Dans ce travail de thèse, nous examinons les principaux facteurs affectant la transparence d'un schéma de téléopération dans le contexte de la robotique médicale.Afin de déterminer ces facteurs, une analyse approfondie de l'état de l'art a été réalisée ce qui a permis de proposer une nouvelle classification de schémas de téléopération avec retour haptique.Le rôle de ces principaux facteurs a été analysé.Ces facteurs sont liés à l'architecture de commande appliquée, aux perturbations provoquées par les mouvements physiologiques des tissus manipulés ainsi qu'à la précision du modèle d'interaction robot-tissue.Les performances du schéma de téléopération à architecture 3-canaux ont été analysées en simulation pour choisir une architecture de commande dédiée aux applications médicales.Ensuite, l'influence des mouvements physiologiques de l'environnement manipulé sur la transparence du système a été analysée et un nouveau modèle d'interaction avec des tissus mous a été proposé.Un schéma de commande de téléopération basé modèle d'interaction a été proposé en se basant sur une analyse de passivité du port d'interaction robot-environnement.Enfin, l'importance de la précision du modèle d'interaction (robot-tissue) sur la transparence du schéma de téléopération avec retour d'effort basé-modèle a été analysée.Cette analyse a été validée en théorie et expérimentalement en implémentant le modèle Hunt-Crossly dans une commande utilisant un AOB pour réaliser une téléopération avec retour haptique.En conclusion de ce travail, les résultats de cette thèse ont été discutés et les perspectives futures ont également été proposées. / This thesis investigates the major factors affecting teleoperation transparency in medical context.A wide state of art survey is carried out and a new point of view to classify haptic teleoperation literature is proposed in order to extract the decisive factors providing a transparent teleoperation.Furthermore, the roles of three aspects have been analysed.First, The role of the applied control architecture.To this aim, the performances of 3-channel teleoperation are analysed and guidelines to select a suitable control architecture for medical applications are proposed.The validation of these guidelines is illustrated through simulations.Second, the effects of motion disturbance in the manipulated environment on telepresence are analysed.Consequently, a new model of such moving environment is proposed and the applicability of the proposed model is shown through interaction port passivity investigation.Third analysed factor is the role of the interaction model accuracy on the transparency of interaction control based haptic teleoperation.This analysis is performed theoretically and experimentally by the design and implementation of Hunt-Crossly in AOB interaction control haptic teleoperation.The results are discussed and the future perspectives are proposed.

O presente trabalho busca verificar qual a influência da tributação sobre os incentivos dos sistemas de remuneração e se o efeito da tributação e de incentivos diferencia-se entre níveis hierárquicos. A literatura de teoria de agência sugere que maior ênfase nos propósitos de incentivo da remuneração culminará em maior proporção de pagamentos via bônus anuais. A consulta da legislação tributária, por sua vez, cria a expectativa de que a priorização de propósitos tributários na determinação das formas de remuneração refletirá em maior proporção de participação nos lucros. Essa ordenação diferenciada é adequada a perspectiva da teoria do trade-off, que argumenta que a ênfase em um fator gera um efeito inverso em outro, e que diante disso, as organizações procuram equilibrar as dimensões consideradas. Além disso, é esperado que, em função de mais níveis de monitoramento e também em função da menor precisão de opções de ações para níveis hierárquicos mais baixos, apresente-se ênfase em propósitos de incentivo na remuneração executiva enquanto se priorize propósitos tributários na remuneração de média gerência. Para a análise empírica destas relações, os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário enviado para as empresas que publicaram balanços no ano de 2012 e participaram da base da Revista Exame, Melhores e Maiores, bem como, numa segunda análise empírica, coletou-se dados disponíveis no relatório de referência, disponibilizado pela Comissão de Valores Mobiliários. A principal expectativa do trabalho é de que efeitos tributários sejam importantes na determinação da forma como se dá a remuneração, principalmente no que tange a escolha pela Participação nos Lucros ou Resultados. Os resultados suportam essa expectativa. Quanto a importância de incentivo, identificou-se que todas as formas de remuneração citadas são usadas com esse propósito, no entanto, participação nos Lucros ou Resultados foi a que apresentou um efeito significativamente inferior às demais. Já em relação ao efeito tributário, a hipótese é confirmada, sugerindo a ênfase no uso de Participação nos Lucros ou Resultados. Além disso, especificamente em relação a Participação nos Lucros ou Resultados, verificou-se uma interação significante entre incentivos e tributação o que sugere a existência de um trade-off na escolha entre esses propósitos, ou seja, ao priorizar o propósito tributário está-se sacrificando o propósito de incentivo, em relação a Participação no Lucros ou Resultados. No que se refere a diferenças quanto a níveis hierárquicos, não foram identificados resultados significantes. / This study seeks to evidence the influence of tax considerations on incentives in compensation systems, as well as establish whether tax and incentive effects differ across the organization\'s structure. Agency theory literature suggests that a greater emphasis on incentive purposes leads to a higher proportion of annual bonuses in compensation packages. Tax legislation, on the other hand, presents the expectation that a prioritization of tax purposes will be reflected in a greater proportion of profit and gain sharing when determining compensation packages. These differing orders are congruent with the perspective based in trade-off theory, which posits that a greater emphasis on one factor creates an opposite effect on another, and in light of this, companies seek to set a balance between various items under consideration. Beside this, an emphasis on incentive-based goals is expected in executive compensation when tax considerations take precedence over that of middle management, as a result of increased supervision and the lesser need for stock options at lower levels of the organization\'s structure. In order to analyze these relationships, empirical data were gathered using a questionnaire submitted to the companies that both reported balance sheets in 2012 and participated in the Biggest and Best (Melhores e Maiores) ranking published by Exame magazine in 2013, following which data were also gathered from the companies\' reference forms for a secondary empirical analysis, as provided by the CVM (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários). The main expectation of this study is that tax effects are significant in the determination of how compensation is structured, particularly in respect to the decision to use Profit and Gain Sharing. The results support this claim. Regarding the importance of incentives, it was shown that all of the types of compensation in question are used pursuing this aim; however, profit and gain sharing displayed a significantly lesser effect than the others. Concerning tax effects, the hypothesis is confirmed, suggesting more intense use of Profit and Gain Sharing. Further, and in relation to Profit and Gain Sharing specifically, a significant interaction between incentive and tax considerations was shown, suggesting the existence of a trade-off inherent to the selection of the same, or rather, when tax considerations take priority, incentives purposes are sacrificed in the case of Profit and Gain Sharing. No significant results were established regarding differences across the organization structure.

Previous literature have documented that the independent directors play a crucial goal in corporate governance but the research on the firm value and board independence remains inconclusive. In my dissertation, I examine the impact of independent directors' geographic proximity to corporate headquarters on the effectiveness of corporate boards and the motivations of board directors. Using a large sample of directors trading, I show that independent directors who live close to headquarters ("local director") earn higher abnormal returns on their trades than other directors, and that this advantage is stronger in small firms. Further, I find an inverse relationship between the number of local independent directors on the board and firm value. Companies with fewer local independent directors also have higher ROA ratios, lower abnormal CEO compensations, and higher CEO incentive compensations. Collectively, the findings suggest that local independent directors are more informed but less effective monitors. I also provided evidence that firms with a higher proportion of directors' incentive compensation are more likely to manage earnings. Directors are more likely to exercise options in the year following the firms' earnings management being in the top tercile of the sample. The results are robust after controlling for self-selection bias. Taken together, the evidence suggests that director incentive pay is more likely to align directors' interest with the CEO's, rather than to induce the directors to act in the best interest of the shareholders.

L’objectif général de ce travail de thèse était d’étudier l’impact des ressources antérieures des individus sur la compensation mnésique perçue (étude 1 et étude 2) ainsi que sur la compensation mnésique externe objective (étude 3). Afin d’opérationnaliser l’évaluation des stratégies de compensation mnésique perçues, l’étude 1 concernait la validation française et la normalisation du memory Compensation Questionnaire (F-MCQ) sur 749 personnes âgées de 18 ans à 92 ans. Afin d’adapter cet outil à différents contextes, nous avons procédé à la construction de sa version brève (BF-MCQ) ainsi qu’à sa validation sur 260 personnes âgées de 50 ans à 85 ans dans l’étude 2. Les résultats de ces deux travaux montrent une validité interne satisfaisante pour ces deux échelles, et la normalisation rend compte d’un effet de l’âge et du genre sur la perception des stratégies de compensation mnésique qu’un individu pense utiliser au quotidien. La validité externe des deux échelles met en évidence des liens entre le stress, l’efficacité mnésique et la personnalité avec les cinq stratégies de compensation mesurées par ces outils. Notre troisième étude a testé a) l’impact du trait de personnalité « Ouverture aux expériences » et des processus contrôlés dans l’utilisation d’une aide externe et dans son efficacité en situation de rappel prospectif chez 80 personnes âgées de 50 ans à 92 ans et b) le lien entre les observations comportementales des participants et leur propre perception de fonctionnement durant l’expérience. Les résultats montrent que seuls les processus contrôlés sont impliqués dans la mobilisation des stratégies externes et dans leur efficacité. Bien que les personnes âgées déclarent utiliser les aides externes quotidiennement et fréquemment dans le French Memory Compensation Questionnaire, nous n’avons pas retrouvé ce comportement de manière significative en situation. Au final, ces trois études nous permettent de considérer la compensation mnésique externe comme un processus qui dépend de l’auto-initiation des ressources cognitives, et de mettre en évidence l’impact de différents facteurs affectifs et psychosociaux dans la perception que les individus ont de leur mode compensatoire quotidien. / The general objective of this thesis was to study the impact of past resources of individuals on perceived memory compensation (Study 1 and Study 2) and on objective external memory compensation (Study 3). In order to operationalize the evaluation of perceived memory compensation strategies, Study 1 involved the French validation and normalization of the Memory Compensation Questionnaire (F-MCQ) of 749 participants aged from 18 to 92 years. In order to adapt this tool to different contexts, we created a shorter version (BF-MCQ) and conducted his validation on 260 participants aged from 50 years to 85 years in study 2. The results of these two works show a satisfactory internal validity for these two scales, and normalization reports an effect of age and gender on the perception of memory compensation strategies that an individual thinks that he use in everyday life. The external validity of these two scales showed the links between stress, self-memory efficiency and personality with the five compensation strategies measured by these tools. Our third study tested a) the impact of the personality trait "Openness" and of controlled processes on the use of external aid and on its effectiveness in prospective recall situation with 80 participants aged from 50 to 92 years and b) the link between behavioral observations of participants and their own perception of behavior during the experiment. The results show that only the controlled processes are involved in the mobilization of external strategies and in their effectiveness. Although seniors reported using external aids daily and frequently in the French Memory Compensation Questionnaire, we did not find this behavior to occur significantly in situation. In the end, these three studies allow us to consider the external memory compensation as a process that depends on self-initiation of cognitive resources, and to highlight the impact of various emotional and psycho affective factors in the perception that individuals have about their daily compensatory mode.

La thérapie par ultrasons focalisés de haute intensité (HIFU) est une méthode non invasive et non ionisante pour l’ablation des tumeurs solides. Cependant, le mouvement des organes intra-abdominaux, dû principalement à la respiration, empêche les ultrasons de cibler correctement la tumeur. Dans ce contexte, un système HIFU robotisé tout-en-un qui compense le mouvement en temps réel pendant le traitement par HIFU a été développé. À cet effet, un système d’asservissement ultrasonore fonctionnant à une fréquence de 20 Hz, basé sur une méthode rapide de suivi du speckle ultrasonore pour l’estimation du mouvement, a été conçu. Il utilise une séquence d’alternance imagerie/exposition HIFU, dont le rapport cyclique est de 80 %, afin d’éviter les interférences d’ondes. Le système HIFU robotisé a été testé sur un fantôme imitant les tissus soumis à des mouvements sinusoïdaux 1D et 2D. Il en résulte une réduction de mouvement de plus de 80 % en 1D pour une fréquence de 0,25 Hz et de 90 % en 2D pour une fréquence de 0,1 Hz. Toutefois, il n' a pas pu être observé un effet significatif de la compensation du mouvement sur les lésions induites par HIFU. / High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) therapy is a non-invasive and non-ionizing method for ablation of solid tumors. However, intra-abdominal organ motion, mainly due to breathing, is a major hurdle for proper targeting of the tumor. In this context, an all-in-one HIFU robotized system with motion compensation in real-time during HIFU treatment was developed. To this aim, an ultrasound visual servoing working at a frequency of 20 Hz, relying on a fast ultrasonic speckle tracking method for motion estimation, was designed. It uses an interleaved imaging/HIFU sonication sequence, with duty cycle of 80 %, in order to avoid wave interferences. The robotized HIFU system was tested on a tissue mimicking phantom undergoing a 1D and a 2D sinusoidal motion. As a result, motion reduction of more than 80 % in 1D for a frequency of 0.25 Hz and more than 90 % in 2D for a frequency of 0.1 Hz was obtained. However, it couldn't be observed a significant effect of motion compensation on the lesions induced by HIFU.

In mid-1987, the existing workers’ compensation system in New South Wales was replaced by a new Scheme, called ‘WorkCover’. While WorkCover solved a number of the financial problems that had plagued its predecessor, its enactment created other issues. Furthermore, WorkCover has failed to deal with a number of gaps in providing compensation for occupational injuries, most notably those suffered by independent contractors. By combining a study of aspects of industrial law and industrial relations, this thesis will examine some of those problems and gaps, in particular: (a) Should WorkCover be amended to enable independent contractors to come within its ambit? (b) Should there be additional insurance cover available (known as ‘top-up’ insurance) to insure those parts of workers’ wages presently left unprotected by WorkCover? (c) Should workers be permitted to take out another form of ‘top-up’ insurance to increase the quantum of death cover presently provided by the Scheme? (d) Should independent contractors who arc permitted to enter WorkCover also be permitted to obtain the extended cover set out in (b) and (c) above? Where appropriate, the thesis compares WorkCover to the workers’ compensation schemes in other Australian jurisdictions. It develops each of the matters referred to above by referring to the results of the writer’s survey of members of the Institution of Engineers (NSW Branch) which was conducted in May and June 1991.

Notion de revenu et de perte Compensation des pertes et annualité de l'impôt Compensation des pertes et territorialité de l'impôt Analyse comparative des législations belge, française et néerlandaise Notion of income and loss Loss compensation and principle of annuality Loss compensation and territoriality Comparative analysis of the Belgian, French and Dutch tax legislations

The compensation of CEO’s has been at the forefront of the public’s mind for the past few years. During the recession, one could not go a day without hearing about the atrocious salaries and bonuses that executives were being paid. Although it only recently became an explosive topic, academics have been researching all aspects of compensation for many years. One of the earliest looked at the idea of pay for performance (Jensen and Murphy 1990), and the field has taken off from there. Many studies have been done on the determinants of compensation, and I was interested in how age relates to compensation. I created a model for determining compensation, but also took it one step further and looked at the compensation structure across different industries as well. I found that age did indeed influence compensation levels, but that it only had some effect on pay structure and only in certain industries.

This thesis examines firm performance through the dot-com bubble through the lens of executive compensation. Hypotheses based on the theoretical literature of Bolton, Scheinkman and Xiong (2006) as well as Bertrand and Mullainathan (2001) in regards to management compensation in a speculative bubble motivate three regression models with differing market-cap-growth based dependent variables and specific compensation variables. Regression analyses test the models using public compensation and security data from S&P's Execucomp and Compustat databases. Synthesizing regression results show that stock option vesting schedules and executives' status on the board of directors may significantly affect firm performance through the dot-com bubble, but more analysis, using more robust data, is necessary to verify either claim.

This thesis focuses on the design of a foveated stereo video compression algorithm for visual telepresence applications. In a typical telepresence application, a user at the local site views real-time stereo video recorded and transmitted from a robotic camera platform located at a remote site. The robotic camera platform tracks the user's head motion producing the sensation of being present at the remote site. The design of the stereo video compression algorithm revolved around a fast spatio-temporal block-based motion estimation algorithm, with a foveated SPIHT algorithm used to compress and foveate the independent frames and error residues. Also, the redundancy between the left and right video streams was exploited by disparity compensation. Finally, position feedback from the robotic camera platform was used to perform global motion compensation, increasing the compression performance without raising computation requirements. The algorithm was analysed by introducing the above mentioned components separately. It was found that each component increased the compression rate significantly, producing compressed video with similar compression and quality as MPEG2. The implementation of the algorithm did not meet the real-time requirements on the experiment computers. However, the algorithm does not contain any intrinsic delays. Therefore, given faster processors or optimized software implementation, the design should be able to run in real-time.