La recherche actuelle est entreprise dans l’optique de la révision complète du design chimique et des principes d’élaboration des photocatalyseurs composites supportés (PCCS) afin d’améliorer considérablement leurs capacités réactionnelles, la durabilité de leur action en temps et de résoudre le problème de pollution secondaire des milieux à traiter. Les travaux effectués ont permis la mise en œuvre d’un nouveau modèle de PCCS interactifs dont les composants photosensibles sont en fortes interactions chimiques avec leurs supports appartenant au groupe d’acides de Lewis. Cette particularité assure une grande sélectivité d’action des produits développés, leur fonctionnement durable en régime stationnaire, évite la pollution secondaire des effluents à traiter et garanti une performance photocatalytique comparable à celle du produit de référence Degussa P25.Les travaux réalisés ont permis d’acquérir de nouvelles connaissances scientifiques concernant le rôle de l’acidité de surface dans l’action photocatalytique et du taux de dissociation de l’eau adsorbée sur le produit actif. De plus, un ensemble de huit paramètres principaux assurant les meilleures conditions d’exploitation des PCCS a été établi.Les PCCS développés peuvent être appliqués, tout d’abord, dans le domaine de l’incinération photocatalytique des COV. Un prototype de filtre dynamique capable de traiter 50 m3/h de l’air avec une consommation d’énergie modérée, est conçu. Un nouveau type de matériaux composites à vocation germicide à base de polymères synthétiques fait également l’objet de la partie applicative de ces travaux de thèse. / The current research is undertaken in the context of the complete reconsideration of the supported composite photocatalysts (SCPC) chemical design and elaboration principles in order to improve their reaction capacities, to assure the sustainability of their action in time and to resolve the secondary pollution problem for the media to treat. This work enabled the implementation of a new model of interactive SCPC in which the photosensitive components occur in a strong chemical interaction with their supports belonging to the Lewis acid group. This feature provides the developed products with high selectivity, allows them to function in the stationary conditions, avoids the secondary pollution effect and guarantees the photocatalytic performance comparable with the one of the reference industrial photocatalyst Degussa P25. An important scientific knowledge on the role of the surface acidity in the photocatalytic action and on the dissociation state of the water adsorbed over the active product was acquired. Apart from this, a set of eight main parameters ensuring the best SCPC operation properties was established. The developed SCPC are forecasted to be firstly applied in the photocatalytic VOC oxidation processes. A prototype of such filter capable to treat 50 m3/h of air, having modest energy consumption, was designed. A new composite material with germicidal properties elaborated using synthetic polymer supports, also constitutes a subject of the applications part of this thesis.

The volitional theory of action has recently been assailed as an outmoded account of human action, while attempts have been made to preserve the theory on grounds which side-step the traditional difficulties. Both approaches to the theory have left it without a coherent expression. This thesis is an attempt to give a coherent theoretical foundation to the theory and to effect its critical evaluation. Preceding a discussion of the theory is a historical appreciation of its tradition, and this is used as a backdrop for viewing two aspects of the theory which serve today as its paradigms. The one is an analysis of human action in terms of a volition which is considered as something which an agent performs, and the other is an analysis of human action in terms of a volition connected causally to an item of behavior, The incompatibility of these aspects is indicated, and an attempt is made to locate them within a wider theoretical structure. This is done by distinguishing between atomic actions and instrumental actions and by attributing to the theory two definitions of an individual human action which preserve these paradigms and which account for both sorts of actions. The final segment of the thesis is concerned with a critical dismissal of the theory. The stock arguments against the theory are first defeated, end it is then argued that one aspect of the theory fails to account for forbearances and that the other aspect does not provide an adequate account of atomic actions. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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Yes / The central aim of this chapter is to describe the policy and practice of affirmative action measures. It synthesizes findings from published studies and highlights the rationale, drivers, benefits, beneficiaries, effectiveness, and impacts of affirmative action policies and practices in different countries. The chapter will discuss the possible lessons from these studies and highlight the link between affirmative action policies and practices and contributions to achieving target 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Why, despite the territorial fragmentation and unresolved conflicts in both countries, does NATO maintain a public commitment to a 2008 decision promising the future membership of Ukraine and Georgia? It can be argued that the "Bucharest decision" has prompted the very attack that NATO membership was meant to prevent. Russia has invaded both states to, among other things, prevent their likely incorporation in NATO. What causes publicly articulated military alliance policy aspirations to endure when they induce such geopolitical conflict, and geopolitical transformation, that it undermines their purpose? This dissertation takes these puzzles as its object of inquiry. The focus of the study is Ukraine and Georgia's partial integration into NATO from 2007 to 2020. This research uses the concepts of robust action and rhetorical action to examine the two countries' growing partnerships with the alliance during this period. It defines robust action as a series of ambiguous moves to achieve tactical goals while maintaining long term flexibility. Rhetorical action is defined as the strategic use of arguments to serve an agent's interests. By using a narrative analysis method, the study draws from a body of NATO official texts and speeches and a set of original interviews to illustrate the public and private narratives used by political and military officials to help them make sense of NATO's engagement with Ukraine and Georgia. Existing literature on NATO expansion has not addressed how the alliance has adapted the process of integrating aspirant countries short of membership. Moreover, the literature on robust action has not focused on how international security organizations like NATO can use ambiguous actions to tackle complex challenges and maintain flexibility. The study argues that NATO's engagement with Ukraine and Georgia since Bucharest constitutes a robust action strategy. Through a combination of rhetorical and material support, NATO has simultaneously been able to maintain the appearance of a commitment to the two countries, show Western resolve and solidarity in opposing Russia and sustaining the United States' preferred vision of Europe's security order, all while denying Ukraine and Georgia "full membership" in the alliance. Ukraine, Georgia, and their allies in NATO have used rhetorical action, arguments based on the self-defined liberal values and norms of the Euro-Atlantic community that NATO represents on the one hand, and the historical precedent of an open door policy toward membership, on the other, to rhetorically entrap NATO into staying committed. The study shows how multilateral commitments are more layered than the traditional membership/no membership choice and how NATO has been able to successfully maintain such a commitment through both rhetoric and action while avoiding a direct war with Russia. It concludes however that NATO's commitment is untenable for a military alliance based on defense and deterrence. This has implications for the future of NATO expansion and the overall trajectory of the alliance. / Doctor of Philosophy / The possibility of further expanding NATO to Ukraine and Georgia has been among the alliance's greatest challenges since the 2008 Bucharest summit decision, which promised the future membership of the two countries. Many accounts tend to focus on the original motivation behind the decision rather than NATO's practice of maintaining a commitment to such a decision in the light of the unresolved conflicts and territorial fragmentation of both states. This study, by contrast, examines the rhetoric and action in the making of the two countries' deepening partnerships with NATO since Bucharest. This research examines how through a set of ambiguous rhetoric and action NATO has been able to maintain the appearance of a commitment to Ukraine and Georgia, project Western resolve against Russian opposition, and sustain the United States' preferred vision of the European security order, all while denying the two countries membership in the alliance. Moreover, the advocates for Ukraine and Georgia use arguments based on NATO's identity, values, and the precedent of prior expansions to convince the alliance into staying committed to their eventual membership. The study shows how NATO has devised a formula for integrating aspirant members, short of "full membership." It is useful because it shows how, in practice, multilateral commitments are more layered than they are traditionally understood. While NATO has been able to successfully maintain this commitment through both rhetoric and action, such a commitment clashes with important qualities of adaptability and flexibility to changing strategic realities, crucial to the endurance of a military alliance over the long term.

This thesis examines the relationship between physical capabilities and the mental simulation of actions. Behavioural research suggests that the ability to understand of an action is directly related to the ability to perform it, an idea consistent with the Embodied theory of Cognition. The present work aims to further explore the relationship between the body and cognition and investigate whether the restriction of an action or movement disrupts the simulation of movements during motor imagery tasks, which have been shown to elicit motor activations upon performance. This theory was investigated in a series of seven motor simulation experiments during which participants’ movements were restrained. Studies 1-3 investigated simulations that occur unconsciously through the observation of manipulatable objects. Studies 4-6 investigated simulations that occur during performance of mental transformations of manipulatable objects and body part stimuli. The results of these studies found no significant difference in performance when movement was restricted compared to when free to move. Study 7 investigated simulations that occur consciously through the observation of actions performed by another individual and found a significant effect of restriction on performance. The findings of these studies indicate that the ability to perform a movement is required for the accurate simulation of actions when an action is being observed but not when a simulated action is required on a stationary object, which suggests a variable relationship between the body and cognitive processes. This thesis offers an interesting contribution to the Embodied Cognition debate and provides a further insight into the relationship between the motor and visual systems.

I consider two versions of an argument against (so-called) negative action, both of which take it that causation is a defining feature of actions. The first asserts that when an agent refrains, her mental states do not cause the absence of an event; as such, the refraining does not qualify as an action. The second asserts that when an agent refrains, she does not cause the apparent results of her refraining, and so again, the refraining does not qualify as an action. The idea motivating the second argument appears to improve on the first, insofar as it allows for the agent to play a role in her actions. I argue that both accounts rely on a narrow conception of causation, framed in terms of a physical connection between cause and effect. This narrow conception does not appear to be justified, and the focus on physical connection causation leads both accounts to misconceive agency. Fortunately, there is available a broader conception of causation, which is both intuitively plausible and better able to capture the phenomenon. / text

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This dissertation examines mobilization and collective action by the homeless in eight U.S. cities. Much of the focus of social movement research emphasizes either broad macro-level social processes or micro-level individual characteristics to understand movement dynamics. This research focuses on the organizational context and dynamics of homeless mobilization. I argue that the organizational level not only mediates dynamics at the macro and micro level, but that organizational processes themselves shape the possibility and course of mobilization and collective action. I identify the environmental factors that constrain the possibilities of organizational action by the homeless and the organizational characteristics of homeless social movement organizations (SMOs) that are associated with the ability to successfully negotiate these environments. The core of the dissertation is organized around four related issues: the organizational environment, resources, form, and action and outcomes. I map the organizational field of homeless mobilization and illustrate how the presence or absence of various organizational orientations within the field influences the potential for resource acquisition, the type of form adopted, and the types of collective action tactics and outcomes available to the homeless. Next, I examine the resource relationships of homeless SMOs, the types of resources they mobilize, and the influence of particular types of resources on SMO viability. Following this, I explore the role of organizational form on homeless mobilization and collective action and the various pathways by which the homeless SMOs came to adopt or not adopt nonprofit form. Finally, I examine the determinants of collective action tactics utilized by homeless SMOs and their efficacy in procuring various outcomes. By emphasizing the organizational level, this dissertation operates at the intersection of the organizational and social movements literatures. Thus, the research offers theoretical insights for both while addressing a neglected level of analysis in the study of social movements.