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Sexual dimorphism is observed at the beginning of embryonic development. At this stage, it is mainly due to the overexpression of X-linked genes in female embryos. This early transcriptional dimorphism leads to differences in metabolism and environmental adaptations between the sexes. Our objective was to study the impact of induced oxidative stress on in vitro bovine embryos produced in two conditions (with or without serum), considering the embryo sex. Two stress inducers were used, each having a different mode of action: AAPH and menadione, which produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the culture medium or elevates intracellular ROS production, respectively. We assessed the sex ratio of embryos that reached the blastocyst stage as well as two quality markers: total cell number and apoptotic rates. Male embryos were more resistant against oxidative stress when cultured in presence of serum, regardless of the treatment. In contrast, female embryos were more resistant when cultured in serum-free medium following AAPH treatment, while exposure to menadione had no impact on sex ratio. The same trends were observed on the quality parameters of embryos that have reached the blastocyst stage. In order to understand the origin of the observed differences, the expression of six genes implicated in REDOX status regulation or apoptosis were evaluated by RT-qPCR on single blastocysts in the above conditions, and included X-linked (AIFM1, G6PD, HPRT and XIAP) and autosomal genes (BAX and GAPDH). This study confirmed the overexpression of X-linked genes in female embryos and highlighted differences between media for the response of embryos to oxidative stress, opening new research perspectives in order to improve our knowledge of the environmental impact on early sexual dimorphism., Un dimorphisme sexuel est observé dès le début du développement. À ce stade, il est surtout dû à une surexpression des gènes du chromosome X chez les femelles. Ce dimorphisme transcriptionnel précoce mène à des différences métaboliques et d’adaptation à l’environnement entre sexes. Notre objectif était d’étudier l’impact d’un stress oxydant induit sur des embryons bovins produits in vitro dans deux conditions (avec et sans sérum) en tenant compte du sexe de l’embryon. Deux inducteurs de stress oxydant possédant des modes d’action différents ont été utilisés : l’AAPH, qui produit des espèces réactives de l’oxygène (ROS) dans le milieu, et la ménadione qui augmente la production de ROS intracellulaires. Nous avons évalué le sex-ratio des embryons qui ont atteint le stade blastocyste, ainsi que deux critères de qualité, le nombre de cellules et le taux de cellules apoptotiques. Alors que les embryons mâles résistent mieux au stress en présence de sérum, quel que soit l’inducteur, les embryons femelles survivent mieux dans le milieu sans sérum lorsque le stress est induit par l’AAPH, tandis que la ménadione n’a pas d’effet sur le sex-ratio des embryons. L’impact sur la qualité des blastocystes tend à aller dans le même sens. Pour comprendre l’origine des différences observées, l’expression de 6 gènes impliqués dans la régulation de l’équilibre REDOX ou de l’apoptose a été étudiée par RT-qPCR sur blastocystes individuels dans les mêmes conditions : 4 gènes liés au X (AIFM1, G6PD, HPRT et XIAP) et 2 gènes autosomaux (BAX et GAPDH). Cette étude a confirmé la surexpression des gènes liés au X chez les embryons femelles et a mis en évidence des différences entre milieux pour la réponse des embryons au stress oxydant, ouvrant de nouvelles pistes d’investigation pour mieux comprendre l’impact des conditions environnementales sur le dimorphisme sexuel précoce., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

Population and income growth, urbanisation and technological advances have led to intensification of livestock production systems over the past decades. This has significant health and environmental impacts (e.g. soil pollution and spread of epidemics). A trend in intensification is observable globally, but the level of intensification varies between countries. As the characteristics and the distribution of farms appear to change as a result of intensification, the impacts of livestock production systems are expected to evolve. This creates a need for a better understanding of the spatial factors influencing intensive farming. We also need high-resolution maps of livestock production systems, which are crucial to help assess the impacts of livestock intensification process. This dissertation explores the spatial features of chicken production and elaborates methods to predict chicken farm locations. First, we characterise the spatial constraints of chicken farmers in their early stages of intensification, using survey data from western Kenya. We found a diversity of semi-intensive farms in this region and show that local conditions affect production management types. Second, we build farm distribution models (FDMs) to predict chicken farms’ location and size in four countries spread along a gradient of intensification; Nigeria, Thailand, Argentina and Belgium. We also test the ability of the FDMs to simulate the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in Bangladesh. Using point pattern analysis method, we developed FDMs that account for farm clustering. This allows for a more realistic spatial representation of livestock systems. Upon further validation, this method could represent an interesting tool to model the transmission of epidemic diseases in livestock systems., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

Peruvian migration to Brazil remains largely unexplored today, although it has increased significantly and continuously since the 1990s and the country is at the forefront of “new” destinations for Peruvian migrants. Indeed, within thirty years, a transnational migration circuit has emerged between the two countries, particularly between the Peruvian Andes and the city of São Paulo. These migrants, with equivalent starting social positions, have had very different pathways of incorporation. Drawing on the analysis of the trajectories of Peruvian migrants living in São Paulo and ethnographic observation inspired by the global ethnography framework, this thesis aims to address two main topics. The first concerns the processes of incorporation of Peruvian migrants into the city of São Paulo over the past three decades (between 1980 and 2015) and its transformations. The second explores the relationship between spatial and social mobility in the paths of these migrants. To achieve this, a double analytical approach is mobilized: first, the analysis of structural conditions, and in particular the migration regime in which these pathways unfold; and second, the analysis of migrants’ trajectories and their agency, in the light of the capital they succeed in accumulating, converting and mobilizing. Inspired by Abdelmalek Sayad’s approach, which identified different “ages” of Algerian emigration to France, this case study allows us to establish three cohorts of Peruvian migration to São Paulo. Each of them is characterized —among others— by (1) a mobility dynamic (commercial circulations, dependent migrations, precarious migrations), (2) a migrant-type profile (the cross-border entrepreneur, the proletarian of the craft workshop, the street vendor self-made entrepreneur), and (3) a social mobility process (the emergence of a new class of petty capitalists, the loss of social position and social immobility). By highlighting the richness of a historical perspective on mobility, Les migrations de Péruviens au Brésil restent encore aujourd’hui très peu explorées, bien que leur nombre ait augmenté de manière significative et continue depuis les années 1990 et que ce pays apparaisse en tête d’affiche des « nouvelles » destinations pour les Péruviens. En effet, en l’espace de trente ans, un circuit migratoire transnational a émergé entre les deux pays, en particulier entre les Andes péruviennes et la ville de São Paulo. Ces migrants, aux positions sociales de départ équivalentes, ont eu des parcours d’incorporation fort différents. Au départ d’une analyse des trajectoires des migrants péruviens résidant à São Paulo et l’observation ethnographique inspirée par l’approche de l’ethnographie globale, cette thèse veut répondre à deux interrogations générales. La première concerne les processus d’incorporation des migrants péruviens dans la ville de São Paulo au cours de trois dernières décennies (entre 1980 et 2015) et ses transformations. La deuxième explore la relation entre mobilité spatiale et mobilité sociale dans les parcours de ces migrants. Pour y parvenir, une double entrée analytique est mobilisée : d’abord, l’analyse des conditions structurelles, et en particulier du régime migratoire dans lequel ces parcours se déploient ; puis l’analyse des trajectoires des migrants et leur capacité d’agentivité, à la lumière des capitaux qu’ils réussissent à cumuler, convertir et mobiliser. Inspirée par l’approche d’Abdelmalek Sayad qui identifia des « âges » de l’émigration algérienne en France, cette étude de cas nous permet d’élaborer trois cohortes de migration péruvienne à São Paulo. Chacune d’entre elles est caractérisée — entre autres — par (1) une dynamique de mobilité (circulations commerciales, migrations dépendantes, migrations précaires), (2) un profil de migrant type (l’entrepreneur transfrontalier, le prolétaire de l’atelier d’artisanat, le vendeur ambulant entrepreneur de soi), et (3) un processus de mobilité sociale (l’émergence d’une n, (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

This work analyses the incentives for the private sector to adopt business strategies with a lower impact on the environment. The analytical toolset of Industrial Organization is used to explicitly consider competition forces as an important driver behind the adoption of greener business models. The first strategy discussed is the adoption of an eco-label. By extending the classical vertical differentiation model to a Cournot oligopoly (a model developed under more general conditions in Chapter 1), Chapter 2 formalizes the argument that more ambitious eco-labelling standards increase the quality on offer in the labelled segment of the industry, but also undermine the uptake of such eco-label. The optimal level of eco-label standard that maximizes total profits, consumer surplus, or environmental quality thus depends on its impact on competition levels both in the labelled and in the conventional segment of the industry. The second strategy analysed is the introduction of take-back programs that reward consumers for dropping off old items when they purchase a new product (Chapter 3). The proposed model identifies the main drivers behind the introduction of such strategies, characterizes the optimal reward level, analyses the impact of take-back programs on social welfare, and discusses policies aimed at increasing their uptake., (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2019

Since the end of the 1990s, radical right populist parties tend to have been legitimized and to have accessed to power. Tough, they also remain considered as a threat to liberal democracy. The aim of this research is to assess the policy influence of these parties, by questioning their capacity to exercise an influence but also how they proceed. The Union démocratique du centre (UDC) in Switzerland, the Front national (FN) in France and the Vlaams Belang (VB) in Belgium are analyzed and compared thanks to the process-tracing method. Based on data collected through 107 semi-structured interviews with key actors, 12 interviews with researchers, documentary research, memoirs and books written by key actors, and 15 direct observations, this method allows for opening the policy-making process and detecting if and how radical right populist parties translate their own electoral pledges into decision, may they be in power or not. The research shows that radical right populist parties influence policy-making. However, their influence is also strongly curtailed. It evolves according to the stage of the process: intense at the agenda-setting stage, the influence tends to decrease over time. In addition, several types of influence should be distinguished according to the relationships radical right populist parties have with mainstream parties and with power. Eventually, because they face specific obstacles when trying to influence policy-making, radical right populist parties try to exercise an influence through alternative strategies, by resorting to direct democracy tools or by appealing to citizens through the media., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

« Dans cette thèse, j’ai cherché à comprendre comment, à l’échelle d’une agglomération de province, la structuration d’une aspiration collective à transmettre l’islam en vient-elle à générer des offres et expériences différenciées du « ‘ilm » entendu comme l’ensemble des pratiques et discours en lien avec la transmission des savoirs islamiques. Ce travail vise à contribuer à la question de la transmission de l’islam en France par le biais d’une observation empirique des structures et pratiques d’enseignement confessionnel de l’islam dispensés aux adultes au sein de l’agglomération rouennaise. L’enquête, de type ethnographique, a été menée de 2013 à 2018 de façon participative, ce qui permet de mieux rendre compte des expériences et trajectoires des acteurs de la transmission. Pour cela j’ai circonscrit le terrain à l’agglomération rouennaise située en Normandie. Ce choix vient à contre-pied de la prévalence souvent accordée aux structures les plus visibles ayant une portée nationale. J’ai réalisé des entretiens par récit de vie auprès de plus d’une vingtaine d’enseignant-e-s et d’apprenant-e-s, ainsi que des entretiens semi-directifs auprès de responsables d’associations et de lieux de culte. Toutefois la majeure partie des données est avant tout constituée d’observations d’enseignements et de situations informelles au quotidien. », (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

Although most flowering plants produce nectar to attract animals and ensure their pollination, numerous orchid species do not produce any reward while displaying attractive floral signals. The majority of these deceptive species rely on general and strong floral signals, typical for rewarding plants, to attract pollinators and exploit their food-seeking behaviour. The reproductive success and in particular fruit set in deceptive species is often low and determined by a number of (a)biotic factors potentially operating at different spatial scales. In the genus Orchis and especially the subgenus Orchis, the deceptive mechanism of most species and the relationships between fruit set and environmental factors remain poorly studied. This thesis investigates the factors influencing fruit set in Orchis militaris but also the identity and foraging behaviour of its presumed effective pollinators. Based on insect captures and a detailed literature review, I identified insect groups that are likely to play a primary role in O. militaris pollination: the solitary bee genera Andrena, Halictus, Lasioglossum, Nomada and Sphecodes and the short-tongued bumblebees. In natural populations and at two spatial scales, I studied the effect of individual, population and environmental factors on O. militaris fruit set. Facilitation of pollination was suggested by the high fruit set of large floral displays surrounded by a species-rich floral community, while competition for pollination was suggested by the very low fruit set in orchids surrounded by a dense and species-rich floral community. These results highlight the importance of plant community context for O. militaris reproduction. Competition between conspecifics was also suggested in large floral displays surrounded by numerous conspecifics. All these effects were detected at a small scale (1 m²) and none of the tested factors influenced fruit set at a larger scale (1,500 m²), indicating that their effect could be scale-dependent. S, Bien que la plupart des plantes à fleurs produisent du nectar pour attirer les animaux et assurer leur pollinisation, de nombreuses espèces d’orchidées ne produisent aucune récompense alors qu’elles présentent des signaux floraux attractifs. La majorité de ces espèces déceptives s’appuient sur des signaux floraux efficaces, typiques des plantes nourricières, pour attirer les pollinisateurs et exploiter leur comportement de recherche de nourriture. Le succès reproducteur des espèces déceptives, et en particulier leur production de fruits, est souvent faible et déterminé par plusieurs facteurs (a)biotiques opérant potentiellement à différentes échelles spatiales. Dans le genre Orchis, et particulièrement dans le sous-genre Orchis, le mécanisme déceptif de la plupart des espèces et les relations entre la production de fruits et les facteurs environnementaux restent peu étudiés. Cette thèse examine les facteurs influençant la production de fruits chez Orchis militaris, mais aussi l’identité et le comportement de recherche de nourriture de ses pollinisateurs supposés efficaces. Sur base de captures d’insectes et d’une analyse détaillée de la littérature, j’ai identifié les groupes d’insectes jouant probablement un rôle primordial dans la pollinisation d’O. militaris: les genres d’abeilles solitaires Andrena, Halictus, Lasioglossum, Nomada et Sphecodes et les bourdons à proboscis court. Dans des populations naturelles et en considérant deux échelles spatiales, j’ai étudié l’effet de facteurs individuels, populationnels et environnementaux sur la production de fruits chez O. militaris. La facilitation de la pollinisation était suggérée par la production élevée de fruits observée sur les inflorescences les plus multiflores entourées d’une communauté florale riche en espèces, alors que la compétition pour la pollinisation était suggérée par la très faible production de fruits des orchidées entourées par une communauté florale dense et riche en espèces. Ces résultats mettent, (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

Our thesis focuses on solidarity practices and funeral social protection in the Butembo region (Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo). This study analyzes the system of social funeral protection that uses the existing reserves of solidarities and continually restructured in networks of solidarity adapted to the new expectations of the population for a funeral organization worthy to the deceased. From the dramatization of death and in a context of social change in the region, funerals are the occasion for the expression of all forms of solidarity protection emanating from all categories o f actors (individual, micro-initiatives, micro-associations, mutual societies, friendship clubs, socio-professional groups, religious confessions to which the family has been joined, the Town Hall and its entities, etc.). All the members of the community and the relay structures participate in the supervision of the proven family in several ways (taking care of all material and immaterial costs related to the funeral through social, moral, financial, individual, associative, collective and mixed). This mobilization is a reflection of the intense relationships between the members of a community allowing the participation of all the actors (Ovughuma). The exchanges made in this circumstance are aimed both at maintaining the existing links and at creating new relationships that must be maintained. This protection manifested in bereavement is reflected in reciprocity, donation, mutual help, assistance and assurance. It holds by the contest of the essential supports of the solidarity, namely: the condition of the necessity (expression of a real need not satisfied, badly or little satisfied), the common destiny (related to the generalization of the need with the majority of poor population), the collective conscience (even though bereavement is a community obligation through solidarity), the donation (as an element materializing the circulation of tangible and intangible goods) and recipr, (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

Cette thèse aborde la relation entre la famille et les activités professionnelles dans trois villes ouest africaines : Cotonou (Bénin), Lomé (Togo) et Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Le contexte urbain en Afrique de l’Ouest est marqué à la fois par une séparation des rôles masculins et féminins où les femmes exécutent la grande majorité des tâches domestiques et une forte implication des femmes dans les activités économiques avec très peu de structures de garde d’enfants. A partir des données quantitatives et qualitatives collectées dans le cadre du projet « Familles, genre et activités en Afrique de l’Ouest », nous analysons d’abord la répartition des tâches domestiques et des dépenses entre les membres du ménage. Nous analysons ensuite l’effet du ménage sur les activités économiques des hommes et des femmes dans les trois villes. Enfin, à partir de récits de vie de femmes collectés à Lomé et Cotonou, nous étudions les stratégies mises en œuvre par les femmes pour mener conjointement leur double rôle professionnel et domestique. Nos résultats montrent que la conciliation entre vies professionnelle et familiale reste une problématique féminine dans les villes ouest africaines. Tandis que les domestiques deviennent rares dans les ménages, d’autres formes de contournement émergent., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

Simultaneous execution of cognitive and sensorimotor tasks is critical in daily life. The clinical usefulness of assessing the performance of a grip-lift task to evaluate motor function in healthy and neurological participants is largely recognised. However, these assessments are always performed in isolation. Here, we use a dual-task paradigm to examine whether dexterous manipulation, a highly habitual and seemingly automatic behaviour, involves high-order cognitive functions, in healthy adults and chronic stroke participants. In dual-tasks, both healthy adults and chronic stroke participants significantly lengthen the initial phase of the movement and strengthen their grip throughout the grip-lift task. The differences were scaled to the needs in cognitive resources. Preload phase and grip forces were significantly increased in both hands of chronic stroke participants, with the strongest increase at the affected hand. However, the cognitive tasks did not appear to exert a stronger effect on motor performance. Cognitive task specifically recruiting working memory interacts with the planning and the on-line control of the fine grip manipulation. Thus dexterous manipulation is not a full automatic behaviour and depends on high-level cognition at some specific moment of its sequence. Assessing motor performance under cognitive load might be a more sensitive way to actually assess motor abilities and their impacts in real life situations., (MOTR - Sciences de la motricité) -- UCL, 2019

In the NGOs as in other organizations, the web triggers a lot of expectations and hopes. It would allow new forms of participation, enhancing the access to these organizations. Within the Greenpeace organization there is an entire digital ecosystem in which the platform Greenwire can be found. Through this platform Greenpeace’s ambition is to rethink and reinvent the mobilization of volunteers. It is particularly the case in the Belgian office of Greenpeace which has been using the platform since 2014. While most of research on web and NGOs focuses on the volunteers using the web, this thesis focus on the employees who manage the volunteers through the web, taking Greenpeace Belgium as a case study. Our ethnographic approach gets into both “online” and “outline” ground. Through the discourses and usages that employees make of Greenwire we can then identify the specificities of the mobilization of volunteers as a paid activity. In this respect the theoretical frame of the research which covers the sociology of uses and the CCO approach proposes heuristic concepts to analyze the uses of a web platform in NGO. The research thus succeeds in showing the diversity of issues that Greenwire crystallizes and the disappointments that its promoters face. The platform becomes a visibility device while the mobilization of volunteers occurs by other devices., Dans les ONG comme dans d’autres organisations, le Web suscite beaucoup d’attentes et d’espoirs. Il rendrait possibles des formes de participation nouvelles, facilitant ainsi l’accès à ces organisations. Au sein de l’ONG Greenpeace, c’est tout un « écosystème digital » qui a été développé, dans lequel on trouve la plateforme « Greenwire ». Celle-ci est mobilisée en premier lieu pour repenser et réinventer la « mobilisation des bénévoles ». C’est notamment le cas dans le bureau belge de Greenpeace qui utilise la plateforme depuis 2014. Alors que les recherches qui s’intéressent au Web et/ou aux ONG interrogent généralement les pratiques des bénévoles, il s’agit dans cette recherche de mettre la focale sur les pratiques des salariés en charge de la mobilisation des bénévoles, en prenant le bureau belge de Greenpeace comme étude de cas. L’approche ethnographique qui y est menée intègre tout à la fois le terrain « hors ligne » et « en ligne ». Il est ainsi possible d’explorer les discours et usages que les salariés (f)ont de Greenwire ; ce qui permet d’identifier les spécificités de la mobilisation des bénévoles en tant qu’activité salariée. A cet égard, le cadrage théorique de la recherche, qui articule la sociologie des usages et l’approche dite de la communication constitutive des organisations (CCO) propose des concepts heuristiques pour l’analyse des usages d’une plateforme web en ONG. La recherche parvient ainsi à montrer la diversité des enjeux que cristallise la plateforme web et les déconvenues auxquelles font face ses promoteurs. Celle-ci devient un dispositif de mise en visibilité tandis que la mise en action des bénévoles passe davantage par d’autres dispositifs, pour certains antérieurs au web., (COMU - Information et communication) -- UCL, 2019

Gender disparities in human capital formation is an acute and persistent problem, especially in developing countries where all resources, including natural, financial and mainly human resources should be used effectively. Indeed, human capital is the only resource that can promote and sustain economic development. In our study, we have shown that the roles played by gender in tertiary education can take two main figures including vertical and horizontal gender segregation. Our empirical research, based on quantitative and qualitative methods, highlighted the evidence of vertical and horizontal gender disparities that exist in tertiary education in Africa. Furthermore, we carried out analysis of some of the root causes of the phenomenon that we defined from internal and external main axes as well as dynamic correlated nodal points. Finally, from our findings, we drew lessons to schematically conceptualize the phenomenon in order to better understand it, so as to find solutions that can promote development in developing countries., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

Owing to the ubiquity of five-membered carbocycles in organic chemistry, as well as in the field of biologically active compounds, the synthesis of this scaffold is an important issue. In this context, a (4+1) methodology has been developed in our laboratory using a 1,3-dienes as 4-carbon reactant and a sulfonium ylide which brings 1 carbon to the skeleton. This transformation proceeds via the formation of a vinylcyclopropane (VCP), resulting from a (2+1) annulation reaction, which subsequently rearranges into the desired cyclopentene upon Lewis acid catalysis. A one-pot methodology allowing to reach cyclopentenes in a single synthetic step could be developed by Dr. Olivier Rousseau, during his Ph.D. thesis (2016). The main objective of our thesis was to extend the scope of this (4+1) annulation methodology by using new 1,3-dienes and sulfonium ylides. Because they bring 4 of the 5 carbon atoms of the scaffold, the major part of the experiments was dedicated to the synthesis of new 1,3-dienes. With this work, we are now able to promote the (4+1) annulation with other electron withdrawing groups than esters, such as cyano or amide groups. Moreover, we are now capable of substituing each position of the cyclopentene, resulting in highly substituted 5-membered carbocycles. We have also investigated further the mechanism of the rearrangement step., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

Soon after the discovery of the bottom quark, the quest for the top quark had begun. The search carried out for nearly 20 years because the mass of the top quark turned out to be unexpectedly large, around 40 times the mass of the bottom quark. The discovery of the top quark in nuclear collisions had to further wait another 20 years for the 2016 proton-nucleus run at the CERN LHC. The first top quark measurement in nuclear collisions is demonstrated with the observation of the top quark pair process, using 174±6 /nb of proton-nucleus collisions at 8.16 TeV with the CMS experiment. The measurement is performed by analyzing events with exactly one isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. The inclusive cross section that is simultaneously measured in the two final states is 45±8 nb, consistent with perturbative QCD calculations as well as the expectations from scaled proton-proton data. Measurements of top quark pair production at various energies probe different values of x, the fractional momentum of the proton carried by the partons. Using a data sample of 27.4±0.6 /pb collected by the CMS experiment during the proton-proton run at 5.02 TeV in 2015, the first measurement of the inclusive top quark pair cross section is also presented for events with one or two leptons (electrons or muons), and at least two jets. A moderate decrease of the uncertainty in the gluon distribution is observed in the less-explored kinematic range of x ≳ 0.1. To determine the luminosity and the associated uncertainty the van der Meer scan technique is used, a purely experimental method., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

Spiropyrans are photochemically active compounds exhibiting their photochromic character primarily in solution. The breaking of the central spiro C-O bond upon irradiation with UV-light leads via a ring-opening isomerization to the open-form isomer called merocyanine. The isomers have strongly different absorption characteristics easily observable by their altered color. However, due to high steric demand during the isomerization the photochromic properties are not readily accessible in the solid state. Accessing the merocyanine in the solid state can open up a pathway for multiple color-based applications. Up to now, this was solely achieved by chemical modification and by introducing complex host materials. A crystal engineering approach as presented in this work provides a promising alternative to explore the merocyanine isomer in the solid state. The modification of the crystal structure is realized by introducing a second component in order to stabilize the merocyanine form and prevent the reverse isomerization. In doing so, several inorganic and organic acids were applied in an acidochromic approach successfully leading to the highly colored solid materials. The variety of accessible solids of the target molecule is expanded by metal-organic complexation and salification with metal salts. Intermolecular interactions such as hydrogen and halogen bonding support the tuneability of the chromic properties in the solid state. Multi-component spiropyran/merocyanine materials are obtained by isothermal solvent evaporation and by mechanochemical synthesis. A full characterization is provided by single crystal/powder X-ray diffraction, solid state absorption spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The results reveal how the tools of crystal engineering can be successfully applied to access the photochromic properties of spiropyrans in the solid state., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

Democratization studies have produced relevant diagnoses of the outcomes and challenges to democracy. As a general rule, these studies have privileged the role of domestic conditions, as an explanans of democratic transformation and promotion. The present thesis dialogues directly with this literature, assuming that international actors, such as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), play a key role in protecting democracy in world politics. Focusing on the European Union (EU) and Organization of American States (OAS), this thesis investigates the conditions in which IGOs participate of democratic-protection policies in periods of transition a democratic discontinuity or breakdown. We would argue that three conditions are sufficient for IGOs to engage in protecting democracy. First, at the domestic level, elite actors must move toward democratization during transitional period or attempt a coup d’état in cases of discontinuity/breakdown. Second, at the international level, IGOs must coordinate their actions with an autonomous agency (the International Secretariat) in a decision-making arena that includes various member states. The present study has used the combination of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Causal Process-tracing (CPT) to select typical cases and verify the empirical causal mechanisms that led those three conditions toward the intended outcome. It has analyzed the role of IGOs during the Czechoslovakian, Bulgarian, and Haitian periods of transition, as well as cases of democracy discontinuity/breakdown in Hungary, Romania, Peru, Paraguay, Guatemala, and Honduras. The findings show that the analytical model has considered the role of conditions in all cases of transition for both organizations, as well as all cases involving the breakdown of democracy and OAS action. The European Union behaves differently in cases of democratic discontinuity because the EU democracy-protection regime represents an intervenient variable, especially given the o, (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

Plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs) are channels facilitating the passive diffusion of water and small solutes. PIP trafficking occurs through physical interaction with SNARE proteins including the syntaxin SYP121, which is a plasma membrane Qa-SNARE involved in membrane fusion. We have previously shown that Arabidopsis SYP121 physically interacts with PIP2;7 to regulate its trafficking to the plasma membrane. As this syntaxin also regulates the trafficking and activity of the potassium channels, including KC1, we hypothesized that SYP121 is coordinating the trafficking and activity of both potassium channels and aquaporins to optimize the cell osmoregulation. To better understand the mechanism of interaction, we aimed at identifying the interaction motifs in SYP121 and PIP2;7 using ratiometric bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays in N. benthamania and the split-ubiquitin system in yeast. Mutation of the SYP121 motif required for its interaction with KC1 did not prevent the interaction between SYP121 and PIP2;7, indicating that the SYP121 motifs involved in the interactions with KC1 and PIP2;7 are different. As for other Qa-SNAREs, SYP121 can be divided into four regions from the N- to the C-terminus: N, H, Q and C. Sequential deletions of these regions revealed that the C region, containing the transmembrane domain, as well as the H and Q regions, containing the Habc and Qa-SNARE domains, interact separately with PIP2;7. Neither the linker between the Habc and the Qa-SNARE domains nor the H or the Q region alone could interact with PIP2;7, indicating that the motif depends on the conformation taken by the HQ region. Regarding the PIP2;7 motif(s), deletion of the cytosolic N- and/or C- terminus led to a significant decrease in the interaction with SYP121. Shorter deletions revealed that the amino acid residues 18 to 26 of the N-terminus are involved in the interaction. As deletions can affect protein conformation, we decided to identify a PIP protei, (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

In photochemistry, the early 2000s have marked the beginning of the success story of iridium. Thanks to their exceptional optoelectronic properties and their great photostability, iridium(III)-based compounds have emerged as promising light-emitting and light-sensitive materials. Actually, iridium(III) is characterized by the unique capacity to accommodate up to three carbometalated bonds to give mono-, bis- or tris-cyclometalated complexes. Consequently, a wide variety of spectroelectrochemical properties are available, depending on the number of Ir-C bonds formed. Nevertheless, these properties may also be fine-tuned by modifying the chemical structure of the ligands chelated onto the metal center. Herein, we report on the synthesis of a novel family of trifluoromethyl-substituted bis-cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes with an increased photo-oxidizing power. Our goal was to develop type I sensitizers for oxygen-independent anticancer phototherapy. By modifying the diimine ligand, Ir(III)-based compounds with enhanced visible light absorption have also been obtained. They were studied in order to achieve photo-induced oxidation of halides upon solar excitation. Finally, more fundamental aspects, including the investigation of the primary light-induced processes leading to the final excited state of our complexes, have also been examined., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2019

This doctoral dissertation examines from a comparative perspective, the negotiation autonomy of Austrian Belgian and German federal executives in the Council of the European Union vis-à-vis their domestic parliaments. In particular, it aims at explaining to what extent, how and why regional and national parliamentary actors scrutinise EU decision-making processes, as well as the consequences on the negotiation autonomy of federal executives. This thesis presents original empirical data on four legislative decision-making processes (period 2009-2014) in the environmental policy field, a competence partly regionalised in Austria, Belgium and Germany. The study uses the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) method and assesses the impact these following five variables have on the negotiation autonomy of federal executives: (1) the preference homogeneity between federal executives and domestic parliaments, (2) the cohesion of the domestic parliamentary system, (3) the existence of an informational asymmetry in favour of federal executives, (4) the domestic salience of the EU decision-making process, and finally, (5) the impact from the implementing powers domestic actors own. Overall, this doctoral dissertation defends two main theoretical (and empirical) arguments. First, the dissertation shows that in federal Member States, the scrutiny of EU affairs conducted by regional parliaments do matter. It is the combined actions of national and regional parliaments (the parliamentary system) that explain the degree of negotiation autonomy for federal executives. Second, the study also demonstrates that a high level of activity from domestic parliaments does not directly translate into diminishing autonomy for the executive. These are crucial findings as most studies focusing on (sub)national parliaments and the European Union (EU) rest on the implicit assumption that strong and active parliaments in EU affairs lead to an improved accountability of the governments. Against t, (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

In 1954, C. Yang and R. Mills created a Gauge Theory for strong interaction of Elementary Particles. More generally, they proved that it is possible to define a Gauge Theory with an arbitrary compact Lie group as Gauge group. Within this context, it is interesting to find critical values of a functional defined on the space of connections: the Yang-Mills functional. If the based manifold is four dimensional, there exists a natural notion of (anti-)self-dual 2-form, which gives a natural notion of (anti-)self-dual connection. Such connections give critical values of the Yang-Mills functional. Moreover, the Gauge group acts on the set of (anti-)self-dual connections. The set of (anti-)self-dual connections modulo the Gauge group is called the Moduli space of (anti-)self-dual connections. It is interesting for physicists because it provides critical values of the Yang-Mills functional and for mathematicians because it is an invariant of the based manifold. In dimension greater than four, it is possible to extend this notion of (anti-)self-duality in different suitable ways. We are working on almost Kähler manifolds – so in particular on every symplectic manifolds. On almost Kähler manifolds, an extension of self-duality appears naturally. In Chapter 2, we define this extended notion of self-duality of 2-forms and we determine the space of self-dual 2-forms. In Chapter 3, we begin by explaining how this definition of self-duality of 2-forms gives a definition of self-duality of connections. Then, we define the corresponding Moduli space of self-dual connections. Finally, we identify suitable hypotheses under which we are able to characterize the moduli space of self-dual connections and to build a Lie group structure on it., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

Depuis plusieurs années, les services de renseignement tendent, sinon à plus de transparence, à adopter une attitude d’ouverture et d’information envers les citoyens concernant leurs activités. Les premiers sites web de ces organismes sont apparus dès la fin des années ’90 et cette pratique s’est fortement répandue dans les années qui ont suivi les attentats du 11 septembre 2001. Quelle(s) image(s) les services de renseignement tendent-ils à promouvoir par le biais de leurs sites internet ? Pour répondre à cette question, cette recherche met en évidence différentes caractéristiques des sites web abordés par le biais d’une grille d’analyse sémio-pragmatique, de manière à dégager les significations potentielles des discours des services étatiques de renseignement sur le Web. Cette recherche postule l’existence d’un modèle récurrent de site internet caractérisé par une structure, une rhétorique et des stratégies similaires, dans ce secteur., (COMU - Information et communication) -- UCL, 2018

The dissertation can be divided into two parts. The first part is composed of one chapter focusing on information aggregation in a game theory model; the second part is composed of two chapters focusing on the link between pension schemes and economic growth. In Chapter 1, we define renegotiation-proof equilibria when players indirectly communicate through a public signal aggregating their private information. The result is of particular economic interest, as in most of economic activities prices aggregate and partially reveal the private information of each economic agent. In Chapter 2, we study the relation between pension schemes and financial intermediation in an overlapping generations model with Schumpeterian growth and consumption shocks. We show that a financial intermediary may be unable to adequately isolate consumers from the shocks, making a funded pension scheme equivalent to a research and production subsidy for the economy. In Chapter 3, we propose a new hybrid pension scheme. In recent years, governments have phased out pay-as-you-go pension schemes in favour of funded ones. Instead of dropping the intergenerational transfers of the pay-as-you-go pensions, we propose to invert them. Resources would flow from old generations to young ones, as if it were a system of public bequests. We show that the public bequests scheme outperforms the canonical pension schemes., (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2018

Cette thèse explore les pratiques de paternité dans le contexte andin urbain, s’intéressant aux dynamiques sociales à l’œuvre dans la construction de ces pratiques. Partant d’une enquête mixte (associant méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives) menée dans la ville d’Ayacucho (Pérou), elle se construit en trois temps. Dans un premier temps, il s’agit d’appréhender les pratiques de paternité en contexte, soit ancrées dans des dispositifs d’organisation du soin aux jeunes enfants : qui s’occupe des jeunes enfants à Ayacucho et comment se situent les pères dans cette organisation de la prise en charge ? Une fois ce décor planté, la thèse plonge dans les différentes formes de pratiques de paternité en proposant une typologie idéal-typique composée de quatre types : le père pourvoyeur de soin, le père aidant de la pourvoyeuse de soin, le père dans le jeu et le père principalement pourvoyeur de ressources. Enfin, dans un dernier temps, en sondant les systèmes de représentations associés à ces différents types de pratiques de paternité, il s’agit de mettre au jour les modèles sociaux en jeu dans la construction de ces pratiques et les interactions sociales dans lesquelles ces modèles s’actualisent. Deux types de modèles sont ainsi identifiés, qui interagissent et se croisent sans se confondre : des modèles de masculinité (hégémoniques et non hégémoniques) et des modèles familiaux (individualiste et communautaire)., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

Les marchés publics représentent une part significative de l’activité économique en Europe. Leur valeur en Belgique par exemple correspondait à environ 50 milliards d’euros en 2011, soit environ 14 % du son PIB et 26 de ses dépenses publiques totales, ce qui leur donne un poids politique, économique et social primordial. Bien que la dématérialisation (l’e-procurement) soit largement considérée par les académiques et les praticiens comme un moyen pratique pour améliorer l’efficacité et l’efficience des marchés publics, les statistiques européennes montrent que l’acceptation de cette nouvelle méthode de passation, tant par les acheteurs publics que par les entreprises, reste très limitée jusqu’à ce jour en Belgique. Notre travail a ainsi pour but d’identifier et d’analyser les déterminants de l’acceptation de l’e-procurement par les acheteurs publics d’une part et par les entreprises d’autre part (en faisant la distinction entre les PME et les grandes entreprises). Pour cela, une méthodologie mixte quantitative-qualitative a été suivie : D’abord, sur la base de la littérature dans les domaines de la diffusion de l’innovation et de l’acceptation de la technologie d’une part, et d’interviews d’experts d’autre part, nous avons retenu une série de variables explicatives que nous avons testées ensuite par le biais de deux grandes enquêtes. L’analyse des données quantitatives obtenues (220 acheteurs publics et 760 entreprises) nous a permis d’identifier cinq facteurs pouvant expliquer 59,2 % de l’acceptation de l’e-procurement par les acheteurs publics ; quatre facteurs pouvant expliquer 56 % de l’acceptation par les PME et trois facteurs pouvant expliquer 62,1 % de l’acceptation par les grandes entreprises. Ensuite, ces résultats quantitatifs ont été affinés par l’organisation de deux focus groups qui nous ont permis de mieux comprendre et expliquer notre phénomène de recherche. Les résultats finaux de notre travail peuvent être utilisés pour mettre en place un plan d’acti, (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

They are shepherds, they are farmers. They live in Shimshal, a valley of Karakoram. The inhabitants build roads as the roads build the inhabitants: to walk on the road in a group is to follow each other in line in the same position that each has in the community. This place evolves throughout life. It is during the walk that human relationships are woven and social positions are embodied and renegotiated. Those who lead the walk lead the men to the village. It is still the life led on the way that gives rise to the composition of poems giving pride to fellow travelers who have been able to accomplish their task and return home safely. In the valley, the death of a loved one and, above all, the possibility that the name of the latter is forgotten, are worrying. To preserve the name of a loved one, families are financing the construction of a building in his honor: roads, bridges, shelters and more recently, classrooms. These monuments are built according to a complex process called nomus by which the other families of the village are involved in the construction of the work by mobilizing their work force. This thesis describes the assemblage of the actions of groups of villagers and figures of authority involved in the organization of nomus in the Shimshal Valley at the time of the Principality of Hunza, under British rule and finally under Pakistani authority. For each of these periods, the author mobilizes poems, observations and testimonies to emphasize the importance of the roads and the rhythm of the walk in the construction of social relations and the organization of nomus. In the conclusion, he crosses an anthropology of gift with an “anthropologie du sensible.”, Ils sont pasteurs, ils sont agriculteurs. Ils habitent Shimshal, une vallée du Karakoram. Les habitants y édifient des chemins, à moins que cela ne soit les chemins qui y édifient les habitants : emprunter la route en groupe revient à se suivre en file dans laquelle chacun prend place en fonction de celle qu’il occupe dans la communauté, une place qui évolue tout au long de la vie. C’est au cours de la marche que les relations humaines se tissent et que les positions sociales s’incarnent et se renégocient. Ceux qui mènent la marche mènent d’ailleurs les hommes au village. C’est encore la vie menée en chemin qui suscite la composition de poèmes faisant la part belle aux compagnons de route qui ont pu accomplir leur tâche et revenir sains et saufs chez eux, dans le foyer familial. Dans la vallée, la mort d’un proche et, surtout, la possibilité que le nom de ce dernier soit oublié, inquiètent. Pour préserver le nom d’un être cher, des familles financent la construction d’un édifice en son honneur : des chemins, des ponts, des refuges et plus récemment, des salles de classe. Ces édifices sont bâtis selon un procédé complexe appelé nomus par lequel les autres familles du village s’impliquent dans la construction de l’ouvrage en mobilisant leur force de travail. Cette thèse décrit l’agencement des gestes posés par les groupes de villageois et des figures d’autorité impliqués dans l’aménagement de nomus dans la vallée de Shimshal à l’époque de la principauté de Hunza, sous domination britannique et enfin sous autorité pakistanaise. Pour chacune de ces périodes, l’auteur mobilise poèmes, observations et témoignages pour souligner l’importance des routes et du rythme de la marche dans la construction des rapports sociaux et l’organisation des nomus. Dans la conclusion, il croise une anthropologie du don avec une anthropologie du sensible., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

This work analyzes the role of religious leaders in the peacebuilding processes, with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based on a large data-set of interviews with Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim religious leaders, this thesis presents a model that distinguishes between the peacebuilding activities that occur 1) before a conflict, 2) during a conflict, and 3) in a post-conflict phase. In those scenarios, religious leaders play preventive, reactive, and transformative roles, respectively. The preventive role (1) is comprised of all activities related to the development of moral character and social ethics that aim at advancing social and individual resilience, to ideologically-based mobilizations for war based on the use of religious symbols and narratives. The reactive role (2) includes activities related to humanitarian assistance, spiritual and emotional accompaniment, denunciation of crimes, delegitimization of religiously-based propaganda, and the promotion of alternative social visions to those of group-separation. Lastly, in the post-conflict phase (3), religious leaders face a set of challenges related to the legacy of past violence. Since group conflicts leave a deep impact on the social relationships and psychological well-being of individuals, these activities are related to mutual rapprochement between former adversaries and the establishment of trust, respect, and cooperation. Although the focus is placed on the positive potential of religious leaders in peacebuilding, this thesis also analyses the practical limits and constraints of those activities., Ce travail examine le rôle des leaders religieux dans les processus de maintien et consolidation de la paix, l'accent étant mis sur la Bosnie-Herzégovine. En se basant sur un grand nombre d’entretiens avec des leaders religieux catholiques, orthodoxes et musulmans, la thèse présente un modèle qui différencie les activités de maintien et de consolidation de la paix 1) avant le conflit, 2) pendant le conflit, et 3) dans une phase post-conflit. Dans de tels scénarios, les leaders religieux jouent respectivement un rôle préventif, réactif et transformateur. Le rôle préventif (1) comprend toutes les activités liées au développement du caractère moral et de l'éthos social qui visent à faire progresser la résilience sociale et individuelle face aux mobilisations idéologiques pour la guerre fondées sur l'utilisation de symboles et de récits religieux. Le rôle réactif (2) couvre les activités liées à l'aide humanitaire, l'accompagnement spirituel et émotionnel, la dénonciation des crimes, la délégitimation de la propagande religieuse et la promotion de visions sociales alternatives à celles de la séparation et inimitié permanente. Enfin, dans la phase d'après-conflit (3), les leaders religieux sont confrontés à un ensemble de défis en lien avec l'héritage de la violence. Puisque les conflits de groupe ont un impact profond sur les relations sociales et l'équilibre psychologique des individus, ces activités sont liées au rapprochement mutuel entre anciens adversaires et à la mise en place de la confiance, du respect et d'une forme de coopération. Bien que l'accent soit mis sur le potentiel positif des leaders religieux dans le maintien et la consolidation de la paix, la thèse analyse également les limites et les contraintes pratiques liées à leurs activités., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

This thesis analises the relationship to knowledge of four student-trainees in physical education in a traineeship. The concept of relationship to knowledge is mobilized through the theoretical framework of clinical didactics (Terrisse & Carnus, 2009) and according to the sociological approach developed by Charlot (2002). Research reveals that the knowledge taught is not only dictated to the teacher by its own relation to knowledge, depending on its history, as it has been repeatedly observed in other researches, but most importantly, prescribed by the initial training to through the training supervisor and the supervisor. This important subjection, both at the training school and at the traineeship school, is indicative of the tensions observed during the various interviews conducted before and after the session observed in situ. The relationship to knowledge proves to be a valuable indicator of the training logic and the emerging professional identity of the students., Cette thèse analyse le rapport au savoir de quatre étudiants-stagiaires en éducation physique en situation de stage. Le concept de rapport au savoir est mobilisé au moyen du cadre théorique de la didactique clinique (Terrisse & Carnus, 2009) et selon l’approche sociologique développée par Charlot (2002). La recherche révèle que les savoirs enseignés sont, non seulement dictés à l’enseignant par son propre rapport au savoir, dépendant de son histoire, comme il a été maintes fois observés dans d’autres recherches, mais surtout, prescrits par la formation initiale à travers le maître de stage et le superviseur. Cet assujettissement important, tant à l’école de formation qu’à l’école de stage, est révélateur de tensions constatées au cours des différents entretiens menés avant et après la séance observée in situ. Le rapport au savoir se révèle être un indicateur précieux quant à la logique de formation et à l’identité professionnelle naissante des étudiants., (MOTR - Sciences de la motricité) -- UCL, 2018

Cette thèse est le résultat d’une longue enquête ethnographique réalisée sur le mode de l’observation participante dans des quartiers marginaux d’une mégapole latino-américaine: Lima. Elle met en évidence la ségrégation sociale instaurée dès la colonisation espagnole et maintenue au cours des siècles ainsi que les façons dont les personnes réagissent à leur marginalisation. Le texte démontre que les migrations massives de paysans pauvres vers les villes peuvent être considérées comme une forme de révolution (Matos Mar 2012). Elles sont l’expression du refus de l’exclusion sociale historiquement construite et une manière de revendiquer un statut de citoyen de plein droit. Sous l’influence des migrations la ville se transforme. Dans ses marges un peuple métis voit le jour. Il rassemble des habitants issus de tout le pays. Mais, les discriminations socio-économiques et culturelles restent fortes. Un mur urbain, Le Mur de la Honte, érigé pour séparer les quartiers huppés des quartiers populaires du Sud de Lima, symbolise et marque dans l’espace la ségrégation sociale. La révolution n’aboutit que partiellement. La recherche décrit aussi les parcours des personnes et des familles qui vivent dans les marges. Y sont racontées les stratégies de débrouille et l’informalité pour aller de l’avant dans une vie dure. Au fil des pages se dessine la dimension structurelle de la dualité sociale et son imbrication dans un projet économique néo-libéral. Dans un contexte d’explosion démographique, les terrains habilités par les migrants deviennent le nouvel Eldorado. Ils attirent la convoitise d’investisseurs et de groupes hors-la-loi. Une violence prédatrice multiforme s’incruste dans le quotidien. Pour y faire face, les habitants développent des stratégies de résistance à la déshumanisation et à la dépossession qui, à leur façon, suggèrent aussi d’autres modèles de villes et de sociétés., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

The objective of my PhD thesis is to analyse historical commissions in the processes of rapprochement in Poland. Two cases studies are selected: the Polish-German schoolbook commission and the Polish-Russian group for difficult matters. This work relies on two main sources: a series of interviews and research conducted in the archives. Other sources are complementary to this main corpus: participatory observations, analysis of political discourses, opinion polls and the media. From one part to another, the points of view differ, or even oppose themselves. Historians then look for, according to Ricoeur, a narrative which could favour rapprochement. This dialogue on history matches exactly with what is asked for the historical commissions. Then, why are these commissions created ? how do they work and why do they continue to function ? The first hypothesis assumes that these commissions are created in an objective of rapprochement, or even reconciliation. The second one assumes that their functioning – and its continuation – depends on three variables: context, mandates, actors. My thesis is structured on five points. The first three parts concern each of the three variables cited: context, mandates, actors. The fourth part relates to the spheres of influence of the commissions and the debates they induce: politics and religion, public debate, scientific debate. The last part focuses on the projects of the commissions: the common book or the centres for dialogue on the Polish-Russian side, the common historical schoolbook on the Polish-German one., L’objectif de notre thèse de doctorat est d’analyser les commissions d’historiens dans les processus de rapprochement en Pologne. Deux cas d’étude sont privilégiés : la commission polono-allemande sur les manuels scolaires et le groupe polono-russe sur les questions difficiles. Ce travail se base sur deux sources principales : une série d’entretiens et des recherches dans les archives. A ce corpus s’ajoutent des sources complémentaires : observations participantes et analyse de discours politiques, de sondages et de la presse. Les points de vue de part et d’autre divergent, voire s’opposent. Les historiens cherchent alors, selon Ricœur, un récit qui peut favoriser le rapprochement. Ce dialogue sur l’histoire correspond tout à fait à ce qui est demandé aux commissions d’historiens. Dès lors, pourquoi ces commissions ont-elles été créées ? Comment fonctionnent-elles et pourquoi continuent-elles de fonctionner ? Nous formons les hypothèses que, premièrement, ces commissions ont été créées dans un objectif de rapprochement, voire de réconciliation. Deuxièmement, leur fonctionnement — et sa prolongation — dépend de trois variables : le contexte, les mandats, les acteurs. Notre thèse s’articule en cinq points. Les trois premières parties portent sur chacune des trois variables évoquées : contexte, mandats, acteurs. La quatrième partie porte sur les sphères d’influence de ces commissions et les débats qu’elles engendrent : politique et religion, débats publics, débats scientifiques. La dernière partie se concentre sur les projets de ces commissions : l’ouvrage commun ou les centres de dialogue du côté polono-russe, le manuel commun d’histoire du côté polono-allemand., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

An important topic in random matrix theory is the study of the statistical properties of the eigenvalues of large random matrices. In this thesis, we focus on the behaviour of the few largest, or few smallest, of these eigenvalues. We are interested in random matrix models that are determinantal, providing rich structure and powerful tools for their study. The first chapter contains a short introduction to the theory of determinantal point processes. In the second chapter, we examine perturbations of Hermitian positive definite random matrices. The perturbations take the form of the entry-wise addition of Gaussian complex random variables, hence breaking the positive definiteness of the matrices. We investigate to what extent the microscopic behaviour is henceforth altered. The third chapter is devoted to the generalization of a result by Tracy and Widom. This result describes the probability distribution of the largest particle of the Airy point process in terms of a solution to the Painlevé II differential equation. We extend the result by expressing more general probability distributions involving particles near the largest one in terms of the solutions to a system of coupled Painlevé II-like equations. The analogue results of the smallest particles for the Bessel point process are obtained in the last chapter., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

The nursing reform of 2009 in France imposes a change of practices of the transmission of knowledge, know-how and nursing skills. It redistributes cards, roles and responsibilities among a plurality of partners. Thus, IFSIs, universities and nursing professionals are led to give up old collaboration schemes and innovate to meet the requirements of the new standards and the requirement of universitarization. After a historical and contextual perspective of nursing education and reform, we conduct a case study on a regional academic territory. Mobilizing the theoretical framework of the Economies de la grandeur, we analyze the discourses and the acts posed by the different groups of actors concerned by the initial training of nurses: directors and trainers of three IFSIs, university professors of the faculties of the territory, professionals nurses of the grounds internship, and, of course, nursing students. This field study allows to understand the frame of the modifications generated by the reform and the adjustments made between actors to build a device of joint formation taking in justice and in justness. It remains fragile, however. In doing so, this research questions in a more prospective way the opportunities and the risks of the universitarization for the professional nursing group in France., La réforme des études infirmières de 2009 en France impose un changement des pratiques de la transmission des savoirs, savoir-faire et savoir-être infirmiers. Elle redistribue les cartes, les rôles et les responsabilités entre une pluralité de partenaires. Ainsi les IFSI, universités et professionnels infirmiers sont amenés à renoncer aux anciens schémas de collaboration et à innover pour répondre aux prescriptions du nouveau référentiel et à l’exigence de l’universitarisation. Après une mise en perspective historique et contextuelle de la formation infirmière et de la réforme, nous avons mené une étude de cas portant sur un territoire académique régional. Mobilisant le cadre théorique des Economies de la grandeur nous avons analysé les discours et les actes posés par les différents groupes d’acteurs concernés par la formation initiale infirmière : directeurs et formateurs de trois IFSI, enseignants universitaires des facultés du territoire, professionnels infirmiers des terrains de stage, et, bien sûr, étudiants infirmiers. Cette étude de terrain permet de comprendre la trame des modifications générées par la réforme et les ajustements opérés entre acteurs qui ont permis de construire un dispositif de formation conjoint tenant en justice et en justesse. Il demeure néanmoins fragile. Ce faisant, cette recherche questionne de façon plus prospective les opportunités et les risques de l’universitarisation pour le groupe professionnel infirmier en France., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

Ce travail envisage la possibilité d’une réconciliation entre la Chine et Taïwan à partir des expériences européennes. Nous essayons, par rapport aux recherches précédentes, un nouveau point de vue – l’approche réaliste-constructiviste – afin de réexaminer l’opportunité de la réconciliation sino-taïwanaises. De ce fait, la thèse est divisée en deux parties. La première partie tente de cerner les motivations d’intégration à la fois réalistes et constructivistes des Etats fondateurs de la CE et d’un échantillon représentatif de membres adhérents ayant rejoint la CE/UE à différentes périodes. Nous pouvons distinguer les motivations des États européens en quatre modèles selon leur ambition politique et leur volonté de positionner l’État au sein de l’intégration. La seconde partie entend mutatis mutandis élucider les paramètres mobilisateurs d’une réconciliation « inter-chinoise » en s’inspirant de l’expérience européenne. Suivant la même méthode, nous constatons deux orientations inversées. Pékin se dirige vers une position marquée par une ambition politique active et une identité de la « Grande Chine » ferme, tandis que Taïpei développe une ambition politique faible mais une identité taïwanaise rigoureuse. Ce phénomène révèle l’asymétrie de la puissance et la discordance identitaire qui empêchent l’intégration sino-taïwanaise. Enfin, la présente étude essaie, sur la base des enseignements européens, de rapprocher ces positions, en proposant des solutions comme l’élargissement de l’intégration, l’assurance de l’égalité et la reconstruction de l’identité de la « Grande Chine ». Au demeurant, on doit souligner les efforts des gouvernements des deux rives vers une forme d’intégration même si elle reste délicate à l’heure actuelle., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

Popular media are means of communication such as radio stations, print newspapers and television channels, digital or analog, created and animated by social movements, community associations and civil society organizations. In this work, based on a field research involving 29 initiatives located in different regions of Brazil, they illustrate in a forceful way the asymmetries of power that characterize Brazilian democracy. Asymmetries are deeper issues than inequalities. They survive even if all or part of the inequalities are suppressed. The incorporation of digital resources into popular media initiatives demonstrates this by revealing that, even though digital platforms are widely used, the capacity to intervene in the construction or transformation of the collective world view remains restricted to only a few social groups. It is important to recognize that digital resources expand the capacity of expression and reach of social actors, including the marginalized. This advance allows them to produce more dissonance, which is a central element for social change. However, it should be noted that in highly mediatized societies the concentration of media ownership and use, often exacerbated by policies and practices that organize the digital environment following capitalist principles, hinders the effective realization of participation and dialogue in public debate. Popular media represent, in this sense, a doubly relevant field of struggle. On the one hand, they play a fundamental role as platforms for the construction and affirmation of identities and narratives of marginalized social groups. On the other hand, they constitute a space of struggle in itself, associated with the organization and democratization of the public sphere., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

From measurements performed by the Galileo and Cassini-Huygens missions, there is now ample evidence of the presence of a subsurface ocean under the thin ice shell of large icy satellites such as Europa, Callisto, Ganymede and Titan. However, many physical properties (such as the thickness, the density and the rigidity) of the ocean and of the ice shell are still uncertain. In comparison with the other large icy satellites, more data have been collected about Titan thanks to the numerous flybys of this satellite by the Cassini probe and the landing of Huygens on the surface of Titan. Titan is the only satellite to possess a significant atmosphere. It also harbours methane lakes and seas on its surface. These methane lakes and seas are involved in a methane cycle similar to the water cycle on Earth. Recently, a deviation of the rotation rate of Titan from its mean synchronous value has been observed from a comparison between images taken by the Cassini probe at different times between 2004 and 2009 (Meriggiola et al. 2016). The goal of this doctoral Thesis is to study and develop methods to constrain the interior of the large icy satellites of the Solar System and Titan in particular. Due to the presence of the subsurface ocean, the interior and the shell of the large icy satellites can move differently from each other. Firstly, the oscillations of the interior and of the shell (« Slichter modes ») of the satellites are studied for a large range of internal structure models. Secondly, the rotation variations of Titan are modeled. Rotation variations include (1) variations of the speed of rotation due to the gravitational torque exerted by the central planet, or « librations in longitude »; (2) variations of the speed of rotation due to angular momentum exchanges with the atmosphere, or « length-of-day variations » and (3) variations of the orientation of the rotation axis with respect to the surface of the satellites, or « polar motion ». The diurnal librations of Ti, (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

In the global effort to achieve sustainable development, new adaptive approaches of urban planning call for a reliable understanding of Urban Morphodynamics: the evolution of the spatial structure of an urban system from elementary interactions between its components. In this thesis, theoretical and methodological contributions to Urban Morphodynamics are proposed from the integration of the two main strands of literature in quantitative urban geography: Location Theory, which studies the economic determinants of the location of economic activities, and Complex Systems, which describe how cities self-organize from the dynamic interactions of many individuals. After an historical review in the first part, its second part addresses two problems of Urban Morphodynamics, gathering concepts and methods from both Location Theory and Complex Systems. First, using mathematical modelling, it exposes the scaling properties of the equilibrium monocentric city model. Second, coupling analytical developments with agent-based simulations, it explores the dynamic growth of a non-monocentric city model. In a third part, it proposes a hybrid modelling framework that combines the behavioural foundations of Discrete Choice Theory with the nonlinear dynamic models of Synergetics. This framework is then applied to a core-periphery model of New Economic Geography in order to forecast regional development trajectories. In a fourth and last part, in light of the proposed models, this thesis argues that the theoretical foundations of Location Theory and Complex Systems can be reconciled in an operational urban morphodynamic theory., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

Over the last thirty years, conformal field theories (CFTs) have proved to be a powerful tool in physics to study two-dimensional lattice models at their critical point. In the scaling limit, discrete statistical correlators are expected to converge to those of a quantum field theory. In the simplest cases, these correlators are rational functions of the distances separating the insertion points. However, correlators with logarithms may also appear in so-called logarithmic conformal field theories (LCFTs), which possess a richer and more complicated structure than their rational counterparts. One way to gain insight into LCFTs is by computing exact correlators in lattice models believed to be described by such theories. Among them is the Abelian sandpile model (ASM), which was introduced as a toy model for dynamical systems that naturally evolve toward their critical state. Its most natural observables are the height variables, which are controlled by a nonlocal probability measure. Computing height correlations in the ASM amounts to enumerating spanning trees with certain nonlocal properties, which is quite cumbersome via standard methods of graph theory. The first objective of this thesis consists therefore in using a recent and more efficient technique to produce explicit results, which is based on a connection encoded in the so-called line bundle Laplacian. On the mathematical side, Schramm-Loewner evolutions (SLEs) were developed in the early 2000s as a more rigorous approach to study scaling limits of random paths and interfaces appearing in two- dimensional critical lattice models. Since then, SLEs have been proved to describe the continuum limit of a few well-known models, such as percolation, the Ising model, and the loop-erased random walk. One of the simplest explicit computations in the SLE framework is Schramm’s formula, which gives the probability that a random curve between two boundary points of a continuous domain goes left of a marked interior poin, (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

In classical mechanics, the space of observables of a dynamical system constitutes a commutative algebra of smooth functions on a symplectic manifold. In quantum mechanics, things are different: at that level, the observables form a noncommutative algebra of linear operators acting on a Hilbert space. The theory of formal deformation quantization proposes to realize the quantization of a classical system as a formal associative one-parameter deformation of the pointwise product of functions in the direction of the Poisson bracket of the classical system. In the framework of non-formal deformation quantization, one seeks to convergent deformation quantizations in the sense that the deformed product of two functions is again a function rather than a formal power series with coefficients in the smooth functions. This work consists in the construction of a non-formal deformation quantization which is a convergent version of Zagier’s Rankin-Cohen deformation on modular forms., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

This thesis examines the drivers of past and future trends of international migration. The first chapter sheds light on the global migration patterns of the past 40 years, and produces migration projections for the 21st century. It demonstrates that both historical and future migration trends are mainly governed by socio-demographic changes in developing countries. The second chapter studies the drivers behind the inverted U-shaped relationship between migration and development. The results show that the role of financial constraints is limited in explaining this phenomenon. Rather, a large fraction of the increasing segment of the inverted U is explained by the skill composition and by macroeconomic drivers (i.e., by factors that cannot be changed in the short run). The last chapter develops a micro-founded model to predict the effects of development and policies on migration. Additional simulations are performed to assess the potential outcomes of policies intending to govern migration, i.e. border restriction policies and development measures aiming at reducing migration pressures from low- to high-income countries. Overall, the thesis provides consistent result that migration is an inevitable phenomenon in the first half of the 21st century. It is mostly governed by macroeconomic forces such as demography, human capital accumulation and persistent cross-country inequality. Short-term restrictive or development policies could hardly stop of reverse its rising trend., (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2018

The first chapter of this thesis studies the macroeconomic effect of firm-level collateral requirements after a trade shock. A measure of firm-level collateral requirements is structurally retrieved from the model, then used to test the main implications empirically. In particular, we show that for a given level of collateral requirement, more financially capable firms do not transfer all the cost advantage they have in generating the required amount of collateral into lower prices, but rather retain relatively higher margins. Moreover, we also find that at the aggregate level the presence of financial frictions can affect the pass-through effects taking place in episodes of economic liberalization, with key consequences in terms of welfare. The second chapter analyses people’s support for populist platforms, the timing of the appearance of populist parties and their choice of political orientation between left and right. The factor that we highlight askey for the understanding of both demand and supply of populism is electoral participation. We show that the abstentionism, disillusionment effect, which the literature generally ignores, makes economic insecurity appear to be the real driver of populism on the demand side. And, these same abstention effects determine the timing, the quantity, and the orientation choice of populist parties on the supply side. The third chapter inquires into the impact of the activities of multinational enterprises on armed conflict. I deal with this question by merging geolocalized information on conflict events with novel data on multinationals' affiliates and headquarters for all African countries from 2007 to 2015. The multinationals' activity is seen to have significant, heterogeneous effects on the probability of conflict. Enterprises that increase local human capital (e.g. those operating in education and health) significantly decrease the probability of conflict, while affiliates operating in exploitative sectors (e.g. those th, (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2018

In this document, I investigate how economic development and gender relate to each other. In doing so, I place women at the centre of the discussion and analyse several aspects involving them: the rise of gender equality, its long-run consequences on state capacity, and a novel mechanism that explains maternal employment in sub-Saharan Africa through economic prosperity. In particular, Chapter 1 —co-authored with Annalisa Frigo— delves into the long-forgotten origins of gender equality, showing that a temporary female empowerment can have enduring effects on gender equality once women’s improved outcomes morph into culture. This chapter complements several advances that document the origins of gender equality, or more broadly, of gender roles. The channel I advance in this chapter is novel in the relevant literature and emphasises female’s bargaining power and access to better outside options, triggered by the establishment of beguine communities in the Belgian context. In Chapter 2, I document that gender equality may have lingering consequences on economic prosperity through nation-building during its early stages. Building on a theoretical model, I find that granting women equal access to inherit hastens state-building in the short run, but delays it in the long run. This result is important because the literature, in the context of my model, has typically portrayed only a negative relationship between variables. My result refines the previous findings and indicates that, at critical junctures, gender equality may be growth-enhancing. Finally, in Chapter 3 I analyse how economic growth and maternal employment coeval in developing societies, where mother’s work can jeopardise children’s safety. The mechanism I propose is anchored by the medical literature but has never been investigated in economics. Moreover, this chapter clearly indicates the importance of economic growth in determining maternal job-taking., (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2018

Ce travail de recherche vise à comprendre les enjeux éthiques liés au contexte particulier d’instabilité politique et de précarité économique au regard du rôle social et politique de la presse. Sur la base des méthodes d’observations et d’entretiens avec des journalistes burundais, nous proposons une analyse des tensions des rôles et des identités journalistiques ainsi qu’une identification des entraves à la circulation entre les différents niveaux éthiques descriptif, normatif et réflexif. Une superposition de différents registres journalistiques se dégage au sein des médias burundais. Ces registres journalistiques se distinguent par leur niveau d’adéquation ou de rupture avec les principaux rôles éthiques d’observateur, d’interprète et de narrateur de la réalité. Les concepts d’éthique, de déontologie, de liberté de la presse sont diversement mobilisés par des groupes journalistiques dans une perspective qui les instrumentalise plus qu’elle ne les applique ou ne les met en réelle discussion. La mobilisation de ces concepts dans des contextes difficiles ouvre également la voie à une réflexion sur la question des standards universels et de l’appropriation locale de la profession journalistique., (COMU - Information et communication) -- UCL, 2018

L’étude de l’influence et du rôle joué par l’ONU dans la définition de la politique de sanctions de l’UE révèle l’existence d’un lien causal entre les pratiques des deux institutions. Les intérêts des États déterminent l’adoption ou non de sanctions ainsi que le contenu, la portée et l’intensité des sanctions. L’UE s’octroie, vis-à-vis du Conseil de sécurité, une marge de manœuvre qui résulte d’une entente maximale, minimale ou inexistante, entre les membres permanents du CSNU. Cette configuration informelle révèle les intérêts étatiques en présence, et se reflète dans l’issue des votes, validant ou annulant les sanctions onusiennes. L’issue positive ou négative des négociations interétatiques engendre deux cas de figure. Le premier consiste en l’application intégrale des sanctions onusiennes par l’UE. La deuxième tendance consiste en l’adoption par l’UE de sanctions complémentaires ou autonomes par rapport à celles du CSNU. L’analyse des sanctions adoptées par l’UE, vis-à-vis de cinquante-huit États tiers, entre 1966 et 2015, révèle que le Conseil de l’UE adopte des sanctions autonomes ciblant des États situés dans les zones géographiques sous influence de la Chine et la Russie. Les trois cas d’étude iranien, syrien et russe sont retenus afin d’observer trois degrés d’interactions différentes entre les sanctions de l’UE et du CSNU. Le pouvoir d’adopter des sanctions et de déclencher un processus d’élaboration de mesures restrictives restent entre les mains des États. En revanche, le contenu, la portée et l’intensité des programmes de sanctions de l’UE sont influencés par l’intervention d’acteurs supranationaux en amont du processus. Le concept d’ "intergouvernementalisme supranational" de J. Howorth est applicable à la prise de décision de l’UE en matière de sanctions., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

One of the most fundamental purposes of applied statistics is to provide an appropriate description of the relationship between certain covariate variables and a response of interest. While conditional mean models historically dominated the regression landscape for this task, the last decades have witnessed the emergence of a variety of regression models focusing on conditional quantiles instead, as the latter allow, among other conveniences, for a more complete representation of the relationship of interest. Providing convenient tools for estimating a quantile regression model then constitutes a major challenge for statisticians. This statement is further emphasized in situations where the data at hand slightly diverges from the ideal scenario where all observations are completely recorded. One example of such nuisance in the data often encountered in practice concerns the occurrence of right-censoring of the responses, where one no longer completely observes the true response of interest but instead only the minimum of it and an interfering censoring variable. In this context, this thesis aims at developing new estimation procedures for quantile regression models where right-censoring of the response may occur, although part of our work encompasses some novelties for strictly complete observations as well. Our exploration will lead us from the exploitation of copulas in regression modelling, to the consideration of adapting the loss function usually employed for quantiles in order to take censoring into account, before examining at last the formulation of a new minimum-distance approach in this context., (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

Over the 2011 and 2012 period, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen experienced the success of large-scale contentious politics, i.e. a fit between contentious politics and the displacement of incumbents. However, other authoritarian regimes in the MENA region, over the time period corresponding to the ‘Arab Spring’, even if they experienced some form of contentious politics, these did not become successfully ‘large-scale’. The empirical evidence leads us to a two-part puzzle: Why does large-scale contentious politics successfully arise in some MENA countries while in others it does not? And what are the causal mechanisms that facilitate the success of large-scale contentious politics in the typical case of Tunisia? Both research questions are part of a multimethod research design, whose aim is to make cross-case and within-case causal inferences. This research commences by introducing the concept of ‘success of large-scale contentious politics’, and a two-level model is developed to conduct a comparative study of 14 MENA countries and thus answering the first research question. The success v/s failure of large-scale contentious politics is then analyzed comparatively by applying Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), in a revisited version of its two-step variant. This enables us to identify the core combinations of conditions that lead to the match between contentious politics and the displacement of the political incumbent. A core element is identified: the context within which the cases of success of large-scale contentious politics takes place – a non-hereditary regime – and the combination of conditions that plays a conjunctural role within this context: cohesive mobilization, military defection behavior, limited despotic power, absence of foreign rescue and low State capacity. Further, since this research also aims to understand the process of the success of large-scale contentious politics, a theory-testing process-tracing technique (PT) is carried o, (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

Studying solid state forms is a research topic that remains important in the pharmaceutical industry. Properties such as melting point, hygroscopicity, potential polymorphs and more help to understand potential pitfalls that might influence an APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) stability. When a drug gets compromised due to a lack of knowlegde (e.g. bad storage conditions or a polymorphic transition), the dosage can no longer be guaranteed and have disastrous effects. Therefore, knowledge and control of those parameters is key. In this work, starting with the basics, the solid state landscape of a research pharmaceutical, its thermal stability and crystallization behaviour was investigated. The thermal stability of the research chemical was improved by screening for potential co-crystals. As these crystals are different from the pure parent material(s), they also exhibit different physicochemical properties. Many APIs are chiral and when they are combined with a chiral co-former an enantiospecific co-crystal can form, resulting in a separation of the API's enantiomers. The model system of Ibuprofen with Levetiracetam exhibited this enantiospecific behaviour and was studied in detail by constructing its phase diagrams. When the phase zones were identified a scaled up process was designed, which included waste recuperation and racemization of the undesired enantiomer. This system demonstrates that co-crystallization as a resolution tool is a reliable and robust alternative to known methodologies, (SC - Sciences) -- UCL, 2018

This thesis investigates the relationships between climate change, human capital accumulation, global inequality, and migration at various spatial scales. The first chapter analyzes the factors influencing the geographic distribution of high-skilled human capital and their implications for inequality. A theoretical world economy model is developed that produces projections of population, migration, urbanization, and income for the 21st century. The second chapter extends this model and includes channels through which temperature and sea-level rise affect productivity and individual mobility. The robustness of socio-demographic projections to several different climate change scenarios is assessed. The third chapter studies the specific links between climate change and human capital formation. A theoretical model is developed and empirical evidence from Africa is provided illustrating these links. Finally, the fourth chapter revisits the implications of international migration for human capital accumulation and inequality. A new dyadic approach is proposed that establishes the micro-foundations of the relationship between higher education and migration decisions. The findings of the thesis emphasize the importance of policies that improve access to all levels of education, enhance education quality, encourage climate change adaptation, and contribute to sustainable urban development., (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2018

This thesis speaks to the broad literature studying poverty and inequality issues. It presents novel contributions within these fields, ranging from developments on poverty measurement to determinants of inequality that have been overlooked in the past. In Chapter 1, jointly with Véronique Gille, we focus on an unexplored mechanism to explain the race gap in education in the US. Specifically, we evaluate the effect of the election of the first black state governor in the history of the US, who took power in Virginia in 1990, on educational outcomes of black students from the same state. We find a sizeable increase in the probability of getting a high school diploma for black students in Virginia relative to Whites and other states, which cannot be fully explained by policy changes. In Chapter 2, jointly with Benoit Decerf, we study income poverty under unequal growth using a family of measures that balances absolute and relative poverty by the use of a weight parameter. We develop new theoretical results to estimate the degree of robustness of poverty evaluations to this weight parameter. We apply these developments to study poverty under unequal growth in the US and find two main results. First, our measure concludes that poverty has decreased over the most recent period of unequal growth, in line with the official absolute measure. Second, poverty judgments are largely robust to the choice of the weight parameter. Finally, Chapter 3 evaluates how the individual valuation of goods that are jointly consumed within a household can affect poverty and inequality. I use consumer data to estimate the marginal willingness to pay for joint consumption by gender within Belgian couples. My findings indicate that women get less utility from public goods than men. This implies that consumption inequality and in particular female poverty are larger than when we ignore these differences in the individual valuation of joint consumption., (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2018

Evidence regarding differences in mortality between urban and rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa has been largely based on the experience of children. Urban-rural mortality differentials in adults are often obtained by inferring from child mortality rates and model life tables. However, the rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa is associated with some health challenges specific to adults, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, occupational hazards, violence, road traffic accidents, and a growing burden of non-communicable diseases. For this reason, urban-rural mortality differentials in adults should be measured, and not modelled. Measuring these differentials, and making sense of the resulting estimates also requires to take into account the issue of migration. Urban and rural areas are historically interlinked through important migration flows. In this context, the main objectives of this dissertation are to contribute to the measurement of urban-rural mortality differentials in adults and to the analysis of the impact of migration on that differential in Sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis draws mainly on the case of Burkina Faso, and combines various sources of data, (including sample surveys, Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems, and censuses) to circumvent the scarcity of data on adult survival. This dissertation shows that mortality indicators derived from censuses in rural areas can be severely underestimated, in particular in women. The measurement of urban-rural mortality differentials based on census data can be affected by underreporting of deaths, age misreporting and misreporting of the place of residence of deceased persons due to the mobility of dying individuals. Apart from censuses, other sources of data on adult survival based on the survival of close relatives (parents and siblings) are also plagued by underreporting of deaths, and most importantly missing information on the place of residence of individuals exposed to the risk of dying. Despite t, (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018

In order to support the negotiation of international climate agreements and the achievement of global and national greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, regional and sub-national coalitions have emerged. This doctoral thesis analyses local climate mitigation strategies, based on voluntary climate agreements, and the political incentives promoting their adoption. Chapter 1 illustrates the strategies designed by a sample of 124 European large cities joining the EU Covenant of Mayors. It shows that cities’ contribution to climate mitigation can be notable, exceeding internationally agreed targets; however, this is limited to selected sectors, under their jurisdiction. Chapter 2 estimates electoral incentives for local governors to enter a climate agreement. On average, mayors committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their municipality do not to lose electoral support at subsequent elections with stronger positive effects in cities with better economic conditions and a younger population. Chapter 3 unfolds a broader set of incentives encouraging local governors’ action. Private benefits (political income) from increased visibility and networking in a climate coalition seem to support the adoption of voluntary climate commitments. Overall, there is much scope to further engage local administrations in climate mitigation (and adaptation) action. Beyond this, future research could explore the contribution of city’s actions to “making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development” (art. 2.1.c of the Paris Agreement)., (ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 2018

The doctoral dissertation examines Pakistan’s socialization process with India, the United States and China in the post-Musharraf era from an interpretive perspective. More precisely, it applies role theory to develop a theory of socialization through role compatibility to explain how Pakistani decision-makers, both civilian and military, define their country’s positioning towards these three significant others. The study proposes an interpretive stance on the decision-making process of Pakistani foreign policy. It uses the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method to identify the drivers of Pakistan’s socialization process in the international system, focusing on India, the US and China. The results show that Pakistan defines six roles for itself, reflected both by the military and the political elite. These six roles represent Pakistan’s main drivers in international affairs. They highlight the country’s insecurity in its role of sovereign state, and its drive to be recognized as a fully functional and responsible actor in the international system. The degree of compatibility of the country’s role conceptions with its significant others underlines the causality between state identity, foreign policy behaviour and state socialization. Importantly, the research proposes a clearer understanding of agent-structure co-construction in Pakistani foreign policy behaviour. Departing from strictly structural or agent-oriented explanations about foreign policy, the research demonstrates that interactional dynamics are central to understand the international behavior of Pakistan., (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2018