The properties of the hyaluronan were investigated by using different fluorescence probes, because hyaluronan is a hopeful carrier of an active matter in medicine and cosmetics. Selected fluorescence probes were: cationic acridine orange, Nile Blue A, methylene blue, amphiphilic 4-Di-2-ASP and anionic fluorescein. Except from fluorescence and absorption spectra of the probes were observed electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions as well. The probes in solvents with different polarity (MeOH, EtOH, DMSO) showed the bathochromic shift in the emission maximum and quenching of the fluorescence with the increasing polarity of the solvents. The influence of the ionic strength on fluorescence properties of the probe acridine orange and 4-Di-2-ASP was investigated in aqueous solutions of chlorides. The formation of acridine orange dimer is inhibited with increasing ionic strength. CaCl2 increased the ionic strength the most, then prevented repulsion of carboxylate groups, so it means the expansion of hyaluronan cluster into the solution. However, the emission of the probe 4-Di-2-ASP was quenched with the addition of CaCl2 the most. The first additions of COO– groups cause the formation of dimers of AO shown as decreasing in extinction coefficient and fluorescence intensity. Next addition of the hyaluronan caused a depolymerization of formed dimers and the increase of the emission intensity. The repolymerization caused the decrease and then again the increase. In case of 4-Di-2-ASP was the pattern of the fluorescence (the intensity and the position of the emission) firstly the same, but at the concentration of 1 g dm-3 the emission intensity increased. The probes MB and F were used for spectroscopic studies of the interaction between methylene blue-fluorescein complex and anionic and cationic surfactants. The absorbance of separate MB and F changed only with the addition of surfactants with the opposite electric charge. Absorbance of the mixture MB-F changed with the addition of the CTAC surfactant, while the addition of SDS into the mixture caused only the change of MB absorption spectra.

This thesis deals with the packet classification problem in computer networks. It introduces packet classification along with the demands on classification algorithms. Different approaches to packet classification and several concrete examples of modern classification algorithms with their properties are described. The aim is on algorithms which can be implemented in hardware. Crossproduct-based algorithms are described in more detail whose biggest advantage is classification speed, but their disadvantage consists in great memory requirements. Several optimization methods based on state space search are presented. These optimization methods are based on reduction of original ruleset by selecting a small number of rules to associative memory. Lastly, utilization of associative memory as a flexible part of classification is illustrated together with the potential hardware implementation of such memory directly on a chip.

Le temps est une dimension essentielle de la vie. Il est nécessaire, entre autres, pour réaliser des mouvements coordonnés, pour communiquer, mais aussi dans la prise de décisions. L’objectif principal de cette thèse était de caractériser le rôle d’un réseau amygdalo-préfronto-dorsostriatal dans la mémorisation et l’encodage du temps chez le rat. Dans un premier temps, nous avons décrit le comportement temporel du rat lors d’une tâche de suppression conditionnée (i.e. la suppression d’une réponse instrumentale d’appui sur levier par la présentation d’un son associé à un stimulus aversif), démontrant ainsi un contrôle temporel fin du comportement dans une situation Pavlovienne aversive. Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons analysé les potentiels de champs locaux (analyse fréquentielle des activités oscillatoires) de notre réseau d’intérêt au début d’un apprentissage associatif et après surentraînement dans la tâche de suppression conditionnée. En effet, le comportement temporel moteur nécessite un grand nombre de séances d’apprentissage pour devenir optimal, alors que l’apprentissage temporel est, lui, très rapide. Cette étude nous a permis de caractériser des corrélats neuronaux temporels au sein de ce réseau, que ce soit au niveau des structures individuelles ou au niveau de l’interaction entre ces structures. De plus, ces corrélats neuronaux sont modifiés selon le niveau d’entraînement des animaux. Enfin, dans une troisième étude, nous avons démontré que des ratons juvéniles (pré-sevrage), qui présentent un cortex préfrontal ainsi qu’un striatum dorsal immatures, peuvent mémoriser et différencier des intervalles de temps, ouvrant donc la question sur le rôle de ce réseau dans l’apprentissage temporel au cours du développement. / Time is an essential dimension of life. It is necessary for coordinating movement, for communication, but also for decision-making. The principal goal of this work was to characterize the role of an amygdalo-prefronto-dorsostriatal network in the memorization and encoding of time in a rat model. Firstly, we described temporal behavior in a conditioned suppression task (i.e. the suppression of an instrumental lever-pressing response for food by the presentation of a cue associated with an aversive event), therefore showing a precise temporal control in Pavlovian aversive conditioning. Secondly, we measured local field potentials in our network of interest at the beginning of associative learning and after overtraining in the conditioned suppression task. In effect, motor temporal behavior requires a large number of training sessions to become optimum, but temporal learning happens very early in training. This study allowed us to characterize, using frequency analysis of oscillatory activities, neuronal correlates of time in this network both at the level of individual structures, but also in their interactions. Interestingly, these neural correlates were modified by the level of training. Finally, we demonstrated that juvenile rats (pre-weaning), with an immature prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum, can memorize and discriminate temporal intervals, raising questions on the role of this amygdalo-prefronto-dorsostriatal network in temporal learning during development.

Animal episodic-like memory tasks represent important component of episodic memory research. However, currently available episodic-like memory tasks are not based on episodic-like memory or encompass important caveats. In our laboratory, we recently devised a novel one-trial trace association task (OTTAT) to examine one-time associations of temporally discontinuous stimuli. This thesis deals with the improvement of OTTAT protocol by rat strain and compartment divider ('doors') selection which optimally promote the establishment of invariable behaviour of rats in OTTAT. Moreover, the accuracy of one-trial associations is also assessed by determining specificity of "rapid escape" response to conditioned stimulus of given sound characteristics. In Experiment 1, rats (Sprague-Dawley (SD), n = 36; Wistar (WI), n = 17; Long-Evans (LE), n = 8) were habituated 15 min daily for 3 days with standard doors (9 x 11 cm opening) to modified light and dark apparatus. The number of transfers between compartments and values of time spent in dark compartment obtained from 3rd habituation session were evaluated as indicators of invariable behaviour of rats. We found WI rats spend significantly more time in dark compartment than LE (p = 0.002) and SD rats (p = 0.001) and have significantly fewer transfers than LE rats...

Business intelligence project failures in organizations derive from various causes. Technological aspects regarding the use of business intelligence tools expose the problem of too complicated tool for operational users, lack of system scalability, dissatisfied software performance, and hard coded business requirements on the tools. This study was conducted in order to validate in-memory business intelligence advantages towards functionality, flexibility, performance, ease of use, and ease of development criteria. A case study research method had been applied to achieve the goals in this thesis. Primarily, a pilot study was carried out to collect the data both from literatures and interviews. Therefore, the design of test case had been developed. Types of testing can be divided into 2 categories: BI functionality test and performance test. The test results reveal that in-memory business intelligence enhances conventional business intelligence performance by improving the software’s loading time and response time. At the meantime, it was proved to be flexible than rule-based, query-based, and OLAP tools, whereas its functionality and ease of development were justified to be better than query-based system. Moreover, in-memory business intelligence provides a better ease of use over query-based and rule-based business intelligence tools. Pair wise comparisons and analyses between selected in-memory business intelligence tool, QlikView, and conventional business intelligence software, Cognos, SAS, and STB Reporter, from 3 banks were made in this study based on the aforementioned test results.

This thesis follows up the results of article A. Drápal a I. M. Wanless, On the number of quadratic orthomorphisms that produce maximally nonassociative quasigroups. This paper dealt with the density of maximally non-associative quasigroups of a certain cons- truction. However, certain cases had to be neglected in the calculations due to restrictive conditions. The examination of these cases is the subject of this work. It turned out that the asymptotic behavior in the general case as in the article differs from the beha- vior in cases examined in our work. In addition to the calculations themselves, the work contains a theoretical introduction with an explanation of the constructions used in the previous article, as well as our own theory necessary for our calculations. In addition, we experimentally verified our results. 1

The world in which we live is filled with sensory experiences. Language provides us with a manner in which to communicate these experiences with one another. In order to partake in this communication, it is necessary to acquire labels for things we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. Much is known about how we learn words for things we can see, but this bias in the literature leaves many open questions about words attributed to other modalities. This cumulative dissertation aims to close this gap by investigating how both 10- to-12-month old infants and adults map novel pseudowords onto environmental sounds in an auditory associative word learning task with the aim to explore how humans learn words for things that cannot be seen, such as thunder, siren, and, lullaby. Infants were found, via event-related potentials (ERPs), to be successful at auditory associative word learning, while adults are much stronger learners in multimodal audio-visual conditions. Across the lifespan, sensory modality was found to affect word learning differently in infants than in adults. Where infants benefitted from unimodal auditory word learning, adults were more successful in multimodal audiovisual paradigms. Furthermore, the modality of the object being labelled modulated the temporal onset and the topological distribution of the N400 ERP component of violated lexical-semantic expectation. Lastly, the temporal congruency of presented stimuli affected word learning in adults in an inverted manner to other forms of statistical learning. Word learning is sensitive to age, modality, and means of presentation, providing evidence for various intertwined learning mechanisms and bringing us a step closer towards understanding human linguistic cognition.

Un contexte concurrentiel exacerbé sur les marchés du sport, une baisse tendancielle des aides publiques et de ouvelles attentes des consommateurs obligent les fédérations sportives olympiques à faire évoluer leurs modèles économiques. Tiraillées entre la nécessité d’être performantes en résultats sportifs lors des grands rendez-vous planétaires couverts par les médias, notamment les Jeux Olympiques, et celle de la promotion du sport pour tous afin d’augmenter leur nombre de licenciés, les fédérations olympiques sont à la recherche de nouveaux leviers de développement et de compétitivité.L’ambition de cette thèse est d’analyser la façon dont elles sont en mesure d’adopter une démarche marketing au service de leurs stratégies de développement dans un environnement concurrentiel. Comment positionner la fédération ? Comment fidéliser les licenciés et en faire des fans ? Comment attirer des prospects et notamment de nouveaux spectateurs ? Comment valoriser l’image fédérale auprès des partenaires et des médias ?Sur la base d’une typologie des fédérations olympiques, nous avons analysé comment chaque type de fédération mobilise le modèle classique du marketing commercial de façon différenciée. Cela nous a amené à les évaluer face à la nécessité de se transformer en véritables marques pour être en mesure de construire une relation affective et émotionnelle avec les consommateurs (pratiquants licenciés, spectateurs, partenaires) qui dépasse le simple usage du produit. Mais, l’héritage d’une éthique associative et bénévole plus ou moins prégnantes chez les élus, peut apparaître comme un obstacle à une politique de marque fédérale.C’est pourquoi nous proposons des modèles de développement différenciés selon les types de fédérations, déclinant et adaptant les étapes classiques du plan marketing en fonction des spécificités de chacun. Coincées entre une éthique utilitariste (moteur de la réussite sur le marché) par nature commerciale et une éthique associative (qui fonde leur légitimité) centrée sur les différentes modalités de pratique, les fédérations n’ont pas d’autres choix que celui du compromis en s’engageant à la fois vers une logique managériale d’entreprise (en s’ouvrant à l’expertise marketing et à la rentabilité économique) et en préservant leur spécificité culturelle qui est leur socle de positionnement. L’apport de la thèse se trouve dans cette modélisation différenciée car toutes les fédérations n’ont pas les mêmes capacités de s’ouvrir à la concurrence commerciale.L’organisation des Jeux Olympiques à Paris en 2024 ouvre une période passionnante à la fois sur le plan sportif et économique dont un des enjeux sera sans doute aussi de mesurer son impact sur le modèle de développement des fédérations sportives olympiques françaises. / The tougher current competitive environment, the decreasing trend in public subsidies and the new consumer expectations of sports activities are forcing the business models of Olympic sports federations to evolve.Split apart between the need to deliver successful performances at world events, notably the Olympic games, in order to project an attractive image thanks to the media coverage and that of the of promoting the sport for everyone in order to increase membership, Olympic federations seek new competitive leavers.The ambition of this research has been to study the way in which they integrate competitive positioning marketing initiatives in their development strategy.How to increase members’ loyalty? How to attract more spectators and fans? How to assert the Federation brand worth for their partners and the media? We have analysed how Olympic federations, very different from each other, apply classic marketing models differently.This has lead us to deem the sports federations as brands in their own right, in relation to what they aim to build as an emotional relationship (members, spectators, partners) which goes beyond mere usage of the product.But, the ethics of what should be an Association and the mind set of being a benevolent institution, ingrained in the federations DNA to varying degrees but still very prevalent amongst their elected executive, is a hindrance to the building of a genuine Federation brand.This is why we have proposed, based on three different types of federations, different development models using classical marketing stages.Caught in-between a utilitarian ethic (and therefore of a commercial nature) and the ethics of an association (closer to the ethics of sport), the federations have no other alternative than to embrace a business attitude, opening their organisations to a marketing approach, economic viability and managerial efficiency whilst taking into account the different specific requirements of their sport on the marketing matrix.The planning of the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 welcomes a passionate period where one of the stakes will be to measure its impact over the development model of the federations.

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Part A The use of nonionic associative thickeners was proposed for personal care applications. Various limitations of current rheology modifiers used in personal care were discussed. Nonionic associative polymers were examined as both thickeners and emulsifiers. The structure/property relationship for nonionic polymers and their ability to thicken and emulsify were fully examined. Results showed an increase in thickening efficiency for nonionic associative polymers with higher log(P) (partition coefficient) values. This was due to the formation of smaller aggregates and increased bridging between aggregates. The connection between oil polarity, log(P) of the associative polymer, and emulsion stability showed no relationship however; as the log(P) value of the polymer decreased, emulsion stability increased. The effects of nonionic associative polymer molecular weight and thickening efficiency proved to be positive; as molecular weight increased, thickening efficiency increased. Specific interactions between nonionic associative thickeners and common ingredients in personal care products were also explored. The interaction between nonionic associative thickeners and surfactants proved to be dependent on surfactant type as well as hydrophobe shape and size on the associative thickener. There appeared to a clear effect of salt on the thickening and emulsifying capabilities of the nonionic associative polymers but the exact interaction was not yet determined. Part B Superoxide dismutation (SOD) chemistry pertaining to manganese enzymes was explored. A series of manganese SOD mimetic enzymes were synthesized and their SOD activity was examined. The McCord-Fridovich Assay showed mimetic enzymes containing secondary amine bonds and electron difficiency around bonding sites had higher SOD activity. Click chemistry was used for the synthesis of a 1,4-triazole containing tridentate ligand. The ideal reaction conditions chosen for the click reaction was a solvent blend of 1:1 dichloromethane and water with copper sulfate and sodium ascorbate as a catalyst. The tridentate ligand was grafted onto azido-functionalized polystyrene. Infrared spectroscopy was used to confirm the completion of the click reaction. The azide peak at 2100 cm-1 was removed after the click reaction was performed on the azido-functionalized polystyrene.