Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Border points'

Most widely accepted measures of performance for learning algorithms, such as accuracy and area under the ROC curve, provide information about behavior at the data set level. They say nothing about which instances are misclassified, whether two learning algorithms with the same classification accuracy on a data set misclassify the same instances, or whether there are instances misclassified by all learning algorithms. These questions about behavior at the instance level motivate our empirical analysis of instance hardness, a measure of expected classification accuracy for an instance. We analyze the classification of 57 data sets using 9 learning algorithms. Of the over 175000 instances investigated, 5% are misclassified by all 9 of the considered learning algorithms, and 15% are misclassified by at least half. We find that the major cause of misclassification for hard instances is class overlap, manifested as outliers and border points which can be exacerbated by class skew. We analyze these causes and show to what extent each leads to misclassifications, both in isolation and jointly. 19.8% of all misclassified instances are outliers; 71.3% are border points; 21% belong to a minority class. We also find that 91.6% of all outliers and 38.3% of all border points are misclassified whereas only 3.5% of instances without class overlap are misclassified. We propose a set of heuristics to predict when an instance will be hard to correctly classify. Additionally, we analyze how different learning algorithms perform on tasks with varying degrees of outliers, border points and class skew.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2013.
Page 82 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 79).
A border could be a physical obstacle but beyond it physicality-it could also impact culture, politics, economic and environment. Our issues that we are facing today and in the near future requires us to draw a new non geopolitical map without borders for our planet to address our challenges more effectively. Being adoptable and flexible is one of the solutions or at least a condition where we could discuss and resolve differences. This project on its path is criticizing UN's inflexible Architecture; it's Urbanity and argues that the function, form and place could impact the decision making process. To have this concept more appealing to nations to participate in its creation we need environments where no nation has authority over them. International Water is that environment for this Utopian idea as a place for civic and political exchange free from existing conventional authorities existed in the world and only 12 NM away form shore lines. Water would give this dense city type environments in dependency from land and nation's jurisdictions and allow more nations to join its cause eventually. Also, With more body of water on our planet today more than ever it seems logical to study a place for refuge where we could live and grow. Refugees are rising due to increase in conflicts and environmental issues worldwide today more than ever. Millions got displaced and countries and organizations are not able to coop with the scale of the issues on their own. The Floating infrastructure is the place for humanity purposes. This place is designed to be able to sustain itself by creating its own energy, food nd desalination systems to make a living condition possible. Floating concrete infrastructures seems viable, due to the advancement in concrete research and technology almost all around the world. Infrastructures that can move and expand to create metabolic forms of function as autonomous forms for many years, sustainable and independent form the land, is what this project is trying to investigate.
by Behnam Karimipour.
M.Arch.

Cette thèse s'intéresse à l'analyse de plusieurs situations de vote impliquant la famille des règles avec classements par points. Toutes les études sont menées dans un cadre probabiliste en s'appuyant sur des hypothèses standards utilisées en théorie du choix social pour le vote entre trois options. Dans un premier temps, nous étudions une nouvelle notion, la stabilité d'un ensemble de règles de vote. En particulier, nous discutons la stabilité d'un ensemble composé de règles célèbres appartenant à la famille des règles avec classements par points. Nous présentons ensuite une contribution à l'analyse du paradoxe de Borda. Nous généralisons les résultats connus dans la littérature en donnant la probabilité de l'apparition de ce type de paradoxe pour toute règle avec classements par points. Le dernier apport de cette thèse nous permet de définir un nouvel environnement qui englobe aussi bien toutes les règles avec classements par points, que le vote par approbation. En introduisant une nouvelle hypothèse probabiliste, nous réétudions l'efficience de Condorcet dans ce nouveau cadre étendu
The purpose of the present Thesis is concerned with the study of several voting situations involving the large category of scoring voting rules. The studies are conducted using a probabilistic framework based on standard assumptions used in social choice theory for three candidate election. First, we examine a new concept, the stability of a voting rules set. In particular, we discuss the stability of a set composed by well-known scoring voting rules. Second, we present a contribution to the analysis of Borda's paradox. We extend known results from the literature by giving the occurrence of this paradox for each scoring voting rule. In the final contribution of this thesis, we define a new framework which includes both scoring voting rules, and approval voting. The main objective of this study is to revisit the Condorcet efficiency in this extended framework by introducing a new probabilistic assumption

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions des développements de la théorie métrique des points critiques d'une part, et de la théorie métrique des bornes d'erreur d'autre part. Dans le premier cas, nous établissons essentiellement des résultats abstraits en situation d'enlacement, que nous appliquons à des problèmes d'équations aux dérivées partielles dits doublement résonants. Dans le second cas, nous développons une théorie des bornes d'erreur non linéaires. Ces théories sont respectivement basées sur la notion de pente faible d'une fonction continue et des techniques de déformation, et sur la notion de pente forte d'une fonction semi-continue inférieurement et le principe variationnel. De plus, le principe de changement de métrique constitue un outil commun aux deux théories
In this thesis, we study some developments of the metric critical point theory on the one hand, and of the metric error bound theory on the other hand. As for the former, we essentially establish some abstract results in the presence of linking, that we apply to so-called doubly resonant problems for elliptic partial differential equations. As for the latter, we develop a nonlinear error bound theory. These theories are based on the notion of weak slope of a continuous function and deformation techniques, and on the notion of strong slope of a lower semicontinuous function and the variational principle, respectively. Moreover, the so-called change-of-metric principle is used as a common tool for both theories

This study has collected and analysed a database of place-names containing potential ethnonymic elements. Competing models of ethnicity are investigated and applied to names about which there is reasonable confidence. A number of motivations for employment of ethnonyms in place-names emerge. Ongoing interaction between ethnicities is marked by reference to domain or borderland, and occasional interaction by reference to resource or transit. More superficial interaction is expressed in names of commemorative, antiquarian or figurative motivation. The implications of the names for our understanding of the history of individual ethnicities are considered. Distribution of Walh-names has been extended north into Scotland; but reference may be to Romance-speaking feudal incomers, not the British. Briton-names are confirmed in Cumberland and are found on and beyond the fringes of the polity of Strathclyde. Dumbarton, however, is an antiquarian coining. Distribution of Cumbrian-names suggests that the south side of the Solway Firth was not securely under Cumbrian influence; but also that the ethnicity, expanding in the tenth century, was found from the Ayrshire coast to East Lothian, with the Saxon culture under pressure in the Southern Uplands. An ethnonym borrowed from British in the name Cumberland and the Lothian outlier of Cummercolstoun had either entered northern English dialect or was being employed by the Cumbrians themselves to coin these names in Old English. If the latter, such self-referential pronouncement in a language contact situation was from a position of status, in contrast to the ethnicism of the Gaels. Growing Gaelic self-awareness is manifested in early-modern domain demarcation and self-referential naming of routes across the cultural boundary. But by the nineteenth century cultural change came from within, with the impact felt most acutely in west-mainland and Hebridean Argyll, according to the toponymic evidence. Earlier interfaces between Gaelic and Scots are indicated on the east of the Firth of Clyde by the early fourteenth century, under the Sidlaws and in Buchan by the fifteenth, in Caithness and in Perthshire by the sixteenth. Earlier, Norse-speakers may have referred to Gaels in the hills of Kintyre. The border between Scotland and England was toponymically marked, but not until the modern era. In Carrick, Argyll and north and west of the Great Glen, Albanians were to be contrasted, not necessarily linguistically, from neighbouring Gaelic-speakers; Alba is probably to be equated with the ancient territory of Scotia. Early Scot-names, recorded from the twelfth century, similarly reflect expanding Scotian influence in Cumberland and Lothian. However, late instances refer to Gaelic-speakers. Most Eireannach-names refer to wedder goats rather than the ethnonym, but residual Gaelic-speakers in east Dumfriesshire are indicated by Erisch­-names at the end of the fifteenth century or later. Others west into Galloway suggest an earlier Irish immigration, probably as a consequence of normanisation and of engagement in Irish Sea politics. Other immigrants include French estate administrators, Flemish wool producers and English feudal subjects. The latter have long been discussed, but the relationship of the north-eastern Ingliston-names to mottes is rejected, and that of the south-western Ingleston-names is rather to former motte-hills with degraded fortifications. Most Dane-names are also antiquarian, attracted less by folk memory than by modern folklore. The Goill could also be summoned out of the past to explain defensive remains in particular. Antiquarianism in the eighteenth century onwards similarly ascribed many remains to the Picts and the Cruithnians, though in Shetland a long-standing supernatural association with the Picts may have been maintained. Ethnicities were invoked to personify past cultures, but ethnonyms also commemorate actual events, typified by Sasannach-names. These tend to recall dramatic, generally fatal, incidents, usually involving soldiers or sailors. Any figures of secular authority or hostile activity from outwith the community came to be considered Goill, but also agents of ecclesiastical authority or economic activity and passing travellers by land or sea. The label Goill, ostensibly providing 178 of the 652 probable ethnonymic database entries, is in most names no indication of ethnicity, culture or language. It had a medieval geographical reference, however, to Hebrideans, and did develop renewed, early-modern specificity in response to a vague concept of Scottish society outwith the Gaelic cultural domain. The study concludes by considering the forms of interaction between ethnicities and looking at the names as a set. It proposes classification of those recalled in the names as overlord, interloper or native.

Cette thèse porte sur l'étude des performances d'estimateurs en traitement du signal, et s'attache en particulier à étudier les bornes inférieures de l'erreur quadratique moyenne (EQM) pour l'estimation de points de rupture, afin de caractériser le comportement d'estimateurs, tels que celui du maximum de vraisemblance (dans le contexte fréquentiste), mais surtout du maximum a posteriori ou de la moyenne conditionnelle (dans le contexte bayésien). La difficulté majeure provient du fait que, pour un signal échantillonné, les paramètres d'intérêt (à savoir les points de rupture) appartiennent à un espace discret. En conséquence, les résultats asymptotiques classiques (comme la normalité asymptotique du maximum de vraisemblance) ou la borne de Cramér-Rao ne s'appliquent plus. Quelques résultats sur la distribution asymptotique du maximum de vraisemblance provenant de la communauté mathématique sont actuellement disponibles, mais leur applicabilité à des problèmes pratiques de traitement du signal n'est pas immédiate. Si l'on décide de concentrer nos efforts sur l'EQM des estimateurs comme indicateur de performance, un travail important autour des bornes inférieures de l'EQM a été réalisé ces dernières années. Plusieurs études ont ainsi permis de proposer des inégalités plus précises que la borne de Cramér-Rao. Ces dernières jouissent en outre de conditions de régularité plus faibles, et ce, même en régime non asymptotique, permettant ainsi de délimiter la plage de fonctionnement optimal des estimateurs. Le but de cette thèse est, d'une part, de compléter la caractérisation de la zone asymptotique (en particulier lorsque le rapport signal sur bruit est élevé et/ou pour un nombre d'observations infini) dans un contexte d'estimation de points de rupture. D'autre part, le but est de donner les limites fondamentales de l'EQM d'un estimateur dans la plage non asymptotique. Les outils utilisés ici sont les bornes inférieures de l’EQM de la famille Weiss-Weinstein qui est déjà connue pour être plus précise que la borne de Cramér-Rao dans les contextes, entre autres, de l’analyse spectrale et du traitement d’antenne. Nous fournissons une forme compacte de cette famille dans le cas d’un seul et de plusieurs points de ruptures puis, nous étendons notre analyse aux cas où les paramètres des distributions sont inconnus. Nous fournissons également une analyse de la robustesse de cette famille vis-à-vis des lois a priori utilisées dans nos modèles. Enfin, nous appliquons ces bornes à plusieurs problèmes pratiques : données gaussiennes, poissonniennes et processus exponentiels
This thesis deals with the study of estimators' performance in signal processing. The focus is the analysis of the lower bounds on the Mean Square Error (MSE) for abrupt change-point estimation. Such tools will help to characterize performance of maximum likelihood estimator in the frequentist context but also maximum a posteriori and conditional mean estimators in the Bayesian context. The main difficulty comes from the fact that, when dealing with sampled signals, the parameters of interest (i.e., the change points) lie on a discrete space. Consequently, the classical large sample theory results (e.g., asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimator) or the Cramér-Rao bound do not apply. Some results concerning the asymptotic distribution of the maximum likelihood only are available in the mathematics literature but are currently of limited interest for practical signal processing problems. When the MSE of estimators is chosen as performance criterion, an important amount of work has been provided concerning lower bounds on the MSE in the last years. Then, several studies have proposed new inequalities leading to tighter lower bounds in comparison with the Cramér-Rao bound. These new lower bounds have less regularity conditions and are able to handle estimators’ MSE behavior in both asymptotic and non-asymptotic areas. The goal of this thesis is to complete previous results on lower bounds in the asymptotic area (i.e. when the number of samples and/or the signal-to-noise ratio is high) for change-point estimation but, also, to provide an analysis in the non-asymptotic region. The tools used here will be the lower bounds of the Weiss-Weinstein family which are already known in signal processing to outperform the Cramér-Rao bound for applications such as spectral analysis or array processing. A closed-form expression of this family is provided for a single and multiple change points and some extensions are given when the parameters of the distributions on each segment are unknown. An analysis in terms of robustness with respect to the prior influence on our models is also provided. Finally, we apply our results to specific problems such as: Gaussian data, Poisson data and exponentially distributed data

Dans cette thèse nous proposons quelques contributions à l'analyse variationnelle dans les espaces métriques et à l'optimisation : régularité métrique, théorie métrique des points critiques, sensibilité de constantes de Hoffman, stabilité en programmation quadratique. Dans le cas polyèdral nous établissons des formules explicites de constantes de Hoffman des polyèdres avec égalités explicites. Ensuite, en mettant en évidence le caractère lipschitzien de ces constantes, nous calculons le sous-différentiel de Clarke des fonctions associées. Nous faisons également une revue de la régularité métrique des multi-applications, et nous traitons la stabilité d'un problème quadratique convexe. La considération du concept de pente faible, et donc des techniques de déformation appropriées, nous permet d'établir des résultats de stabilité homotopique des points critiques isolés des fonctions continues.

Dans cette thèse nous proposons quelques contributions à l'analyse variationnelle dans les espaces métriques et à l'optimisation : régularité métrique, théorie métrique des points critiques, sensibilité de constantes de Hoffman, stabilité en programmation quadratique. Dans le cas polyédral nous établissons des formules explicites de constantes de Hoffman des polyèdres avec égalités explicites. Ensuite, en mettant en évidence le caractère lipschitzien de ces constantes, nous calculons le sous-différentiel de Clarke des fonctions associées. Nous faisons également une revue de la régularité métrique des multi-applications, et nous traitons la stabilité d'un problème quadratique convexe. La considération du concept de pente faible, et donc des techniques de déformation appropriées, nous permet d'établir des résultats de stabilité homotopique des points critiques isolés des fonctions continues
In this thesis, we propose some contributions to variational analysis in metric spaces and to optimization: metric regularity, metric critical point theory, sensitivity of Hoffman constants, stability in quadratic programming. In the polyhedral case, we establish explicit formulae for Hoffman constants of polyhedrons with explicit equalities. As these constants, under some regularity conditions, have a Lipschitzian behaviour, we calculate then the Clarke subdifferential of the associated functions. We also make a review of the metric regularity of multifunctions, and we treat some questions of stability in convex quadratic programming. The consideration of the notion of weak slope, and thus of appropriate deformation tools, allows us to establish results on the homotopical stability of isolated critical points of continuous functions on metric spaces

Multicasting in a network improves the efficiency to deliver an IP packet to multiple clients at the same time. Small to medium sized organizations implement this technology to enhance their network capability, which is otherwise not possible just with normal routing. However, to use this technology, it requires proper network design with tidy resource implementation.Network administrators prefer automatic deployment of multicast technology because it reduces the potential risk of prolonged down time during network troubleshooting. On the other hand, choosing an auto deployment technology could cause malfunctioning in the network. To avoid such malfunctioning, we used two technologies: Auto-RP (Auto- Rendezvous Point) [1] and Bootstrap [2] in our network. A problem that occurs here is that if different domains with similar or different technologies want to share their resources with each other, then regular multicasting cannot connect them for successful communication. Also, if an administrator wishes to provide short and redundant paths within a domain, then these two technologies do not possess the ability to do so.The thesis presents issues in intra-domain and inter-domain multicast networks; it also focuses on Auto-RP (Auto Rendezvous Point) and BSR (Bootstrap Router) which are technologies related to multicasting. This project highlights the importance of multicasting security and will brief the problems associated with these two technologies. It will offer a better solution with a properly implemented design guide. The study uses MSDP (Multicast Source Discovery Protocol) [3] which connects two domains with multicasting capabilities for exchanging the source and providing redundancy in intra- domain. The work implements MBGP (Multicast Border Gateway Protocol) [4] to avoid a situation in which there is no multicast support on one of the service provider(s) end. Keywords:Auto-RP (Auto-Rendezvous Point), BSR (Bootstrap Router), MSDP (Multicast Source Discovery Protocol), MBGP (Multicast Border Gateway Protocol)

Les mesures d'antennes imposent de propager une onde quasi-plane entre l'émetteur et le récepteur. Les bases compactes assurent cette condition de champ lointain sur des distances relativement réduites, générant une onde quasi-plane en champ proche. Ce mémoire présente toutes les étapes de conception d'une base compacte de mesure d'antennes (BCMA) fonctionnant de 10GHz à 50GHz, basée sur un réflecteur parabolique à bords enroulés. L'étude traite de la caractérisation par FDTD d'un modèle réduit de réflecteur. Les champs diffractés émis par la discontinuité de la surface à l'ordre 4, l'état de surface (rugosité), le rayon de courbure minimum de l'enroulement, sont quantifiés. Les performances sont optimales lorsque les champs parasites sont minimisés; le comportement du réflecteur peut alors être évalué par une méthode rapide en lancer de rayon (optique géométrique). Les conclusions sont alors appliquées au modèle réel, qui ne peut être étudié par FDTD: espace mémoire et temps de calcul prohibitifs. Nous présentons le design d'une chambre anéchoi͏̈que de BCMA : répartition d'absorbants pyramidaux et dièdres, selon l'incidence du rayonnement. Enfin, nous établissons une première étape de validation de la base en bande K et KA. Des cornets standards sont mesurés en rayonnement et gain, en parallèle dans les BCMA du CREAPE et du CNES
Antenna measurements require quasi-plane wave propagation between transmitter and receiver. Compact antenna test ranges (CATR) ensure this far-field condition at relatively short distances, generating a quasi-plane wave in near-field. This document presents all conception stages of a CATR, working from 10GHz to 50GHz, based on blended paraboloidal reflector. The study deals with FDTD characterization of a scale model reflector. Diffracted fields emitted from a fourth order surface discontinuity, a surface state (roughness) and minimal curvature of blended rolled edges, are quantificated. Performances are optimal when parasitic fields are minimized; reflector's behavior can be evaluated with a fast ray tracing (geometrical optics method). Then, conclusions are applied to the real device which can not be studied with FDTD method : space memory and computer time prohibitives

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Diversas áreas do conhecimento utilizam técnicas de coleta de dados espaciais com grande resolução e precisão. Em especial, a Geologia tem utilizado novos equipamentos para a automatização de levantamentos e mapeamentos geológicos. A coleta digital feita com lasers scanners terrestres registra não só posicionamento e cor, como também a intensidade de retorno do sinal emitido. Ao utilizar as informações de intensidade de retorno do laser, pode ocorrer o efeito de borda, que é quando o laser colide parcialmente com o alvo e parte do sinal é perdido ou, ainda, colide com outros objetos não desejados ao fundo. Esse efeito faz com que a intensidade de retorno seja uma intensidade incorreta, quando analisa-se a reflectância dos materiais que compõem o alvo escaneado. Para resolver este problema, um novo algoritmo foi desenvolvido utilizando os dados conhecidos do laser, como a posição e a divergência do sinal para recuperar a intensidade de retorno do pulso laser correta quando o efeito de borda é detectado nos dados coletados. Os resultados mostram que esta técnica é uma possível solução para recuperar a intensidade de retorno do pulso de acordo com a reflectância dos materiais que compõem o afloramento. Um estudo adicional é necessário para realizar a otimização do algoritmo e para realizar uma análise estatística das intensidades corrigidas.
Several areas of knowledge use digital techniques to collect spacial data with higher resolution and precision. In special, Geology is using new equipaments to automate geological surveys and mappings. The digital acquisition made with terrestrial laser scanners records not only the target’s position and color, but also the return of the emitted signal’s intensity. When using the laser’s intensity return information, it may occur the edge effect, that is when the laser collides parcially with the target and part of the signal is lost or, also, collides with other undesired objects in the background. This effect makes the laser’s return intensity to be incorrect, when the reflectance of the materials that compose the target being analized. To solve this issue, a new algorithm was developed using the known data as the laser scanner’s position and signal’s divergence to recover the correct laser’s intensity when an edge effect is detected in the collected data. The results show that this technique is a possible solution to recover the correct laser’s return intensity according to the reflectance of the outcrop materials. Additional research is needed to optimize the algorithm and make a statistical analysis of the corrected laser intensity data.

La recherche de la loi applicable à la société, lex societatis, est incontournable carc’est de cette loi dont dépendront les règles de constitution, de fonctionnement et dedissolution de la société. Mais la problématique de la détermination de la lex societatis enDroit International des Affaires réside dans l’identification d’un mode adéquat derattachement des sociétés transfrontalières à un territoire national. Le caractère transfrontalierdes sociétés actuelles accentue le conflit entre les différents systèmes de rattachement dessociétés traditionnellement retenus par les législations. La pluralité de système derattachement des sociétés est à l’origine de conflits auxquels l’uniformisation de la règle deconflit de lois en matière de détermination de la lex societatis peut être une solution.Le droit des sociétés doit être un instrument au service des affaires, et non un frein àleur évolution et à leur développement. Ainsi pour répondre aux besoins des affairesinternationales, outre l’élimination des entraves aux échanges il faut envisager une adaptationdu contenu des règles de conflit de lois actuelles qui permettent la détermination de la lexsocietatis ainsi qu’une modification de leur source
The search of the law applicable to the company, lex societatis is a must because it isthis law which will depend on the rules of formation, operation and dissolution of thecompany. But the problem of determining the lex societatis in International Business Law isthe identification of a suitable method of attachment of cross-border companies on a nationalterritory. The transboundary nature of today’s societies accentuates the conflict between thedifferent companies of connecting systems traditionally retained by the legislation. Theplurality of connecting corporate system is causing conflicts that standardization of the rulesof conflict of laws determining the lex societatis can be a solution.Company law should be a tool for business, not a hindrance to their development andtheir development. So to meet the needs of international business, besides the elimination ofbarriers to trade should be considered an adaptation of the contents of the current conflict oflaws rules that allow the determination of the lex societatis and a change of their source

On January 27, 2014 the International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations ruled in the case of the maritime dispute (Peru v. Chile), being Peru the one that brought forth the case in January 2008. During the proceedings in Court, the parties presented fundamentally different positions on the existence of a maritime boundary between them and how the Court should proceed solving the dispute. The Court should have considered the multiple legal reasonings presented by the States parties over the years to arrive to its ruling. Particularly, some of the legal reasonings presented by Peru were accepted by the Court and considered in the ruling, beginning from the interpretation given to the proclamations of Peru and Chile in 1947, going through the reasonings Peru presented about the 1952 Santiago Declaration (It was the main topic presented by Chile, which was discarded by the Court) until the reasoning presented by Peru saying that the 1954 Special Maritime Frontier Zone Agreement didn’t create a zone of tolerance that extends to 200 nautical miles. However, the Court considered that in the 1954 agreement the parties accepted the existence of a tacit agreement, but this existence was not presented by them in the Court even though it has a legal support in the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice. Then, the Court had to determine the extent of the tacit agreement, a very difficult duty because the parties hadn’t considered the existence of that situation and its extension. After establishing the implied legal agreement was for 80 nautical miles along a parallel of latitude, the Court proceeded to establish a maritime boundary applying thoroughly the rules and principles of maritime delimitation presented by Peru, which applied to the case determine the presence of an equidistant line. In relation to the starting-point of the maritime boundary, the Court didn’t use the point presented by Peru but, in a correct way, made it clear that the starting-point of the maritime boundary and the starting-point of the land boundary don’t have to match necessarily. Finally, the way how the Court established the maritime boundary recognizes, with no doubt, that the area previously named “outer triangle” belongs to Peru, as this country claimed and as Chile opposed repeatedly over the years. In summary, it is a decision based on International Law and adopted under the evidence presented in Court. The Court applied and confirmed various legal arguments presented by Peru during the process, in spite of the opposing position of Chile.
El 27 de enero de 2014, la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ), órgano judicial principal de la organización de las Naciones Unidas, dio su sentencia en el caso de la controversia marítima (Perú c. Chile), el cual el Perú presentó ante ella en enero de 2008. Durante el proceso ante la Corte, las partes presentaron posiciones fundamentalmente distintas sobre la existencia de un límite marítimo entre ellas y sobre cómo la Corte debía proceder para resolver este caso. Para llegar a su fallo, la Corte debió evaluar esos múltiples argumentos legales planteados por ambos Estados a lo largo de años. En particular, varios de los argumentos legales planteados por el Perú fueron aceptados por la Corte y acogidos en el fallo, desde la interpretación que dio a las proclamaciones de Perú y Chile de 1947, pasando por los argumentos que planteó el Perú sobre la Declaración de Santiago de 1952 (que había sido el núcleo del caso argumentado por Chile, el cual fue descartado por la Corte), hasta el argumento peruano en el sentido de que el Convenio sobre Zona Especial Fronteriza Marítima de 1954 no creó una zona de tolerancia que se extienda por doscientas millas marinas. Sin embargo, la Corte consideró que en ese tratado de 1954 las partes reconocieron la existencia de un acuerdo tácito, figura que no argumentaron las partes ante la Corte, pero que tiene su fundamentación legal en jurisprudencia previa de la CIJ. La Corte luego tuvo que determinar la extensión de ese acuerdo legal tácito, labor sumamente difícil ya que las partes no habían contemplado la existencia de esa figura ni argumentado hasta dónde se habría extendido la misma. Luego de establecer que el acuerdo legal tácito se extendía por ochenta millas marinas a lo largo de un paralelo de latitud, la Corte procedió a establecer un límite marítimo siguiendo exactamente las normas y principios sobre delimitación marítima planteados por el Perú, los cuales aplicados al caso determinan el establecimiento de una línea equidistante. Con relación al punto de inicio del límite marítimo, la Corte no empleó el punto planteado por el Perú pero, correctamente, dejó en claro que el punto de inicio del límite marítimo y el punto de inicio del límite terrestre no tienen necesariamente que coincidir. Finalmente, la manera como la Corte estableció el límite marítimo reconoce sin lugar a duda que el área antes llamada «triángulo exterior» corresponde exclusivamente al Perú, como ese Estado argumentó y Chile se opuso repetidas veces a lo largo de los años. En resumen, se trata de una decisión ajustada al derecho internacional y tomada sobre la base de la evidencia a disposición de la Corte, en la que esta emplea y confirma diversos de los argumentos legales planteados por el Perú durante el proceso, a pesar de todo lo que Chile argumentó contrariamente.

Chez les plantes, le RET (Root Extracellular Trap) est une structure cellulo-moléculaire jouant un rôle central dans la défense racinaire face aux stress abiotiques et biotiques. De nombreuses similitudes de composition ont été observées entre le RET et le NET (Neutrophil Extracellular Trap) du système immunitaire des mammifères, connu pour capturer et tuer certains microorganismes bactériens et fongiques. Le RET est composé de cellules frontières et de leurs sécrétions (composés de haut et de bas poids moléculaire) comprenant des polysaccharides de la paroi cellulaire, des protéoglycannes et des métabolites secondaires. Il contient également des protéines antimicrobiennes et de l'ADN extracellulaire, tout comme le NET. Dans le cadre de mon projet de thèse, nous avons caractérisé la composition moléculaire et la structuration de cette entité de défense chez deux légumineuses, le soja (Glycine max (Merr) L.) et le pois (Pisum sativum L.), par des approches d’imagerie cellulaire photonique et électronique. Nous avons également étudié l’impact du RET du soja sur des pathogènes telluriques, à savoir Phytophthora parasitica et Aphanomyces euteiches. Nous avons ainsi pu mettre en évidence la présence de différents morphotypes de cellules frontières et de mucilage au sein du RET de soja et de pois. Pour la première fois, nous avons montré la présence d’hétéromannanes, de xyloglucane et de cellulose dans le RET, formant une ossature stabilisant le mucilage et reliant les cellules frontières entre elles. Ces polysaccharides structuraux semblent être essentiels à l’intégrité structurale et fonctionnelle du RET. Enfin, nos résultats ont montré que le RET de soja était impliqué dans la défense précoce de la racine contre P. parasitica. Cette étude apporte de nouvelles connaissances relatives à la composition moléculaire et la structure du RET, nous amenant ainsi à comparer le RET à d’autres modèles que le NET des mammifères, tels que les biofilms bactériens et les mucilages de graines. En effet, de nombreuses similitudes existent entre ces différents complexes en termes de composition et de fonctionnement, qui méritent d’être explorer plus en détail dans l’avenir
In higher plants, the RET (Root Extracellular Trap) is a complex made up of border cells and secretions, released by root tips and believed to play a central role in biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. This structure is quite similar to the Neutrophil Extracellular Trap (NET) known as one of the first lines of defense in mammals, able to trap and kill microbial pathogens. RET secretions consist of high and low-molecular weight compounds including cell wall polysaccharides, proteoglycans and secondary metabolites. They also contain a variety of anti-microbial proteins and extracellular DNA much like the NET. During my thesis work, we investigated the release and morphology of root border cells in soybean (Glycine max (Merr) L.) using light and scanning electron microscopy. The molecular composition of the mucilage was also investigated using immunocytochemistry, anti-cell wall glycan antibodies and confocal microscopy. Immunocytochemistry was also applied to pea (Pisum sativum L.) border cells and secretions to examine the occurrence of specific polysaccharides. We also studied the impact of soybean RET on the soilborne pathogens, Phytophthora parasitica and Aphanomyces euteiches. Our findings showed that root tips of soybean released three border cell morphotypes all of which secreted substantial amounts of mucilage. Immunocytochemical data showed that mucilage was enriched in pectin and the two hemicellulosic polysaccharides xyloglucan and heteromannan. Mucilage also contained cellulose, histone and extracellular DNA. Interestingly, the structural polysaccharides formed a fibrous network surrounding the cells and holding them together, supporting their role in maintaining mucilage architecture and integrity. In addition, we found that xyloglucan and cellulose were also secreted into the mucilage of pea, connecting border cells together. Finally, our findings revealed that RET prevented P. parasitica zoospores from colonizing soybean root tip, by stopping their penetration and inducing their death. Overall the study revealed novel insights into the composition, structure and function of plant RETs. Currently, the RET is much less studied than its mammal counterpart, the NET, but structural and functional similarities exist between these two traps. Interestingly, similarities do also exist between the RET and other important biological complexes, including bacterial biofilms and seed mucilage, that deserve to be further investigated and compared in the context of immunity

Des lois sont adoptées, des politiques implantées, des centaines de milliers de dollars investis dans la formation des employés, et puis ? Cette recherche de type exploratoire tente de jeter la lumière sur ce qui se passe actuellement dans les points d'entrée canadiens situés au Québec en matière de lutte contre la traite de personnes migrantes et de présenter, s'il y a lieu, les incohérences entre l'engagement du Canada à lutter contre la traite de personnes et les pratiques des agents des services frontaliers du Canada sur le terrain. Pour ce faire, nous avons interviewé sept agents des services frontaliers du Canada travaillant à l'Aéroport international Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau de Montréal, quatrième poste frontalier aéroportuaire en importance au Canada et premier au Québec, afin d'en apprendre davantage sur les connaissances ainsi que sur les expériences de ceux-ci en matière de traite de personnes migrantes. Nous avons aussi rencontré quatre intervenants venant en aide aux victimes migrantes de la traite de personnes au Québec, principalement dans la région de Montréal, dans le but d'en savoir un peu plus sur l'expérience des victimes en lien avec l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada et les impacts de ces expériences sur celles-ci. Si les agents interviewés semblent avoir une assez bonne idée, même si celle-ci paraît largement influencée par les médias, de ce qu'est la traite de personnes migrantes, rares sont ceux qui, dans le cadre de leurs fonctions, ont une expérience pratique auprès des victimes. L'absence de formation substantielle et continue, la perception du rôle de l'ASFC par ses agents ainsi que le manque de leadership de la direction en ce qui a trait à la traite de personnes migrantes semblent être des accrocs majeurs à la volonté politique du gouvernement canadien, plus particulièrement de l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, de combattre la traite de personnes migrantes sur son propre territoire. Les obstacles sont nombreux dans la lutte contre la traite de personnes aux frontières canadiennes et représentent un défi de taille à la fois complexe et compliqué. Une approche centrée sur la prévention et une plus grande sensibilisation des agents des services frontaliers du Canada proposent un début de solution.
Laws are adopted, policies implemented, hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in staff training, then what ? This exploratory research seeks to shed some light on what is actually happening at Canadian borders offices across Quebec and highlight the discrepancies between Canada's engagement toward combating human trafficking and actual practices in the field by border services officers. To do so we interviewed seven Canada Border Services officers working at Montreal's Pierre- Elliott-Trudeau international airport, Canada's fourth biggest international port of entry and Quebec's first, so we could learn about their professional knowledge and experience in regard to human trafficking. We also spoke to four victim services providers so we could learn about the victims' experiences with this law enforcement federal agency and the impacts of those experiences on them. If the interviewed officers seem to have a good idea, albeit very much influenced by the media, of what is transnational human trafficking, few are those who have hands-on experience of the phenomenon. The lack of continuous and substantial information and training, the perceived role of the Canada Border Services Agency by its officers as well as the lack of leadership by its direction, all in regard to transnational human trafficking, seem to be major hindrances to the political willingness of the Canadian government at large, and the Canada Border Services Agency in particular, to fight the global war against transnational human trafficking on its own turf. The hurdles are plenty in the fight against transnational human trafficking at Canadian borders and they represent a sizeable challenge that is both complex and complicated. Since no amount of wishful thinking will stop transnational human trafficking from happening in Canada, an approach that is centred on prevention at the borders and a greater awareness by Canada Border Services officers of the matter might just get Canada a little bit closer to that goal.

Subject of diploma theses "Points of Single Contact and their benefits to entrepreneurs" is to evaluate the contribution of activities Point of single contact for businesses, imposed by the Directive on services to help entrepreneurs doing business in the single market of the European Union. The work pursues the development of the internal market in particular freedom to provide services, describes how successfully the Services Directive is complied and how Points of Single Contact operate.

Les forêts de Bornéo sont inestimables. En plus d’une faune et d’une flore riche et diversifiée, ses milieux naturels constituent d’efficaces réservoirs de carbone. En outre, la matière ligneuse qui y est abondante fait l’objet d’une exploitation intensive. Par contre, c’est le potentiel agricole de l’île qui crée le plus d’enthousiasme, principalement en ce qui concerne la culture du palmier à huile. Pour tenter de mieux comprendre et surveiller le phénomène, nous avons développé des méthodes de détection de la déforestation et de la dégradation des forêts. Ces méthodes doivent tenir compte des caractéristiques propres à l’île. C’est que Bornéo est abondamment affectée par une nébulosité constante qui complexifie considérablement son observation à partir des satellites. Malgré ces contraintes, nous avons produit une série chronologique annuelle des points chauds de déforestation et de dégradation des forêts pour les années 2000 à 2009.
Borneo’s forests are priceless. Beyond the richness and diversity of its fauna and flora, its natural habitats constitute efficient carbon reservoirs. Unfortunately, the vast forests of the island are rapidly being cut down, both by the forestry industry and the rapidly expanding oil palm industry. In this context, we’ve developed methods to detect deforestation and forest degradation in order to better understand and monitor the phenomena. In doing so, the peculiarities of Borneo, such as the persistent cloud cover, had to be accounted for. Nevertheless, we succeeded in producing a time series of the yearly forest degradation and deforestations hotspots for the year 2000 through the year 2009.
Ce travail s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un programme de recherches appuyé par le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada.