Ce travail s'insère dans le cadre de l'expérience NEMO cherchant à mettre en évidence une radioactivité extrêmement rare : la double désintégration bêta sans émission de neutrino et par suite d'obtenir des informations sur la nature Dirac-Majorana et sur la masse du neutrino. La particularité de cette expérience actuellement en fin de prise de données au Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane est l'extrême rareté du signal recherché (T1/2 > 1024 ans, quelques événements par an). Il s'ensuit donc des conditions très contraignantes sur toutes les composantes du bruit de fond, et parmi celles-ci sur les niveaux de radon et de thoron. Après quelques rappels sur les propriétés du radon et du thoron et leur influence sur les données de l'expérience NEMO, ce travail de thèse a porté sur la détection de ces gaz radioactifs par la technique de collection électrostatique des descendants sur la surface d'une diode silicium et la détection des alpha émis. Nous avons montré que les rendements de détection sont fortement influencés par les conditions expérimentales et que le niveau de radon pouvait être contrôlé actuellement au niveau du mBq/m3. Une série des mesures de spectrométrie gamma nous a permis de comprendre l'origine du bruit de fond du détecteur de radon, et ainsi d'envisager dans l'avenir un gain en sensibilité en augmentant le volume de détection et en effectuant une sélection très poussée des matériaux non radioactifs. Par contre, pour le thoron, qui n'avait jamais été étudié jusqu'à présent, les efficacités de détection sont très faibles à cause des périodes courtes mises en jeu. Un monitorage continu du thoron dans le gaz de NEMO est donc exclu, ce qui souligne l'importance pour l'expérience NEMO que le dispositif expérimental puisse contrôler son propre bruit de fond.

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Postharvest stem bending is one of the most detrimental factors that affect postharvest quality life of Gerbera jamesonii cutflower varieties. Stem bending is of economic importance in the cutflower industry in South Africa because it negatively affects the overall total sales. Growers and retailers want to improve the postharvest vaselife of this crop using suitable preservatives. The aim of this study was to determine suitable preservatives and optimal vaselife conditions that could prevent or minimise postharvest stem bending of Gerbera jamesonii “Black diamond”. The variety “Black diamond was selected and treated with four different floral preservative solutions. The relationship between stem bending and absorption rate of the preservative solutions was established. The data gathered indicated that there was a significant difference to the solution absorption rate and stem bending. Stem bending differed from 0 to 38 degrees. Stems treated on control, preservative 3 and 4 recorded the highest degrees of bending, while preservative 1 and 2 recorded the lowest degrees of stem bending within 12 day period. The performance results of the preservatives and control repeated three times under the same experimental conditions showed that preservative 1 and 2 can be used to minimise postharvest stem bending of Gerbera jamesonii ‘Black diamond’ / College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Ornamental Horticulture)

Revenue collection agencies across the world aim to maximise revenue collection by minimising tax noncompliance. The different types of tax noncompliance are collectively referred to as the tax gap phenomenon, which revenue collection agencies address by means of various enforcement approaches and capabilities. Much like any organisation, the resources required to execute these capabilities are finite and require accurate organisational decision-making in order to make optimal use thereof. Information technology, and specifically decision support systems (DSS), is critical in enabling this decision-making process. Using the Structuration Model of Technology, the information needs, demand and offerings of revenue collection agencies are explored given their objective of narrowing the tax gap phenomenon using DSS. Emphasis is placed on the manner in which IT is used to address taxpayer noncompliance, the way in which IT supports knowledge creation and subsequently also facilitate the decision-making process of tax practitioners, and also the different types of IT offerings made available to decision-makers in the form of DSS. In doing so, this research presents the results of a case study on the South African Revenue Service in which a conceptual decision support system framework is developed aimed at minimising the tax gap phenomenon. The research is conducted as a qualitative single case study and presented through a narrative analysis. The framework is systematically constructed as the research findings emerge and concluded by means of a framework validation and transfer ability test. The research result is a conceptual DSS framework acting as a reference point to other revenue collection agencies with the objective of addressing taxpayer noncompliance through DSS. / Jurisprudence / D. Phil. (Information Systems)

Cette thèse propose l’examen des textes de théorie de l’art et de critique d’art portant sur la peinture en France, aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle, suivant l’angle de la vraisemblance. De nombreuses réflexions sur la légitimité de la critique de ceux qui ne pratiquent pas la peinture ont précédé la naissance de la critique d’art, et la question fait toujours débat au XVIIIe siècle. Or, la notion de vraisemblance, présente dans le discours des théoriciens (peintres ou non) du point de vue de la réalisation des œuvres, manifeste la prise en compte d’un regard porté sur le tableau, c’est-à-dire du point de vue de la réception : est-ce que l’ « on » peut croire à ce que le tableau représente ? Ce que nous souhaitons montrer est le rôle crucial que joue la vraisemblance dans la légitimation de la critique d’art. Si un spectateur, qui n’est pas peintre, n’est pas à même de juger la qualité du dessin ou du coloris dans une œuvre, il est en droit de dire si ce que le tableau lui présente est vraisemblable ou non.Notre étude cherche à comparer les différentes acceptions que le terme de vraisemblance prend sous la plume des théoriciens et des critiques, afin d’une part de mettre en évidence que cette notion est considérée des deux côtés comme une règle en peinture, et de préciser son évolution dans les discours au XVIIIe s. / This thesis offers to examine theory of art and art criticism texts about painting in 17th and 18th c. France, via the angle of verisimilitude. Numerous thoughts upon the legitimacy of the criticism of those who do not practice painting have preceded the birth of art criticism, and the debate is still going on during the 18th c. However, the notion of verisimilitude, present in art theory discourses (by painters or not) about the creation of an art piece, manifests that the perception of the painting by someone looking at it is taken into account, this time from the point of view of reception: can “one” believe what the painting shows? We aim at proving the crucial role of verisimilitude in giving art critic legitimacy. If a spectator – who is not a painter – has no legitimacy to judge the quality of drawing or colour in an art piece, he can say whether the painting is credible or not.We compare and study the several acceptations of verisimilitude in theorists and critics’ writings in order to highlight that the notion is considered as a rule of painting on both sides, and analyse its evolution in 18th c. discourses.

The diploma thesis deals with the optimization of marketing communication strategy of the hospital institution SurGal Clinic s.r.o. The goal of this thesis is to formulate more effective marketing communication strategy with hospital`s clients on the basis of obtained results from both conducted analyses of inner and outer environment and own marketing research. The suggested solutions were processed according to project management principals.

L’émergence des réseaux sociaux a révolutionné le Web en permettant notamment aux individus de prolonger leur connexion virtuelle en une relation plus réelle et de partager leurs connaissances. Ce nouveau contexte de diffusion de l’information sur le Web peut constituer un moyen efficace pour cerner les besoins en information des utilisateurs du Web, et permettre à la recherche d’information (RI) de mieux répondre à ces besoins en adaptant les modèles d’indexation et d’interrogation. L’exploitation des réseaux sociaux confronte la RI à plusieurs défis dont les plus importants concernent la représentation de l’information dans un modèle social personnalisé de RI et son évaluation, en l’absence de collections de test et de compétitions dédiées. Nous proposons dans ce travail de bénéficier de l’exploitation des informations issues des réseaux sociaux pour personnaliser la recherche d’information de l’utilisateur en se rapprochant le plus de ses centres d’intérêt et de ses préférences. Les principales contributions de notre travail consistent dans un premier temps à établir un profil social de l’utilisateur à partir du contenu informationnel généré au sein du réseau social. Nous présentons par la suite des modèles de recherche sociale personnalisée d’information (RSPI) permettant d’intégrer le profil social de l’utilisateur à différents niveaux du processus de RI. Dans l’objectif de permettre l’évaluation des modèles de RSPI sur une collection de test dédiée, nous proposons une collection de test de RSPI que nous avons construite à partir du réseau d’annotation collaborative "Delicious" contenant en plus des données classiques d’une collection de test de RI, des données centrées-utilisateur / The emergence of social media has revolutionized the web by allowing individuals to extend their virtual connection in a more real relationship and share knowledge. This new context of information dissemination on the Web can be an effective way to identify the information needs of Web users, and allow information retrieval (IR) to better meet these needs by adapting the indexing and querying models. The information retrieval faced several challenges with the use of social networks, the most important concerns the representation of information in a personalized social IR (PSIR) model and its evaluation in the absence of a social test collections with the user-centered data (user-centered queries and user-centered relevance judgments). We propose to benefit from the use of the user generated content (UGC) on the social networks to personalize his social search in order to better fit his interests and preferences. The main contributions of our work consist of, on the one hand, building a social profile from the UGC within the social network. We propose then a personalized social information retrieval models which integrate the user’s social profile at various levels of the IR process. On the other hand, with the objective of evaluating our PSIR models on a dedicated test collection, we propose a PSIR test collection "DelRSI" we built from the collaborative social bookmarking network "Delicious" ; a PSIR test collection containing in addition to the classical IR test collection’s data, a user-centered data

In this dissertation I provide an ethnographic account of the testimony of four expert witnesses who appeared before the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada (the Krever Inquiry) as they described the production of scientific knowledge and the role that knowledge played in the struggle to protect the blood supply from being contaminated by AIDS during the early 1980's. In doing so, I bring together the experts' testimony with contemporary documents gathered by the Commission and interviews I conducted with participants in the proceedings. Using insights drawn from the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, and history, I explore what the witnesses' accounts reveal about their understandings of their professional world and its relationships with other worlds, especially that of public health policy making. The Krever Inquiry offered a valuable opportunity for carrying out such an investigation. It provided a site where science was not only used, it was talked about. The Inquiry invited those involved in the blood system in the early 1980's to reflect upon and explain the beliefs and actions which surrounded one of the worst public health disasters in Canadian history and it asked the witnesses how similar catastrophes could be avoided in the future. As a result, many of the issues addressed at the hearings reflect matters of current concern in public health and medicine. The Inquiry addressed difficult issues surrounding the nature of scientific knowledge and its application in health decision-making and policy formulation. This study, therefore, may be of interest to those dealing with the problems surrounding uncertainty and the management of public health crises. It may also be of interest to those dealing with conflicts rising out of the intersection of different worlds of experience and practice, as well as to those involved in the current initiatives to both make medical and public health institutions more proactive, and inclusive, and public health decision-making more transparent. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Au sortir de la Révolution, les collections du Garde-Meuble présentaient un aspect singulier : on avait dispersé bon nombre de chefs-d’œuvre du mobilier royal, et dans le même temps, saisi chez les émigrés et condamnés beaucoup de meubles et objets de grande valeur. Napoléon Ier dut compter sur cette dotation pour meubler les palais dont il prenait possession avec le faste adéquat. La valeur de ces remplois de mobilier évolua au fil des régimes: à une valeur purement utilitaire succédèrent bientôt d’autres qualités attribuées à cet héritage, sur les plans historique, artistique, et symbolique. Sous la Restauration, on ne prêta guère attention à ce patrimoine, pourtant quasi familial, et les ventes de rebuts organisées dans les années 1820 contribuèrent à disperser encore des meubles royaux du XVIIIe siècle. C’est sous la Monarchie de Juillet que se fit jour un intérêt historique pour ces collections, largement mises à profit pour les ameublements des palais. Dans le même temps, le Garde-Meuble initia une véritable politique d’acquisition de mobilier ancien, à l’effet de se procurer des modèles authentiques et de compléter les collections. Ce dernier aspect fut d’autant plus important sous le Second Empire. À l’initiative de l’impératrice Eugénie, qui érigea le style Louis XVI en quasi-style officiel, on racheta des pièces importantes du mobilier royal, dont la plupart servit à l’exposition consacrée à Marie-Antoinette au Petit Trianon en 1867. Finalement, l’étude de ces remplois aura conduit à définir un processus de patrimonialisation du mobilier au XIXe siècle, qui mena à la reconnaissance de la valeur historique de ces objets et à leur présentation au musée. / After the French Revolution, the collections of the Garde-Meuble were divided into two parts : on one hand, all pieces of royal furniture that were not sold at auction, and on the other hand, many objects confiscated from convicts and émigrés. By ascending the throne, Napoléon Ist used this endowment to furnish the palaces with all necessary ceremonial. This is considered as simply utility reuses of ancient furniture ; the same situation is to notice for the Restauration, although Louis XVIII and Charles X could have seen those collections as a familial heritage. When Louis-Philippe Ier came to power, the value of ancient furniture reuses evolved, due to a new interest in historic heritage. By creating historicist interiors in the palaces and by refurnishing historic appartements, the Garde-Meuble developed an acquisition policy on the art market to enrich its collections. This phenomenon was enhanced during the Second Empire, on the initiative of Empress Eugénie, a period that saw the first retrospective exhibitions, for instance the one hold at the Petit Trianon and dedicated to the Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1867. Last but not least, this study underlines the process of ̏ patrimonialization ̋ that characterized the fate of French royal furniture during the 19th-century, and led to its permanent exhibition in museums

<div><p>Analyzing behaviors of objects on the road is a complex task that requires data from various sensors and their fusion to recreate movement of objects with a high degree of accuracy. A data collection and processing system are thus needed to track the objects accurately in order to make an accurate and clear map of the trajectories of objects relative to various coordinate frame(s) of interest in the map. Detection and tracking moving objects (DATMO) and Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) are the tasks that needs to be achieved in conjunction to create a clear map of the road comprising of the moving and static objects.</p> <p> These computational problems are commonly solved and used to aid scenario reconstruction for the objects of interest. The tracking of objects can be done in various ways, utilizing sensors such as monocular or stereo cameras, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors as well as Inertial Navigation systems (INS) systems. One relatively common method for solving DATMO and SLAM involves utilizing a 3D LIDAR with multiple monocular cameras in conjunction with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) allows for redundancies to maintain object classification and tracking with the help of sensor fusion in cases when sensor specific traditional algorithms prove to be ineffectual when either sensor falls short due to their limitations. The usage of the IMU and sensor fusion methods relatively eliminates the need for having an expensive INS rig. Fusion of these sensors allows for more effectual tracking to utilize the maximum potential of each sensor while allowing for methods to increase perceptional accuracy. </p> <p>The focus of this thesis will be the dock-less e-scooter and the primary goal will be to track its movements effectively and accurately with respect to cars on the road and the world. Since it is relatively more common to observe a car on the road than e-scooters, we propose a data collection system that can be built on top of an e-scooter and an offline processing pipeline that can be used to collect data in order to understand the behaviors of the e-scooters themselves. In this thesis, we plan to explore a data collection system involving a 3D LIDAR sensor and multiple monocular cameras and an IMU on an e-scooter as well as an offline method for processing the data to generate data to aid scenario reconstruction. </p><br></div>