Microorganisms live in complex communities and interact either through secreting soluble molecules or by delivering effectors in a contact dependent manner. Microbial interactions range from cooperative to competitive. Contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI), discovered in Escherichia coli EC93, is becoming increasingly studied, as this mode of interaction seems to be widespread among proteobacteria. CDI is mediated by cdiBAI genes which encode for a two-partner secretion system; i.e. CdiB is an outer membrane protein that transports CdiA to the surface of the cell. CdiA can interact with a specific receptor on a target cell and deliver a toxin localized in its C-terminal domain to the target cell. CdiI is a small immunity protein that neutralizes the toxic effect of CdiA toxin. Recently, evidence from our research group has shown that E. coli EC93 harbours two cdi loci. The first cdi locus has been extensively studied but the role of second locus remained unknown. In this study we wanted to elucidate the activity and the role of second E. coli EC93 cdi locus in intra-strain bacterial interactions. Bacterial competitions of E. coli EC93 wild type versus E. coli EC93 targets that had deletions for one or both cdi loci showed that the second locus is indeed active in inhibiting the targets, albeit to a lesser extent than the first. The toxic activity of the second cdi-locus was neutralized specifically by the second immunity protein. The expression of both these systems is higher under carbon starvation conditions than in nutrient rich conditions. Unfortunately, we could not elucidate the mechanism of toxicity for the second cdi locus toxin. Taken together, our results show that E. coli EC93 actively uses both of its cdi loci during bacterial interactions and that these systems are more active during stressful conditions.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:56:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6597.pdf: 4764954 bytes, checksum: 5414abc6292e5e2fc5ec8124840f6a6b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-20 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / In this work, different commercial carbon materials that could be used as electrodes for capacitive deionization were investigated: carbon cloth, carbon foam, carbon felt, carbon fiber, carbon veil and activated carbon powder (AC). The materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface resistivity, wettability and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The performance in terms of electrosorption of NaCl was evaluated for different cell potentials. The AC electrode showed the best capacity of removing ions, and presented good values of charge efficiency (QE) and specific energy consumption (η) and, thusly, it was chosen to be modified using different techniques in an attempt to improve its characteristics aiming better results of electrosorption. Part of the strategies was the addition of carbon black and sodium chloride in order to improve the electrode conductivity and its macroporosity, respectively. A factorial experimental design was used to evaluate the effect of the AC mass, NA, mass of sodium chloride used in the electrode preparation and also the cell potential, on the capacity of removing ions (R), QE and η. The variables that showed the greatest effect on the CDI process was the cell potential and the AC mass (that create different thickness for the electrode). In spite of increasing the electrode conductivity, the NA did not show any improvement on the electrosorption of the electrode. Afterwards, an individual analysis showed that the use of sodium chloride to increase electrode macroporisity improved the capacity of the electrode to remove ions but just for the thickest electrode. However, it was verified that the increase of the thickness did not implied in a linear increase of the ion removal capacity. This behavior may be attributed to the non-uniform distribution of the electric field on the porous film. Thusly, even the thicker electrode showing a better capacity of removing ions, a great part of its mass was not being used for electrosorption. Additionally, the increase of the thickness led to a decrease on desorption. Those results indicate that the electrode thickness must be optimized. Another strategy to improve the electrode wettability and capacitance was the deposition of silica and alumina. It was observed an improvement on the wettability of the electrode, however those electrodes voltammograms showed an increase on the resistivity and as result, besides not presenting any improvement on the capacity of electrosorption, there was still a reduction of the ion removal kinect. Finally, the last strategy used to improve the AC electrode was the addition of the conducting polymer polypyrrole aiming to improve the electrode capacity of removing ions through the pseudo capacitance effect. The addition of polypyrrole increased the total of ions removed from solution, however, in all the cases, the values of QE and η were worse than those observed for the AC electrode. Due to the polypyrrole characteristics, the drying temperature used to prepare the electrode was reduced from 130°C to 80°C and when this temperature was reduced, it was verified that this variable had a strong effect on improving the capacity of removing ions and the energy efficiency of the AC electrode. / Neste trabalho foi realizado o estudo de diferentes materiais de carbono disponíveis comercialmente e que poderiam ser utilizados como eletrodos para deionização capacitiva. Dentre eles estão o tecido de carvão ativado, espuma de carbono, feltro de carbono, fibra de carbono, véu de carbono e pó de carvão ativado (CA). Esses materiais foram caracterizados por microscopia eletrônica de varredura, resistividade superficial, molhabilidade e voltametria cíclica. O desempenho dos diferentes eletrodos em termos da eletrossorção de cloreto de sódio foi avaliado para diferentes potenciais de célula. O material que apresentou melhor capacidade de remoção de íons e ao mesmo tempo apresentando bons valores de eficiência de carga (QE) e consumo energético específico (η) foi o eletrodo preparado usando pó carvão ativado. Desta forma, este material foi selecionado para estudos posteriores em que diferentes estratégias de modificação deste eletrodo foram avaliadas para tentar otimizar suas características visando melhores resultados de eletrossorção. Dentre essas estratégias, adicionou-se negro de acetileno e cloreto de sódio na preparação do eletrodo visando melhorar sua condutividade e aumentar sua macroporosidade, respectivamente. Um planejamento fatorial de experimentos foi utilizado a fim de verificar o efeito da massa de CA, negro de acetileno e cloreto de sódio usadas na preparação do eletrodo e também do potencial de célula sobre as variáveis dependentes remoção total de íons (R), QE e η. Observou-se nesta etapa que as variáveis que tiveram o maior efeito no processo de deionização capacitiva foram o potencial de célula e a massa do eletrodo (que por sua vez determina a sua espessura). Constatou-se que a adição de negro de acetileno ao eletrodo, apesar de aumentar a condutividade (como já era esperado), causava uma diminuição da área superficial específica através do entupimento de poros e como consequência, não verificou-se melhoria da eletrossorção, algo que seria esperado pela melhoria da condutividade do eletrodo. Posteriormente, foi realizada uma análise individual do efeito da macroporosidade e da espessura de eletrodo. Os resultados mostraram que o aumento da macroporosidade decorrente do uso de NaCl durante a preparação do eletrodo levou a um aumento da capacidade de eletrossorção somente para o eletrodo mais espesso, porém, na análise da influência do aumento da espessura do eletrodo, verificou-se que não houve um aumento linear na quantidade de íons removidos da solução em função do aumento da espessura, o que pode ser atribuído à nãouniformidade do campo elétrico no filme poroso. Desta forma, apesar do filme mais espesso ter capacidade de remover mais íons, uma grande parte da massa de CA utilizada estava inativa. Adicionalmente, o aumento da espessura levou a uma diminuição da cinética de dessorção. Estes resultados indicam que a espessura do eletrodo deve ser otimizada. Uma outra estratégia analisada para tentar melhorar a molhabilidade e a capacidade de eletrossorção do eletrodo de CA foi a deposição de sílica e alumina. Observouse que houve realmente uma melhoria da molhabilidade, mas por outro lado, os voltamogramas destes eletrodos mostraram um aumento de sua resistividade e como consequência, além de não se verificar uma melhoria na capacidade de eletrossorção, houve ainda uma piora da cinética do processo. Finalmente, a última estratégia utilizada para melhorar o eletrodo de CA foi a adição do polímero condutor polipirrol visando melhorar sua capacidade de remoção de íons através da introdução de pseudocapacitância. A adição de polipirrol causou um leve aumento no total de íons removidos da solução, porém, em todos os casos, os valores de QE e η foram piores do aqueles observados para o eletrodo de CA. Devido às característicos do polipirrol, a temperatura de secagem do eletrodo teve que ser reduzida de 130°C para 80°C e quando se reduziu esta temperatura verificou-se que esta variável desempenhava um papel importante na melhoria da capacidade de remoção de íons e da eficiência energética do eletrodo de CA.

This study investigated the vocabulary abilities of bilingual Portuguese-English-speaking children compared to their monolingual peers. Parental Report Surveys were conducted using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs), which are standardized norms for vocabulary assessment. Electronic versions of the “Words and Sentences CDI” in English and Brazilian-Portuguese were used in order to assess the vocabulary of children between the ages of 16 and 36 months. Parents answered the surveys online. Different vocabulary score types were used in order to evaluate the children’s lexicons: The Total Vocabulary score, the Conceptual Vocabulary scores, and the Total Modified Vocabulary. The analyses of the results showed that bilinguals had fewer words than the monolinguals in each language separately, but no significant differences between bilinguals and monolinguals when the two languages of the bilinguals were compared together to the monolinguals'. An analysis of cognates and translation equivalents showed that cognates help with the acquisition of words.

Introduction: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a common hospital-acquired infection and a financial burden on the healthcare system. There is a need to reduce its impact on patients and the entire health system. More accurate estimates of the financial impact of CDI will assist hospitals in creating better CDI reduction strategies with limited resources. Previous research has not sufficiently accounted for the skewed nature of hospital cost data, baseline patient mortality risk, and the time-varying nature of CDI. Objective: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to estimate the cost impact of hospital-acquired CDI from the hospital perspective, using a number of analytical approaches. Method: We used clinical and administrative data for inpatients treated at The Ottawa Hospital to construct an analytical data set. Our primary outcome was direct costs and our primary exposure was hospital-acquired CDI. We performed the following analyses: Ordinary least square regression and generalized linear regression as time-fixed methods, and Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox regression models as time-varying methods. Results: A total of 49,888 admissions were included in this study (mean (SD) age of 64.6 ± 17.8 years, median (IQR) baseline mortality risk of 0.04 (0.01-0.14)). 360 (0.73%) patients developed CDI. Estimates of incremental cost due to CDI were substantially higher when using time-fixed methods than time-varying methods. Using methods that appropriately account for the time-varying nature of the exposure, the estimated incremental cost due to CDI was $8,997 per patient. In contrast, estimates from time-fixed methods ranged from $49,150 to $55,962: about a six fold difference. Conclusion: Estimates of hospital costs are strongly influenced by the time-varying nature of CDI as well as baseline mortality risk. If studies do not account for these factors, it is likely that the impact of hospital-acquired CDI will be overestimated.

In the United States, eating disorders affect approximately 20 million women annually (National Institutes of Health, 2011). With such a high prevalence, ensuring help-seeking in individuals with eating disorders is critical. A previously-supported eating disorder prevention approach includes cognitive dissonance intervention (CDI). CDI’s purpose is to change a person’s behavior to reflect their attitude or cognition. While true self intervention has not been with previously been applied to eating disorders, it has been efficacious in improving psychological risk factors associated with eating disorder risk. The current study combined true self and CDI to test a more holistic prevention tool (i.e. combining psychological and cognitive approaches to prevention). Specifically, the current study compared the combination prevention to true self intervention only, CDI only, and a control condition to examine outcomes of body satisfaction, eating disorder pathology, psychological outcomes, and help-seeking intentions. Overall, evidence did not support the preventions’ combined prevention superiority to control within the entire sample. When exploring individuals at risk of an eating disorder, however, CDI was significantly better than true self in reducing binge episodes and self-esteem. Furthermore, the combination prevention was significantly better than true self at increasing self-esteem. The following results warrant more research exploring other potential preventions to increase positive psychological outcomes. Moreover, future research should explore more options for increasing help-seeking intentions.

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) networks are known to be able to achieve throughput performance superior to that available from single-input single-output (SISO) systems. However, when applying MIMO in multi-user networks, achieving this throughput advantage requires efficient precoding and optimal network scheduling. Furthermore, MIMO radios can help ensure security in a multi-user network. Previous work has proposed various precoding techniques for the MIMO broadcast channel, based either on channel state information (CSI) or channel distribution information (CDI), which achieve optimal or near- optimal MIMO channel throughput. The performance of these techniques largely depends on the availability of the channel information at the transmitter that must be fed back from the receiver. However, the past work has not examined the impact of latency caused by feedback of channel information and computation. This research proposes a performance metric to measure the throughput degradation caused by compression and feedback of channel information. We further propose an effective data compression technique based on the Karhunen-Lo`eve (KL) Transform and show that linear precoding (beamforming) based on CDI can achieve superior performance by providing stable channel throughput in both time- varying and frequency-selective channels. Very little prior work exists on optimal scheduling for multi-user MIMO networks, particularly in time-varying channels. One reason for this is that hybrid MIMO channels permit much more complex channel structures, such as broadcast channel (BC) and multiple access channel (MAC), whose capacity is limited not only by random channel noise but also by the multi-user interference. Furthermore, the achieved MIMO channel throughput depends on the spatial characteristics of the multi-user channels, a feature not captured by traditional network models based on signal-to-noise ratio and Doppler. Therefore, achieving near optimal performance requires development of scheduling techniques that depend on detailed channel characteristics. This dissertation proposes a novel parametric representation of the channel that simply describes the complex multi-user MIMO channels and allows for efficient scheduling. Because of the computational and feedback efficiency enabled by this parametric approach, it achieves low latency and therefore excellent performance.Finally, in any network setting, security is an important consideration. Specifically authentication ensures that unauthorized users do not gain network access. Unfortunately, user identity can be relatively easy to forge. This work therefore explores the user of radio- metric fingerprinting that uniquely identifies a device by unique imperfections in its transmitted waveform. This work shows that by applying this fingerprinting technique to MIMO devices, authentication reliability can be dramatically improved. The work also develops an information-theoretic approach to identify the optimal set of radiometric features to use for authentication and further considers the impact of drift in radiometric features on authentication performance.

Clean, drinkable water is nowadays taken for granted in most developed coun-tries. However, over two billion people in the world do not have access to drink-ing water. In an attempt to combat this, capacitive deionization (CDI) hasgained increased attention in recent years. CDI is an emergent method of de-salination through separation of ionic species in aqueous solutions. The perfor-mance of CDI is dependent on materials used and how the device is constructed.This paper investigates key metrics relating the efficiency and applicability oftwo different CDI materials, activated carbon (Zorflex FM10 Chemivron) andCobalt Prussian Blue Analogue (referred to as the active material), in regardsto the electrodes used. These metrics include energy consumption, energy re-covery and Faradaic efficiency. The results were gathered from building a circuitwith the CDI cell as the capacitor and switching the polarity of the cell when adefined threshold of the voltage (1.5 V) was reached. The energy consumptionof the activated carbon (0.450 kWh/m3) was found to be less than that of theactive material (1.45 kWh/m3). The energy recovery was found to be roughlyequal for both materials, 80.6 % for the activated carbon and 79.5 % for theactive material. Finally, the activated carbon had a Faradaic efficiency of 0.75while the active material had 1.8.

In dieser Arbeit wurden 104 stationär isolierte Stämme mit 90 ambulant isolierten Stämmen hinsichtlich ihrer Antibiotikaresistenz und ihrer Ribotypenzugehörigkeit verglichen. Die Proben stammten aus den Jahren 2011 bis 2019, wobei keine stationären Isolate aus dem Jahr 2014 aufzufinden waren, woraufhin aus Gründen der Vergleichbarkeit auch auf ambulante Proben aus diesem Jahr verzichtet wurde. Unter den Isolaten gab es 90 Paare, die sich in Geschlecht, Toxinaktivität, Patientenalter und Datum des Auftretens der Infektion vergleichen ließen. Die 14 übrigen stationären Proben flossen ebenfalls in die Auswertung ein. Folgendes wurde beobachtet: - Die Mehrheit (70%) aller untersuchten Isolate stammte von Patienten, deren Alter zum Erkrankungszeitpunkt zwischen 60 und 90 Jahren lag. - Frauen (57%) waren etwas häufiger betroffen als Männer (43%). Es wurde die minimale Hemmkonzentration (MHK) für die Antibiotika Vancomycin, Metronidazol, Moxifloxacin und Tigecyclin mittels E- Test- Streifen ermittelt sowie die MHK für die Antibiotika Rifaximin und Fidaxomicin mittels Agardilution. Zudem wurde der Ribotyp jedes Stammes anhand der PCR- Ribotypisierung bestimmt. Aus den Untersuchungen ergaben sich die folgenden Ergebnisse: - Im ambulanten Bereich war der RT027 mit 21% am häufigsten vertreten, gefolgt vom RT078 (18%), RT001 (11%) und RT014 (10%). Auch im stationären Bereich war der RT027 mit 30% am häufigsten vertreten, gefolgt vom RT014 (18%), RT001 (12%) und RT078 (8%). - Die Isolate zeigten eine sehr hohe Sensibilität gegenüber Vancomycin (100% der Isolate sensibel), Tigecyclin (97% der Isolate sensibel) und Fidaxomicin (92% der Stämme mit einer MHK</= 0,125 mg/l). - Gegenüber Metronidazol zeigten 22% eine MHK > 2 mg/l. Vor allem die Ribotypen 027 (63% resistent) und 001 (35% resistent) zeigten eine hohe Resistenzlage. Die Ribotypen 078 und 014 waren zu 100% Metronidazol- sensibel. - Gegenüber Moxifloxacin waren 43% der Isolate mit einer MHK > 4 mg/l resistent. Auch hier zeigten die Ribotypen 027 (88% resistent) und 001 (95% resistent) eine hohe Resistenzlage, wohingegen 70% der RT078 und 86% der RT014 Moxifloxa-cin- sensibel waren. - Unter Ausschluss des RT027 waren 95% der Stämme sensibel gegenüber Rifaximin. Von den RT027- Isolaten hingegen waren nur 8% sensibel. Gerade hier empfiehlt sich der Ausschluss eines RT027 vor Beginn einer Rifaximintherapie. Unter Zusammenschau der Eigenschaften der Patientenproben und den ermittelten Resistenzen und Ripotypen können zudem folgende Aussagen aufgestellt werden: - Das Durchschnittsalter der Patienten mit einer RT001-, einer RT027- und CD12- Infektion war im stationären Bereich höher; das der Patienten mit einer RT078-, RT014- und CD6- Infektion war im ambulanten Bereich höher. - Die Resistenzlage im Jahr 2012 war für die Antibiotika Metronidazol, Moxifloxacin und Rifaximin im Vergleich zu den anderen Jahren deutlich erhöht. Es konnte in den letzten drei Untersuchungsjahren eine leicht abnehmende Tendenz Rifaximin- resistenter Stämme beobachtet werden. Für alle anderen Antibiotika konnte weder eine Zu- noch eine Abnahme des Auftretens resistenter Stämme nachgewiesen werden. - In den letzten beiden Untersuchungsjahren nahm der Anteil der RT027- Isolate ab, wohingegen seit 2013 eine stete Zunahme des Auftretens des RT078 zu beobachten war. - Das durchschnittliche Alter der Patienten mit einer RT027- Infektion lag 5,1 J. über dem Gesamtdurchschnitt. Vancomycin und Metronidazol gelten schon lange als Mittel der Wahl zur Therapie einer CDAD. Sie gelten als wirksam und vergleichsweise preiswert. In der Kosten- Nutzen- Abwägung wurden auch die vier anderen Antibiotika berücksichtigt. Es ergaben sich die folgenden Ergebnisse: - Unter der Voraussetzung, dass der Ribotyp des zu therapierenden C. difficile- Stammes nicht bekannt ist, bleibt Vancomycin sowohl bei milden als auch bei schweren Verläufen ein günstiges Mittel der Wahl. - Vor Therapie mit dem Antibiotikum Metronidazol ist der Ausschluss eines RT027 sinnvoll. Handelt es sich nicht um diesen Ribotyp, hat auch Metronidazol mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit eine gute Wirksamkeit und kann Vancomycin möglicherweise vorgezogen werden (preiswerter, keine Züchtung Vancomycin- resistenter Stämme). - Fidaxomicin hat eine sehr gute Wirksamkeit gegenüber den häufigsten Ribotypen. Derzeit ist eine Fidaxomicintherapie etwa zehnmal teurer als eine Therapie mit Vancomycin. - Wenn ein RT027- Ausschluss erfolgt ist, kann eine Therapie mit Rifaximin erwogen werden (günstiger als Vancomycin, gute Verträglichkeit aufgrund lokaler Wirkung). Die Arbeit hat gezeigt, dass es sowohl im ambulanten als auch im stationären Bereich eindeutig Korrelate zwischen der Ribotypenzugehörigkeit und dem Vorliegen von Antibiotikaresistenzen gibt. Bereits nach Ausschluss der Ribotypen 027 und 001 können Therapieempfehlungen angepasst werden. Teilweise ändert sich die Therapieoption auch unter Berücksichtigung des Ortes der Probengewinnung. In schwierigen Fällen ist eine Therapie nach Ribotypisierung durchaus sinnvoll, da durch eine gezielte Antibiose Rezidive und Resistenz-bildungen vermieden werden. Zusammenfassend zeigt sich, dass flächendeckenden Surveillanceprogrammen, insbesondere dem Mapping virulenter Keime, eine große Bedeutung zugesprochen werden kann. Ihr Fortbestehen und der weitere Ausbau dienen der sinnvollen Therapie des Einzelnen, aber auch der Vorbeugung schwerwiegender Krankheitsausbrüche und Epidemien.:Abkürzungsverzeichnis 1 EINLEITUNG 1.1 Eigenschaften und Epidemiologie von Clostridium difficile 1.2 Vorkommen und Übertragungswege 1.3 Klinik, Verlaufsformen und Risikofaktoren 1.3.1 Pathogenese 1.4 Diagnostik einer CDI 1.5 Therapie und Prophylaxe 1.6 Antibiotika und Resistenzen 1.6.1 Vancomycin 1.6.2 Metronidazol 1.6.3 Moxifloxacin 1.6.4 Tigecyclin 1.6.5 Rifaximin 1.6.6 Fidaxomicin 1.7 Typisierungsmethoden 1.8 PCR- Ribotypisierung 1.9 Eigenschaften der Ribotypen 027, 078, 001 und 014 1.10 Entwicklung der letzten Jahre 2 AUFGABENSTELLUNG 3 MATERIALIEN 3.1 ständig eingesetzte Materialien 3.2 Identifizierung von C. difficile aus Stuhlproben und Isolation 3.3 Beimpfen der Agarplatten mit C. difficile und Bebrütung 3.4 Legen der E- Test- Streifen und Ansetzen der DNA 3.5 Agardilution 3.6 PCR- Ribotypisierung 4 METHODEN 4.1 Patientenstämme 4.1.1 Herkunft der Patientenstämme 4.1.2 Identifizierung von C. difficile aus Stuhlproben und ihre Isolation 4.1.3 Verwendete Isolate 4.2 Beimpfen der Agarplatten mit C. difficile und Bebrütung 4.3 Legen der E-Test- Streifen und Ansetzen der DNA 4.4 Agardilution 4.5 PCR- Ribotypisierung 4.5.1 Polymerase- Kettenreaktion 4.5.2 Ribotypisierung 4.6 Allgemeine Aspekte 5 ERGEBNISSE 5.1 Auswahl der Patientenproben 5.1.1 Toxineigenschaften 5.1.2 Verteilung im Hinblick auf das Patientengeschlecht und das Labor 5.1.3 Verteilung im Hinblick auf das Patientenalter 5.2 Antibiotika- Sensibilität 5.2.1 Klinische Grenzwerte nach EUCAST 5.2.2 Antibiotikaresistenzen der einzelnen Stämme unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Herkunft 5.2.3 Resistenzkombinationen der einzelnen Stämme und ihre Ribotypen 5.3 Ribotypisierung 5.3.1 Isolate des RT027 genauer betrachtet 5.3.2 Isolate des RT078 genauer betrachtet 5.3.3 Isolate des RT001 genauer betrachtet 5.3.4 Isolate des RT014 genauer betrachtet 5.3.5 Diversität der Ribotypen im zeitlichen Verlauf 5.4 Antibiotikasensibilität und Ribotypen im Zusammenhang betrachtet 5.4.1 Vancomycin 5.4.2 Metronidazol 5.4.3 Moxifloxacin 5.4.4 Tigecyclin 5.4.5 Fidaxomicin 5.4.6 Rifaximin 6 DISKUSSION 6.1 Patientenproben, Anzucht, Wachstum 6.2 Toxin- negative Isolate 6.3 Antimikrobielle Empfindlichkeit 6.4 Genotypische Charakteristika 6.5 Antimikrobielle Empfindlichkeit und genotypische Charakteristika im Zusammenhang, Therapieempfehlungen 6.6 Finanzieller Aspekt einer Therapie 7 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG 8 LITERATURVERZEICHNIS 9 SELBSTSTÄNDIGKEITSERKLÄRUNG 9.1 Erklärung über die eigenständige Abfassung der Arbeit 10 CURRICULUM VITAE 11 DANKSAGUNG

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Cette thèse retrace la construction historique d’une politique publique dite prioritaire de l’aide au développement. Les politiques de développement du secteur privé consistent à penser le développement économique par le renforcement d’un tissu économique privé local (micro-, petites et moyennes entreprises) et l’accueil d’investissements étrangers. La mise en place de ces politiques est ici étudiée dans le cadre des relations entre les institutions communautaires de l’Union européenne et les pays du groupe Afrique Caraïbes Pacifique (ACP), de 1975 à 2000, c’est-à-dire dans le temps des accords quinquennaux successifs de partenariat UE-ACP sous les Conventions de Lomé.Si ces politiques représentent un objectif aujourd’hui dominant de l’aide au développement, elles existaient déjà sous d’autres formes dès 1975. Notre recherche prend le parti d’étudier les évolutions d’une politique publique d’aide au développement depuis Bruxelles en regardant en particulier les liens des services de la direction générale du développement (DG VIII) de la Commission européenne avec les instruments communautaires ou paritaires au service de cette politique : la Banque européenne d’investissement et le Centre de développement industriel. L’histoire de ces politiques est croisée ponctuellement avec les évolutions propres à certains réseaux économiques transnationaux, aux Etats-membres, et à d’autres organisations internationales (Banque mondiale, OCDE). La recherche se place dans une double perspective d’histoire des organisations internationales et d’une histoire transnationale des réseaux économiques, pour retracer les trajectoires socioprofessionnelles individuelles et les dynamiques institutionnelles qui expliquent la fabrique des politiques européennes de développement.Trois temps sont étudiés : la coopération industrielle (1975-1985) qui vise à réussir le mariage d’intérêts entre les objectifs politiques des pays en développement dans le cadre du « Nouvel ordre économique international » et les besoins économiques de l’Europe ; l’émergence du développement du secteur privé comme nouvelle terminologie hégémonique au sein du Comité d’aide au développement (CAD) de l’OCDE (1985-1995) ; le temps des réformes institutionnelles et opérationnelles de l’aide au développement au nom d’une recherche d’efficacité pour le développement et de changements globaux (1995-2000). / This thesis retraces the historical construction of a so-called priority development aid policy. Private sector development policies consist of aiming at economic development by strengthening the local private sector (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) and improving the foreign investment climate. The implementation of these policies is studied here in the context of the relations between the European Union institutions and the countries of the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group from 1975 to 2000, that is to say during the five successive EU-ACP partnership agreements known as the Lomé Conventions.Although these policies represent a dominant objective of development aid today, they already existed in other forms as early as 1975. The author decided to study the evolution of a development aid public policy with a particular focus on the institutions in Brussels. The author looks at the links of the services of the Directorate-General for Development (DG VIII) of the European Commission with the Community or joint instruments serving this policy: the European Investment Bank and the Centre for Industrial Development. The history of these policies is interspersed with the evolutions that are specific to certain transnational economic networks, member states, and other international organizations (World Bank, OECD). The research is placed in a double perspective of international organizations history and a transnational history of economic networks, to trace the individual socio-professional trajectories and the institutional dynamics that explain the making of European development policies.Three stages are studied: industrial co-operation (1975-1985), which aims to achieve a marriage of interests between the political objectives of developing countries in the framework of the “New International Economic Order” and the economic needs of Europe; the emergence of “private sector development” as a new hegemonic terminology within the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) (1985-1995); the time for institutional and operational reforms of development aid in the name of effectiveness and global changes (1995-2000).