Le sujet de cette thèse est l’étude de la régulation de l’expression du facteur de transcription LEAFY COTYLEDON 2 (LEC2), qui est un, régulateur clé du développement de la graine d’Arabidospsis thaliana. La graine offre un mode de propagation et de protection des espèces végétales à graines, indispensable à leur survie. La graine est l’élément de base de l’agriculture, en tant que semence, et de l’alimentation humaine, aussi bien sous forme brute que sous forme transformée (farines, huiles…). Elle a aussi de très nombreuses applications industrielles dans l’industrie et les biocarburants. Le développement de la graine, comme beaucoup d’étapes nécessaires à la vie de la plante, est controlé par des phénomènes complexes, incluant des facteurs de transcription. LEC2, ainsi que 2 autres facteurs de transcription de type B3 (FUSCA 3 et ABI3) et un facteur à domaine de fixation CAAT (LEAFY COTYLEDON 1), sont les quatre facteurs clés du développement de la graine d’Arabidospsis thaliana, appelés AFLs (ABI3, FUS3, LEC1, 2). Les gènes AFLs s’expriment spécifiquement dans l’embryon et sont fortement réprimés dans les parties végétatives, par de multiples mécanismes impliquant, entre autre, des facteurs de transcription et des acteurs plus généraux modifiant la structure de la chromatine. Bien que la régulation de LEC2 ait déjà été largement étudiée, les mécanismes précis de répression ainsi que l’activation de ce gène, sont encore méconnus.Le travail présenté est basé sur un travail de délétion de promoteurs, qui a révélé l’existence de 3 boîtes de régulation, essentielles à une activité correcte du promoteur de LEC2. Deux boîtes, dont une correspondrait à une boîte de fixation de facteurs MADS et une à une boîte GAGA dans la séquence transcrite non traduite de LEC2, sont essentielles à l’activité du promoteur. La 3ème séquence, d’une longueur de 50pb, est nécessaire à la répression de LEC2 dans les parties végétatives par des mécanismes épigénétiques. La corrélation de la présence de cette boîte avec un enrichissement dans la marque H3K27me3 au locus nous a permis de rapprocher cette séquence de répression d’une PRE (Polycomb response element) de type végétal. / The aim of this work is to study the regulation of the transcription factor LEAFY COTYLEDON 2, which is a key regulator of seed developpement in Arabidopsis thaliana.Seeds have essential functions in the environnement for plant propagation and as embryo protective tools. Furthermore, numerous products issued from the agriculture or involved in human food (e.g. cereals, oil, flour) are based on seeds. Several industrial apllications depend, as well, on this organ such as oil production for human consumption, additives for some industrial processes, or biofuel synthesis.Seed developemental phases are dependant of a complex regulatory network composed in major part with transcription factors, that were found to be central components of plant evolution and domestication.LEC2, FUS3, ABI3 (three B3 type factors) and LEC1 (a CATT binding factor) are named AFL (ABI3, FUS3, LEC1, 2) genes, and are key regulators of Arabidopsis seed development. AFL genes are specifically expressed in embryo and repressed in vegetatives tissues. This repression has been principally studied in germinating seedlings and was shown to be caused by a set of transcription factors and chromatin structure modifiers.Beside the fact that LEC2 regulation has been extensively studied within the past few years, it was known that other mechanisms of repression and activation were still to be discovered. The work carried out on LEC2 presented here, mainly based on an extensive promoter deletion analysis, has allowed the discovery of three essential nucleotidic sequences necessary for a proper LEC2 promoter activity. The two first regulatory sequences are similar to a MADS box binding element and a GAGA binding site, and were found to be essentials for LEC2 promoter activity. The third sequence (named RLE for Repression of LEC2 Element) is 50bp long and lead to the repression of LEC2 promoter activity after onset of seed germination. A very strong correlation between RLE and the enrichment of H3K27me3 mark deposition at specific loci, suggests this sequence is the first PRE-like (Polycomb response element) element identified in plants.

Many daily activities require the temporary maintenance and manipulation of information in working memory. A hallmark of this system is its limited capacity—research suggests that adults can actively maintain only about 3–4 items at once. A central question in working memory research is the source of such capacity limits. One approach to this question is to study the developmental origins of working memory capacity. Developmental research on working memory has documented a general increase in capacity throughout childhood and into adulthood. There have been few investigations, however, into the mechanisms behind these developmental changes, and proposals that have been put forth do not specify the processes underlying changes in capacity. One particularly puzzling finding that remains to be explained is an apparent decrease in visual working memory capacity over development, from an adult-like capacity of 3–4 items at 10 months to 1.5 items at 5 years. One probable source of this developmental discrepancy is that these two capacity estimates were derived from different tasks: preferential looking in infancy and change detection in later childhood. Although these tasks differ in many respects, existing theoretical explanations of the processes underlying performance in these tasks are underspecified, making it difficult to identify specify the origin of the regression in capacity over development. To investigate the developmental discrepancy across tasks, I developed a unified model to capture how capacity-limits arise in preferential looking and change detection. I used this model to generate three specific behavioral predictions: 1) in preferential looking, children and adults should show higher capacity estimates than infants; 2) capacity estimates should be higher in preferential looking than in change detection when tested in the same individuals; and 3) although capacity estimates differ, performance should be correlated across tasks because both rely on the same underlying working memory system. In addition, I proposed a fourth prediction regarding the unified model: developmental changes in both tasks should be captured by a specific developmental mechanism, the Spatial Precision Hypothesis. Results from three experiments and model simulations confirmed all four predictions, providing strong support for a new Dynamic Field Theory of visual working memory.

This study mainly compares and analyzes the sustainable development measures of hotels in China and Sweden. In this study, purposive sampling method is adopted to select hotels in China and Sweden, and the data of sample hotels are coded and classified and then compared and analyzed according to different categories. According to the results of the study, there are two major differences in sustainability measures between Chinese and Swedish hotels. First, the text information shows that Chinese hotels pay more attention to the establishment of overall hotel management system, such as energy management system and water resource management system, than Swedish hotels. Second, Swedish hotels have a more mature thinking on sustainable development, which is reflected in the fact that the hotel puts itself in the process of social sustainable development, instead of treating the hotel group itself as an island. This can be well reflected by the hotel's measures on food. The hotel not only pays attention to the consumption of food in the hotel, but also pays attention to the early procurement and the disposal of the leftover food, which is also a combination of environmental sustainability and social sustainability. The main reason for the difference in sustainable development measures between hotels in China and Sweden can be attributed to the different social development conditions in the two countries. As a developed country, Sweden has good welfare policies to ensure the interests of vulnerable groups, which gives the country room to think beyond its economic interests. As China paid attention to economic development in the early stage, although the overall economic development is now in good condition, the basic living needs of people in some areas still need to be improved. In such an environment, the society itself pays attention to economic benefits and somehow ignores sustainable development. Consequently, the national group, as consumers, has no requirement for the sustainable development of enterprises. As a result, the driving force for the sustainable development of Chinese enterprises only comes from national policies.

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Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The intent of this research was to evaluate the participation in the IDP process by the people with disabilities at the Malemati Village in Limpopo Province: Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality. This intent has been achieved. The question under investigation was whether people with disabilities in Malemati Village Limpopo: Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality participate in the IDP process. The objective was thus to phantom this topic and come out with necessary findings and recommendation of the targeted population in the process under investigation had been provided. The study covered reading of both the primary and secondary sources, group focus interview of people with disabilities, interview of the assistant head men, ward committee member residing in Malemati, the mayor, the municipal manager and the IDP manager Data was collected in the manner as explained in the above paragraph following the quantitative approach. Necessary recommendations have been made in this regard.

Thesis (MscAgric (Horticulture))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Experiments were conducted to increase the percentage class one ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Cripps’ Pink’ apples. ‘Granny Smith’ is the most widely grown apple cultivar in South Africa, but its profitability is compromised by the high incidence of sunburn, red blush and poor green colour development. ‘Cripps’ Pink’ is a very lucrative cultivar and producers are striving to maximise the production of fruit that qualify for export. Fruit technologists and growers are debating whether it is best to maximise class one fruit in ‘Cripps’ Pink’ by increasing total yield or by increasing fruit quality. The relationship between ‘Granny Smith’ canopy position and external fruit quality was investigated. Light exposure, peel temperature, green colour development, sunburn and red blush development was followed for individual fruit from the outer, intermediate and inner canopy. Dark green fruit were exposed to moderate to high light levels (25-50% full sun) during the first half of fruit development, similar to fruit that eventually developed sunburn and red blush. The difference came in during the latter half of fruit development when dark green fruit became shaded (3% full sun). Pale green fruit contained less chlorophyll due to consistent low light levels (2% full sun). Fruit at partially shaded canopy positions had a lower occurrence of sunburn and red blush than outside fruit and better green colour development than fruit from the heavily shaded inner canopy. Based on these data, pruning strategies and mulching were evaluated to alter canopy vigour and the light environment in such a way that green colour development is promoted and the occurrence of sunburn and red blush is reduced. In an older, vigorous orchard with a dense canopy, pruning was done to increase light distribution for green colour development and to induce more growth on the side of the trees that are prone to sunburn and red blush. Pruning improved green colour development without affecting sunburn or red blush. In a younger, non-vigorous orchard, pruning and mulching were used to invigorate the canopy to increase shading of fruit and thereby decrease sunburn and red blush. However, these treatments were not effective. Further research should focus on the use of shade nets, accompanied by rigorous pruning, to reduce sunburn and red blush while not decreasing green colour. Five different crop loads were established in an exceptionally high yielding (averaging over 100 ton·ha1) ‘Cripps’ Pink’ orchard by first the thinning of clusters, then the removal of small fruit and, finally, the selective removal of fruit from the shaded inner canopy. Treatments had no effect on iv fruit quality in the first season. The most severe thinning treatment increased the percentage class one fruit in the second season by increasing the number of fruit with adequate red blush. However, seen cumulatively, the higher crop loads yielded more class one fruit per hectare than the lower crop loads, without affecting reproductive and vegetative development or fruit storability. Producers should strive for the highest crop loads allowed by the fruit size limitations in cultivars that are not prone to alternate bearing / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Eksperimente is uitgevoer om die persentasie uitvoerkwaliteit ‘Granny Smith’ en ‘Cripps Pink’ appels te verhoog. ‘Granny Smith’ maak die grootste deel uit van appel aanplantings in Suid Afrika, maar die winsgewendheid daarvan word beperk deur `n hoë voorkoms van sonbrand, rooi blos en swak groen kleurontwikkeling. ‘Cripps’ Pink’ is `n baie winsgewende kultivar en produsente streef daarna om die persentasie uitvoerkwaliteit vrugte te maksimaliseer. Vrugte tegnoloë en produsente debatteer oor die wenslikheid daarvan om uitvoerkwaliteit vrugte te maksimeer deur totale produksie te verhoog of deur vrugkwaliteit te verbeter. Die verband tussen ‘Granny Smith’ draposisie in die blaredak en eksterne vrugkwaliteit is ondersoek. Ligvlakke, skiltemperatuur, groen kleurontwikkeling, sonbrand en rooi blos ontwikkeling is deur die loop van die seisoen gevolg vir individuele vrugte aan die buitekant, binnekant en intermediêre posisies binne die blaredak. Daar is gevind dat die donkerste groen vrugte, nes vrugte wat uiteindelik sonbrand en rooi blos ontwikkel het, blootgestel was aan matige tot hoë ligvlakke (25-50% vol son) gedurende die eerste helfte van vrugontwikkeling. Donker groen vrugte is egter oorskadu (3% vol son) tydens die tweede helfte van vrugontwikkeling. Vanweë konstante lae beligting (2% vol son) het binne vrugte min chlorofiel geakkumuleer en daarom is hierdie vrugte lig van kleur. Vrugte in gedeeltelike skadu ontwikkel min sonbrand en rooi blos in vergelyking met buite vrugte en toon beter groen kleurontwikkeling as vrugte in diep skadu binne die boom. Gegrond op bogenoemde resultate is die gebruik van snoei strategieë en deklae om die groeikrag en die ligomgewing van die boom te modifiseer, ten einde groen kleur ontwikkeling te bevorder en sonbrand en rooi blos te verminder, geëvalueer. In ‘n ouer, groeikragtige boord met ‘n digte blaredak is snoei gebruik om ligverspreiding te verbeter vir groen ontwikkeling en om meer groei te stimuleer aan die buitekant van die boom wat meer geneig is tot sonbrand en rooiblos. Groen kleur is wel verbeter, maar sonbrand en rooi blos is nie geaffekteer nie. In `n jonger, minder groeikragtige boord is ‘n deklaag aangebring en eenjarige lote getop, sodoende groei te stimuleer om sonbrand en rooi blos te verminder deur oorskaduwing van vrugte. Hierdie behandelings was egter nie effektief nie. Toekomstige navorsing moet fokus op die gebruik van skadunette tesame met ‘n nougesette snoei strategie om sonbrand en rooi blos te verminder sonder om groen kleur te verswak. Vyf verskillende vrugladings is geskep in `n uitermatig produktiewe (gemiddeld meer as 100 ton·ha-1) ‘Cripps’ Pink’ boord deur eers vrugtrosse uit te dun, gevolg deur die verwydering van klein vrugte en, laastens, die selektiewe verwydering van vrugte in die diep skaduwee van die binneste blaredak. Vrugkwaliteit is nie in die eerste seisoen nie deur oeslading geaffekteer nie. Die strafste uitdunbehandeling het wel die persentasie uitvoerbare vrugte in die tweede seisoen verhoog deur die aantal vrugte met voldoende rooi blos te vermeerder. Kumulatief gesien, het die hoër oesladings egter meer klas een vrugte per hektaar opgelewer sonder om die reproduktiewe en vegetatiewe ontwikkeling of die stoorvermoë van vrugte te affekteer. Produsente moet strewe na die hoogste oesladings wat toegelaat word deur vruggrootte beperkings in kultivars wat nie geneig is tot alternerende drag nie

This report revolves around a project for Boliden which is a thesis work for a master in engineering within industrial design engineering. This project had a primary focus of developing a new mount for fire extinguishers that will be suspended on vehicles in Boliden's mines. The foundation of the project was an accident in Boliden's mine Aitik where a fire extinguisher exploded due to damages caused by the vehicle mount in combination with vibrations. The objective of the project is to identify the main problem with the vehicle mounts used today in Boliden's mines and solve it. The process used in this project is a fairly standard process that is separated into four phases; Context immersion, Ideation, Conceptual design and Final design. The last two stages focused on prototyping and testing to finalize the design, whereas the beginning of the process was trying to get a grasp of the problem. This included understanding the unique environment of the mines as well as getting to the bottom of the problem with the vehicle mount. Interviews and observations were conducted during a visit to Boliden's mine, Renström, in Skellefteå to investigate the problem. The conclusions from the Context immersion was that the main problem with the vehicle mounts was that they were not adapted for the mining conditions at all. A large number of vibrations and a lack of vibration damping for the mount was the leading cause for the damages on the fire extinguisher. This caused the vehicle mount to fail and in the process also damage the fire extinguisher. The solution to this problem turned out to be a more robust product using a stronger material with higher damping to suspend the fire extinguisher. This made the vehicle mount cope with the vibrations in a better way. A quick release mechanism was also implemented that assists with the vibration durability as well as make the fire extinguisher easy and fast to release. The fast release, as well as the ease of use, makes the vehicle mount adapted for emergencies as well.  The durability and the use of the new vehicle mount were reassured by a vibration analysis made in NX 12, as well as a short usability test. / Den här rapporten behandlar ett projekt för Boliden vilket också är ett examensarbete inom civilingenjör teknisk design med inriktning mot produktutveckling. Projektet har fokuserats på att utveckla en ny fordonshållare för brandsläckare som kommer användas på fordon i Bolidens gruvor. Grunden för projektet var en olycka i Bolidens gruva Aitik där en brandsläckare exploderade då den hade blivit skadad av fordonshållaren samt vibrationer. Syftet med projektet är att identifiera den underliggande problemen som finns med fordonhållarna samt ta fram en bättre lösning. Processen som användes i det här projektet är baserad på en normal designprocess som består av fyra faser. De sista två faserna i processen fokuserade på att prototypa och testa för att färdigställa designen, medan början av processen försökte problemet förstås. Det innebar att gruvmiljön som är unik var tvungen att utforskas samt att gå till botten med problemet med hållarna. För att göra detta gjordes främst ett besök till Renströms gruvan i Skellefteå där intervjuer och observationer utfördes. I slutet av Kontextfasen fastställdes det att huvudproblemet var att hållaren inte var tillräckligt anpassad för gruvmiljön. Den stora mängden vibrationer från miljön i kombination med en brist av vibrations dämpning för hållaren var orsaken till att skador uppstår på brandsläckare. Lösningen på problemet var en ny hållare som var mer robust samt att materialet som används för att hålla brandsläckaren var starkare samt hade högre dämpningsgrad. Ett snabblås lösning var också implementerad som också bidrar till ökad vibrationstålighet, den gör också att brandsläckaren går snabbt och enkelt att ta loss i nödsituationer. Hållbarheten samt användbarheten säkerhetsställs genom en vibrationsanalys utförd i NX 12 samt ett kort användartest.

Preschool science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is important for later learning for all children, including dual language learners (DLLs). However the preschool workforce is generally not well prepared to teach STEM or to work with DLLs, and attitudes and beliefs may play a role in teachers feeling challenged to provide high quality STEM teaching. The objectives of the SciMath-DLL professional development (PD) model are to improve attitudes and change beliefs of educators, increase preschool teachers’ knowledge, and improve classroom instruction around STEM and supports for dual language learners (DLLs). This paper provides preliminary results from a randomized trial of participation in the SciMath-DLL PD on preschool educators’ attitudes and beliefs.

La multiplication des pactes d’actionnaires dans les sociétés anonymes non cotées françaises et libanaises ne permet plus de reléguer leur efficacité au second plan, comme cela se faisait fréquemment dans la plupart des études consacrées aux pactes d’actionnaires. A la lumière des développements législatifs et jurisprudentiels rappelant ou affirmant la primauté de l’exécution en nature des obligations, cette thèse tente d’analyser les obstacles qui gênent l’exécution des pactes d’actionnaires et les moyens de les éviter ou de les contrer en vue d’assurer une efficacité optimale aux pactes. Ce faisant, les diverses limites qui sont systématiquement invoquées contre l’efficacité des pactes d’actionnaires seront passées en revue pour s’assurer de leur opportunité et de leur portée ; ceci aidera à affirmer la particularité des pactes d’actionnaires par rapport aux statuts sociaux, notamment pour ce qui se rapporte à l’ordre public sociétaire qui leur est applicable. Le but ultime se révélera être celui de rapprocher les solutions des droits français et libanais de celles des droits anglo-américains pour éviter, d’une part, l’abandon des lois françaises et libanaises et leur remplacement par les lois anglo-américaines, et, d’autre part, les problèmes de compatibilité qui pourraient survenir lorsque le pacte d’actionnaires est régi par une loi autre que la lex societatis. / The increase of the number of shareholders’ agreements in French and Lebanese unlisted joint-stock companies does not allow to relegate their efficiency to a second rank anymore, as it was frequently the case in most of the studies dedicated to shareholders’ agreements. In light of the legislative and judicial developments reminding or asserting the predominance of the specific performance of obligations, this thesis attempts to analyse the hurdles that hinder the enforcement of shareholders’ agreements and the means to avoid or overcome them in order to ensure an optimal efficiency of shareholders’ agreements. In doing so, the various limits to the efficiency of shareholders’ agreements that are systematically invoked shall be examined to verify their relevance and scope; this shall help to assert the particular nature of shareholders’ agreements in comparison to the by-laws of the company, especially in relation to the public policy in corporate matters that is applicable to them.The ultimate goal shall be to bring the solutions of the French and Lebanese laws closer to those of the Anglo-American laws to avoid, first, the laying aside of the French and Lebanese laws and their replacement by the Anglo-American laws, and second, the compatibility issues which may arise in case the shareholders’ agreement is governed by a law other than the one governing the company.

The purpose of this study is to examine what happens when design thinking is used to create a leadership development program, increase leadership competencies, and participants perceptions of design thinking. This study uses action research to examine the experiences and design thinking to create a leadership program in a formal hierarchical. This study collected data during a two-cycle action research process. The findings from this study revealed that design thinking can be used to create a formal leadership development program. The ability to use design thinking’s human centered design can also help increase the leadership competencies of trust and collaborations. Additionally, despite early concerns participants enjoyed using design thinking in this study yet concerns remain about adopting it into core work. These findings have important implications for formal organizations exploring the ability to increase leadership development programs, leadership competencies, and organizational innovation.