high mass and close to electroweak symmetry breaking scale, the top quark is expected to play an important role in several new physics scenarios. The new physics in top quark pair production and in single top quark production in association with a W boson are investigated and a dedicated multivariate analysis is used to separate these two processes. No significant deviation from the standard model expectation is observed. Results are interpreted in the framework of an effective field theory and constraints on the relevant effective couplings are set at 95% confidence level. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Para reduzir as perdas humanas e materiais durante as inundações, é possível realizar estudo conciso da previsão de chuva, etapa principal de um sistema de alerta antecipado de inundação. O uso de informações de radar de tempo, quando acopladas a modelos de previsão de precipitação baseados fisicamente, pode contribuir para o monitoramento e previsão de episódios de chuva intensa. Desta forma, a previsão de chuva, baseada no uso de informações de radar, juntamente com um modelo conceitual de previsão hidrometeorológica, foi descrita neste trabalho. Teve-se por objetivo aperfeiçoar as previsões de chuva de curtíssimo prazo (poucos minutos), que acopladas a um modelo chuva-vazão, podem ser usadas em sistemas de alerta antecipado. O modelo hidrometeorológico adotado, que considera uma nuvem hipotética unidimensional vertical, foi inicialmente desenvolvido por Georgakakos e Bras (1984a) e ampliado, neste trabalho. Para tal, adotou-se o uso das informações de Topo dos Ecos para determinação da altura das nuvens e considerou-se que a componente do modelo relativa à massa de água líquida no interior da nuvem corresponde à estimativa do conteúdo de água líquida integrado verticalmente (VIL) efetuada por radar. Para eventos de natureza frontal quente e convectiva, o modelo geralmente antecipou o início do processo de chuva, embora tenha conseguido simular seu comportamento e o instante em que o pico da precipitação ocorreu. Para os eventos frontais frios, o pico simulado registrou atraso. Para episódios de simulação com VIL maior que 3 Kg/\'M POT.2\', a chuva simulada acompanhou o comportamento temporal do VIL, mas com influências das variáveis meteorológicas pressão, temperatura e umidade relativa. As lâminas simuladas tornaram-se entrada para o modelo chuva-vazão do SCS, parcialmente calibrado com algoritmo genético. Para a escala de uma pequena bacia hidrográfica urbana brasileira, com estação fluviométrica experimental, preliminarmente, alguns resultados indicam vazões um pouco inferiores e com atrasos na previsão da vazão máxima. A antecedência proporcionada pelo modelo é de 15 minutos e, apesar da simplicidade, conseguiu-se prever o início do processo de precipitação que gerou inundação do córrego urbano. / To reduce human and material losses during floods it is feasible to concisely study the rainfall forecast as the main part of an early warning system. The use of weather radar information, when linked to physically-based forecast models, can contribute for monitoring and forecasting of intense rainfall episodes. Thus, the rainfall forecast, based on using of radar information along with a conceptual model of hydrometeorological forecast, was outlined in this dissertation. One goal of the study was to improve very short term rainfall forecasts, named as a \'nowcasting\' process throughout few minutes, coupled with a rainfall-runoff generation model to be used in early warning system. The hydrometeorological model, a hypothetical vertical 1-D cloud, was initially developed by Georgakakos and Bras (1984a) and further developed in this study to profit signals from radar tracking control volumes of moisture storage. Either \'Echo Top\' radar information was addressed to determinate the cloud height, and the vertically-integrated liquid (\'VIL\') water mass content inside the cloud, estimated by other radar signal, was considered into the model. On the one hand, during rainfall events of hot and convective front genesis monitored with on-field pluviometers, the model results generally anticipated the beginning of the rain process; however the model was capable of not only simulating well the behavior but also the time-step when rainfall monitored peak occurred. On the other hand, and for cold-front events, the simulating peaks depicted a time delay. For simulation episodes with VIL greater than 3 Kg/\'M POT.2\', the simulated rainfall accompanied the time behavior of VIL, but with influences from weather variables of pressure, temperature and relative humidity. These rainfall depths became inputs of a simple SCS rainfall-runoff model, partially calibrated with genetic algorithms. At the scale of a small brazilian urban river basin with experimental gauging station, some preliminary results modeled streamflows a bit lower than, and with some delay of maximum flow forecasts, observed discharges. The advanced lad time period used by model was of about 15 min and, besides its simplicity, it was quite able to anticipate the beggining of the rainfall process that generated the flood formation at the urban creek.