Inference of Gene Regulatory Networks from Single-Cell Transcriptomics by scATA: an All-to-All Approach

Bachelor/master dissertation (2022)

Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) model the controlling interactions between genes, where the ex- pression of some genes activate or inhibit the expression of other genes. In the study of biomedical systems ... [more ▼]

Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) model the controlling interactions between genes, where the ex- pression of some genes activate or inhibit the expression of other genes. In the study of biomedical systems, a better understanding of the system can be achieved by knowing the underlying GRN in different conditions (e.g. health/disease or control/mutant). Generally, the underlying GRN of the system is not known, and it is inferred from transcriptomic data by computational methods. Single- cell transcriptomic measurements have been developed and exponentially improved over the last decade. These recent experimental techniques can measure the expression of almost each gene for most of the individual cells in a sample and have been widely used to study the heterogeneity of biological systems. However, there are not many computational methods available to infer GRNs from this type of data and the existing ones suffer from major limitations. Thus, there is a need for the development of computational approaches to infer GRNs from single-cell transcriptomics. The aim of this thesis is to develop a simple and scalable method that can infer GRNs from single-cell transcriptomic time series data by studying pairwise regulations between genes. The presented method, named single-cell All-to-All (scATA), is based on estimating the parameters of a stochastic linear differential equation that describes the regulation between each pair of regulator and target genes, one pair at a time while ignoring other genes. The parameters are estimated by solving an optimization problem that minimizes the Wasserstein distance between the simulated distribution of the target gene and the corresponding time series data. The simulated distribution is obtained by numerically integrating a stochastic differential equation several times to obtain a distribution of the regulated gene trajectories. The developed method was tested on synthetic data simulated from different network models with different sizes and topologies up to 10 genes, with AUROC between 0.65 and 0.91 for 5- genes networks and between 0.54 and 0.71 for 10-genes networks. The shape of the ROC curves show that, with scATA, we are able to identify a few links with high confidence. To evaluate the applicability and performance of the algorithm on experimental data, the method was applied to infer the GRN of a publicly available, single-cell transcriptomic time series data, with a publicly available GRN compiled from literature. The use of this tool can provide new insights into the regulatory mechanism inside biological systems. It can propose novel key connections between genes to be validated experimentally, that, if verified, could be useful in better understanding the underlying system and in developing targeted treatments. This thesis is as proof of concept that dynamical model-based pairwise approaches, previously used in bulk transcriptomics, can also be used for GRN inference using single-cell time series. [less ▲]

"Dark Cookie" - A serious game to train users to spot and interact with dark patterns in cookie banners

Bachelor/master dissertation (2022)

Deceptive design patterns, also called dark patterns, can be found all over the internet today. These designs are used by website operators to trick users into sharing their personal data or performing ... [more ▼]

Deceptive design patterns, also called dark patterns, can be found all over the internet today. These designs are used by website operators to trick users into sharing their personal data or performing other actions that are mostly favorable to the operators. Since taking effect in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), strictly mandates website operators to inform EU website visitors of how their personal data will be processed. Although they put up cookie banners to disclose such information and ask user’s consent, many website operators have found ways to use deceptive designs, such as confusing design and language, to trick users into giving them their personal data, and pass them on to advertisers that use them to personalize ads and target users. In this thesis, I study different dark patterns on the internet and those in cookie banners and I delve into one of the proposed interventions against dark patterns in previous work, gamification. I hypothesize that it is possible to create a serious game to train online users to respond to dark patterns in cookie banners, so that they can retain most of their personal in- formation without disclosing it to advertisers. In particular, I have conceptualized and developed an online game with five levels that uses game mechanics like feedback, points, levels, badges and story to make the game educative, engaging and interactive. To evaluate the game, I created a survey and gathered the answers of 54 players and assessed aspects like game clarity of goals and rules, knowledge acquisition, perceived applicability and engagement. I conclude with the analysis of the results obtained, suggesting the gamification is an appropriate and effective tool for training users on how to interact with cookie banners in a way that maximizes their privacy. [less ▲]

Face-swap Deepfake Detection Using High-frequency Components

Bachelor/master dissertation (2021)

Over the last years, very deceitful deepfakes applied to human visuals appeared on theInternet. Given their impressive visual quality, they are nowadays considered a potentialthreat for both individuals ... [more ▼]

Over the last years, very deceitful deepfakes applied to human visuals appeared on theInternet. Given their impressive visual quality, they are nowadays considered a potentialthreat for both individuals and organizations. Hence, researchers started investigatingthe flaws of deepfakes to develop automated tools capable of detecting forged content. Asa result, a wide range of deepfake detection methods has been introduced. In particular,deep learning based-approaches have shown impressive performance. Nevertheless, thesemethods are still not sufficiently robust as they usually consider only one type of artifact,either in the spatial or the frequency domain. In this context, this thesis proposes toleverage the high-frequency components extracted from color images jointly with theoriginal color information to detect unusual traces. It introduces an end-to-end trainablemodule that (a) extracts features from precomputed high-frequency components and (b)fuses them with RGB features. The deepfake detection framework not only exploitsthe high-frequency anomalies present in manipulated images but can also be integratedwith the majority of RGB-based deepfake detectors. Experimental results show thatthe proposed approach improves the performance of state-of-the-art networks, such asXceptionNet and EfficientNet, on a challenging deepfake dataset called Celeb-DF. [less ▲]

Generating 3D Dances From Music Using Deep Neural Networks

Bachelor/master dissertation (2021)

This thesis focuses on the generation of original and unique 3D dances given a music using deep neural networks. A state of the art model (Dance Revolution) was adapted to take as input 3D data. Then it ... [more ▼]

This thesis focuses on the generation of original and unique 3D dances given a music using deep neural networks. A state of the art model (Dance Revolution) was adapted to take as input 3D data. Then it was trained using the recently published AIST++ dataset. At the generation phase, the model is able to generate credible dances. This was achieved by introducing a novel audio data augmentation technique that modifies the harmonic content of a song without changing the rhythmic content. This method allowed for an increase in the number of training epochs before the LSTM network converges to a static pose. Additionally, a novel method to evaluate the coherence of the generated dances with respect to the style of music is proposed. The comparison is based on key dance moves that are identified using the matrix profile. Using this method to evaluate the dances, it was found that the model generate coherent dances with respect to the dominant styles of music in the dataset. [less ▲]

Identification of antiepilepitic drug-target interactions in public databases

Bachelor/master dissertation (2020)

Epilepsy is affecting people of all age and gender. The disease is traditionally treated with application of antiepileptic drugs. The therapy choice mostly relies on the differential diagnosis which is ... [more ▼]

Epilepsy is affecting people of all age and gender. The disease is traditionally treated with application of antiepileptic drugs. The therapy choice mostly relies on the differential diagnosis which is not always easy to be deducted. The treatment guidelines and antiepileptics are diverged according to major epilepsy types – generalized and focal epilepsy. However, prospective studies of antiepileptic drug effectiveness on the European cohort have shown that pharmacoresponse is patient dependent. In this thesis the antiepileptic drug prescription trend in this cohort in generalized and focal epilepsy patients was investigated. Moreover, the use of antiepileptics in the clinics from the EpiPGX database was compared to the findings of their use in general practices in the UK. To explain the difference in patient response to therapy AED-target interactions were investigated on the level of databases. In addition, with the discovery of new genes implicated in epilepsy and success of drugs of other groups such as quinidine and fampridine in treating the symptoms, the drug-repurposing found its application in epilepsy. In this thesis, quinidine-KCNT1 and fampridine-KCNA2 interactions were investigated in order to estimate the feasibility of using public databases to select drug-target interactions for clinical application. The investigation relied mainly on the ChEMBL database. However, these genes were not found among antiepileptic drug targets in the database. Quinidine and fampridine were assay associated with other AED targets. The results suggest that the therapy choice for treatment of rare forms of epilepsy underlined by channelopathies could be significantly expanded, but that database approach requires high level of drug-target selection criteria and text mining. [less ▲]

A Monk's Legacy: OCR, Lemmatization, and Computational Exploration of Some of the Works of Johannes Scheckmann of Trier (†1531)

Bachelor/master dissertation (2019)

Análisis empírico del comercio internacional a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XX.

Bachelor/master dissertation (2019)

The study of international trade is one of the classical research areas of the economic thought. Its empirical characterization, at the same time that it goes back in time, is today an application space ... [more ▼]

The study of international trade is one of the classical research areas of the economic thought. Its empirical characterization, at the same time that it goes back in time, is today an application space for new techniques, based on the intensive use of data. The increase in the availability of information curated for all countries allows exploring new analysis techniques. In turn, the multiple dimensions of the problem prevent a single analysis technique from capturing the entire phenomenon. The present work proposes to carry out various methodological proposals for the study of international trade, in such a way that together they allow obtaining a novel vision of the data. To do this, techniques widely used in other fields are tested on this particular subject, such as graph analysis and bayesian generative models. Aggregate trade between countries as well as the composition of the export baskets are considered. [less ▲]

Automated analysis of high-throughput screening high-content microscopy data with deep learning

Bachelor/master dissertation (2019)

Solutions to achieve gender parity amongst national UNICEF Nepal staff

Bachelor/master dissertation (2019)

The United Nations (UN) has fallen short in meeting commitments - which date back to 1970 - to achieve gender parity. Conversely, UNICEF globally has achieved gender parity. This global average however ... [more ▼]

The United Nations (UN) has fallen short in meeting commitments - which date back to 1970 - to achieve gender parity. Conversely, UNICEF globally has achieved gender parity. This global average however hides a gender imbalanced workforce at the regional level, in country offices and in functional areas. At UNICEF Nepal, men are over-represented in the workforce. The most significant gender imbalance lies within the category of national staff. Based on analysis of Human Resources (HR) recruitment and workforce data and interviews with UN staff, the research identified potential reasons for the under-representation of Nepalese women. Nepalese women are not leaving their jobs any more than men, career development opportunities are similar for men and women, selection procedures do not discriminate against women, there are policies in place for flexible work arrangements. From this elimination process, the main reason for the under-representation of women at UNICEF Nepal is that only a small number of women are applying to positions in the first place. From an array of potential reasons for women not applying to UNICEF Nepal, UNICEF can address the perception that UNICEF is a boys’ club that is inflexible in terms of working arrangements. Next, the research explored solutions from other UNICEF country offices, UN entities, the private sector and academia. The study presented practical solutions for UNICEF Nepal to adopt: Temporarily hiring only women, talent outreach, adapting and creating new traineeship and fellowship programmes, better communicating UNICEF’s goals on gender parity and job advertisements tailored to women. Beyond its direct application to UNICEF Nepal, this paper could inspire reflection at the country office, regional office and headquarters on solutions to achieve a more diverse workforce respecting gender balance, equitable geographical distribution, caste and others. In sum, it could guide reflection on solutions for UNICEF to have a workforce more representative of the society. [less ▲]

Deontic Agency and Moral Luck

Bachelor/master dissertation (2018)

This work presents temporal STIT I/O logic, an I/O logic based on temporal STIT logic, and documents its investigation with the proof assistant tool Isabelle/ HOL. We show how to semantically embedding ... [more ▼]

This work presents temporal STIT I/O logic, an I/O logic based on temporal STIT logic, and documents its investigation with the proof assistant tool Isabelle/ HOL. We show how to semantically embedding temporal STIT logic as well as the out2 operator in HOL. Implementing those embeddings and also the already existing embedding of the out1 operator into Isabelle/HOL framework, enables the application of higher-order automatic theorem provers for automated reasoning tasks in temporal STIT I/O logic. Finally, we relate our logic to a more philosophical topic called moral luck, identify which aspects of moral luck can be studied by it, and use examples from this subject as test cases for the logic. [less ▲]

The Regulation of Space Resources Activities Between National and International Law

Bachelor/master dissertation (2018)

Kummer theory for number fields and applications

Bachelor/master dissertation (2018)

Orbit Maintenance Strategies for Sun-Earth/Moon Libration Point Missions: Parameter Selection for Target Point and Cauchy-Green Tensor Approaches

Bachelor/master dissertation (2017)

The libration point orbits in the Sun-Earth/Moon system are formed by concurrent gravitational influences by various celestial bodies, originating in a nonlinear dynamical regime. Coupled with the ... [more ▼]

The libration point orbits in the Sun-Earth/Moon system are formed by concurrent gravitational influences by various celestial bodies, originating in a nonlinear dynamical regime. Coupled with the unstable nature of the orbit, the impact of any perturbations are expected to increase rapidly. The feasibility of a flow-based, Cauchy-Green tensor control strategy for station-keeping is examined. An orbit consistent with the mission objectives is selected for examination. The station-keeping process is stochastic, thus Gaussian random errors are introduced for simulation. The evolution of a velocity perturbation over time is monitored, beyond which the attainable state in the accessible region nearest to the target state is employed as a feedback to compute the necessary full, three-component corrective maneuver. The application and appropriateness of single axis control maneuvers for orbit maintenance are also evaluated. The selection procedure for certain parameters such as tolerances and weighting values are developed to incorporate the available dynamical information, yielding a versatile and straightforward strategy. Weighting matrices within the target point approach are effective in influencing the station-keeping costs as well as size and direction of maneuvers. Moreover, selection of appropriate tolerance values in the application of the Cauchy-Green tensor exploits the dominant stretching direction of the perturbation magnitude to inform the maneuver construction process. The work is demonstrated in the context of the upcoming Aditya-1 mission to a Sun-Earth/Moon L1 halo orbit for solar observations and the James Webb Telescope to a Sun-Earth/Moon L2 halo orbit for astronomy. [less ▲]

Acceptability and acceptance of autonomous mobility on demand: the impact of an immersive experience

Bachelor/master dissertation (2017)

Cru et Classé. Impressions de qualités sur le vin français au XIXème siècle.

Bachelor/master dissertation (2017)

The thesis looks into perveived impressions on French wine in the 19th century from a French perspective. It looks into how specific qualitites, and the idea of terroir, are attested to wine in order to ... [more ▼]

The thesis looks into perveived impressions on French wine in the 19th century from a French perspective. It looks into how specific qualitites, and the idea of terroir, are attested to wine in order to express nationhood through wine in 19th century France. [less ▲]

Cäcilianismus in Luxemburg

Bachelor/master dissertation (2017)

Prediction of drug targets using metabolic modelling

Bachelor/master dissertation (2016)

Cancer, as one of the leading causes of death worldwide, is a disease characterized by the abnormal and uncontrolled proliferation of cells. Currently available anti-cancer drugs come with a variety of ... [more ▼]

Cancer, as one of the leading causes of death worldwide, is a disease characterized by the abnormal and uncontrolled proliferation of cells. Currently available anti-cancer drugs come with a variety of different side effects reducing the quality of life of cancer patients. Due to these severe side effects in anti-cancer therapy it is important to find a compromise between killing the cancer cells (efficiency) and not affecting the healthy cells (toxicity) to improve the quality of life of those patients. There exist different methods of finding new drug targets in cancer such as the in vitro development of new drugs which is very time consuming and expensive. The in silico prediction of targets, on the other hand, is fast and cost effective and allows to make a pre-selection of drug targets based on candidate genes. In this work, I propose a new workflow which implements metabolic modelling for finding metabolic drug targets in cancer. Therefore, context-specific models for cancer (including primary and metastatic melanoma) and healthy controls were reconstructed from Recon 2 (a genome scale metabolic model) using FASTCORMICS and two different expression datasets. In silico single gene deletion was performed in the models to search for potential candidate genes which are essential in cancer (reduce biomass production by 50%) but not in healthy (do not affect ATP production). In a second step, (approved) drugs targeting metabolic genes and their side effects, were extracted from the DrugBank, STITCH and SIDER through data mining and mapped to the metabolic network. A total of 65 possible drug targets have been found. These targets include genes which are known targets for chemotherapeutic agents such as the thymidylate synthase (TYMS), the fatty acid synthase (FASN) or dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Furthermore, two anti-cancer agents have been predicted for FASN which have already been proposed for the treatment of cancer. [less ▲]

„Grow into a happy future“ The development of abortion law in the German Democratic Republic and its ideological and practical implications (1945 - 1972)

Bachelor/master dissertation (2016)

The master's thesis aims at exploring the laws regulating abortion and reproduction in the GDR until its legalization in 1972. These laws, their impact and mediatization are put into a comparative ... [more ▼]

The master's thesis aims at exploring the laws regulating abortion and reproduction in the GDR until its legalization in 1972. These laws, their impact and mediatization are put into a comparative perspective with the situation in the Soviet Union. The thesis further explores how ideologically charged explanations were used to legitimize abortion laws and the discrepancy between the USSR and the GDR in terms of legalization. [less ▲]

Developing a web-based system to visualize vegetation trends by a nonlinear regression algorithm

Bachelor/master dissertation (2016)

Comparing with traditional linear regression methods that used to monitor vegetation trends, a nonlinear regression algorithm (PolyTrend) developed by Jamali et al. (2014) can provide more accurate ... [more ▼]

Comparing with traditional linear regression methods that used to monitor vegetation trends, a nonlinear regression algorithm (PolyTrend) developed by Jamali et al. (2014) can provide more accurate information of vegetation trends by fitting a polynomial line with a degree of up to three for ASCII-formed time-series NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) dataset of a single pixel. To extend the ability of the PolyTrend algorithm for processing time-series NDVI satellite imagery and to increase its accessibility, a web-based system for visualizing vegetation trends by the PolyTrend algorithm has been developed. The PolyTrend web-based system allows users to define the value of statistical significance of the PolyTrend algorithm, the nominal range of the input data, and the range of desired NDVI input to be processed. It applies the PolyTrend algorithm to each pixel of the uploaded time-series NDVI satellite imagery dataset. It returns the types of vegetation changes, the slope of the changes of NDVI values in the whole time span, and whether the net change of NDVI increases or decreases during this period, in the forms of ASCII files (i.e. text files) and binary files (i.e. images). By refining the existing PolyTrend algorithm written in MATLAB and embedding it in a web environment, the PolyTrend web-based system has proved its ability in monitoring global vegetation trends using raw time-series NDVI satellite imagery. [less ▲]

Ostbelgien hört Ostbelgien. Les débats autour de l’autonomie culturelle des Belges germanophones sur les ondes du Belgischer Hörfunk (1965-1974)

Bachelor/master dissertation (2016)

Principles and design of global proactive scenarios over a network of proactive engines

Bachelor/master dissertation (2015)

This thesis examines Global Proactive Scenarios (GPaSs) in the context of proactive computing. GPaSs are Proactive Scenarios (PaSs) that dynamically collect information, provide strategies for cooperative ... [more ▼]

This thesis examines Global Proactive Scenarios (GPaSs) in the context of proactive computing. GPaSs are Proactive Scenarios (PaSs) that dynamically collect information, provide strategies for cooperative reasoning and support collective decision making [1]. More precisely we will extract properties from GPaSs and define them. Based on these properties we will then create templates for GPaSs, which will help to facilitate and standardize the creation of future GPaSs. The applicability of these templates is showed through the design of GPaSs for three example applications and finally we will implement one of these applications as a proof of concept example to showcase the usage of the templates in the real world. [less ▲]

Le sentiment d’auto-efficacité et la compatibilité support/tâche pendant la lecture et la rédaction de texte sur tablette numérique: éléments comportementaux, charge mentale et variation du sentiment d’auto-efficacité

Bachelor/master dissertation (2015)

This memory aims at understanding and at exploring the cognitive processes involved in the realization of tasks during the use of a tablet. The purpose is to see the effects of the Self efficacy in ... [more ▼]

This memory aims at understanding and at exploring the cognitive processes involved in the realization of tasks during the use of a tablet. The purpose is to see the effects of the Self efficacy in interaction with the compatibility / incompatibility of the tablet with a reading / searching task as wellas a writing task. It aims at describing the effects of the self-efficacy on the behavior in terms of strategies, performance, perseveration as well as cognitive load. For it, 99 students of the University of Toulouse II Jean Jaurès were confronted with two different versions of the document on digital tablets, making vary the compatibility of the tool with the task: a compatible one, and an incompatible. Measures of perceived utility, perceived difficulty, of time, of self-efficacy and behavior (strategytrying -error, perseverating, aborting) were made. The levels of Self-Efficacy have no effect on the behavior and the performances. However, the results show a variation of the self-efficacy between the first one and the second measure (pre-post survey).They also show a significant effect of the condition on the performances. To finish, we find a negative relation between the self-efficacy and the received difficulty. [less ▲]

Développement d'un macroélément pour des calculs sismiques pour des fondations profondes

Bachelor/master dissertation (2015)

The soil-foundation-structure interaction has been always a part of civil engineering where the hypothesis are numerous. These hypothesis can be an acceptance (such as dimensionless efforts ... [more ▼]

The soil-foundation-structure interaction has been always a part of civil engineering where the hypothesis are numerous. These hypothesis can be an acceptance (such as dimensionless efforts / displacements) or neglect ( such as radiation damping on far-field effect, detachment soil-foundation). However, they are used by many researchers in its calculations, thus the soil-foundation interaction its known for particular conditions. This study concerns to the development and programming of a new macro-element taking into account the radiative damping, of course based on previous models ; developed by [Nova and Montrasio, 1991], [Cremer, 2001]...., [Grange et al., 2009] and [Li, 2014]. The last two models will help us during this study. To get some good results we have to find a rheological model that represents on the best way the interaction soil-foundation . The model "Monkey-Tail" [Wolf, 1994] will be chosen. After understanding how the macro-element is going to be introduced in such way that it considers the radiative dumping, FedeasLab (a MATLAB tool, [Filippou and Constandines, 2004]) will check the validation of this model. This will be the second part of the study. [less ▲]

Calculs de paramètres RMN de fluorures inorganiques cristallisés

Bachelor/master dissertation (2015)

The goal of this work was to compute the NMR parameters of some crystalline inorganic fluorides using the Gipaw method as implemented in Quantum-Espresso. Notably, we were interested in reproducing (or ... [more ▼]

The goal of this work was to compute the NMR parameters of some crystalline inorganic fluorides using the Gipaw method as implemented in Quantum-Espresso. Notably, we were interested in reproducing (or not) some published results [16, 17] that had been obtained using Castep. [less ▲]

Die militärische Organisation der Stadt Luxemburg im späten Mittelalter basierend auf den Rechnungsbüchern von 1388 bis 1480

Bachelor/master dissertation (2015)

Gouvernance et identités. Noblesse, villes et clergé du duché de Luxembourg (milieu XVe – début XVIe s.). Sources, problématiques et méthodologies

Bachelor/master dissertation (2015)

Role of HIF-1α in Oncostatin M induced metabolic reprogramming of human hepatocytes

Bachelor/master dissertation (2015)

Network-based Approach Enabling Drug Repositioning for the Treatment of Myocardial Infarction

Bachelor/master dissertation (2014)

Despite a notable reduction in incidence of acute myocardial infarction (MI), patients who experience it remain at risk for premature death and cardiac malfunction. The human cardiomyocytes are not able ... [more ▼]

Despite a notable reduction in incidence of acute myocardial infarction (MI), patients who experience it remain at risk for premature death and cardiac malfunction. The human cardiomyocytes are not able to achieve extensive regeneration upon MI. Remarkably, the adult zebrafish is able to achieve complete heart regeneration following amputation, cryoinjury or genetic ablation. This raises new potential opportunities on how to boost the heart healing capacity in humans. The objective of our research is to characterize the transcriptional network of the zebrafish heart regeneration, to describe underlying regulatory mechanisms, and to identify potential drugs capable to boost heart regeneration capacity. Having identified the gene co-expression patterns in the data from a zebrafish cryoinjury model, we constructed a weighted gene co-expression network. To detect candidate functional sub-networks (modules), we used two different network clustering approaches: a density-based (ClusterONE) and a topological overlap-based (Dynamic Hybrid) algorithms. We identified eighteen distinct modules associated with heart recovery upon cryoinjury. Functional enrichment analysis displayed that the modules are involved in different cellular processes crucial for heart regeneration, including: cell fate specification (p-value < 0.006) and migration (p-value < 0.047), cardiac cell differentiation (p-value < 3E-04), and various signaling events (p-value < 0.037). The visualization of the modules’ expression profiles confirmed the relevance of these functional enrichments. Among the candidate hub genes detected in the network, there are genes relevant to atherosclerosis treatment and inflammation during cardiac arrest. Among the top candidate drugs, there were drugs already reported to play therapeutic roles in heart disease, though the majority of the drugs have not been considered yet for myocardial infarction treatment. In conclusion, our findings provide insights into the complex regulatory mechanisms involved during heart regeneration in the zebrafish. These data will be useful for modeling specific network-based responses to heart injury, and for finding sensitive network points that may trigger or boost heart regeneration in the zebrafish, and possibly in mammals. [less ▲]

中药资源适宜性分析研究

Bachelor/master dissertation (2014)

This thesis uses a combination of analytic hierarchy process, grey relational analysis and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to select the planting location and types of Chinese herbs.

Digital history e storiografiadigitale: estudo comparado sobre a escrita da história no tempo presente (2001-2011). 2014

Bachelor/master dissertation (2014)

Das Projekt „Joy“ der Stiftung EME: Wie Musik hörgeschädigte Kinder und Senioren zusammenbringt

Bachelor/master dissertation (2013)

Am Beispiel des intergenerationellen Musikprojektes „Joy“ der gemeinnützigen Stiftung EME wird ersichtlich, wie kulturelle Partizipation das Leben eines Einzelnen bereichert und die Verbundenheit einer ... [more ▼]

Am Beispiel des intergenerationellen Musikprojektes „Joy“ der gemeinnützigen Stiftung EME wird ersichtlich, wie kulturelle Partizipation das Leben eines Einzelnen bereichert und die Verbundenheit einer Gemeinschaft fördern kann. Hörgeschädigte Kinder und Senioren begegneten sich von Januar bis Juli 2013 mehrmals im Monat um gemeinsam mit afrikanischen Instrumenten zu musizieren. Die Musik schenkte den Teilnehmern Freude und Vitalität und ermöglichte ihnen, die Probleme aus ihrem Alltag für kurze Zeit zu vergessen. Theoretische Erkenntnisse münden in Ideen, wie das außergewöhnliche Zusammentreffen als Fallbeispiel öffentlich präsentiert und das Aufblühen der Generationen offenbart werden kann. [less ▲]

Raisonnement scientifique et inférence bayésienne

Bachelor/master dissertation (2013)

Après deux siècles de quasi-oubli, les méthodes dites bayésiennes ont connu un essor extraordinaire au cours des trente dernières années. Ce sont de telles applications de la théorie des probabilités qui ... [more ▼]

Après deux siècles de quasi-oubli, les méthodes dites bayésiennes ont connu un essor extraordinaire au cours des trente dernières années. Ce sont de telles applications de la théorie des probabilités qui faisaient dire de celle-ci au principal pionnier de ces méthodes, Laplace, qu'elle «n'est que le bon sens réduit au calcul». Des formalisations plus récentes (Cox, 1946) font que l'on sait aujourd'hui que raisonner de manière rationnelle est équivalent à utiliser un raisonnement bayésien [Jaynes 2003]. Savoir raisonner de manière rationnelle étant nécessaire pour tout scientifique, il nous a semblé intéressant de faire le lien entre ces méthodes bayésiennes et ce que l'on appelle généralement la méthode scientifique. Les méthodes bayésiennes sont des méthodes qui dérivent de l'application de l'interprétation bayésienne de la théorie des probabilités. Selon cette interprétation, une probabilité n'est pas une propriété intrinsèque d'un système (comme une fréquence), mais une mesure (qui peut être subjective) de l'incertitude que l'on a sur l'état de celui-ci. Le coeur de ces méthodes est alors le théorème de Bayes (entre 1745 et 1750), qui permet de réviser cette mesure à l'aune de nouvelles données: p(H|D,I) = p(D|H,I) * p(H|I)/p(D|I). La notation utilisée ici reflète l'usage qui nous intéresse: H représente une hypothèse, D des données, et, un raisonnement ne se faisant pas «dans le vide», I représente un contexte informationnel qui n'intervient pas dans les calculs mais que nous avons choisi de représenter explicitement, suivant ainsi [Sivia 2006]. Le terme p(H|I) représente alors la probabilité qui avait été attribuée a priori à l'hypothèse, p(D|I) représente les faits nouveaux que l'on désire prendre en compte, et p(D|H,I) la vraisemblance de ces faits en supposant l'hypothèse vraie. On extrait de cela la probabilité révisée, a posteriori de l'hypothèse, p(H|D,I). Dans cette étude, nous expliquons que l'application de ce théorème est non seulement compatible avec la méthode scientifique traditionnelle venant de la tradition d'Aristote, Bacon et Descartes et ses trois étapes --observer, former des hypothèses, tester ces hypothèses-- mais qu'en plus, elle permet d'étendre la logique «cartésienne» pour prendre en compte le problème de l'inférence. En effet, la logique cartésienne permet de déduire les conséquences à partir de causes connues, mais il n'est pas possible de déterminer formellement les causes à partir de l'observation des faits. L'utilisation du théorème de Bayes, autrefois appelé loi des probabilités inverses, permet de résoudre ce problème, en déterminant la plausibilité de diverses hypothèses à partir des faits. En outre, le remplacement d'une logique binaire avec deux valeurs «vrai/faux» par un continuum de probabilité permet «d'adoucir» l'effet d'observations contraires à une théorie par ailleurs largement validée, alors qu'une application brutale et naïve de la logique classique voudrait qu'elle soit considérée immédiatement comme réfutée. Inversement, l'application du théorème de Bayes avec des données prédites par une théorie confirme l'idée intuitive que cette théorie est rendue plus plausible (sans devenir pour autant certaine). Ce sont des avantages par rapport au réfutationnisme poppérien. Cette extension de la logique facilite également la prise en compte de données dont l'interprétation est incertaine. Les méthodes bayésiennes fournissent aussi un critère pour résoudre le problème qui peut se poser avec le principe du rasoir d'Occam. En effet, celui-ci veut qu'entre deux théories à pouvoir explicatif identique, on choisisse celle qui est la plus simple. Mais que faire dans le cas où s'affrontent deux théories, dont l'une est plus complexe mais aussi plus précise que l'autre~? Le théorème de Bayes permet de comparer les probabilités respectives de ces théories en prenant non seulement en compte leur adéquation aux données dont on dispose, mais également le nombre de paramètres (donc la complexité) prévu par ces théories. Faute d'avoir le temps de présenter cela à l'aide d'un exemple comme nous l'avions initialement espéré, nous renvoyons le lecteur vers le chapitre 4 de [Sivia-2006]. Incidemment, le formalisme bayésien de l'induction de Solomonoff permet même une démonstration du rasoir d'Occam. De manière plus générale, étant donné qu'il n'est guère possible de rendre compte de l'incroyable richesse des applications des méthodes bayésiennes, nous dirigeons le lecteur soucieux d'en apprendre plus vers notre bibliographie annotée. [less ▲]

Return to Work After Retirement: Contributing Factors and Health Implications

Bachelor/master dissertation (2013)

An issue of mounting importance in many industrialized nations, including Canada, is that of population aging. Because of fears that this trend could result in labour force shortages, many national ... [more ▼]

An issue of mounting importance in many industrialized nations, including Canada, is that of population aging. Because of fears that this trend could result in labour force shortages, many national governments and international organizations have encouraged policies aimed at prolonging the working life. This thesis builds on work that has been done to identify factors relevant to the likelihood of involvement in post-retirement work by examining how interactions among various demographic variables are associated with this likelihood. Furthermore, the present study investigates how post-retirement work is associated with three measures of health and well-being. As well as confirming results obtained by others, this study found significant interactions between gender and marital status, current age, and age at retirement that are associated with the likelihood of having been involved in post-retirement work. This thesis also revealed that post-retirement work is generally associated with higher levels of health and well-being. The theoretical and policy implications of this study’s outcomes are discussed. [less ▲]

The impact of the global financial crisis on central banks independence and mandate : cases of the US Fed, the ECB and the BoE

Bachelor/master dissertation (2013)

The recent global financial crisis has shaken the celebrated paradigm of an independent central bank with monetary policy mandate focused on the paramount objective of price stability. During the crisis ... [more ▼]

The recent global financial crisis has shaken the celebrated paradigm of an independent central bank with monetary policy mandate focused on the paramount objective of price stability. During the crisis, central banks, particularly the Fed, the ECB and the BoE; in order to restore financial stability adopted many “non-standard measures” which successfully prevented greater financial turmoil. By providing emergency funding to unstable financial sectors, central banks’ balance sheets have expanded considerably which may pose certain risks to central banks’ independence in the conduct of its traditional monetary policy objectives. Furthermore, seeing the successes of central banks in fighting the crisis, the US, the British and the EU lawmakers decided to enhance their financial stability mandate, which in turn raised many questions as to its “clear and limited” scope and its compatibility with democratic principles. This thesis will explore the post-crisis challenges for central banks, raised by expansion of their balance sheets and broadened scope of their policy objectives, with regard to their independence and mandate. [less ▲]

Normative Policy Coherence for Development in the EU

Bachelor/master dissertation (2013)

In this research the application of values in development policies is compared to the application of values in trade policies. As the EU is the defender of European values, it is expected that the EU and ... [more ▼]

In this research the application of values in development policies is compared to the application of values in trade policies. As the EU is the defender of European values, it is expected that the EU and its member states apply these values coherently over different policy arenas. Germany and the Netherlands are the two member states representing the EU. The United States and Japan represent non-European countries. Those four countries are compared in their development and trade policies towards Vietnam. Commission Annual Reports, OECD Peer Reviews and additional national documents on development and trade are the basis for this analysis. In addition, political statements and related publication are included for the study of values. This study shows that the EU member states apply European values in the field of development policies. Japan and the US do not apply values in either of the policy arenas. [less ▲]

Solution of implicit differential equations using desingularization theory

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

Our goal in this work is to give an algorithmic method to find solutions of a LSS. To accomplish this objective, we will give a geometric description of the problem and use some geometric tools to ... [more ▼]

Our goal in this work is to give an algorithmic method to find solutions of a LSS. To accomplish this objective, we will give a geometric description of the problem and use some geometric tools to transform the equation and the manifold (the "ambient space") into a new set of equations, each one being an explicit ODE. When this is accomplished, one may apply Picard's theorem to these new systems to obtain the solutions. It is important to notice that (as many other theoretical results) Picard's theorem proves the existence of a solution but does not give an explicit method to nd it. Usually, in problems which require to find explicit solutions, numerical methods are used. There also exist numerical methods for solving LSS, so one may think that (since we will use numerical methods anyway to find the explicit solution) we could use them directly instead of wasting time implementing a method that will still depend on numerical approximations. The main point of using alternative methods for this kind of problem is (beyond the theoretical value of the algorithm) that, while numerical methods for explicit ODEs are usually accurate (in the sense that it is easy to control the error of the calculations), numerical approximations for an arbitrary LSS require (as it is explained in [RR02]) numerical inversions of quasi-singular matrices; these operations are numerically unstable. Therefore, the desingularization procedure studied here may allow to transform a numerically unstable problem into a new stable one. [less ▲]

Quantität und Qualität deutscher Vokale bei Lernern mit der L1 Russisch

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

Die deutsche Sprache hat ein reiches Vokalsystem. Eine Besonderheit dieses Systems ist die Existenz der sogenannten Kurz- und Langvokale, die bedeutungsunterscheidend sind (Miete und Mitte, Höhle und ... [more ▼]

Die deutsche Sprache hat ein reiches Vokalsystem. Eine Besonderheit dieses Systems ist die Existenz der sogenannten Kurz- und Langvokale, die bedeutungsunterscheidend sind (Miete und Mitte, Höhle und Hölle, Staat und Stadt). Diese zwei Gruppen von Vokalen werden unterschiedlich lang und unterschiedlich gespannt ausgesprochen. Solche Qualitäts- und Quantitätsunterschiede sind nicht für alle Sprachen typisch, deswegen stellt der Erwerb der deutschen Vokale eine Herausforderung für viele Lerner dar. Diese Unterschiede machen aber nicht nur den Lernern des Deutschen viel Mühe, sondern auch den Sprachwissenschaftlern, die sich mit dem deutschen Phonemsystem auseinandersetzen. Linguisten, die in diesem Forschungsgebiet tätig sind, diskutieren immer noch über das entscheidende distinktive Merkmal der deutschen Vokale. Ist es die Quantität oder die Qualität? Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, die Frage aus einer anderen Perspektive zu betrachten. Ich werde überprüfen, wie russischsprachige Lerner des Deutschen mit diesen beiden Parametern umgehen. Was erwerben diese Lerner, in deren Muttersprache weder die Länge noch die Gespanntheit der Vokale bedeutungsunterscheidend sind? [less ▲]

An introduction to Schemes and Moduli Spaces in Geometry

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

Blaming others: Toward a new experimental measure of anger-based projection

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

Le rôle de l’abus de pouvoir des élites locales dans les acquisitions de terres agricoles à petite échelle. Le cas de la commune de Djidja au Bénin

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

Proactive Dynamic Community of Practice

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

The main purpose of this Master Thesis was to invent and design Proactive Scenarios that could help students from the University of Luxembourg to improve their social experience on the Moodle™ e-learning ... [more ▼]

The main purpose of this Master Thesis was to invent and design Proactive Scenarios that could help students from the University of Luxembourg to improve their social experience on the Moodle™ e-learning platform through the automatic perception of who the user is, where does he/her come from, what are his/her online activities or what do users have in common, and through constant help, guidance and assistance generated by the system with the help of Proactivity. The first part of this work was dedicated to reading, analyzing and comparing stateof- the-art papers, articles and tools in research fields like Proactivity, Communities of Practice, Situation/Context Awareness and Learning Management Systems, followed by the creation and validation of the Proactive Cycle meant to group students, which are inscribed in the same study program or coming from the same city, into social communities where the practice can take multiple shapes. [less ▲]

Auf den Spuren der Akteure: Ein organisationaler Veränderungsprozess aus Perspektive der Akteur-Netzwerk Theorie

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

Die Geschichte des Rassismus und des Antirassismus in Luxemburg seit den 1970er Jahren

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)

Narrateur, personnage et leceur virtuel: vers une méthode d'analyse intra-relationnelle

Bachelor/master dissertation (2011)

[fr] Dans l'étude d'un possible dialogisme entre les instances internes au récit que sont le narrateur, le personnage et le lecteur virtuel (soit l'instance de lecture présupposée par le texte), ce ... [more ▼]

[fr] Dans l'étude d'un possible dialogisme entre les instances internes au récit que sont le narrateur, le personnage et le lecteur virtuel (soit l'instance de lecture présupposée par le texte), ce travail pose notamment les questions des subjectivèmes, de leur assemblage en point de vue et des articulations de points de vue hétérogènes: comment peut-on les repérer, identifier différentes formes d'assemblage/articulation et déterminer leur force illocutoire? [less ▲]

Sistema de control para el seguimiento de trayectorias de un UGV no holonómico tipo Ackermann

Bachelor/master dissertation (2010)

Introduction à la théorie des espaces symétriques

Bachelor/master dissertation (2010)

Festung Europa oder Chance Immigrationstradition? Erwartungen und Realitäten im Alltag subsahara-afrikanischer Asylsuchender in Luxemburg

Bachelor/master dissertation (2010)

Due Process in Islamic Sharia: Historical Perspective on Political Executions During Umayyad Era (661 to 750 AD)

Bachelor/master dissertation (2009)

Régulation de la position d'une bille sur un plateau inclinable

Bachelor/master dissertation (2009)

Le but de ce projet était d'étudier la régulation de la position d'une bille sur un plateau mobile, celui-ci devant être préalablement construit. Ce plateau est mobile en ceci qu'il peut s'incliner selon ... [more ▼]

Le but de ce projet était d'étudier la régulation de la position d'une bille sur un plateau mobile, celui-ci devant être préalablement construit. Ce plateau est mobile en ceci qu'il peut s'incliner selon ses deux axes, l'inclinaison étant contrôlable par des moteurs. Le plateau est constitué (ou, comme ici, recouvert) d'une dalle tactile qui permet de connaître la position de la bille. Dans la fabrication de ce projet, il y a trois parties distinctes: - la partie mécanique; - la partie électronique; - la partie informatique, c'est-à-dire la programmation de la puce (un microcontrôleur dsPIC) qui contrôle le système. Toutefois, avant de parler de la fabrication elle-même, nous allons commencer par étudier ce système de manière théorique. C'est l'objet du premier chapitre. [less ▲]

Externe Evaluation als Impulsgeber für Schulentwicklung? Eine explorative Untersuchung

Bachelor/master dissertation (2009)