Une ontologie (ou base de connaissances) est une représentation formelle de connaissances sous la forme d'entités et de faits sur ces entités. Ces dernières années de nombreuses ontologies ont été développées dans des contextes académiques et industriels. Elles sont généralement définies à l’aide du langage forme lRDF et interrogées avec le langage de requêtes SPARQL. Une connaissance partielle du contenu et de la structure d’une ontologie peut amener les utilisateurs à exécuter des requêtes qui retournent un résultat vide de réponses, considéré comme insatisfaisant. Parmi les techniques d’interrogation coopératives développées pour résoudre ce problème se trouve la technique de relaxation de requêtes. Elle consiste à affaiblir les conditions exprimées dans les requêtes pour retourner des résultats alternatifs à l'utilisateur. En étudiant les travaux existants sur la relaxation de requêtes SPARQL nous avons constaté qu’ils présentent plusieurs limitations :(1) ils ne permettent pas de définir précisément la relaxation à effectuer tout en offrant la possibilité de contrôler le processus de relaxation (2) ils n’identifient pas les causes réelles d'échec de la requête formulée par l'utilisateur et (3) ils n’intègrent pas d’outils interactifs pour mieux exploiter les techniques de relaxation proposées. Pour répondre à ces limitations, ce travail de thèse propose un framework pour la relaxation de requêtes SPARQL. Ce framework inclut un ensemble d'opérateurs de relaxation des requêtes SPARQL permettant de relaxer incrémentalement des parties précises de la requête utilisateur tout en contrôlant la pertinence des réponses alternatives retournées par rapport aux besoins exprimés par l’utilisateur dans sa requête. Notre framework propose également plusieurs algorithmes qui identifient les causes d’échec de la requête utilisateur et les requêtes qui réussissent (c'est-à-dire, qui ont des résultats) ayant un nombre maximal de conditions de la requête initialement exprimée. Ces informations permettent à l’utilisateur de mieux comprendre pourquoi sa requête échoue et d’exécuter des requêtes qui retournent des résultats alternatifs.Enfin, notre framework propose des stratégies de relaxation qui élargissent les conditions de la requête utilisateur en s’appuyant sur les causes d’échec de celle-ci. Ces stratégies permettent de réduire le temps d’exécution du processus de relaxation par rapport à l’approche classique, qui consiste à exécuter les requêtes relaxées, en fonction de leur similarité avec la requête utilisateur, jusqu’à l’obtention d’un nombre satisfaisant de résultats alternatifs. Les contributions proposées dans ce framework ont été implémentées et validées par des scénarios et expérimentations basés sur le banc d'essai LUBM. Ils montrent l’intérêt de nos contributions par rapport à l'état de l'art. / Ontology (or Knowledge base) is a formal representation of knowledge as entities and facts related to these entities. In the past years, several ontologies have been developed in academic and industrial contexts.They are generally defined with RDF language and querying with SPARQL language. A partial knowledge of instances and schema of ontology may lead user to execute queries that result in empty answers, considered as unsatisfactory. Among cooperative querying techniques which have been developed to solve the problem of empty answers, query relaxation technique is the well-known and used. It aims at weakening the conditions expressed in the original query to return alternative answers to the user. Existing work on relaxation of SPARQL queries we suffer from many drawbacks : (1) they do not allow defining in precise way the relaxation to perform with the ability to control the relaxation process (2) they do not identify the causes of failure of the request expressed by the user and (3) they do not include interactive tools to better exploit the relaxation techniques proposed. To address these limitations, this thesis proposes an advanced framework forquery relaxation SPARQL. First, this framework includes a set of relaxation operators dedicated to SPARQLqueries, to incrementally relax specific parts of the user request while controlling the relevance of the alternative responses returned w.r.t. to the user needs expressed in his request. Our framework also provides both several algorithms that identify the causes of failure of the user query and queries that are successful with a maximum number of conditions initially expressed in the failing request. This information allows the user to better understand why his request fails and execute queries that return non-empty alternative results. Finally,our framework offers intelligent relaxation strategies that rely on the causes of query failure. Such strategies reduce the execution time of the relaxation process compared to the traditional approach, which executes relaxed requests, based on their similarity to the user request, until a number of satisfactory alternative results is obtained. All contributions proposed in this framework were implemented and validated by experiments and scenarios based on the tests bench LUBM. They show the interest of our contributions w.r.t. the state of theart.

A comparison of merger control in the EU and the USA focusing on efficiency defence and failing company defence This paper compares the interpretation of efficiency defence and failing company defence in horizontal mergers in the EU and the USA. The arguments for each were first introduced in the decisional practice of US antitrust authorities and then included in the Merger Guidelines. Over the years both types of defence have been used in US antitrust law. Harsh criticism of the prohibition of several mergers at the beginning of the 21st century led to the reform of European merger control. Among other things, the reforms introduced efficiency defence and failing company defence. Given the complexity of competition law and the many factors that influence it, several background issues must first be analyzed, such as basic economic theories of competition law, the economic grounds for mergers and the political background. After comparing the relevant written law, the case law regarding efficiency defence and failing company defence in both jurisdictions is described. In this way the developments of the doctrines are clearly visible. Subsequently the current situation is described by comparing the requirements set by written law and their interpretation by decisional practice. It was found that the...

The purpose of this study is to utilize the sensemaking perspective to increase the understanding of what makes managers consider brand extensions, and how the decision is formed throughout the sensemaking process. The study aims to add to the existing literature by providing knowledge about the largely unexamined domain of managerial practice related to brand extensions. Furthermore, this study is designed as a qualitative multiple case study on four Swedish distilleries. The data was gathered primarily through semi-structured interviews and processed using a thematic method of analysis. This study found that brand extension decisions are influenced by managers subjective interpretive frameworks and previous organizational identity constructions. Contextual factors affects managers perceived need of brand extensions following the attention to one or more cues.

This thesis sets out to study how entrepreneurial failure takes form and how entrepreneurs are affected by entrepreneurial failure. This study aims to contribute another perspective of the mindset of entrepreneurial failure to academic research. Through a qualitative method and a quantitate analysis, this study explores how failure takes form and how entrepreneurs respond to failure. This study present empirical material of failure present itself and how a larger personal investment in an entrepreneurial career affect entrepreneurs self-image. Entrepreneurs learn by direct interactions and failures are is part of an entrepreneurs learning process. The findings of this study present that entrepreneurial failure takes multiple different forms and failure within entrepreneurship presents itself when an entrepreneur has lost financial capital, clients, a larger amount of time invested in something who didn’t benefit the venture or energy. The findings in this study show how the idea of practising entrepreneurship as a lifestyle can have negative effects on entrepreneurs health and self-esteem. The analysis explains how entrepreneurs who differentiate themselves from their failures can learn from experience because they view their actions objectively.

Diploma thesis called "Typology of weak, fragile, failing, failed, collapsed states" lays the objective to look into all kinds of collapsed states, and then it wants to compare to what measurement answers the specified typological conception to the reality. In the introduction the study attends to definitions of the terms state,sovereignty and nation which are nearly connected with the issue. As well the reasons for geographical enlistment will be given at the same time. The first chapter is focused on the characteristic features of the different types of watched states. That is why the comparison of the terms is included, its objective is specification and coherence of the terminology. The next part will be engaged in the application of chosen marks to the concrete African countries. There is simultaneously offered the answer to question, in what way and to what measurement the theoretical conception differ from the real functioning. And then it is seen if the enlistment of countries agrees with their general situation, and there are eventually watched some reasons if it does not agree. The last but one chapter is focused on the critical review of the whole typology of collapsed states and it mediates a wide range of aspects and findings which are brought by the typology. The end provides some...

More than 100 landslides have been mapped along the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains. Large landslide deposits are up to 4.6 kilometers long and have an area of approximately 5-9 km². Landslide types include multiple and successive rock slumps, debris slumps and debris flows. Most landslides have a main head scarp in the Bishop Conglomerate and the large landslides have many minor scarps. Multiple slump blocks are manifest by repeated transverse ridges and trenches in the head area of some landslides. Most body and toe areas are deeply incised by gully erosion (up to 91 meters deep) and drainages are well developed with little ponding. Detailed mapping of the large landslides shows that the deposits are an accumulation of successive slope failures that have continually eroded the landscape over time. Many landslides in the area appear to be inactive and dormant but slopes may continue to fail particularly if landslides are disturbed. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to analyse slope failing factors and the main factor that seems to have contributed to slope failure is the presence of abundant shale-rich, weak bedrock capped with the thick and fairly resistant Bishop Conglomerate. Slopes are further destabilized as water percolates down through the porous Bishop Conglomerate. Eventually the water meets underlying shale-rich bedrock where it is channelled near this contact until it emerges as springs. This groundwater flow likely reduces shear strength of the shale-rich substrate and of some of the finer grained layers in the Bishop Conglomerate. Other important slope failure factors include the removal of easily erodable Mesozoic shales from beneath the more-resistant Bishop Conglomerate, headward gully erosion, bedrock dip and slope aspect.

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O problema que o presente estudo visa a esmiuçar é se a aplicação das normas de defesa da concorrência deve ou não ser flexibilizada em tempos de crises econômicas e financeiras. Mais especificamente, propõe-se a investigar se, durante crises, as autoridades concorrenciais devem ou não adotar uma abordagem mais leniente com relação aos princípios tradicionais e fundamentais do antitruste, (i) aprovando concentrações excessivas a partir de uma aplicação leniente da Failing Firm Defense, e/ou (ii) permitindo a coordenação de agentes econômicos mediante a formação de acordos colusivos sob os argumentos dos cartéis de crise. O Capítulo 1 apresenta uma breve descrição acerca da evolução do Direito Concorrencial nos Estados Unidos, União Europeia e Brasil, de forma a se verificar que a política antitruste é influenciada pelas condições econômicas vigentes em cada país. Ademais, tal discussão serve para contextualizar a análise conduzida ao longo do trabalho. Posteriormente, fez-se imprescindível entender o que são as crises econômicas e financeiras, buscando-se definições doutrinárias e mostrar que tais fenômenos ocorrem frequentemente no capitalismo. Finaliza-se tal capítulo com uma sucinta análise de duas das principais crises da história do capitalismo moderno, é saber, a Crise de 1929 e a recente crise do sub-prime. Já o Capítulo 3 trata efetivamente da relação entre o Direito Concorrencial e as crises econômicas e financeiras, tendo-se analisado a suspensão do antitruste nos Estados Unidos após a Crise de 1929, e investigado, por meio da análise de doutrina, legislação e jurisprudência estrangeiras, a necessidade ou não de se suavizar a aplicação das normas de defesa da concorrência em tempos de crise econômica, tanto no que diz respeito ao controle de estruturas, como ao controle de condutas. O Capítulo 4 destina-se a tratar da realidade brasileira, verificando, diante dos resultados encontrados ao longo do estudo, bem como das particularidades do ordenamento jurídico pátrio e da jurisprudência dos órgãos de defesa da concorrência, em que medida os resultados encontrados se aplicam no Brasil. Por fim, apresentam-se as conclusões. / The purpose of this dissertation is to assess whether antitrust enforcement should be mitigated in times of economic and financial crisis. Specifically, it is investigated if, during crisis, competition authorities should adopt a more lenient approach regarding the traditional and fundamental principles of Antitrust Law by (i) approving problematic mergers by softening the Failing Firm Defense criteria, and/or (ii) allowing competitors to coordinate their activities through collusive agreements under the arguments of crisis cartels. Chapter 1 provides a brief description about the development of Competition Law in the United States, European Union and Brazil. The purpose of such analysis is to verify that antitrust policy is influenced by the economic conditions in force in each country. Besides, the discussion is useful to contextualize further analysis carried out throughout the dissertation. After that, it was indispensable to understand what are economic and financial crisis and to show that such situations occur frequently in a capitalist economy. This chapter is concluded with a brief analysis of two of the main crisis in the history of modern capitalism: the Crash of 1929 and the recent subprime crisis. Chapter 3 address the relationship between Antitrust Law and economic and financial crisis. Firstly, the American experience of suspending Competition Law after the 1929 Crash was analyzed. Additionally, the dissertation reviewed theoretical arguments and foreign laws and case law in order to assess whether antitrust (merger control and fight against anticompetitive practices) should be mitigated in times of economic and financial crisis. Chapter 4 deals with the Brazilian reality, assessing if the results found throughout the dissertation are applicable, considering the peculiarities of the national legislation and the case law of the Brazilian antitrust authorities. At the end, the conclusions are presented.

Between 2007 and 2009, taxpayers paid $700 billion to bail out failing U.S. banks. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that leaders of a successful U.S. bank used to identify efficiency changes occurring during the financial crisis. The target population of this study included 6 bank leaders located in San Bernardino, California, who occupied a managerial role in a successful U.S. bank during a financial crisis, had experience with the efficiency changes that occurred during a financial crisis, and developed and implemented strategies to identify efficiency changes that took place during a financial crisis. The conceptual framework for this study was the theory of economic efficiency. Data consisted of semistructured interviews, annual fiscal reports, and proxy statements. All interpretations of the data were subjected to member checking to ensure trustworthiness of interpretations. Yin's method of qualitative data analysis was adopted, which consisted of five sequential steps: compiling the data, disassembling the data, reassembling the data, interpreting the meaning of the data, and drawing conclusions from the data. Based on the methodological triangulation of the data collected, 3 of the main themes that emerged were management strategies, application of digital technology, and growth maximization and risky loan elimination. The implications for positive social change include the potential to avoid bank failures in the future, resulting in a stronger and more robust economy, thus sparing taxpayers the burden of bailing out failing banks.

O problema que o presente estudo visa a esmiuçar é se a aplicação das normas de defesa da concorrência deve ou não ser flexibilizada em tempos de crises econômicas e financeiras. Mais especificamente, propõe-se a investigar se, durante crises, as autoridades concorrenciais devem ou não adotar uma abordagem mais leniente com relação aos princípios tradicionais e fundamentais do antitruste, (i) aprovando concentrações excessivas a partir de uma aplicação leniente da Failing Firm Defense, e/ou (ii) permitindo a coordenação de agentes econômicos mediante a formação de acordos colusivos sob os argumentos dos cartéis de crise. O Capítulo 1 apresenta uma breve descrição acerca da evolução do Direito Concorrencial nos Estados Unidos, União Europeia e Brasil, de forma a se verificar que a política antitruste é influenciada pelas condições econômicas vigentes em cada país. Ademais, tal discussão serve para contextualizar a análise conduzida ao longo do trabalho. Posteriormente, fez-se imprescindível entender o que são as crises econômicas e financeiras, buscando-se definições doutrinárias e mostrar que tais fenômenos ocorrem frequentemente no capitalismo. Finaliza-se tal capítulo com uma sucinta análise de duas das principais crises da história do capitalismo moderno, é saber, a Crise de 1929 e a recente crise do sub-prime. Já o Capítulo 3 trata efetivamente da relação entre o Direito Concorrencial e as crises econômicas e financeiras, tendo-se analisado a suspensão do antitruste nos Estados Unidos após a Crise de 1929, e investigado, por meio da análise de doutrina, legislação e jurisprudência estrangeiras, a necessidade ou não de se suavizar a aplicação das normas de defesa da concorrência em tempos de crise econômica, tanto no que diz respeito ao controle de estruturas, como ao controle de condutas. O Capítulo 4 destina-se a tratar da realidade brasileira, verificando, diante dos resultados encontrados ao longo do estudo, bem como das particularidades do ordenamento jurídico pátrio e da jurisprudência dos órgãos de defesa da concorrência, em que medida os resultados encontrados se aplicam no Brasil. Por fim, apresentam-se as conclusões. / The purpose of this dissertation is to assess whether antitrust enforcement should be mitigated in times of economic and financial crisis. Specifically, it is investigated if, during crisis, competition authorities should adopt a more lenient approach regarding the traditional and fundamental principles of Antitrust Law by (i) approving problematic mergers by softening the Failing Firm Defense criteria, and/or (ii) allowing competitors to coordinate their activities through collusive agreements under the arguments of crisis cartels. Chapter 1 provides a brief description about the development of Competition Law in the United States, European Union and Brazil. The purpose of such analysis is to verify that antitrust policy is influenced by the economic conditions in force in each country. Besides, the discussion is useful to contextualize further analysis carried out throughout the dissertation. After that, it was indispensable to understand what are economic and financial crisis and to show that such situations occur frequently in a capitalist economy. This chapter is concluded with a brief analysis of two of the main crisis in the history of modern capitalism: the Crash of 1929 and the recent subprime crisis. Chapter 3 address the relationship between Antitrust Law and economic and financial crisis. Firstly, the American experience of suspending Competition Law after the 1929 Crash was analyzed. Additionally, the dissertation reviewed theoretical arguments and foreign laws and case law in order to assess whether antitrust (merger control and fight against anticompetitive practices) should be mitigated in times of economic and financial crisis. Chapter 4 deals with the Brazilian reality, assessing if the results found throughout the dissertation are applicable, considering the peculiarities of the national legislation and the case law of the Brazilian antitrust authorities. At the end, the conclusions are presented.