• Canada
• Publicationsclose
• Thesis close
• FR close
• DE close
• NZ close
• MY close

“Cinderella’s Slippers” revisits the argument that Charles Perrault, the first writer to publish Cinderella in print form in 1697, allegedly mistranslated the tale, which was relayed to him in French, mistaking Vair (fur) for Verre (glass). The essay inserts a feminist critique of the glass slippers by demonstrating tones of implicit misogyny and making observations that link Perrault’s deliberate adaptation with the cultural and architectural history of Seventeenth century France. It also explores the metaphoric symbolism of fur and glass connecting them with Friedrich Nietzsche’s dichotomy of the Dionysian and the Apollonian. --and-- “Performance Art” explores the notion that the smells used by artists in works of live Performance Art create shifts in consciousness for viewers and practitioners. The essay also addresses smell as a primal sense that evokes “feminine” or Dionysian perceptions of reality, a trigger of involuntary memory, and a device for social critique.

The exchange stiffness, Aex, is one of the key parameters controlling magnetization reversal in magnetic materials but is very difficult to measure, especially in thin films. We developed a new technique for measuring the exchange stiffness of a magnetic material based on the formation of a spin spiral within two antiferromagnetically coupled ferromagnetic films [1]. Using this method, I was able to measure the exchange stiffness of thin film Co alloyed with Cr, Fe, Ni, Pd, Pt and Ru. The results of this work showed that the rate at which a substituent element reduces the exchange stiffness is not directly related to its effect on the magnetization of the alloy. These measured trends have been understood by combining measurements of element specific magnetic moments obtained using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and material specific modeling based on density functional theory (DFT) within the local density approximation (LDA). The experimental results also hint at significant reduction of the exchange stiffness at the interface that can account for the difference between our results and those obtained on bulk materials.

The chalcogen deep double donor sulfur (S) in natural silicon (nat-Si) has been studied extensively with optical methods in the past. Recently it was shown that the spectroscopic linewidth of shallow impurity absorption transitions is limited by inhomogeneous broadening due to a silicon isotope effect which is removed by the use of highly enriched 28-Si. In this work we extend these results to deep centers. Several different samples were prepared, allowing for a systematic identification of isotope effects. The observed isotope effects include the elimination of inhomogeneous broadening, energy shifts and the removal of satellite peaks. The S+ 1s(T2) transition exhibits a FWHM of only 0.008 1/cm for the Gamma-7 component, more than one order of magnitude sharper than in nat-Si and less than a quarter the width of the sharpest phosphorous transition in 28-Si. Hence it is the narrowest line ever seen for impurity states in silicon.

In this thesis we develop the theory of quantum Wiener integrals on the bosonic Fock space. We study multiple quantum Wiener integrals as an algebra of unbounded operators, investigating its properties, including closedness, common domains and multiplication formulas. We show the applications of the new formalism by providing new proofs to the established theory of quantum stochastic calculus and new conditions for generating quantum stochastic cocycles and quantum stochastic evolutions. The corresponding quasifree case is also studied and the constructions extended to fit in that formalism. We construct the multiple quantum Wiener integral as one operator on a family of operators which we dub operator kernels. This in particular covers the case of quantum stochastic cocycles and evolutions. We show that the family of quantum Wiener integrals forms a WOT-dense algebra of unbounded operators on the bosonic Fock space. We provide more general conditions for an operator kernel to be multiple quantum Wiener integrable, which allows us to treat multiple quantum Wiener integrals as an algebra. We explore the influence of an initial space on the theory. Our setting gives natural conditions for a product of two cocycles (evolutions) to still be a cocycle (an evolution). We apply our theory by solving quantum stochastic differential equations (QSDEs) and by finding more elementary proofs of structure conditions on the generator of a quantum stochastic evolution and of the fundamental estimate in the proof of quantum stochastic Lie–Trotter formula. We also show how our theory unifies and generalises the theory of integral kernels and chaotic representation properties, proving in particular that every Hilbert–Schmidt operator is a quantum Wiener integral.

Verbal memory, verbal working memory, processing speed and visual attention have been reported to be enhanced in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, as compared with the menstrual phase. However, many women report diminished cognitive abilities in the luteal phase, as compared with other phases of the menstrual cycle. This study attempted to examine the nature of the apparent discrepancy between cognitive functioning and self reported cognitive efficacy. Participants completed a battery of neuropsychological measures in each phase of the menstrual cycle and were asked to rate their perceived efficacy, both before and after performing each task. Male participants were included as a control group. Accuracy of perceived efficacy was calculated as the difference between efficacy ratings and actual performance. Results failed to replicate findings of cognitive facilitation in the luteal phase, and failed to find reliable differences in pre or postdiction accuracy between phase or sex.

In recent years, aircraft manufacturers have been making progress in the design of more efficient aircrafts to reduce the environmental footprint. To attain this target, aircrafts manufactures work on the replacement of the hydraulic and bleed systems for electrical systems leading to a “More Electrical Aircraft”. However, the expected mass gain is a challenge, as previous technologies have been developed and optimized for decades. The new electrical solutions need to be look into detail to be competitive with previous technologies. All degrees of freedom must be considered, that is, new technologies and architectures. In particular, an HVDC network that reduces the number of rectifier stages seems a promising solution. From the HVDC network, the different three phase AC loads will be supplied by a series of power generic inverters. As the power consumption of the different loads change during the flight mission, the same inverter is used to supply different loads. The connection between the inverters and the loads is managed by a matrix of contactors. The proposed solution also considers redundant configurations, thus increasing system robustness. The design of the innovative system is presented in this document. That is, determining the optimal trade-off between the number of power inverters and the nominal power of each generic inverter that will also impact the size of the matrix of contactors. However, to assess the combinatory problem, the mass of the different components as a function of the nominal power needs to be calculated. A design environment is therefore created to perform automatic and optimized design of power converters. The different components are described using a “direct modelling” approach and coded using “object-oriented” programming. The components are validated experimentally or by numerical simulations. The different models are coupled to an optimization environment and to a frequency solver allowing a fast calculation of the steady-state waveforms. The optimization environment performs the precise design of the different parts of the power inverter: heatsink, power module, DC filter and coupling inductor. The power inverter is designed for different values of nominal power and switching frequency. The optimization assesses as well the usage of different technologies. Finally, the results are used to determine the optimal trade-off between the number of inverters and the nominal power of each inverter using a heuristic algorithm.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude des processus stochastiques décentralisés. Parmi les exemples typiques de ces processus figurent la dynamique météorologique, la circulation automobile, la façon dont nous rencontrons nos amis, etc. Dans cette thèse, nous exploitons une large palette d'outils probabilistes permettant d'analyser des chaînes de Markov afin d'étudier un large éventail de ces processus distribués : modèle des feux de forêt (réseaux sociaux), balls-into-bins avec suppression, et des dynamiques et protocoles de consensus fondamentaux tels que Voter Model, 2-Choices, et 3-Majority. This thesis is devoted to the study of stochastic decentralized processes. Typical examples in the real world include the dynamics of weather and temperature, of traffic, the way we meet our friends, etc. We take the rich tool set from probability theoryfor the analysis of Markov Chains and employ it to study a wide range of such distributed processes: Forest Fire Model (social networks), Balls-into-Bins with Deleting Bins, and fundamental consensus dynamics and protocols such as the Voter Model, 2-Choices, and 3-Majority.

This thesis considers the character and development of clerical social criticism in England between c.1540 and c.1640. It draws principally on a number of sermons and treatises that offered critiques of the prevailing structures of wealth and power or exhortations to the fulfilment of charitable obligation. The paradigm through which these texts were constructed was that of ‘complaint’, a genre that was particularly vibrant in medieval discourse and in the sermons and ‘commonwealth’ tracts of the 1540s. It will be argued that rather than eschewing this tradition, late sixteenth-century preachers appropriated and refashioned its structures, themes and authorial positioning in response to far reaching economic, social and religious change.\ud \ud Particular aspects of socio-economic change, and of their effects on the clergy in particular, are examined in the introduction. Among the themes that are particularly germane to this thesis are the history of the enclosure movement; increasing commercialisation; and changing attitudes towards the poor. The first chapter assembles a number of printed texts in order to re-examine the trajectory of clerical complaint literature in the context of these developments. The second chapter considers the potential for social and political criticism in sermons preached at the county assizes, a sub-genre of ‘occasional’ sermons that until recently has received little attention from literary scholars or historians. The latter half of the thesis offers three case studies of selected sermons by three different authors. The intention of these chapters is primarily to examine the interaction between a text and its particular local context, although attention is also paid to broader social, political and discursive developments that help shed light on the historical meaning of these sermons.\ud \ud It is thus hoped that this study will contribute particularly to the ongoing interdisciplinary work of ‘contextualising’ the early modern English sermon and of reconstructing the role and status of the parish minister. Rather than a ‘voice in the wilderness’, it is concluded, the clerical moralist was an active agent in the discursive interpretation of economic change, and in the fashioning and communication of the reputation of powerful individuals.

Data are everywhere. Voluntarily or not, they are given by the user to different companies or institutions. Improvement in computing power allows now to use more efficiently these huge quantities of data. It stimulated the creation of different applications and one of them is related to healthcare technologies and well-being. This habilitation describes the work that have been done these last years on human behavior analysis and activity recognition, from different sensors, to propose applications such as rehabilitation, health and well-being evaluation, profiling of person to adapt the automation of the environment, and also activity estimation from smartphone and video sensors. Organized in three different parts, this habilitation focuses first on the analysis of automation of the human body and the measurement of some movements. With this, solutions allowing the evaluation of the person and offering real-time feedbacks (to correct a posture or a movement) are drawn. The second part focuses on the recognition of the person and of his actions, with application for instance to early recognition of actions. In this part are investigated incremental and on-line classification techniques to improve the recognition rates but also to reduce the constraints in learning stage. Finally, the last part presents the recognition of activities in smart homes, with a final application to create user profiles in automated habitations.; Les données sont de nos jours présentes partout, qu’elles soient volontairement ou invo- lontairement cédées par un utilisateur. L’augmentation des puissances de calcul permet de traiter ces données plus en profondeur et plus efficacement, ce qui a poussé différentes applications à utiliser fortement le traitement de données pour offrir un service plus important aux usagers. Parmi les utilisations de ces données, les technologies pour la santé et le bien-être sont une thématique qui se développe de plus en plus ces dernières années et qui est un champ de recherche actif. Cette habilitation décrit dix années de recherche sur l’analyse de comportement et d’activité d’une personne, à partir de différents capteurs, afin de proposer des applications allant de l’aide à la rééducation ou l’évaluation de la santé d’une personne, à l’adaptation des automatismes dans un habitat en fonction de la volonté de l’habitant, en passant par la reconnaissance d’activités par smartphone ou par caméra vidéo. Organi- sés en trois parties, ces travaux se concentrent d’abord sur l’analyse des automatismes de la personne et la mesure de certains de ses mouvements. Avec ceci, des solutions permettant l’évaluation de la personne ou permettant de faire un retour sensoriel à celle-ci (afin de lui permettre de se corriger) se dessinent. La seconde partie se concentre sur la recon- naissance de la personne et de ses actions, avec des applications notamment sur la reconnaissance précoce d’actions. Dans cette partie sont également investiguées des techniques de classification incrémentales et en ligne afin d’améliorer les taux de reconnaissance et les contraintes d’apprentissages. Enfin, la dernière partie présente la reconnaissance d’activités dans un habitat intelligent, avec comme application finale la possibilité de créer des profils utilisateurs dans ces habitats.

Routine farm management can involve painful and stressful procedures that cause negative affective states and may have long-lasting consequences. Despite a growing interest in animal welfare and affective states, few studies have explored whether housing conditions and routine farm procedures induce long-lasting negative affective states such as negative mood. The first aim of this thesis was to develop methodologies to explore whether dairy cattle show evidence of negative mood in response to common stressful conditions. For this, I first used an adapted judgment bias test to assess changes in mood following hot-iron disbudding. My results suggested that calves experience anhedonia (i.e. the reduced ability to experience pleasure) after hot-iron disbudding. Thus, I designed tests aiming to assess whether calves display anhedonia-like responses after experiencing hot-iron disbudding, regrouping and post-partum stressors including cow-calf separation. My results showed that cattle display signs of negative mood (i.e. negative judgment bias and anhedonia) in response to stressful routine farm procedures. The second aim of this thesis was to explore why individuals show strong variation in how they cope with stressors. For instance, I explored whether individual variation in expectations would predict higher vulnerability to stressors. Negative expectations (i.e. pessimism) may lead to negative perceptions, stronger responses, poor coping strategies (avoidance-based coping strategies), and poor recovery from stressors. My results show that stable differences in pessimism exist in non-weaned dairy calves and that more pessimistic animals perceive and respond more negatively to stressors. I conclude that the study of mood-related changes and individual differences help better understand how living conditions affect farm animal welfare.